I've made the habit of taking Diana with me everywhere now because she is so small and fits in my purse, and I just got the last three rolls back from the lab. That's always a treat. I also got my hands on some of the new kodak Portra 400 that works pretty well in low light and I like having the latitude to run that film through when it's early morning or near twilight, even if you over expose on the sunny setting it works really well. (Since Diana is made for ISO 100). I did have one issue with a color roll that didn't seem to wind forward properly and overlapped, but I kind of liked the results. None of that is obvious here with the way i've got them grouped, but it's something that may be fun to play around with if I can control it in the future.

Beauty Edges Up to Death

Spring is a mixture of rotting as much as it is a time of new growth. On a recent trip to Sacramento with some friends we pulled over at the State Capital to wander around. There must have been every imaginable kind of camellia there in the gardens. Old bushes, established, thousands of flowers. I was, of course, drawn into the trampled, damp flowers on the ground. The perfect petaled versions were pretty, but not quite as interesting to me. In fact, the decay seemed to intensify their beauty. Two snapshots later and I had a new little project on my mind. Luckily for me, Grass Valley is covered in Camellias (having three in my own yard). These images are the results of my nightly walks along the streets here in town.