MidJune

Heavy Lifting

Time is flying by. Linda will be out of school next week, and summer will be in full swing.

I'm tying to do more photography. Part of this is to do more photography (duh!), but partly also to finish off the Arista 400 sheet film so that I can load my holders with the Efke 100, do some test exposures, and get ready for photographic activities this summer. This morning I started out in Ballston Spa, but ended up photographing an old house/barn in West Malta. There is a Saratoga Barns contest at the county fair this summer, and if the results are good, I may enter.

I finished the bag bellows, and it seems to function just fine. But the fit is rather tight, and I'm not real comfortable that it isn't putting abnormal stress on the basic camera. And frankly, I don't know how useful it will actually be. But it was a fun project to undertake.

As I was making the photograph, a guy stopped to chat a bit about the large camera. That's one of the things that I enjoy about LF work - it does capture attention and sets the stage for a social encounter.

I've also been experimenting with gum over van Dyke. Nothing worth showing yet, but I can see some promise in the technique. But it is touchy - getting a good van Dyke is a challenge, and then getting a good gum is a second challenge, and finally there is the issue of registration. And paper shrinkage is a major headache.

The lawn is looking nice. The areas we seeded a couple of months ago are starting to fill in, and mowing every 5-6 days keeps it nice and even.

Had an enjoyable event at Annette and Keith's on Friday evening. It was supposed to be a "bonfire", but the weather was threatening. We had just arrived and sat down when it started raining, so we moved into their garage. Ok, that's not all that glamorous, but the company was fine!

Linda's cousin Joseph died a week ago. That's really sad - he was a neat guy, but it was clear when we visited him last June that his situation in Virginia was not the best. Things got dramatically worse after Christmas, and then he had to be admitted to a hospital when his caregivers could no longer take care of him. He used to be a copy editor at the Gazette, and they ran a nice article on him last Friday.

I tried to sell my Crown Graphic on e-Bay - alas, the bidding was anemic and didn't get to my reserve price. Will have to try again, perhaps with better descriptions. But the experience was interesting. On the other hand, I did win an auction for a Polaroid 545 holder at a very attractive price. It's older, but that should not be a problem.

This is my favorite from the day trip to Hanford Mills on Memorial Day Sunday. The actual display print is even better - this print was done on Agfa Portriga Rapid and is a bit contrasty.