Partial redemption

Partial redemption is at hand. Remember Thursday's 8x10 photo with the Willtravel, the photo I botched because I didn't hold the film holder flush with the camera since I didn't tighten the bungee cords enough? Well, I had to try again.

Today, I got up and decided, I am going to take a better photo. There were two possibilities, the Corona City Hall and also the church next to the hospital. I decided I would try both after I had finished walking around the block.

As soon as I finished my round, I got in the car and drove to the church. I thought, I might as well start out there, the light is the best. As I drove to the library next to that church, I saw they were using it for voting, so I passed through and decided to park in the 99 cent store parking lot. But as I drove by, I noticed many people working at cleanup around the church. Yes, Saturday was their cleanup day, so I didn't want to attract their attention. I'll leave it for another day, then, and drove to the civic center.

There were cars in the small parking lot that faces the building, but I found one spot, the only one open, and I dragged out the camera and the big tripod. I had to get very close to the building, I have to remember, I have a very wide lens with the Schneider Angulon 121mm. But it worked out, and this time, I figured out how to pull out the dark slide without detaching the film holder from the camera. I know, I know, it sounds confusing, but you see, ordinarily, a camera back should have a slide rail that prevents the holder from falling out. This one uses bungee cords, but if I pull out the dark slide, the entire film holder can detach, ruining my film. So, I have to pull out the dark slide while standing in front of the camera. That is how it will work. I took this quick exposure, but man o man, I could have used a dark cloth to help me frame.

When I saw this negative after I had developed it, I was so, so pleased. There is hope for me yet! So, that motivates me to continue taking other photos, although I bungled the next photo. I tried for the front of the historical civic center building, and found a good angle, but now I am having problems with my shutter release. I have to remember to finish depressing it then unclench the release. This time, when I turned the shutter release knob on the lens, the metal rod was sticking out, so it immediately released the shutter. My face will be in that frame, probably covering most of that photo. Who know, it might actually work out as a composition, but I was mad.

That is it. A few more photos today. I went back to the riverbed and took another photo, this one framed better. I attacked a red filter, but I know it will vignette heavily. I need to use a Cokin flat filter. I also went to the overpass (for the railroad) and took a photo of the US tile building. Then, I went to Riverside, but didn't have much time. The clouds had moved in so I lost direct sunlight, and the negatives would have come out flat, so I went to the courthouse. I took a shot of that building (which turned out terrible, I developed it just before I got on the computer right now) and of the building next to Riverside Walk. Then, I drove home because, you know, today is Halloween, remember? And while it has been called off because of Covid, and even when it was on, not too many kids came by anyway, but still, there might be young people out trying to provoke mayhem, so it was better to get back home as soon as possible. We had a beautiful sunset with the clouds.

Tomorrow, a quick event in the morning for Día de los Muertos, then, probably, a quick session at the California Botanic Garden, then home sweet home. I wanted to go to Olvera Street for tomorrow but I think not. Would like to photograph a Chinatown plaza next to that location, and also, maybe walk around the neighborhoods that have murals. A visit to Little Tokyo would be nice, but no, I think not.