Hunting in the In-Ko-Pah Mountains

Went on a 2 day backpacking trip to hunt for pictographs in the In-Ko-Pah mountains. The night sky was perfect for star gazing, I could easily see the Andromeda Galaxy with my binoculars and shooting stars were streaking across the sky all night, especially from 3am-5am when I easily saw 3-4 per minute it seemed like.

Jupiter may be one of the outer bright streaks, not sure
(Olympus OM-2s, 28mm, f/5.6, Lomography 100 ISO color film)


The hunt was good, we found some new pictographs on a panel I had visited before but did not see them because they are so faint. I still did not see them while photographing the "blank" boulder face but DStretch made them pop out once I got home and processed the photos.

Here is a 5 image stitched photo of what looked like a blank boulder face


Here is the DStretched version...it revealed two different pictographs


Lets look at a couple of the individual images used to stitch everything together, they will show more detail.

Here is the top section before/after



Here is the bottom section before/after



Just amazing...you simply cannot see these pictographs staring at the boulder!

Here is another panel that I did not see a pictograph on, mostly because I was focused on the obvious one below it. These photos reveal another sun burst above and to the right of the obvious one.



If you have Manfred Knaak's book The Forgotten Artist: Indians of Anza-Borrego and Their Rock Art and look on page 73 you will see a panel of rock art that looks like it is in pretty good condition. He credits the Museum of Man for the photo so chances are it is from the 30's or 40's, possibly from Malcolm Rodgers.

I used an old 1937 camera and old expired color film to photograph it as best I could to match, here are the results



The photo in Knaak's book looks awfully good compared to what I photographed last weekend, I wonder if the deterioration over the years is genuine or if the older photo in the book was modified somehow to represent more of what the photographer believed he/she saw.

Here are a few more before/after photos of the same panel













Total Mylar Balloons this trip - 4 (sorry, no photo)

DStretch - Digital vs Film

You are probably thinking why is this even a debate worth discussing, film is dead and digital is better anyway, how could a film photograph possibly be anywhere near as good for using with DStretch compared to a high resolution digital photograph...well so did I so I decided to make an experiment and see. I know I have some old film photographs of rock art somewhere, wouldn't it be cool to scan those in and run DStretch on them?

To make this experiment even more of a challenge, I used a vintage 1937 Zeiss Nettar 6x9 folding camera. I used modern Kodak Potra 160 color film. For the digital camera I used a new Canon S100 digital camera on "P" mode. I had the film developed by a local lab and they scanned it to disk for me in the lowest resolution they have which is 3034x2048(6.2MP). The digital file was 3000x4000(12.0MP) I did not do any post processing on either file other than run DStretch on them. I used the default preset of YRD on both.

Here are the original photos

Digital Camera


Film Camera


Here are the DStretched versions

Digital Camera


Film Camera


What do you think? Better than you thought I would bet, I have to say I like the film version better. So does this mean I am shooting film from now on for all my rock art? Ummm, no...not at all, that would cost a fortune!! Digital still makes much more sense for rock art and you can take hundreds of photos and it costs nothing. This does make an interesting case for finding some of my old negatives and trying to scan them in to run DStretch on them. Let me know if you have any similar results.

As a bonus, here is photo I accidentally double exposed, those old cameras don't have built in double exposure prevention mechanisms so you gotta remember to wind the film before taking the next shot...ooops!

Star Trails double exposed with rock art

Little Blair to Alma Wash Backpack Trip - ABDSP

Did a 2 day backpack trip from Little Blair over to Alma Wash, one of my most favorite trips in ABDSP so far, awesome backcountry scenery. My son was able to go on this trip also which I am happy about, I enjoy having him go out with me on trips. It was two full days of remote desert hiking, very peaceful and enjoyable.

Here is the approximate route


In my quest to continue devolving as a photographer I brought a 1937 Zeiss Nettar 515/2 folding camera. It is actually a very good camera and has a nice sharp lens, I think it is my new favorite camera. This camera is a 6x9 format and uses 120 size film so I get 8 exposures per roll. Notice the light meter, leather case and focus chart sheet on the ground. This photo courtesy of Craig and his phone camera.


Double exposure prevention mechanism...not on this baby! Ooops....Star trails double exposed with rock art. Kodak Portra 160


Here is a DStretched version, I like this one better


This is looking at the Laguna Mountains on our way up Whale Peak. Kodak Portra 160


Spencer staying tough up Whale Peak. Kodak Portra 160


Christopher and Craig heading down the ridge towards Split Rock, Salton Sea way off in the distance. Kodak Portra 160


Sunset from our campsite near Split Rock. Kodak Portra 160


Somewhere in Hapaha Flat taking a break and checking the maps. I took this picture with my polarized sun glasses in front of the lens. Kodak Ektar 100


Looking down an unnamed drainage we hiked up from Hapaha Flat. Kodak Ektar 100


Craig and Christopher smile for the camera. Kodak Ektar 100


Christopher looking back at the ridge we came down the day before. Kodak Ektar 100


Dead Bighorn Ram, photo with digital camera (yeah, I brought my Canon S100 just in case)


Half way down the ridge into Starfish Cove. Kodak Ektar 100


Christopher and Craig at the mouth of Alma Wash, I think this photo sums up the trip, we were all beat by the end of day 2. Kodak Ektar 100


On our way home I had the pleasure of experiencing the red lights of the wind turbines in Ocotillo, can't say I enjoyed it. Photo from digital camera, I ran out of film.


Total Mylar Balloons this trip - 3 and a bonus Radiosonde Weather Balloon

Rattlesnake Spring / Badlands - ABDSP

Went out to cache water for the 2014 Bighorn Sheep Count last weekend and spent the night in the Badlands. The spring looked good and we didn't see any more dead sheep so that is a great thing. Gorgeous weather. More film fun, all photos from Olympus OM-2S and Ektar 100 film.

With the amount of booze I drank that night I am surprised I even found Polaris, poor composition aside I am liking the film long exposure star trails, I did not have to edit this photo at all


Early morning reflections, what I saw when I "woke" up


The Ektar film makes my truck look great, where are all the pinstripes?? Love the polarizer vignetting


Gary and Randy on the trail into Rattlesnake Canyon


'Ol Bess was still there, hasn't budged an inch


At some point looking down Rattlesnake Canyon


At some point looking up Rattlesnake Canyon


This is a great shot of the lower portion of Rattlesnake Canyon, this is where we freestyle'd down a loose rocky ridge into the canyon


Panorama of Borrego and the sand blowing


Learning to control exposure on a manual film camera


Looking back at the "Rosa's", done for the day



Total Mylar Balloons this trip - 2 (no pictures)