Local Beauty

Finding simple beauty within an hour of home

By Crystal Amaya

September 7^th, 2016

cedar creek grist mill

A few months back I picked up a Fujifilm X series mirrorless camera but haven’t really been using it much since I was shooting commissioned work and needed my trusty Nikon. Finally getting a chance to break out the new gear, I started with a moody trip to the Grist Mill. It was actually quite beautiful out but the rustic feel of the Mill and the added moodiness of post processing seemed to pair well. The last photo in the set was taken with my phone through the viewfinder of my Yashica 44LM twin lens reflex camera. It shoots 127 film but I’ve converted it to shoot 35mm. The cool thing about using 35mm film is that it exposes the full frame, right out to the sprocket holes. I’ll update the set with a couple of the film scans when I have them.

Mount st helens

From Woodland, I wandered up the back side of Mount St Helens. Despite the bumpy and incredibly slow drive, it was perhaps the most relaxing of my road trips. Every twist and turn lead you to a new viewpoint and towards the end of the route, you’re on the side of the sleeping beauty with a view of 3 other peaks of awesomeness. I swapped back to the big camera for these shots, completely neglecting my little fuji that craved attention. Next time, little guy. Next time.

Ridgefield wildlife refuge

I’d like to say that I ended the long day with yet another photo stop…but I didn’t. I did however, wander up to Ridgefield not too long after though. With only 45 mins to spare before the gates automatically closed (locking you in the refuge until someone responds), I quickly made my way around the auto route. Aside from the occasional Heron, I didn’t get to see too much. Instead, I was treated to a beautiful sunset and a perfect chance to test the new lens I bought for the fuji. While I was on the fence about the camera itself, this little field trip gave me a few good reasons to keep it.