Point Lobos in Color and B&W

One of our favorite places in the Monterey area is Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. We’ve been there a couple times before but still had areas we hadn’t been to. It’s a little difficult to plan exactly what we would see since parking can be hard to come by. We need to start our hike wherever we’re able to park.

This time, we revisited part we had seen before but also got to explore some new areas.

I had my Minolta X-700 and my MD 35-70mm f/3.5 lens. I really enjoyed using that camera and lens combination in Los Angeles and was looking forward to using it for the rest of our trip.

I started out with a roll of Kodak Color Plus that I had started the day before in Pacific Grove (which I’ll post about soon). I took 11 photos in Pacific Grove and finished the roll in Point Lobos.

One of the intriguing features of the MD 35-70mm f/3.5 lens is a macro mode. I tested it a few times before our trip and wanted to try it on our trip, in the wild, as it were.

As I mentioned when I first got this lens, it is not truly macro since its 2 magnification options are 1:4 and 1:7. I don’t fully understand the technical aspects, but based on some of my research, a true macro ratio is 1:1 or 1:2 magnification at most. But still a fun option.

Focusing a macro lens is difficult because the area that is in focus is small. Doing so outside on a windy day increases the difficulty.

I used it with better success the day before in Pacific Grove when I took a couple pictures of shells which were stable in the sand.

I had more mixed results in Point Lobos.

I finished the roll of Color Plus, and we still had some hiking ahead of us. I decided to switch to a roll of Ilford HP5 Plus. It was a cloudy day so the black and white photos captured a certain mood.