Big Camera, Bigger Scanner, Biggest Fun

The divide between film and digital is pretty wide if you don't have the technology, which is one of the benefits of volunteering in a museum.

Union Station Foundation recently sprang -- via grant money -- a new photo scanner capable of scanning, whole, an 11 by 14 inch print or even a negative or transparency, also that size.

For some years I've been playing with a variety of cameras that use 4-by-5 inch film because that size of film gives detail nothing else does, it forces one to slow down and ponder what one is shooting, it makes folks as "can you still get film for that?" and it's just fun.

I mean, can you honestly say you go hunting "for the meat" after you spend how much for the  truck to haul it home in?  Same thing.

So every now and then I haul out the Speed Graphic, the Burke & James Orbitar (with that amazing 65mm lens) or the Busch Pressman (which, like the Speed, has a 135mm Ektar lens) and go hide under a dark cloth while exposing film that costs somewhere near $1 every time I click the shutter.

Which isn't as expensive as it sounds. Six shots is a good afternoon's work. You take time to find the shot, locate the best view, situate the camera, calculate the exposure and finally take the image. It works out to be almost a zen thing.

Anyway, I took a bunch of these negatives down to the archive library this morning and spent a couple of hours scanning some in on our spiffy new scanner. I think I'm a long way from Ansel Adams quality, and certainly not tearing up the pea patch for content or inspiration, but the results please me and I'm learning the craft. Film is either Ilford or Arista (Foma).

SALTAIR EXCURSION CARS

BEGINNING IN 1893, the SALTAIR resort on Great Salt Lake was a favorite recreation spot for residents of Utah. The only problem was that it was located 20 miles west of Salt Lake City and few people had cars.

So, in 1922, the Salt Lake And Garfield Western Railway took ownership of the resort and built special excursion cars to take folks out. The open cars had ramps of wooden steps on each side and wrought iron framed benches inside. Folks would pay their fare and hop aboard.

The resort is long gone and the SL&GWR now just hauls freight, but two of its excursion cars are in the collection of the Utah State Railroad Museum housed at Union Station. The cars themselves are stored off site, awaiting funds for restoration, but I go out every now and then and take pictures because they're just cool.

These were shot with the Busch Pressman except for the third one down, which was with the Burke & James.  Here's a couple color shots to show what they look like today -- they're able to be restored since most of the damage is to the wood, which is relatively easy to replace.

UNION STATION

One of my favorite places to shoot is Union Station. It has light to die for and many fun architectural details that lend themselves to photographic effects.

The top shot shows a drinking fountain. Next down shows a lighting technician repairing the giant neon sign on top of he building. The third shows the Edward Laning mural on the north wall of the station's grand lobby (a parallel mural is on the south wall.)

Next is a friend, Mark Lowther, trying to hold still for a long exposure, and finally a wide-angle shot with the Burke & James of the whole lobby. This lobby is essentially unchanged since the station was built in 1924, one of the few interior parts of the building to make that claim.

OLD TRANSPORTATION

Hey, a theme!

The top photo is an old Hudson automobile, date unknown, that I found in rural Weber County. The rust is photogenic, yes?

Next is the top of an old steam engine sitting in front of Union Station here in Ogden. The engine has been on static display for decades.

Next, decked out in graffiti for "Kyle Kayla" is an old Bamberger railroad car. This is one of many interurban cars that used to ply the tracks between Ogden and Salt Lake City.

Last is "Daddy" which graces the Moonglow, one of the more tragic possessions of the Utah State Railroad Museum. The Moonglow as the original dome car of "The Train of Tomorrow," which was built after World War II and was supposed to attract the public back onto train transport with a host of modern conveniences including air conditioning, telephones and other luxury amenities.

Sadly, World War II's end also saw the decline of passenger rail. President Dwight D. Eisenhower came back from winning the war impressed with the system of autobahn highways criss-crossing Germany and decided to promote the same thing here. The Interstate Highway System -- yes, it was originally a defense program -- was born and car-happy Americans said good-bye to the train. The "Train of Tomorrow" fizzled. Its last remnant, the Moonglow, sits here in Ogden, victim to vandals and the elements, the museum lacking money to even properly preserve it.