Photos from May - June 2025
Contents:Nostalgic to Me,
Casual Photographs,
First SLR Playtest
Nostalgic to Me
Continuing from the previous gallery, this roll finishes off all the pictures I took while at Cedar Point, showing more of the different coasters. It continues with pictures of Jake before finishing with pictures from the park in my Nana's neighborhood. More images than I like suffer from a "light leak", which is characterized by the orange blobs in the picture. Errors like this are impossible to know about until you develop the film and see the picture.
Overall, I really do like the pictures and how they turned out. My favorite picture I've taken up to this point, "Inside Nana's House", which is basically my dream house, but more on that later. I'd like to think that at this point I've become far more familiar with these cameras so that the pictures turn out nicer. The images of the neighborhood park for instance turned out very well; mistakes beyond my control appear to be less frequent, and this is not to say there aren't area's I can still improve, I just think that the quality of each individual picture is greater than from when I started.
- Camera:Olympus Stylus 150 mju Zoom (Point and Shoot)
- Film:Kodak 400 ISO
- Date: May, 2025
Cedar Point Western Town
Location: Sandusky; Cedar Point
About: Cedar Point has one area in the park that looks very old-timey. There are buildings like this, leather and glass work shops, massive trees all around, and a petting zoo with various animals. I really like the look of this building, it looks very authentic, like it was here before the park but never torn down.
Top Thrill 2
Location: Sandusky; Cedar Point
About: The coaster you see reaching up the highest is the Top Thrill 2; it's the fastest coaster in the park and probably a favorite among park-goers.
Millennium Force
Location: Sandusky; Cedar Point
About: One of my favorite rides; the Millennium Force goes very high up for the first hill (pictured here), then speeds down as it goes up and down more hills. The rumour I always heard as a kid is that you can see Canada from the top.
Millennium Force II
Location: Sandusky; Cedar Point
About: Another view of Millennium Force from our spot in line. I like this picture because it gives a unique angle of the first hill, but the line of people also adds charm.
Millennium Force III
Location: Sandusky; Cedar Point
About: Another view of Millennium Force from our spot in line. Here I used the zoom on the camera to capture one of the coasters as they were making their way up. This ride had three different colored coasters, red, yellow, and blue. As we were waiting in line, we all took bets as to which color coaster we would end up on. I believe we got the yellow one.
In Line for the Millennium Force
Location: Sandusky; Cedar Point
About: A picture of me and Omu while we were waiting in line; this was taken by a friend whom was visiting for the weekend. It's funny how when he took the picture, he made sure to get both me and this stranger into frame. As you can also see, the bright light in the top right indicates that the camera's flash went off, which is funny considering the time of day. I don't know who this guy is behind me, but he fits well into the picture; he also looks oddly familiar...
Siren's Curse
Location: Sandusky; Cedar Point
About: This is a new ride they were currently testing when we visited today. I will never ride this, it does this terrifying thing where the track tilts, completely detaching from both one end and connecting to another. I hope I explained that well, but my point is that this is something I'd never want to ride, although it does look really cool.
Rougarou
Location: Sandusky; Cedar Point
About: An easy shot of Rougarou while walking through the park. I captured this at a good time to get the coaster in the shot, but if I only waiting a second longer the coaster would be more in the foreground.
Blue Streak
Location: Sandusky; Cedar Point
About: Blue Streak is a ride that was built in the 1960's, and it's still up and running to this day. The line for this ride isn't ever very long, but that's because you can really feel its age. If you have back or neck problems, you should NOT ride this. I really do like this ride, but after riding it just once your back and neck hurts from it snapping you around up and down, left and right.
Walking in the Park
Location: Sandusky; Cedar Point
About: A view of the park as we were walking about. I didn't realize it taking the photo, but this perfectly looks down Corkscrew, the blue ride right in the far center that loops around. I think this shot would have been better if I took it horizontally instead of vertical.
Rougarou II
Location: Sandusky; Cedar Point
About: Another view of Rougarou, with Iron Dragon standing before it. I don't have too much to say about this picture, other than "not bad I guess".
Top Thrill 2 II
Location: Sandusky; Cedar Point
About: I was with two other people this day, and they both really wanted to ride Top Thrill 2. Since I was unwilling to, I took comfort on the bleachers they had watching the ride. Top Thrill 2 has these really cool sound effects that play when launching the coaster, and overall is kind-of fun to watch, especially to see the people and their reaction when it first launches.
Welcome to Cedar Point
Location: Sandusky; Cedar Point
About: A picture of the welcome sign as we were leaving the park. The coaster in the background is the Gatekeeper, which is at the very front of the park.
Summer Clouds
Location: Unknown
About: Likely taken at home, this picture has three key components that make it what it is: the green tree in the bottom right, the blue sky which gets darker higher up in the shot, and the large white cloud in the middle. I really like this image and think that each of these three parts fit together very well.
Jake in the Grass
Location: Home; Front Yard
About: One of my better shots of Jake. The setting here is in the shade provided by a large tree, with sun visible in the background showing that it's a sunny day. Despite being in the shade, Jake stands out bright and clear, perfectly in focus standing upright in his usual way. What he see's off camera I don't know, but this beautiful dog was beautifully captured in this photo.
Jake in the Grass II
Location: Home; Front Yard
About: When I took this (and the next) photo, I wanted to get the tree in frame thinking that it would lead to a cool shot. Although I think the image turned out fine, the subject of the picture is Jake, not the tree which unfortunately takes up over a third of the frame. I'm not sure of how I could've better staged this shot; although the image is fine, it could be better.
Jake Sitting Outside
Location: Home; Front Yard
About: This image better captures my intent from the previous picture. Jake remains the subject, even if he is further away, with the tree not taking up too much of the shot. The lighting overall is better too; unlike the previous picture, the tree doesn't appear to be illuminated or glowing (I likely had flash on in the previous).
Jake in the Driveway, Laying Out
Location: Home; Front Yard
About: I like this picture, it very well captures the nature that surround us at home; the trees in the distance of different colors and shades of green, the grass covering the earth, and the branches at the top of the image. The image does appear to be on the brighter side, and it is suffering from some "light leak", but besides this I like the end result; Jake laying out on the driveway is a nice touch too.
Clubhouse
Location: Home; Back Yard
About: It's hard for me to describe what I feel and see in the picture. The Clubhouse surrounded by all the different trees and the slight haze in the sky give off a nostalgic vibe, or a dreamy feel, or a comforting memory... All there is to say is I like this image.
Rustic Neighborhood Park
Location: Neighborhood Park; Baseball Field
About: The park in this neighborhood has aged a lot since I was a kid. I guess it hasn't really changed too much, but it's become cared for a lot less. This is more clear in the following pictures, but you scan see it here from the weeds in the grass and the baseball field which is totally covered with grass now instead of dirt. Even through its apparent age, I still like it here; warm memories come back whenever I go walking though here.
Rustic Neighborhood Park II
Location: Neighborhood Park; Playground
About: The playground I used to play on as a kid. All the weeds in the grass is very unfortunate as I remember this place being to fresh and alive in my youth (or maybe I just never noticed it). The playground itself has not changed at all. Everything is original to how it was back when I was young, but also back when it was first built who knows how long ago. This is my no means fancy, but I had fun here; I feel like playground now-a-days have darker duller colors and aren't as bright and exciting looking as this, I wonder why.
Rustic Neighborhood Park III
Location: Neighborhood Park; Jungle Dome
About: I'm not sure what exactly you'd call this, but this was something I had a lot of fun playing on as a kid. It's amazing to see it today and notice that it has not changed at all, the only real difference being the grass covered with weeds. The red and yellow theme of this also is very symbolic of this dome, even more so is the circle shape formed by smaller triangles. This image is really stirring up my imagination...
Rustic Neighborhood Park IV
Location: Neighborhood Park; Roundabout
About: One of my favorite shots; the roundabout sharp and in focus with the rest of the park blurry. The dirt ring around the roundabout shows it does still see use despite its clear age.
Rustic Neighborhood Park V
Location: Neighborhood Park; Top of the Playground
About: When coming to this park as a kid I remember it being absolutely huge. Those swings in the distance felt like they were so much further from the playground, and the open grass field looked miles long. I miss those days when the world felt this big; now things feel different since seeing things though the eyes of an adult. I see the imperfections that I missed as a kid, unable to look past the reality of the world that I was either blind to or ignorant of in my youth.
American Flag in the Park
Location: Neighborhood Park
About: At the center of the park is an American Flag. It wasn't windy the day I took this picture, so I couldn't get it waving in the wind; despite this I still like the resulting image, especially with the giant tree in the background towering over the flagpole.
Inside Nana's House
Location: Nana's House; Kitchen
About: Of every picture I've taken thus far, this is my favorite. This is the inside of Nana's house on an average day. There is so much to look at in the picture, from the decorations to the counter space and everything between. What you are looking at is my dream home; a place with character and personality. If you point at something and ask "where did this come from" you'll be told a story about a family member or friend who gave it to her, or how it's from her home village in Serbia, or that it was going to be thrown away but was taken to be kept and held onto. It's a home like this that I want to live in, not your modern minimalist-styled house that has no personality, that doesn't feel lived in.
Knit Flowers
Location: Nana's House; Living Room
About: The same vase of hand-knit flowers I photographed months earlier. Nothing here is different, except where I was sitting to take the picture. I've already said this, but I love these flowers, Nana does such a good job making these. The pedestal it's place upon is al very unique, I'm not sure where you find something like this.
Rooster
Location: Nana's House; Kitchen
About: Or maybe a Hen. Statues like these are very common to find around Nana's house, and each one is so unique and well made. I feel iffy about this picture, it's a bit out of focus and the background leaves much to be desired. I could've moved the bird and angled myself as to prevent the corner of the room from being in shot.
Quince Tree
Location: Nana's House; Back Yard
About: The tree in the back with the statues underneath is a quince tree. It has this unique swirl and these green fruits that start falling around Fall. This tree was planted by my Great Grandfather. Nana will occasionally make Jam using its fruits.
