Stone House

This old place is way out on the open prairie, just about smack dab in the middle of nowhere.  These days it is relatively east to drive part way out, and then walk the last mile or two out to what remains of the building.  Can you imagine what it would have been like to homestead out here...?  On this occasion we were not able to walk right up to the old stone structure, as the creek oxbow in front of us was full of water.  We probably could have found a way across, without getting wet, if we had circled around somewhat.  Instead I just ended up taking this large format photograph from here.  This one was also part of the batch of color film that I recently processed.  The colors are a little off on this one too, but not quite as badly as some of the others.  This was Fujichrome Velvia 100 that expired in 2010.  It was exposed in the summer of 2017, after sitting loaded in the film holder since November of 2014.  In May of 2021, after sitting in the fridge since exposure, it was developed with chemistry that expired in 2008.

I wanted to use up all these old materials, without wasting them.  But, the cost of film has escalated dramatically in recent months.  4" x 5" color transparency film now costs between $6 to $7 per sheet, plus the chemistry is rather costly as well.  The chemistry adds another $3 to $4 per sheet to the cost.  At those prices the materials must be properly utilized.