Colorado Nature Photographer / Author | Steven W. Krull
Renowned nature photographer and author advocating for the preservation of wildlife
It's difficult to keep up with all the new developments in my world in 2026! In addition to all the excitement in the mountains from returning bird species and new four legged babies being born in the wild, I have managed to complete my historical fiction and romantic adventure trilogy with the publishing of my latest, The War On Wildlife. I have also recently launched a new online sports and leisure magazine, which I will be talking about in this post!
It's taken a while to shoot a roll of 36 in the Pentax IQ Zoom 105 WR. It required a trip to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal coupled with a hike in the Garden of the Gods to get the job done! For this test I used a roll of Fuji 200 speed film. The WR stands for Weather Resistant, which is the main reason I also bought this version in addition to the IQ Zoom 200. This version of the IQ Zoom has no mode wheel, and very few external controls, to avoid as many entry points for dust and moisture as possible!
Another awesome visit to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National WIldlife Reserve to test my newest acquisition, the Lumix DMC ZS50 camera with 24-720mm Leica glass! (I also took along my new Pentax IQ Zoom 105 WR film camera, but I haven't had those negatives processed yet, so that's a story for another time.
It wasn't something that I intended, or set out to do, but it seems that monochrome photography might be a recurring theme in 2026. A renewed interest in black and white film can be partially attributed to a road trip to Denver, with an inevitable stop at Englewood Camera to look at the used gear. On that trip I discovered an FD 100-300mm manual focus lens at a price impossible to ignore. That particular lens just happens to emply a 58mm filter size, the exact size of my set of monochrome filters.
The plan was to write a monthly newsletter, and I think I actually did get a couple written before the whole plan was derailed by events. Somehow through all the trauma, I managed to keep shooting, but recently noticed that none of those images had been uploaded to my fine art website, or to my stock agencies. No newsletters had been written and I had actually put little thought into my photography since the trees began changing colors in the high country in September. But now the skies have cleared over my life and it's time to get back to work!
It was like Christmas this week! I got back three rolls of film from the lab, including all my fall photography and my trip to Rocky Mountain National Park!
Autumn is always a beautiful time in Garden of the Gods Park in Colorado Springs. I was especially eager to get down there this year, because I have earned three free rolls of film developing at the camera store. Unfortunately I plucked a roll of severely expired film from the drawer that was intended for a test shoot only of an old film camera that I'm not sure works. So, in this post I'll discuss how to make the best out of a day with a roll of 15 year old expired 400 speed film.
I've noticed something since I began shooting film again this year. More and more I'm taking my old Canon EOS film camera for the simplicity of it.
I finally acquired the last piece of gear required to do my own analog film and slide scans. With the addition of a Canon 100mm macro lens, I finally have everything I need to do the conversion.
Thought this might be the perfect time to get my spring solstice, end of winter newsletter published! Coincidentally, I just got back a couple of rolls of film that I've been working on throughout the winter, just in time for this publication.
Colorado Nature Photographer / Author | Steven W. Krull 