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In 2006, my wife and I visited northern New Mexico for a "back home" vacation. I brought along two folders from my collection, intending to bring back many great shots. But instead I came down with a cold at the start of the trip and had to force myself to take the few pictures that I did. But I am glad even for those few, as they encourage me to retrace my steps and do it again sometime, but hopefully feeling more creative.

Kodak Vigilant:
[photo needed]

My wife posing by the Harvey House museum in Belen, New Mexico. Kodak Vigilant Six-20, JandC Classic "trimmed" 620,ASA 200, 1/100 at about f/11. Pete's Restaurant, across the street behind this train museum, has great New Mexico cuisine if you visit this place. Scanned at 300dpi for printing as 4x6, resized for the Web.
Scratch pad--temp working space - Light of Day
Arched veranda at Harvey House in Belen, NM



Ikonta 116:

The Ikonta has the 2.5" x 4.25" frame size, 8 shots per roll, 616 spool (larger spool than 116). Lens: Font-cell scale focusing. "Carl Zeiss Jena Nr 1359928 Tessar 1:4,5 f=12cm" Shutter: Zeiss-Ikon Compur # 1140390 (T, B, 1s - 250th) Finders: front-mounted bright finder, body-mounted frames (no glass)

So this Ikonta is somewhat bare-bones, but the essentials are there for a wide range of photo situations. Good framing and focusing are up to luck and one's estimation skills! I tend to guess too far all the time, but when I get it right (and use a tripod), the resolution bears poster-size enlargement (not that my little printer can do so!).

It's a good thing that Efke 100 is good for skies, as outdoor panaoramas seem to be natural subjects for these folders anyway. The skies in the mountains behind Santa Fe, at about 8,000 feet, are mercifully free of pollution, and a tad darker due to altitude, but at the time I took the church photo, I was not expecting the drama that actually came out of the scan once I teased out the highlights on the shoulder. Lesson--don't rely on a scanner's auto-levelled results!

This church is halfway up the road from Pecos, New Mexico, to Cowles, where we stayed at some cabins for a few nights. There are several buildings and artifacts in this valley related to mining in the 1920s-30s. Now this valley sports prime trout fishing and great hiking trails. Photo taken with a Zeiss Ikon Ikomat that has no apparent model number, but has an excellent Tessar 12cm f/4.5 lens. Taken on respooled JandC 70mm Efke 100, about 1/100th at f/16 as I recall, no filter--that cloud/sky contrast is natural. D-76 for both shots, BTW. Scanned the same as the Belen photo, using an Epson 3200 Photo with a custom-made slide for these large, longish negatives.
Scratch pad--temp working space - Light of Day
Church and cemetary at El Macho, Pecos Valley, NM


This is from the Anton Chico land grant, southwest of Pecos, in the spread-out old community of Dilia--way off the usual trails. This building was apparently a school or other public building before it was pressed into service for a time as the town's Post Office and then left to the lizards. Don't those walls hold a story or two? This is a Walker Evans sort of place, for sure. I used the Ikonta 616 on this day. There were no clouds, and the sky was definitely more hazy than in the mountains, so I used a red filter, but badly underexposed the shot despite a 1 stop filter correction, and I managed to tilt the composition noticeably. I debated whether this one was worth showing, but after some histogram stretches, rotating and cropping, it does showcase another side of New Mexico. Enjoy! -- Don

New Mexico is for "older folders!" - Light of Day

Attachment: NM-Trip-2005002b-small.jpg