Venturing Out

You can probably tell, from my lack of posts here, that Covid has really tamped down my picture taking. Many of the places I enjoy visiting with my camera have been closed or have had limited access. And when those places do open up, like the beach, crowds swarm in. While I am healthy with no underlying medical conditions, I am 60. And I’m being careful.

Cabin fever got the best of me this past weekend. I had a roll of Agfa APX 100 in the fridge calling my name, so I loaded up the Nikon F3, fitted a yellow filter to my 50/1.4 Nikkor, masked up and headed to downtown Napa for some Sunday picture making.

While I have driven the downtown streets off and on since the first shelter-in-place order in mid-March, I had not actually parked the car, got out and walked around. Early this year, I would think nothing of wandering the sidewalks with my camera, browsing the stores, even stopping for an iced coffee at Starbucks. Now, I felt a swell of anxiety as I swung my car into a shady spot, grabbed my Nikon and mask and headed out.

Downton Napa in mid-April during the shelter-in-place

Downtown was moderately busy for a July 4th weekend. Most of the shops were open, but limiting the number of visitors inside. Restaurants were doing a brisk outdoor dining business and while the tables were spaced six feet apart at center, patrons were certainly closer to each other than the recommended distance.

I spent most of the afternoon doing what I call the “Covid dance,” adjusting my position relative to people coming towards me on the sidewalk. I never went inside any shops, but I would say mask usage, even in groups of people on the sidewalk, was about 50%. Older folks seemed more inclined to be masked-up.

I had a moment of mini-panic when I got to an intersection and debated about touching the “push to walk” button. How many people had touched this? Should I just turn around and head back? I pushed it with the little finger on my left hand (I am right-handed) and committed to remembering the finger I used so I could sanitize properly when I returned to my car.

I stopped short on the sidewalk when I noticed a group of lively, unmasked people exiting a tasting room. Normally, I wouldn’t think twice about cutting through a group like this. Instead, I detoured down an alley.

I finally decided to hit some quiet side streets and look for some subjects in a safer environment. I made about ten exposures all day.

Perhaps I am being overly cautious. I am sure I will get more comfortable in time. I do need to finish this roll.