a week...

... until I go to Chicago. Unexpected gallery related things chewed up most of my day yesterday, but today I'm taking inventory of unprocessed film and deciding which batch to attack first, starting tonight. There's more than I thought, mostly medium format. I'm not likely to get all the way through it before heading east. But that's OK, because I'm probably going to shoot more film while there, and some of the MF has been around long enough that I don't even remember what's on it. So I'll probably do some of the 35mm stuff first.

I need to carry my digital gear on this trip, because of the need to document some fast-flying critters for work. Endangered dragonflies are a lot easier to catch in flight with an auto-focus tele-macro. And I keep an old beat up medium format body stored in Chicago, so it's simple enough to carry one lens and be able to shoot film, also. But I may pack a Leica too since it adds minimally to bulk and weight, and have the capability to shoot several different ways.

It's going to be a funny schedule this time, with an early start and field work every day (including weekends) that is sunny and warm and not too windy. I'll have a crew of biologists with me, and they'll be staying very close to the project site so I'll have weather eyes on the ground. On rainy days, which have been not uncommon in the midwest recently, we have the choice of doing office work, or if it's been a good week and we've gotten enough done, taking a day off on short notice. Even on days we work, the critter is down and in hiding by 1:00 pm, so we grab lunch, clean up, tidy up our field notes, and we're done by 2:30. I may have afternoon meetings a few days including one with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and there will be days when I have a ton of e-mail to sort through... usually best done on a fast wi-fi connection from an inner city coffee house, where I can get a solid network connection... or need to edit documents or meet some deadline that I don't even know about yet. But it's flexible. Some days I'll probably work long hours, others will be short days.

So I'm taking advantage of the long summer days to book a few shoots, generally after 5 when the light will be better. I'm not sure when the next Chicago trip will be, so no point in waiting. Two shoots are set, two more are in discussion stages, and we'll see what else might materialize.