Altocumulus

Ricoh GR

The Bay area experienced a glorious sunrise this morning. I wasn’t the only person to capture the beauty. Check out this Flickr gallery for more Altocumulus SF.

14 October 2010     Photos, Video    

We’re getting the band back together

Have you seen the new face of 10/10/10? We’ve launched a groovy new interface that lets you browse 10 of the 2,100+ contributions at a time. If you haven’t had an opportunity to share your October 10th photo, you have until October 20th to do so.

A big thanks to Aaron Straup Cope and George Oates for coding and design. I haven’t had this much fun since we all worked together at Flickr.

13 October 2010     Words    

Remembering

My mother lost her battle with cancer on this day twenty eight years ago. I still very much miss that we never got to know one another as adults. Next year, I’ll be the same age that she was when she died. She had so much more life to live.

8 October 2010     Photos, Words    

Matchbox Pinhole

Taking pictures with any pinhole camera is a leap of faith and one created where you’ve pushed a needle through a piece of a Diet Coke can, and stuck to a matchbox even more so. I picked up the first roll shot with the camera I created over the weekend and was pleasantly surprised. You should totally make your own: http://matchboxpinhole.com/.

5 October 2010     Photos, pinhole    

Tip: Creating a cleaner frame for your matchbox pinhole camera

There are a plethora of awesome online instructions for creating matchbox pinhole cameras and I decided to make my own following the steps outlined at matchboxpinhole.com. (It was the addition of the simple “clicker” to aid in better spacing for film winding that sold me.) All in all, it worked out well and I dropped my first completed roll off at Photoworks this morning for processing. My fingers are crossed!

Frame 1 – This is a little too sloppy for my liking

In reviewing construction of my camera, I realized that the most frustrating part of the process was cutting a “clean” frame for the tray. Even with a fresh blade, my frame was rather sloppy given that there was nothing supporting the underside of the matchbox sleeve.

I’ve come up with simple solution to resolve this: glue together 5 1¼ x 2⅞” pieces of cardboard. You can then tuck this little stack within the tray to support your cuts. Voila — a much cleaner frame.

Frame 2 – Better

4 October 2010     Photos, Words    

Rock Springs

Impossible Project PX 70 First Flush Milk Edition

3 October 2010     Photos    

How much do I love my new Epiphanie camera bag?

I’ve never found a traditional camera bag that’s worked for me and had resorted to tucking a camera or three into my purse. It works, but it’s been hard on a few of them and without any padding, there’s a definite danger of damage.

Maile Wilson has developed a line of bags that have all the functionality that a photographer needs with the fabulous style of a good looking hand bag. I’m in love with my Epiphanie bag.

The bag above holds a Zero Image 2000 pinhole camera, a Dacora Digna, an Olympus XA and my Canon SD960 IS point & shoot with more than enough room left over for a few rolls of film, my wallet and phone. And tomorrow, when I want to mix things up, I can move the padded dividers around to accommodate the awkwardly long and skinny Polaroid SLR 680.

Thanks Maggie and Maile (and Derek for taking this photo).

25 September 2010     Words    

Carolina

Zero Image 2000

24 September 2010     Photos    

One day

Taken with a pinhole camera crafted from a Quaker Oats canister.

22 September 2010     Photos, Solargraphy    

Impatient (or, 28 days)

I couldn’t help myself. I sprang two of four solargraphy month long tests last night a couple of days early. Those little film pots were singing their siren song… I can’t imagine how I’m going to keep my grubby paws off them for 6 months.

The above two images are from cameras two and three which I had affixed to one the deck supports out back. The top camera had been angled with a piece of matte board jerry-rigged together to better catch the arc of the sun. While it worked for a month, I’ve got a couple of days before the autumnal equinox to figure out a more long term solution to maintain the angle.

It’s a times like these that I wish I had access to a full wood working shop down in the basement. I can see just what I need in my mind, but alas, having such easy access to tools that can blind and maim wouldn’t be a good thing. I’ve already given up super sharp knives after that unfortunate incident with Derek’s fancy tactical knife and the opening of boxes post our last move. I still feel bad for those slices into his favourite Marmot jacket.

If you’ve the inclination and a view of the sky, I highly recommend giving solargraphy a go. My film cannisters were created following instructions available on Justin Quinnell and Tarja Trygg‘s sites. Once you’ve put them together and affixed them, it’s really all about the waiting. As you can see, I’m not so good with that. The autumnal equinox is Thursday, and that’s a great time to begin capturing the path of the sun where you are. Inspired? I hope so.

In any event, I’ve still got cameras 1 and 4 affixed to the exterior of the house. I’m most excited about camera 1 as it (if all has been going well) captures sunrise — lack of fog willing.

Onward!

21 September 2010     Photos, Solargraphy, Words