lynnb
Veteran
#USA13-12 camping at St Davids Lakes reserve, Arizona, 12 May 1979. It was very hot. After going for a swim I met a friendly bunch of Americans who invited me to join them for a cold beer and some corn chip dip. I didn't know what Jalapeno chillies were. A second beer never tasted so good, or went down so fast. Before leaving I asked for a copy of the dip recipe.
lynnb
Veteran
#USA13-10. Lucky Cuss Saloon, Tombstone AZ, 13 May 1979.
After dinner in the campground, it was off to Tombstone for some bar hopping. First stop was the Lucky Cuss Saloon. Then the Crystal Palace. In the Crystal Palace there was a glassed-in room adjacent to the bar with an old broken stagecoach with a skeleton, a sandy floor and some logs. It was bathed in red light. On closer inspection there were a number of large rattlesnakes as well.
After dinner in the campground, it was off to Tombstone for some bar hopping. First stop was the Lucky Cuss Saloon. Then the Crystal Palace. In the Crystal Palace there was a glassed-in room adjacent to the bar with an old broken stagecoach with a skeleton, a sandy floor and some logs. It was bathed in red light. On closer inspection there were a number of large rattlesnakes as well.
lynnb
Veteran
#USA13-11. Lucky Cuss Saloon, Tombstone AZ, 13 May 1979. Camera movement may be a combination of slow shutter speed and the effects of a few drinks in the bar 😆
lynnb
Veteran
#USA13-13 George Johnson, hanged by mistake, Tombstone AZ, 13 May 1979.
Next morning another visit to Tombstone, including the cemetery. This grave caught my attention. Would you believe this is roll 13 frame 13! The grave has been renovated since I was there.
Next morning another visit to Tombstone, including the cemetery. This grave caught my attention. Would you believe this is roll 13 frame 13! The grave has been renovated since I was there.
lynnb
Veteran
#USA13-15. Crystal Palace Saloon, Tombstone AZ, 13 May 1979
lynnb
Veteran
#USA13-14. Crystal Palace bar, Tombstone AZ, 13 May 1979. You can just see the skeleton and stage coach in the red room at the back.
lynnb
Veteran
#USA13-18 Lucky Cuss Saloon and Tombstone main street, 13 May 1979
lynnb
Veteran
#USA13-20 OK Corral, Tombstone Arizona, 13 May 1979. Signposted as the site of the famous gunfight between Virgil Earp, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and some cowboys with whom they were having a feud. From Wikipedia:
"...The gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a thirty-second gunfight between lawmen led by Virgil Earp and members of a loosely organized group of outlaws called the Cowboys that occurred at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Arizona, United States. It is generally regarded as the most famous gunfight in the history of the American Old West."
"...Despite its name, the gunfight did not take place within or next to the O.K. Corral, which fronted Allen Street and had a rear entrance lined with horse stalls on Fremont Street. The shootout actually took place in a narrow lot on the side of C. S. Fly's photography studio on Fremont Street, six doors west of the O.K. Corral's rear entrance."
"...The gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a thirty-second gunfight between lawmen led by Virgil Earp and members of a loosely organized group of outlaws called the Cowboys that occurred at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Arizona, United States. It is generally regarded as the most famous gunfight in the history of the American Old West."
"...Despite its name, the gunfight did not take place within or next to the O.K. Corral, which fronted Allen Street and had a rear entrance lined with horse stalls on Fremont Street. The shootout actually took place in a narrow lot on the side of C. S. Fly's photography studio on Fremont Street, six doors west of the O.K. Corral's rear entrance."
lynnb
Veteran
#USA13-21 Tombstone Arizona, main street, 13 May 1979
lynnb
Veteran
Hi Henry, the eastbound leg of my trip was on Interstate 10, while westbound was on Interstate 90, so apart from brushing the south part of Minnesota I didn't get to any of those States. I've added a map of my route to my original post #1.
raid
Dad Photographer
Who can make this thread a sticky at RFF? It is a photographic exploration of many parts of the USA by Lynn.
raid
Dad Photographer
I don't know why you have kept this amazing trip away from RFF for so long. You made an excellent decision to invest time and effort into it now. You came to New Orleans but not to little Pensacola. In 1979 I was still living in Baghdad, Iraq. I was dreaming of one day doing such a trip around the USA.In 1979 I travelled overseas for the first time. It was an impulsive trip - I was on my lunch break and when I saw cheap airfares to the US in a travel agent’s window (AUD$399 return) I bought a return ticket to LA on the spot, flying Pan Am. It was an easy decision as I had always wanted to see the major US national parks and experience New York and San Francisco.
The next question was how to get around once there. Fortuitously there was an adventure travel company located above the travel agency, and it didn’t take much persuading to book an around-America camping/adventure trip lasting 6 weeks. That gave me 3 weeks to do some independent travel before my return flight to Australia.
My camera at the time was a Nikon FM with three primes: the 35mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.4 and 105mm f/2.5. Film choice was easy: I decided on my favourite colour emulsion Kodachrome 25.
And so to Sydney’s Kingsford Smith airport on the day of departure in early May 1979, feeling very excited. I needed to buy duty free film on the way. Being cautious I checked the unloaded camera in the car only to discover it had jammed when I tried to cock the shutter. The flight was due to depart in three hours. Panic.
I detoured to the Nikon importer’s service centre to see if it was a quick fix. They were sympathetic but nothing could be done before my flight. My only option was to buy a new body. At least I could buy it duty free.
At the duty free store I decided on a new Nikon FE. I also bought 60 rolls of Kodachrome 25/36, an amount which amazed the sales assistant. I asked him to pack the film into lead lined X-ray protective pouches before he sealed the camera and film into a duty free bag (which could only be opened once through the Customs barrier at the airport)*. Sealed bag in hand I rushed to make my flight, glad to make it in time after the unexpected detour and delays.
I met a young woman at the boarding gate. She was about my age, with an American accent, and her name was Karen. She turned out to be booked on the same trip I was. We boarded our flight and the adventure began.
*It wasn’t until much later that I realised the sales receipt only included the camera. The film gods were smiling that day.
https://www.rangefinderforum.com/gallerysoft/gallery/27021/U27021.1700629148.0.jpg
(map added by Moderator Doug at OP's request)
A note about the photos
It was only in November 2023 - 44 years later - that I got around to scanning most of the slides. In the intervening years a small number have gone missing, though thankfully the more memorable pictures have survived. At least I established a file naming system from the outset: USA#roll_number-#frame_number eg USA01-15. At time of writing I’ve scanned over 1,800 slides on my Epson V700 at 4800 dpi, which will now need post processing in Lightroom. I’ll keep working on them as I add to this thread.
Archiver
Veteran
I agree. To me, this thread is fully in the spirit of RFF, despite the photos being shot with an unRF SLR. I feel that RFF is all about personal journeys and vision, and documentation with classic cameras.
AlwaysOnAuto
Well-known
It looks like your tour van group were the only people in Tombstone when you were there.
lynnb
Veteran
I think the only other people there were resting peacefully in Boot Hill with George Johnson!
lynnb
Veteran
From Tombstone I travelled to El Paso/Juarez, staying in a campground a 15 minutes out of town. No photos but a good night out at the Villa Espanola restaurant in Juarez, $5 for a steak and $2.50 for the band to play a song.
Next day (14 May) to Carlsbad Caverns, photographing the caverns with ISO25 film and an f/2.8 lens was quite the challenge. I remind myself that sharpness is a bourgeois concept.
#USA13-23 Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico, 14 May 1979.
Next day (14 May) to Carlsbad Caverns, photographing the caverns with ISO25 film and an f/2.8 lens was quite the challenge. I remind myself that sharpness is a bourgeois concept.
#USA13-23 Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico, 14 May 1979.
lynnb
Veteran
#USA13-27 Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico, 14 May 1979.
In this case converting to bw and adding some grain in LR6 seemed the best option.
In this case converting to bw and adding some grain in LR6 seemed the best option.
lynnb
Veteran
#USA13-29 Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico, 14 May 1979.
In this case I think it was a hand held exposure at >1sec without a tripod. Let's call it an abstract. knowing my cave photos left much to be desired I bought some transparencies from the souvenir shop. 44 year later they are very faded and effectively unusable. The Kodachromes are like new.
In this case I think it was a hand held exposure at >1sec without a tripod. Let's call it an abstract. knowing my cave photos left much to be desired I bought some transparencies from the souvenir shop. 44 year later they are very faded and effectively unusable. The Kodachromes are like new.
Freakscene
Obscure member
The photos are great Lynn, but this use situation is the sort of thing I think of when I am tempted to curse any current camera I’m using.
lynnb
Veteran
#USA13-30 camping at Whites City/Carlsbad Caverns, southern NM, 14 May 1979.
We had camped the previous night in El Paso, after spending the evening in Juarez. The US-Mexico border was very open, you just walked through.. I guess we looked American.
We had camped the previous night in El Paso, after spending the evening in Juarez. The US-Mexico border was very open, you just walked through.. I guess we looked American.