WINTER IN THE HIGH COUNTRY

PHOTOGRAPHING MINERALS IN COLOR

Photographing minerals in color is not an especially difficult task; however, an outline of procedure might encourage the beginner and help the more advanced avoid some of the pitfalls. Since no two mineral specimens are ever exactly alike, it is only by means of color photographs that more than a limited few may enjoy the beautiful, the unusual, or the rare specimens of a collector. This monograph is offered in the hope that more rockhounds will be able to photograph their outstanding specimens and exchange them with more and more of the growing number of hobbyists who are collecting minerals.Many types of cameras may be used for the photographing of minerals even those simple folding cameras using portrait or copying attachments; however, our preference is for a single lens reflex type camera having a long bellows draw or permitting the use of lens extension tubes.

Regardless of the type or size camera used, some form of camera stand which will be as vibration free as possible is necessary. (Also make your exposures in a place that is free from vibrations.) The illustrations show the homemade stand which we use. The base is a piece of ¼ in. plywood about 12 x 14 in. The edges of this are screwed to two heavy hardwood pieces to prevent warping. The upright piece is of hardwood with a slot cut out through the center and braced to hold it rigid. The base, as shown in the illustration, is of angle iron and iron rods, all welded together to give rigid triangular bracing. There are also two parallel hardwood strips on the outer edge of this upright to keep the camera bases perpendicular to the base at all times. We have three camera supports for three different outfits, each one made so that the camera lens will be over the center of the baseboard when the proper camera is attached. For 35mm slides we use an Exa camera and lens extension tubes for the close ups. With this we can take anything from a specimen the size of your hat, down to a small thumbnail and even enlarge the thumbnail 2x if desired. With cameras such as the Leica, a reflex housing is desirable. With single lens reflexes, only a set of lens extension tubes need be added to your equipment. A sliding back for 35mm film that will fit plate cameras also makes a good outfit. We adapted one of the Kodak backs made for the Recomar cameras to fit our 4x5 press camera and made many slides with it. The advantage of this was that we could focus on the ground glass, and arrange our specimen to fill the frame of the slide. For larger than 35mm pictures we use a 34x4 Auto Graflex that is about 40 years old. We sometimes use the full size and sometimes use a 24x3% roll film adapter. The pictures used to illustrate Mr. Flagg's article on collecting were made with the latter.

For lights we use one 200 watt lamphouse from an old movie projector (its condensing lens is attached to the housing) and a baby spot of 100 watts. The spot is focusing; the other is not. These will cover the ordinary cabinet size specimens nicely. For the big museum pieces photoflood or flash may be used.

There are several different color films on the market both foreign and domestic and we have tried several of them. Our best results and most accurate color have been obtained with the Anscochrome film. As this is written only daylight type film is available in Anscochrome, and so we have to use a number 10 conversion filter on all exposures. A new type balanced for flash has beenannounced, and by the time this is published no doubt will be in all camera stores. It too will probably take some kind of a filter to balance but should still be much faster than the combination of daylight film and No. 10 filter.

Color correction (CC) filters are also necessary if color values are to be held within very close limits. These come in sets of 7 cyan, 7 magenta, and 8 yellow, and a UV. We got the entire set of 22 in the 4x5 size and then cut them in half and made holders to go over each lamp. These CC filters are put in the light path and not used over the lens, thus correcting the light values. After some practice the filters to use on the various colored minerals can be predicted with fair accuracy, but at first it will be a trial and error proposition. After a trial exposure is made, various filters are held in back of the transparency until the right combination is found to get the exact color match. These filters are then put in the filter holders in front of the lights, and a second exposure made. This second exposure should get close to the actual color of the original, but on stubborn cases or for very critical color, it may be necessary to repeat the above matching until the color is exact. Of course the second or third exposures must be made under the exact conditions which the test was made, so accurate and complete records must be kept. For this we mimeographed some loose-leaf notebook sheets with the following headings on each page. (Each page has 22 lines so that a full 20 exposure 35mm roll can be kept on a single sheet.) Specimen No., Lens (focal length), Extension (distance from lens to film, accurately measured), Times of enlargement or reduction, Filters, (CC), Base exposure (such as meter reading, Factors (filter and for increase due to lens extension), Calculated time, actual exposure time, Color (specimen), Remarks. (Some of these headings will be explained more fully later.) The remarks heading is mostly for instructions for future exposures in case the color or exposure time is not right. An actual example from our record is: "Use CC 24 & CC 45, increase exposure a little."

Focusing is accomplished by moving the camera up or down, or better yet by moving the specimen up or down. The bellows, lens tubes or focusing ring on the lens is used only to get the right size image to fit your film. Exact focusing can be accomplished by moving the camera up or down on the stand, but a better job can be done by having an adjustable stage for the specimen since it is easier to move a specimen weighing a few ounces than to try to jockey a to or 12 pound camera outfit into position while keeping a sharp eye on a ground glass.

To make this final adjustment easy and certain, we built the stage shown in the illustration. A heavy wood base is used to prevent the stage from getting out of position once it is centered. The central, movable column, is an old lantern slide lens mount. The rack and pinion action of this mount give us over an inch of vertical movement with a nice fine feed. The top of the stage also has two lateral adjusting screws which will accurately position the specimen in the camera field, but this adjustment is not necessary for ordinary mineral specimens. It is very useful in photographing micromounts, however.

Focusing should be done with the lens wide open, but photographing must be done using a small stop, usually the smallest.

If you will get better results if you do we would like to emphasize a few points. Follow the developing times and temperatures in the instructions exactly. Don't keep the developer too long after it is mixed, and don't overwork the developer. Some instructions say not to keep developers more than 3 or 4 days, and some say 2 weeks. We have never been able to use our developers after 4 or 5 days without a color change in the film, so don't keep them more than 4 or 5 days. In spite of the instructions as to the number of rolls that can be developed in a given quantity of developer, we have found it best to throw the stuff away at 75% of rated capacity. You may want to do the same. And, last but not least, keep the developing solutions to plus or minus ½ degree of the temperature required. We have been able to develop successfully in Southern Arizona July and August temperatures by using the water jacket described below, and shown in the illustrations.

We had a tinsmith make us the water jacket. It is 6% inches deep. We made two Masonite tops for this jacket. One of them has the round holes cut out, and we use this one for developing roll film. Processing containers are polyethylene juice containers that can be bought at any five and dime or houseware store. We got the quart size since developing kits may usually be obtained in that size. We can develop 3 35mm rolls or 2 24x34 rolls or one of each in this size container, using Nikor reels.

The second top has rectangular cut outs, and we had the same tinsmith make 6 stainless steel tanks 4 inches x 5½ inches x 6 inches deep, for this adapter. These tanks hold up to 12 cut films, 4x5 or smaller. (The standard package of color film is 10.) Cut films are developed in standard hangers. One half gallon of solution is required for these. Notice also that there is a built in wash tank in the lower part of the jacket. This is insulated from the main jacket by a 1 inch waterproof compartment filled with rock wool pellets. Also notice that the entire outside of the jacket, including the bottom, is covered with a 1 inch insulating material. Since the wash water (with Anscochrome) can go into the high seventies, and the developing temperatures must be held to 68F, it is necessary to insulate the wash tank from the cooling jacket. The inside and outside of the jacket, as well as the Masonite tops, are coated with a waterproof preservative paint.

The heart of the temperature control is the thermostat shown in one of the pictures. This is made from a 396 incubator control thermostat and the valve stem from an old tire tube. First, the valve core is removed from the stem, and the top of the stem is then ground down about ½ inch until the top part of the valve core (when inserted) will project well above the rim of the stem. Next, the stem is soldered into a copper tube which is bent as shown in the picture until it is directly under the center of the thermostat wafer and about half way or a little more to the top of the tank. The other end of the tube is allowed to project through the side of the tank so that a rubber tube can be attached. One side of the thermostat is soldered to a threaded brass rod, long enough to project through a threaded plate or nut which is attached to the top of the control panel. The end of the copper tube is now connected to a bucket of ice water which is placed on a shelf above the developing equipment. We soldered a short length of copper tubing into the bottom part of the bucket to make this connection.

The bucket is now filled with crushed ice and enough water added to fill the bucket. (For the record, we have never had to use more than a half bucket of ice in even the hottest weather. The amount will vary with the room temperature.) To zero this in at 68 F is another trial and error proposition, but once set will not need to be changed or changed very little. Fill the water jacket with water at or close to 68 deg. Now jockey around using ice and or hot water until the temperature, as indicated on a good thermometer is exactly 68. After the temperature has reached 68 and stayed there for a few moments, disconnect the hose leading to the ice water and screw down on the control knob until water just begins to drip out of the copper tube leading to the valve. This is your correct setting. Now at any time that the water temperature in the jacket warms up, even ½ degree, the thermostat will expand and press against the valve, letting ice water in. If enough water comes in to reduce the temperature to 68 the valve closes. On very hot days it may be necessary to reduce the jacket temperature by ½ to one degree in order to keep the developing temperatures to an exact 68. In places where warming the jacket instead of cooling it is a problem, a thermostat control may be hooked up to heating devices, but we never worry about that in our dark room. On a few occasions we have had to cool our wash water a little during the last month of hot weather. Written instructions for doing anything at all always seem so complicated. Honestly, it's not as complicated as we made it sound, so just get the old camera out and give it a whirl. There is one secret ingredient, though, that we have been holding out on you, and that is patience. There is a lot of trial and error necessary to success, so make a try and an error, and you're on the way.

BY LOUIS R. JURWITZ A strange hush fell over the high country. “Golden Days” of October and November were still visible along murmuring brooks and in the few yellow leaves that still clung to the quaking aspens and sycamore trees as though reluctant to let go and float downward to earth. The busy squirrel stayed close to his hollow tree-restless deer and elk turned questioning eyes to the west, as they movedlike shadows through the tall pines-always they moved downhill. Some unvoiced inner warning urged them ever OPPOSITE PAGE “PAINTED DESERT AFTER A FEBRUARY SNOW STORM” BY FRED H. RAGSDALE. 5x7 Deardorff View Camera, 7” Goerz Dagor lens, CC-10G filter, at f.32, Ektachrome. The photographer was en route to Grand Canyon when a snow storm stopped him at Holbrook Feb. 8. The next day the storm had cleared and this sparkling photograph was what he found after a sneak storm had visited Painted Desert.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ALLEN C. REED

downward from the high country. The familiar shout of the jay was stilled-he had already left. Only deep silence wrapped the high peaks of the Lukachukais and the deep green slopes of Old Baldy. Humphrey's Peak raised its towering form to the sky as though sensing danger to the west.

First the wind came as a gentle caressing touch soothing the worried brow of the Hualpais. Then on the western horizon, from whence came the first gentle ripples of wind, a cloud dusted the deep blue of the hushed sky. As though in delight, that a cloud should follow in its tracks, the wind began to brag of its strength. It stilled the voice of the murmuring brook with its low pitched whistle through the pines-it mercilessly tore the golden leaves from their trees-but even though they knew they must fall-these golden leaves enlisted the aid of the hurrying wind and made of their fall to earth a rollicking flight.

Swifter moved the wind, and as though afraid to be left behind, the cloud in the west hurried eastward as it grew. Blotting out all vestiges of the turquoise skies as though it were afraid that the blue sky might in some way gather up its child-the wind that now whistled shrilly as it slashed across the ramparts of the Mogollon Rim, smashing with sledge-hammer blows against the basalt cliffs of the Sierra Anchas and Pinals.

To prove its strength, the shrill winds called to leaden skies for cold fingers to aid its onslaught. The cottontail hunched closely in his brushy shelter-the squirrel scurried to his warm nest in the hollow tree-as the first swirling snowflakes slanted earthward. The mighty antlered elk and deer quickened their pace, urging on their herds to greater speed. "Hurry-hurry" they seemed to say. "We must get below the Rim by morning."

CAMERA DATA CENTER PANEL "CATALINAS AND DESERT" BY ESTHER HENDERSON. A January storm visited the Catalina Mts. near Tucson but despite the nearness of snow the desert was warm and bright in the sun. OPPOSITE PAGE-"WINTER IN THE CATALINAS" BY ESTHER HENDERSON. A January storm deposited 48 inches of snow on Mt. Lemmon. An unusual storm resulted in an unusual winter scene. A few miles below the desert was just as though winter never happened. As in a magnificent pageant-leaden skies began to swirl into huge rolls and dark canyons from which the shrieking winds tore mountains of feathery snowflakes.

For five days, with only a pause now and then as if to renew energy for additional onslaughts, the wind and snow slashed at Arizona's high country. Mountainous drifts swept off high points in the fastnesses of the White Mountains and in the mighty San Francisco Peaks. The "big country" on the Colorado Plateau-from the Mogollon Rim, across the Painted Desert to the Defiance Plateau -was an unbroken expanse of deep snows with drifts cutting across all mesas and lowlands.

From January 23rd to the 27th in 1949 the biggest snowstorm of history laid its grim fingers over the land. As winds moved into the Rockies in search of new conquests, blue skies began to peep through hurrying clouds. A land of pure white stretched from the mighty Colorado to Four Corners. The icy grip of winter had sealed the voice of the brook-hungry birds fell exhausted on the unbroken white expanse. Panic-stricken deer and elk kept moving in their clearings-occasionally one member would lunge into the deep snow but soon was stopped by exhaustion in the 10 foot drifts that lay in all directions.

Man struggled from his snow-smothered shelters. Frantically the call for help crackled over lines and radio. Bulldozers and blades plowed out main roads. But time was short-those in the "Big Country" needed help. Sheep huddled together as if to gather courage from each other. The red man raised dark eyes to the horizon-all that could be seen was endless expanses of snow marked by the stark red cliffs of his beloved land. "Hark! What is that noise? A motor? Yes!" From the south giant silver birds winged into the thick silence of the "Big Country." Hay for the sheep, food and medicine for the hungry and sick. Tons upon tons rained downward to the silent land. Cattle, forsaken, could eat once again. The helpless deer and elk, at first afraid, now seemed to understand-they too seemed grateful for the passage of the big silver bird that brought them life once again.

This was the year of the famous "Haylift." Air Force, Civil Air Patrol and private planes all banded together to bring aid to the stricken northland. And when the ledgerwas balanced once more, many thousands had proven that truly “-we are our brothers keeper.” Unselfishly, everyone helped to bring comfort to the stricken land. No questions were asked save “What can I do to help?” And when records of weather were gathered together for January 1949, they told the grim story of hugh snows, bitter cold, wind, and hardship. A map of the total snowfall for the month told the almost unbelievable story of 105 inches of snow at Flagstaff, 85 inches at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, 63 at McNary, 78 inches at Alpine-even in the shadow of the Mexican border, Bisbee totalled 39 inches of snow! Most lowland desert areas also saw a dusting of snow during this month that brought 400 per cent more snow than an average January experiences. The icy grip of “Old Man Winter” was graphically emphasized by the 33 degree below zero reading at the tiny lumber camp of Maverick, deep in the White Mountains, to equal the coldest temperature ever recorded in Arizona.

ALLEN C. REED

Good friends and neighbors throughout Arizona, who faithfully record the passing weather picture, had some very pointed remarks to make. Such as: Reverend Andrew McGaffin, a missionary at Kayenta reporting, “Many of the sheep of the Navajos are dying because of cold and depth of snow 3 to 4 feet deep toward the Black Mountain.” Mrs. Ernst Burrus, a rancher northeast of Flagstaff for many decades, said “We have never seen as much snow before. Many birds have died though I put out food daily.” Schools were closed at Jerome on account of deep snow on the 25th and 26th. “No through buses all week” said Paul Yates, an old-timer in Jerome. Pointing up the widespread severity of storms during this January was the record made by Stanley W. Coon of Duncan. “I have talked to several people who have lived here over 60 years and no one ever saw a snow over 6 inches and only one or two of them. Today’s snow amounted to 15 inches!” Sissie M. Walker of Skull Valley mentioned that their ranch was completely snowed in on the 25th and it was almost impossible to walk in the snow. In some placesdrifts were 6 feet high. A four-wheel drive truck was stuck in a drift on the 23rd and was useless after that. Horseback was finally utilized to get out. Shrieking winds visited all sections of Arizona during that fateful January. Mrs. John Sala wrote from her ranch north of Tombstone, “On the night of the 28th and early on the 29th terrific winds blew snow into the house, forcing it through supposedly tight joints.” The viciousness of January storms in 1949 were not without their blessings. Parched soils were moistened. Ground water and runoff improved over the entire state during the month. Streams that had been dry for years began to run again. Almost 220,000 acre feet of precious water flowed into nearly dry reservoirs. Another memorable winter in Arizona was that of December 1915-January 1916. The storm of December 30-31 dumped 51 inches of snow on Flagstaff, 36 inches at Williams, and 38 inches at the Bly Ranger Station just north of the Mogollon Rim, in the two day period. At Flagstaff, several buildings collapsed from the weight of the snow. The ground became saturated in January from melting of the deep December snows. To aggravate a worsening condition, a series of heavy rain storms, beginning on the 15th caused general flooding of main rivers throughout the state. The Gila River, Agua Fria River, Salt and Colorado Rivers all had record peak flows as a result of the tremendous storms of December and January 1915-16. Traffic over the various railroads and stage lines was interfered with and in some cases entirely suspended. So said the official Weather Bureau report for January 1916.

Always though, in this enchanted land of Arizona, the warm Spring sun caresses the mesas and mountains-the “Big Country”-and the pine clad slopes, calling forth new grasses and brilliant flowers to jewel the landscape. The friendly squirrel again scampers over rocks and trees, chattering as he searches for food. The shout of the jay heralds the cautious approach of the mother and her fawn. Again all is well as the gentle breeze whispers through the pines telling tales of past storms and those yet to come.