Although this isn’t a photo of the actual event, she did once find such a sandwich under 4 inches of snow from 7 feet away. It was on a walk shortly after we moved from Tampa to Harrisonburg, might even have been her first snow. As Dave Barry famously described his Beagle, “a nose with four legs”.
My photography meet up group is heading out next Friday to a series of 3 waterfalls. I’ll use the pinhole, plus take my small Leica point & shoot digital. The pinhole is great fun, but I’d forgotten about that whole film and processing cost thingy, so I have to use it in moderation.
Actually, all my prep so far for the shoot has been in the area of insect abatement, thanks to all the wet and hot weather we’ve had. Anti-insect wipes and, believe it or not, a bug-proof net to go over my head. If I learned nothing else during my years as a professional shooter, preparing for the worst was probably the most important.
Last summer in DC a friend and I were engaging in getting rubbings of a few manhole covers. All was well until I looked up to find a swat-type guy dressed in all black and carrying an automatic weapon who appeared to have materialized out of thin air. He was quickly joined by a motorcycle cop, 2 police cars, and a police foot patrol backup.
After checking our creds against known terrorist lists, they politely asked if we’d move to an area with less foot traffic. Actually the swat-type guy was pretty nice the whole time, and was the last to leave, ninja style. I swear, I never saw him either coming or leaving.
Sometimes one word is worth a thousand photos.
ZeroImage pinhole, 25mm, 10 sec exposure, T-Max 100 film
Of the 30 or so folks who showed up for Friday’s meet up shoot at the cemetery, at least half have already posted images to the website. Meanwhile, I am waiting for the lab to open Monday so I can get my B&W film processed and transferred to a CD. Considering I was shooting a pinhole sans viewfinder or exposure meter, it’s quite an exercise in patience. Sort of like waking up one morning way back in 1990. I keep expecting to see some dinosaur stick his head around the corner.
I suppose that would be nothing more than my own reflection in the mirror, though.
There’s a hidden, unexpected bonus, though. The return of anticipation. When I was shooting professionally, I long ago made the switch to digital, loved it then and still do. But I’d since forgotten about that glorious, often nerve-wracking sense of wondering what, if anything, I’d gotten during a shoot.
I think that’s the unexpected gift in this whole experiment.
The return of anticipation. With a side dish of patience.
Well sure, but who’da thought instructions for a 10+ year old pinhole camera would still be available online?
Ten years ago I bought a beautiful pinhole camera… varnished mahogany, brass, etc. Never used it, and this week decided to dig it out and give it a try. Unfortunately, somehow the instructions got separated from the camera, specifically how to load the darn thing. It uses 120 film (!), and it’s been years since I switched to digital, so I haven’t even SEEN a roll of film in a long time.
Anyhow, after much trial and error this morning, I think I may have figured it out. I’ll find out after tomorrow’s meetup shoot at East Hill Cemetery. Thankfully there’s a place in town that will process the film and transfer the files to a CD.
Stand by for success/failure report.
andersonclingempeel 