ryan was on the phone with the property management company. we needed a local 415 area code number for the call box down at the front door. our VoIP number is 650. i told him to hold on a sec. he asked about getting a 415 number at 16:52. by 16:54, i had logged into vonage’s website, ordered a virtual number added to our line, and got two emails (the first with the order confirm, the second with the new number). i told ryan to call the number immediately to test, and it rang.

i had an incoming call on a new phone number in under three minutes. yay, software based phone service!

today boman saved me from major upset. i was out playing with my holgaroid (think holga plus polaroid) when a wind blew and my prints landed face down in dirt. he boldly took one under running water and rubbed all the dirt off. it dried a bit curley and the white border blistered a little, but the emulsion is fine.

today was so nice out in the city, the blues came out crazy on the polaroids. above is one i took to document my neighborhood. i walk next to this sign three days a week when i go to the train station in the morning.

“the wounds on your hands never seem to heal
i thought all i needed was to believe
here am i, a lifetime away from you
the blood of christ, or the beat of my heart
my love wears forbidden colours
my life believes

sensless years thunder by
millions are willing to give their lives free
does nothing live on?

learing to cope with feelings aroused in me
my hands in the soil, buried inside of myself
my love wears forbidden colours
my life believes in you once again
i’ll go walking in circles
while doubting the very ground beneath me
trying to show unquestioning faith in everyone
here am i, a lifetime away from you
the blood of christ, or a change of heart
my love wears forbidden colours
my life believes
my love wears forbidden colours
my life believes in you once again”

Continue reading…

lots of little things going on. here’s an update:

work-photo

our group photo shoot went well. the proof sheet looks good, jim will scan and post-process. the photo will end up on a wall of photos in the new building. our group’s break room will have a couple large prints on the wall. looks like two of the three will be mine. and i’m getting anxious to try 4×5 color, now that i know a place that does c-41 near work in emeryville.

jim‘s been a great advocate so far. and working with him on this group shot has made work-photo less intimidating.

seeing the proofs made me think of don and his new hobby, hang gliding. i should do some color 6×7 of him and his gear. i do love this f4/45 so much on the pentax! the lens and negs make the camera totally worth it.

home-photo

im continuing to think about 8×10 portraits. so far they have all come out great, save where i goofed on the camera. soon i should hit up my neighbors for a quick re-shoot. i’m starting to ask for permission to post images online, so i should have a few up soon.

film/camera club (“fine art photographers”) is great, even though there’s only been one meeting. boman’s interested in joining me, for the same reason most of the others attended — comraderie, inspiration, group projects, etc. i have and use lots of things the other guys want to check out, i’ll have to bring some show-and-tell next time. boman suggested that, after we finish up the darkroom, i host a club meeting!

on our first project, i want to do color polaroid, partially since i’ havent been able to work on my darkroom. i’ve been re-reading some of else dorfman‘s stuff about working with the film. doing the 8×10 transfer with boman was awesome. it really is magic. you know, it is amazing how polaroid came out with everyday-joe-affordable products from which people got instant prints. of course, the stuff i work with is much more expensive. but it’s still the same magic.

i’ve also been working on the alminum camera a bit. i found a brass piece that’s broken off and missing. i’ve taken the standards apart and off the main chassis. it’s very rough moving, but slowly coming together. it’s interesting seeing all the manufacturing mistakes. the unused holes, the places where the sand mold broke. of course, it’s hard to believe any LF camera would be mass produced.

speaking of producing cameras, i have lots of ideas in the works. if only time and money weren’s so much an issues.

so things have been busy.

today after work i’m checking out just film in san francisco, they’re only a couple blocks away from where i live. tomorrow night is movienight with friends. on friday, some of the parental units are coming over for dinner (mochico perhaps, i love that place and it’s just across the street!). on saturday, boman is helping me build some darkroom furniture! on sunday, film permitting, i may do some shooting.

shopping list:

polaroid t-89
polaroid 79
ilford delta 100, 8×10

oh, and i have a good lead on a buyer for my sinar. i emailed back with more info and numbers, but haven’t heard back yet. i’ll follow up tomorrow. wish me luck!

1. baroque piano (eg, handel)
2. holiday ale, made special only once a year, by anchor brewing
3. 1:25 rodinol
4. ilford 100 8×10 sheets, party portraits
5. 14 minutes, tray developed

rinse and repeat.

tonight i met a small group of gen-xers in a coffee shop in the richmond district, san francisco. the girl who brought us together is named becca. she’s a wedding photographer who loves shooting film and wants to revitalize her hobby work by being part of a camera club.

we all introduced ourselves, named our styles and formats, and some of us shared our work. some of us were professional. most are artsy folk. nearly everybody shoots 35mm. some shoot medium format (and more often, a holga). i was the only one doing large format. the point is, we all use film.

everybody’s works were great. i showed my work first and got lots of oohs and ahhs, as well as questions about the cameras i used. several people were interested in seeing the cameras i use.

most people were looking for inspiration, kicking up their hobbies a notch, and wanting to have assignments with objectives and due-dates. hardly anybody does their own printing.

so tentatively i have an assignment to document my neighborhood. it will be especially good for me, as this neighborhood is new to me.

as an aside, tomorrow i am assisting jim at work in a small photo shoot. i scouted two locations. i’m bringing the gear, he’s bringing the film. we’re shooting a group of people, close to 20 in all. outdoors shot, everybody will be wearing shiny jackets. shooting color film.

speaking of jim and film, he’s working on scans and prints of two images of mine. the scans and photoshop touch-up are amazing. tomorrow we should have proofs to check out. these may end up in our new building at work.

this was taken tonight with ryan’s canon g3 point-and-shoot. after dinner i shot our dinner guest jon, with the burke&james. he wanted an updated photo of himself, hence the digital images. i made him take this one of me. my hair is getting long!

dinner was lemon and herb roasted chicken, roasted potatoes with thyme and garlic, and spinach salad with home-made lemon and cheese dressing and real bacon. dessert was a glass of innilskin icewine.

oh man, it was all delicious! cooking it was a lot of firsts for me: first time dealing with a whole chicken, first time cooking bacon in the oven, first time making a salad dressing. so fun.

on saturday was the housewarming party. it was fabulous. there were no surprises, nobody had any problems, and all had a good time!

we ordered two trays of sushi from the ever-so-awesome la moone, which everybody loved. boman helped me tweak an ad-hoc recipe for pineapple-coconut mojitos! they were a big hit. guests brought items of all my culinary vices — chocolate, wine, and sake! the wine collection grew by ten bottles.

i managed to shoot a batch of 8×10 film of guests. i know i goofed on a couple of the frames, doing things like pulling the dark slide while i had the shutter still open from focusing. it’s hard to concentrate during a party and after three drinks!! we’ll see. once i get my darkroom more operable, i’ll try doing some contact prints. i’m also itching to try the 8×10 barrel lens.

saturday i picked up a bi-post cord for my wollensak lens, now it syncs to the flash! my initial test (which came out great anyways), i made the room pitch black, opened the shutter, fired the flash, closed the shutter. it works great, except for putting someone in a darkened room then blinding them with two flashed a few feet away! my test subject and i are still on speaking terms, by the way.

in any case.. thanks everybody who attended.. i’ll post again when i’ve had time to develop/examine my negs.

and i also decided i should mail-order film.. nobody i asked in SF carries the 8×10 sheet film i want (or 8×10 at all).