Simplifatico

Mormon Crickets as Traveling Companions, and Calories

Photo: Mormon Hitchhiker, Slough Creek Trail, Yellowstone National Park, July 31, 2003. Self-portrait with a Minolta Dimage X.

In 2003, I observed more Mormon Crickets in Yellowstone National Park than I've seen in the past 15 years. They were everywhere.

The Mormon Cricket (Anabrus simplex) is neither a cricket (it's a katydid) nor a Mormon. It's a flightless, bumbling, cannibalistic beast of an insect that seems as out of place in North America as it does right at home in the bizarre environment of Yellowstone.

They are full of protein, and I've eaten them roasted. I like to soak them in salt water for a few minutes, then drop them in aluminum foil and cook them over the fire until they're brittle. If you eat it raw, get rid of the abdomen before eating the rest, because it's full of gooey nastiness you don't want to have in your mouth. When cooked, it has a sweeter flavor. Dress with a little cayenne pepper and eat them like popcorn.

The one in the photo lived to see another day.

Food Doesn't Have to Be Ultralight All the Time

Photo: Olympus C960Z, one of my first digital cameras.

There you have it. Documented proof that I don't always eat powders mixed with river water out of plastic bags. This meal, dinner on the Madison River in 2001 during a winter fishing trip into Beartrap Canyon: fresh broccoli soup, fried sausage and veggies, and a happy cup of coffee. These were the appetizers. The main course, of course, was fire-grilled trout.

Don't worry, though. All the cook gear is titanium...

The Character of Film

Ready Dog: Maia warming up in the back of the Subaru for a winter hike. Leica M6. Kodak BW400CN, scanned by North Coast Photo Services. No post processing! Photo by Ryan Jordan.

OK, I'm not going retro, nor will I reminisce about the good old days when public officials were still Good Men as a rule, and terrorists were kids who blew up mailboxes.

But I do plan to shoot more film this year.

There is something rather magical about the beauty of something exposed to Fuji Velvia 50 or, in the case above, Kodak BW400CN. Velvia is probably my favorite color film for outdoor photography, and BW400CN is my choice for low light portraiture.

I still hang on to my two film cameras: a Contax T3, now a decade old and still capable of blowing away anything I can weasel out of my modern digital compacts (including my current favorite, a Panasonic GF1), and of course, my trusty Leica M6, still going strong in its 21st year.

Of course, I have a few new cameras that I'll be using throughout the early part of 2009, including the GF1 and the Leica X1, but after feeling the pain of trying to post process even really good digital images from mid-sized and larger sensor cameras for some print projects I worked on this fall, I can't help but think that there is still a place for the beauty - and character - of film in my own photography.

Santa Sighting, Ellen Theater: Bozeman Christmas Stroll Photos with the Panasonic GF1

T minus Zero at the Bozeman Christmas Stroll. Panasonic GF1, Lumix G-Vario 20mm. f/1.7 1/80 sec ISO 100.

Downtown Ellen Theater, Bozeman Montana. Panasonic GF1, Lumix-G Vario 20mm. f/1.7, 1/30 sec, ISO 400.

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