Another view of Evergreen

 It was a scorcher today. At 9 a.m. in the morning it was almost 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and we ended up getting to 116 by the mid afternoon. It was completely unbearable, not a country for old men, to quote an old saying (and movie), so I stayed inside. I opened the door a few times, but the heat waves punched me each time and sent me scrambling back. It was far, far, far too hot to go out and do anything, so I accepted reality and stayed inside.

It was an uneventful day. I got by as best as I could, without a little help from my friends (the Beatles!), as usual. I ordered some merchandise, but that was yesterday. Tomorrow is Labor Day, the last day of the three day weekend in a country that feels, frankly, broken. We are mired in a mess with this president and his administration, but the Republicans will support him no matter what, and willingly blind themselves as long as he caters to their nativist impulses (and need to attack and scapegoat others and blame them for his many, many, many failings). The latest: he said some petty and disparaging things about veterans who sacrificed their lives for this country, calling them "losers". If winners look like Trump, vindictive and ignorant and egotistical and lazy, we don't need any more.

At about 6 p.m., after a day that was pretty much frittered away, I decided to develop one more 8x10 negative. I have an envelope with several of them, maybe 5 or 6, and there is no way for me to remember what image is contained on which one, but I grabbed one negative and, in the darkness, to rule them all and bind them (Lord of the Rings, I can't keep quoting books, sayings and movies!), that is, load it into the Stearman Press 8x10 tray that I use to develop them. 

It was the image I took on Friday, Sept. 4th, of the Evergreen cemetary that lies close to Mt. Rubidoux. It was actually an image that came to me quickly, all I knew is I needed a vantage point that didn't contain the jingoistic flags, and facing, of course, the mountain. I found it and, as I recall, gave it two minutes of exposure. It was very hot that day too, much too hot.

After looking at the negative, I can see a problem. I am overexposing, but also, the pinhole image gives me a bright center too. The center of the image is blown out, no detail in the highlights, and I will need a much better scanner to be able to attract any details. The edges, though, seem fine. I guess it is part of pinhole photography, especially with a size such as 8x10, that there will be vignetting, that is, the corners are darker than the middle. That is what is happening, although in this case, my corners are exposed acceptably, but the middle is overexposed. I will have to remember that and, on bright, hot days such as that one, lower exposure. Maybe not 120 seconds, maybe count to only 90 seconds. I am learning.

Here are the negative and the crude inversion I performed:

The center will not hold, it is way too overexposed. The edges are acceptable. I prefer to get a correctly exposed center, of course, so I will have to decrease exposure.

Tomorrow, who knows. Maybe I will go to Oceanside, and maybe not. I don't feel like doing anything in the heat, but I would like to go to Rancho Batuquitos and get a photo of the lagoon, then go to San Luis Rey and get a few photos of the church with my 8x10 pinhole. Maybe even stop by the beach, it will be packed, pandemic not withstanding, but I have not gotten any beach photos lately. I want to go.

If it is hot, I am staying in. I do not want to go anywhere, really. I am not giving myself over to the YOLO regime. When excursions become work, there is no point. But I do want to take more pinhole images with the 8x10.

Good night. My head is scrambled.