Crossing the Arctic Circle

It’s been approximately 30 years since I transitioned from film to digital photography. Those who are not of that era cannot appreciate how difficult it was to decide which pictures to take and which not to.

The largest regular film rolls took 36 pictures. In my childhood my dad used a Mercury “half frame” camera that took 72 images per roll by exposing only half of the 35mm width each time. It was ok for slides, but not for prints.

There was a cost for the film, and then the greater cost of processing the film. My 35 mm Minolta SLR was an excellent camera. I typically limited myself to two rolls of film a day (72 pictures) while traveling. If memory serves me correctly, two rolls would have cost approximately $20 for the film and processing. In those days $20 would have paid for a nice evening out, dinner and a movie for a young couple.

My subject matter selection and photo execution were rarely perfect. However, it was not until the pictures were returned from processing that this became apparent. Since that usually took over a week the opportunity to retake a picture did not exist.

That brings me generally to this trip and today in particular. I probably took over 150 pictures today. The hardest part was figuring out which ones to share with you. At every turn there was a new “magnificent” that I thought mighty eclipse the preceding “spectacular”. Well, what you don’t see you don’t get!

Here are my selections of the day:

Peace Everyone. Pete