last night i had dinner at my new favourite place for steak — le petit robert in san francisco. the bistro steak is done perfectly, with herb butter on top and crispy fries that soak up the huge amount of juice from the steak. i’ve been there once before and came back just for the steak.

i wasn’t able to find any definitive answer to number of cranks for 120 film in a kodak 1-a pocket. so here’s what i came up with using a sacrificed roll of film:

1. tape up four quarters together, twice, making two thick shims. these should let 120 spools fit with some give.

2. load the film in the back of the camera — film spool first, then empty take-up roll on the crank side, then pull some film out (holding the spool back in) and feed into the tape-up spook. holding both spools in their respective sides, wind the film until you barely see the tape at the beginning of the film.

3. put the camera back together. probably good to tape up the amber window at this point.

4. turn the film four complete (360 degrees) turns to line up for the first shot.

5. take first exposure.

6. turn the film three-and-a-half turns to line up to the next spot.

7. take second exposure.

8. repeat above steps through the third and fourth exposure.

9. after the fourth exposure, wind the film until you feel it get loose and make sure it’s wound all the way onto the take-up spool.

tomorrow i’ll put this to the test. i loaded kodak 400tx. i’ll probably shoot wide open (6.3) and fastest mark on the shutter (1/50.. doubt it’s really this speed). i’ll have my trusty gossen scout 3 with me, so i’ll decide on the first exposure if i’m pushing the film or not.

the ever beautiful deardorff makes an appearance on the cover of this month’s esquire!

this week i received this old folding camera from my grandparents. it was my great grandfather’s kodak 1-a pocket. there’s nothing special about this camera.. it was mass-produced in the late 1920s and early ’30s. unfortunately, it’s not a model 1, which can use 120 film. this model takes a116, which will take some creativity.

the inside ends of front and back elements were incredibly clean, as is the outside of the bellows. all in all, the camera is in great shape. i hope to take it out for a test roll shot this weekend. i was reading that, with modified 120 film, this camera can expose 6×12!

the coolest thing about the a116 film and this camera.. is the film was wound with carbon paper and a thin red film. after you exposed an image, you opened a thin narrow door on the back of the camera body. you used the attached stylus to write a short description of your short. the pressure from the stylus transfers the cabon to the paper, thus exposing light through the carbon layer. daylight exposes your writing directly to the film! very clever.

these cameras aren’t worth much today.. the original sale price of $18! ($194 in today’s dollar) the value in this camera is that it was a part of our family. i hope to one day use this camera to take a family portrait.

this morning i went out to shoot some film (after i went back home to pick up my jacket to use as a dark cloth). i was parked in a lot along side the dumbarton bridge. i had the obligatory police officer encounter, then went about my business.

i was on a salty edge of a waterway creeping closer and closer to the water, framing my shot. i saw a darker spot on the ground and thought it would be a bit firmer. i was sadly mistaken and my foot went right through the ground. i pulled my foot back up but in wasn’t moving. i pulled harder and my entire shoe was covered with a smelly, black sludge. yuck!!

i stomped around trying to lose the weight of the whatever and went ahead to frame up and expose the film. i went back to my car, thinking of what i was going to do. i decided to clean off the shoe as best i could. i used a rock to scrap off the stuff from the sides and bottom. i set it and the sock on the floor in the back seat. i put my other sock on my foot.

when i got home i decided i didn’t want to wear the shoes ever again. i cut my losses and threw them away.

now i’m wearing my old shoes — the pair that caused my mom to force me to buy new shoes! she gave me a hard time about them when i saw her, as predicted. at least i had a good story this time.

the upgrade was quick and easy. it’s made me think if i should redo the look/feel of my blog or leave it as-is.

this is the first shot i took on my long drive last week. my monitor at home is horribly uncalibrated.. this did look much better when i hit save. :-/

tonight’s incredible aural journey is with porcupine tree’s in abstentia. this too is mastered well. with music like this, you do yourself a favour and sit right in the middle of it. close your eyes and you are totally gone…..