Vicksburg with a Hasselblad 100mm ƒ/3.5 CSi Lens and Fuji Pro 160 NS Film (Abandoned Films 10)

After successfully completing some medical treatments, I was overcome with a serious bout of GAS. That is Gear Acquisition Syndrome, although the other gas was also present. 

Hasselblad 501CM with 100mm ƒ/3.5 Planar CSi lens and correct hood

For over five years, I used an 80mm Planar lens on my Hasselblad. But sometimes, I wanted just a bit more reach. With 35mm cameras, I liked the 55mm ƒ/1.8 Super-Takumar lens on the Pentax Spotmatic. This was just marginally longer than the more common 50mm. Hasselblad's 100mm Planar lens would provide a diagonal coverage on 6×6 approximately equal to 55mm on 35mm, so I started looking at online vendors in USA. Soon, this gorgeous 100mm ƒ/3.5 Planar CSi lens came in a big padded box from Camera West. This is a 6-element Planar design and is reputed to be the highest resolution Hasselblad lens for distant subjects.

On a foggy and drizzly January day (my favorite light), I loaded a roll of Fuji Pro 160 NS film in the holder and headed out. This is a neutral color balanced film designed for wedding, fashion, and commercial product photography. Fuji did not distribute 160NS in the USA and discontinued it in the Japan market in October 2021.  

I posted these frames at 2400 pixels wide, so click any picture to see the details. Most were tripod-mounted.

Polk Street view east, January 7, 2023, 1/15 ƒ/11

Monroe Street looking south from China Street. The former Junius Ward YMCA is to the right.

Pearl Street near Fairground Street, 1/15 ƒ/16

2521 Pearl Street, still occupied (taken from railroad tracks)

501-509 Fairground Street (taken from railroad bridge), 1/15 ƒ/16

Floodwall and Bunge Corporation, Levee Street, view south (hand-held)

1109 Mulberry Street, view east, 1/30 ƒ/11

LD's Restaurant is in a building that formerly housed a club/bar (closed several times because of shootings) and a liquor store.

Railroad yard from Levee Street - 250mm ƒ/5.6 Sonnar lens, 1/4 ƒ/22

2427 Washington Street - 80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar-CB lens

I added two frames that I took with my 80mm and 250mm lenses. Hasselblad's 100mm lens is considered to be their "sharpest" (whatever that means in internet fantasy-land), but all the Zeiss lenses are superb performers. My Planar-CB is a 6-element design, in contrast to the more common 7-element models. My 250mm Sonnar is a 1960s silver barrel model with single coating, but it is just fine.

I found a very handy padded bag to hold my camera on the car seat next to me or on the floor. The rest of the kit stays in a larger camera bag. This is a Ruggard Onyx 35, only $17.95 from B&H. $17.95? That is the cost of a roll of film now. The original idea came from a WalMart lunch box that my wife suggested, but this Onyx is well-sewn and protective. Highly recommended.

Thank you all for joining me on this semi-random tour of Vicksburg.

Exploring Centralia, Washington

Centralia is a city in western Washington in Lewis County, about 25 miles south of Olympia. It was founded in 1850 by J. G. and Anna Cochran, who came via the Oregon Trail with their adopted son, George Washington, a free African-American. The town boomed in the early 1880s with the Northern Pacific Railroad building a rail line through the valley. From Wikipedia,

Founded as a railroad town, Centralia's economy was originally dependent on such industries as railroads and timber as well as coal and agriculture. At one time, five railroad lines crossed in Centralia, including the Union Pacific Railroad, Northern Pacific Railway, Milwaukee Road, Great Northern Railroad and a short line.

BNSF Rail Yard

Today, the BNSF's mainline tracks run just east of downtown Centralia. The switching yard was not too active on a sunny day in June (2024), but I stopped for a few photographs.

Better not stand here. Centralia BNSF rail yard (100mm ƒ/3.5 Planar lens) 

Centralia BNSF rail yard view south (100mm Planar lens)

Warehouse, East Hansen Street, Centralia

Alley off East Hansen Street

A Few Around Town

Time for lunch at Aceituno's, Harrison Avenue

Track off West First Street

Bowling parlor, now apartments, North Tower Avenue

Christmas was fun, North Pearl Street

Centralia is interesting, and there is plenty worthy of more exploring. I recall visiting my roommate's family somewhere in town in 1974 or 1975, but have no idea where they lived. Centralia was a worker/logging/mining town then (it looked rather rough), but I was young and not inspired by urban decay. 

The black and white photographs above are Kodak Panatomic-X film via my Hasselblad 501CM camera. The color frames are expired Kodak Gold 100 film, exposed at EI=64 in my Leica M2. The Gold was much grainier and less vibrant than when fresh. But the 35-year-old Panatomic-X film is perfect. Amazing!

Down in the Alley* (in Olympia, Washington) (Oly 11)

View east from Colombia St. NW (40mm ƒ/4 Distagon Lens)

Some streets in downtown Olympia have alleys that run behind the commercial buildings. The alley gives access to loading doors, dumpsters, maybe the sewer. Some of the older housing neighborhoods, like Bigelow and South Capital, also have alleys. The latter are handy for utilities, trash cans, and, sometimes, access to garages. They are a bit boring, so I will concentrate on the city.

Between 4th and State Avenues, an alley runs east-west for about one km. The west end is pretty interesting with art works and some graffiti. This was too good to resist, and on an overcast April day, I took a walk with my Hasselblad and Fuji NPS 160 film. This was also a chance to use my new/old 40mm Distagon wide angle lens in tight quarters. 

Something is fishy at the rear door of Old School Pizza, 108 Franklin Street (40mm Distagon lens)

Walk east for a block, and there is more good stuff.

Loading dock of 312 4th Avenue (40mm Distagon lens). There was probably a hoist once in the apex of the overhang.

Turn 180º, and a carpentry shop has a door that leads to the alley.

Carpenter shop door with shiny new paint - already decorated (40mm Distagon lens)

Rear of 308 4th Avenue (100 mm ƒ/3.5 Planar lens)

Parking lot off State Avenue

Empty lots like this once had industrial or commercial buildings. Maybe a local reader can remember what once stood here. Some lots are empty because pollutet soil has been capped, but I do not know if that is the issue here.

View north to Billy Frank Jr. Place (318 State Avenue) (40mm Distagon lens)

I will show more alley pictures soon. 

215 Thurston Avenue (100mm ƒ/3.5 Planar lens, 1/30 ƒ/8.0)

Two blocks north is this interesting door. Some of you readers may remember it from a 35mm frame that I took with T400CN film.  

7th Avenue tunnel (100mm ƒ/3.5 Planar lens)

This is not quite an alley, but rather the grungy 7th Avenue railroad tunnel. An occasional train with petroleum tank cars trundles through here heading for an industrial area in west Tumwater. 

I took these photographs with my Hasselblad 501 CM camera using Fuji NPS 160 film. This was my last roll, and it is no longer available. Photoland at The Evergreen State College developed the film. 

* With apologies to Elvis Presley, who recorded Down in the Alley on May 25, 1966 on Spinout Records. The lyrics are not pertinent to my article, just the title. 

Checking Out the Rails in Olympia (Oly 07)

Western Washington was once criss-crossed by hundreds of miles of rail lines. Many mountain valleys had regular or narrow gauge lines to serve the lumber industry. Many of them were abandoned in the 1970s as the lumber industry wound down, but some remnants remain. BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) operates its main line from Longview, on the Colombia River, north to Vader, Chehalis, Centralia, Tenino, East Olympia, and then on to Tacoma. This carries mostly cargo, but Amtrak uses the tracks for its passenger service. 

Olympia was once served by two railroads, the Northern Pacific and the Union Pacific. The tracks still exist, and Olympia & Belmore Railroad, Inc., operates the occasional freight cars. I sometimes hear a locomotive horn but have never see a train trundling down Jefferson Street. Amtrak's station is on the Yelm Highway in Lacey, the town southeast of Olympia. The Amtrak does not go into downtown Olympia.

7th Avenue Tunnel

The "Subway" (Fuji Acros film, Leica M2, 90mm ƒ/4 Elmar lens)

When the Northern Pacific first brought service into downtown Olympia in 1891, the tracks came down the Deschutes River valley, past the brewery complex, and along the tide flats. The track turned east and went through a tunnel to emerge near Jefferson Street. It is ugly and dirty now. A homeless man was badly injured in the tunnel years ago.

Jefferson Street

Jefferson Street view north. Where is the train? (Fuji Acros film, Pentax Spotmatic F camera, 55mm ƒ/1.8 SMC Takumar lens)

Jefferson Street view north

Steps on Jefferson Street (55mm ƒ/1.8 SMC Takumar lens)

The track in the foreground emerges from the subway (to the right out of the picture).

Jefferson Street view south

View north from Olympia Avenue NE (Kodak T400CN film, Leica IIIC camera, 5 cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens)

Rainbow Rails

Rainbow Rails view north (not very colorful any more; Kodak Tri-X, 100mm ƒ/3.5 lens)

Rainbow Rails with State Capitol in the distance and 4th Avenue bridge (Kodak Tri-X, Hasselblad, 100mm ƒ/3.5 lens)

Rainbow rails, view north, with West Bay to the right

The Rainbow Rails ran along West Bay to a wood processing facility a short distance south of Tugboat Annie's restaurant. The name came from the colorful paint that artists painted on the ties near the 4th Avenue bridge. Much of the paint has faded, so you do not see much rainbow any more. The track is a somewhat difficult walk, but you are next to West Bay and can sometimes see a freighter across the water at the Port of Olympia. Water birds occupy a pond just to the west. 

Port of Olympia

View south from Market Street NE (adjacent to the Olympia Farmers' Market)

This track comes in from the south along Jefferson Street (see above). It diverges, and two lines enter the port area (off-limits to visitors). Most of the timber now comes to the port by truck, but I hear an occasional train, usually at night. 

This ends our short railroad tour of Olympia. Later, I will post some pictures of the rail line near the unused Olympia Brewery complex in Tumwater. Thank you for riding along.

Into the Woods Again: Squaxin Park in Monochrome (Oly 06)

Squaxin Park (formerly Priest Point Park) is a botanical wonder just north of downtown Olympia off East Bay Drive NE. I have photographed here in color with my little digital Fuji X-E1 camera. How about monochrome? (Warning, "pretty" pictures below; no urban decay.)

Ellis Cove and view west to East Bay (Fuji Acros film, Pentax Spotmatic F camera, 28mm ƒ/3.5 SMC Takumar lens)

Ellis Cove (Fuji Acros film, 28mm SMC Takumar lens)

The temperature plummeted on January 11 (2024) and some snow fell. That was too good to resist. I walked to Squaxin Park but was surprised that not much snow had made it through the dense canopy down to the ground.

Samarkand Rose Garden (Kodak Panatomic-X film, Hasselblad 501CM camera, 80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar lens, yellow-green filter)

Near Ellis Cove (Panatomic-X film, 100mm ƒ3.5 Planar lens)

Near Ellis Cove (Panatomic-X film, 100mm ƒ/3.5 Planar lens, yellow-green filter)

On East Bay Drive, a dense multi-trunk tree often catches my eye.

East Bay Drive NE (Kodak Tri-X 400 film, Hasselblad 501CM, 100 mm ƒ/3.5 Planar lens, 1/125 ƒ/4)

Another snow fell on February 14, and I returned to Squaxin Park with the Hasselblad. Maybe I will show those frames in mid-summer..... 

Thank you all for exploring Squaxin Park with me.

On the Waterfront, Raymond, Washington (2024)

Raymond is on an estuary of the Willapa River near South Bend in Pacific County, Washington. Much of the city was built on piles on the tidelands. Like many rural Washington cities, it was originally a lumber mill town with adjacent farming in the river valley. Early in the 20th century, the city was bustling with lumber mills and freshly cut logs trains. Ocean-going ships took lumber to distant ports. Like many Pacific Northwest towns, the Great Depression devastated the local economy. The economy revived during World War II and during the post-war housing construction boom. Logging began to diminish in the 1970s, and the town fell on hard times. Today, it is part of the Evergreen Coast and has partly reformed itself as a tourist and museum town.

Willapa River (Kodak Panatomic-X film, 80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar-CB lens, dark yellow filter)

Weyerhaeuser Raymond Sawmill (250mm ƒ/5.6 Sonnar lens, yellow-green filter)

Raymond Trestle swing bridge, Willapa River (40mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens)

Detail, railroad swing bridge (100mm ƒ/3.5 Planar lens)

The Raymond trestle is another example of the impressive engineering that railroads achieved early in the 20th century. The control house was wood and has partly collapsed. The bridge is part of the Willapa Hills Trail, but the trail needs to divert through town instead of cross the river here. 

Stan Hatfield South Fork Industrial Park (50mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens)

Stan Hatfield South Fork Industrial Park

The Port of Willapa Bay runs several industrial parks with buildings rented to tenants. I do not know what this machinery once did.

Commercial Street, Raymond 

I plan to return to Raymond and look around some more. It is revitalizing, but there is old architecture and housing that I want to photograph.

The 2024 photographs are from Kodak Panatomic-X film and my Hasselblad 501CM camera. Praus Productions in Rochester, New York, developed the film in Xtol.