It hasn't been as hot these first few days of September. I was expecting 100 degrees, but temperatures have been more in the lower 90s. It might not seem like much of a difference, but it is. For the most part it doesn't matter when you stay inside with air conditioning all day long. That is what is happening with me, although I have made a few trips outside. These are my teaching days, however, so I am Zooming ad nauseum and tied to a computer because of it.
Yesterday I had more success with my 8x10 pinhole camera. I set it as a closeup on some flowers in the front yard, and just arbitrarily told myself to expose for 2 minutes. The negative was much better! Much, much better. I am no longer using the Catlabs 80 film, I am using Arista 200, so that gave me more sensitivity, plus I am used to using Arista and it works well with the developer I am using. The negative was much better, and I am getting a feel for the view of the pinhole, that is, the angle of view.
Here is the negative and the inverted image. I scanned with an Epson V600, and I know it is grainy. I am setting the negative on the flat bed and putting several sheets of grainy white copier paper on top, then setting a book on top. It has to be several sheet because, if it is only one, then the paper is transparent and I am scanning the information on the book I have laid on top to flatten the negative. The paper, of course, is coarse, so that texture is transferred to the negative. I think the images would turn out better with a more professional scanner, and also, with a better software inversion. I am not using Photoshop or Lightroom, just a simple photo program on my Mac.
As you can see, a much, much better negative. I was so proud when I pulled this out of the development tank. It got me excited about using this 8x10 pinhole camera where, before, I was thinking of ditching it for another one, a primitive wood camera being sold on Ebay.
I inverted the image and got this. I didn't desaturate completely, I actually like this hue. The bush has red flowers, but of course, they don't show up in this black and white photo. I need to look for specialized subject matter when I am using a pinhole for black and white.
Now, I am a little more comfortable with what I need to do to obtain images with this 8x10. I need to shoot in bright, bright light, I need to get as close as I can so I don't end up wasting so much space on the negative and getting large prairies of blank sky, and I need to use long, long exposure times. The exposure of 10 seconds that I got from the Mr. Pinhole site on the web was dead wrong. That is a starting point, but now I know, for sunny 16, if I am using this pinhole camera with this film, I will need exposures of two minutes.
I was so overjoyed that I went ahead and made another exposure today. I put a pot of a plant with beautiful pink flowers in the sun and got as close as I could, and gave it 2 minutes once again. This is what came up.
Another great negative. I am so happy with this.
Crudely scanned and inverted, it still looks nice to me.
So, I was so motivated that I knew I needed to grab more exposures. And I did! But I have only developed one more, which I did at 9 p.m. It is in a plastic container being soaked with water, I will let it dry overnight and scan and invert tomorrow. That negative looked great too, although it was evening light, which is not as bright in intensity as afternoon or midday light. So, I gave it more exposure, counting to 200, which should be a little over three minutes.
Will try again tomorrow, but tomorrow is a heavy day for me. Two Zoom sessions, and each one very stressful. I like only teaching one Zoom session per class, but the preparation is the same as if I were showing up two times a week and giving full classes. I will get used to it.
That is it for now. I will try not to buy any more equipment, but I am sorely tempted by a lens on Ebay for 8x10, a Schneider Sylmar-S 240mm for $275. The seller is a camera buff, he has a ton of camera equipment on sale, so it is not a neophyte estate hunter who know little to nothing. I might have to buy it. Truth be told, even if I don't buy an 8x10 camera body soon, I can still mount it on a lens board on my Busch Pressman 4x5, giving me a telephoto lens. But of course, I want the pin-sharp 8x10 images, and I will need an 8x10 camera body.
On the other front, my mom still has not received her new registration sticker for her car. We sent in the payment in late July, and the check was cashed on Aug. 24th, but nothing, no sticker. She is nagging and nagging me. At some point, although I hate to think about it, I will have to go to the DMV again in person. Also, my sister returns to her physical office tomorrow. No more working at home for her. She seems to have accepted this.
That is it. More in the future. The next few days will be scorchers.
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