Archive for September, 2002 Page 2 of 2

Newer Entries »

9/10/02

Published on September 10, 2002 in Text. 0 Comments .

Well, someone finally did it. I wasn’t too thrilled with moving to Hollywood when Daria presented me with the idea (in other words, she told me we were moving), but I thought I’d give it a try. I have always been a people watcher (which explains my newfound interest in street photography) and there aren’t many places where you can get such an eclectic variety of folks all in one city, but Hollywood is one of them. Something that didn’t sit well with me was the thought of “crime filled nights”. Since I’ve been here, though, things have been relatively peaceful. True, the police helicopters are out circling something or other for a half hour or so at least three nights a week, and I have seen some interesting arrests and such, but at least the cops are there. So anyway, what I’m getting at is that I hate Hollywood right now, because even though we are parked in a fenced off parking lot, they broke into my Jeep and Daria’s Cherokee last night. They didn’t get anything out of my Jeep, and they didn’t have to break anything to get in because it doesn’t have a full top or full doors, but they busted a window in the Cherokee and stole some CDs and CDRs I had in there, along with some money and miscellaneous items. One strange thing is that I had left my Emerson Mach 1 knife ($200) in the center console and the guy (I’m assuming) opened the console, took out the knife, opened the blade, and then put it down on the driver’s side without closing it. Any idiot could see that this knife is not cheap, and if they were willing to dig the few bucks out of the change holder, you’d think they’d steal an expensive knife that was already in their hands. Or maybe they don’t believe in weapons (ha ha).

Anyway, it turns out about 6 cars got broken into in the parking lot. The Cherokee was the only one that got a smashed window, though. 3 were open Jeeps, there was the Cherokee, then a car with a broken door that didn’t lock, and another car that just wasn’t locked last night. Total stolen seems to be 2 stereos, my CDs, and some other less pricey stuff. I’m pretty angry right now, and I wish I had a punching bag, or maybe I wish I could find the jack-ass who did this and use him as a punching bag. If it was a girl who did it though, I would let Daria use her as a punching bag… after all… I can’t go around fantasizing about hitting girls, now, can I?

——————–

I really have wanted to go out and shoot something, but Lucky howls her head off every time I leave, so I just can’t. I am going to just have to start leaving for short periods of time (like 5 minutes) every so often during the day, then extend the time more and more and hope he just gets used to it. For now, I am just sitting at home, so I think I will scan some of my old stuff, there has to be something worth putting up on this site from that junk.

9/9/02

Published on September 9, 2002 in Text. 0 Comments .

Out of the 2 rolls I developed the night before last, one came out really grainy. The roll that I got the California Adventure Mill scan from was fine, I expect Tri-X to be fairly grainy (compared to TMax which is what I used to shoot) but not like the other roll. Then I remembered where the roll came from. This roll of film was bought around April of 2001, and it was kept in a junk drawer (in temperatures ranging from 40’s all the way to 100’s over the course of a year) until we moved here and it got thrown in with the rest of my film. When I bought a few new rolls so I could actually try the film out, I marked the old roll. Then I decided to use it anyway. Well, now I know what happens. Big ass grain. Luckily (er… in a way) none of the shots on the roll came out good. I do like grainy shots… but not for everything.

——————–

Well, Lucky’s biopsy came back inconclusive, and now the vet wants to do a more expensive one. They are a bunch of asses. If you are ever thinking of going to a vet in Hollywood, stay away from TLC. They charged $60 for a dog bath and they tried to rip us off with this whole second biopsy deal, offering only 20% off since we already paid $150 for the first one they recommended, which was useless. They are also just rude and unhelpful in general. Anthony found another vet that gives 50% off any work done on rescue dogs. That’s cool. So, we are going to have his second biopsy done there instead, and probably the rest of his work too. By the end of the week we should know what is really wrong with Lucky the lucky (so far) dog.

9/8/02

Published on September 8, 2002 in Text. 0 Comments .

Last night I developed my first 2 rolls of Tri-X. I went with Kodak’s recommended times, for every step. I decided to create a seperate journal, actually more of a log, to keep just tecnical data from each time I develop film, along with the details of the results. That way I will be able to refer back to different results I got and how I got them without having to search through the text of the journal. Good idea, eh?

So the 2 rolls I developed look great to me, especially since I don’t know enough to say otherwise. There are images on the film. That’s what I know. I will have my darkroom set up in about a week, so then I’ll get to really see how they look, but for now, I will just be checking them out with my scanner. I spent $900 on the Canon FS4000US over 2 months ago and not only have I hardly had a chance (or reason) to use it, but I don’t really know how to use it yet. Oh well, time to learn. Unfortunately, scanned images just seem less real to me still. I am not going to go off on a digital vs. traditional process, but digital still seems somewhat of a novelty to me. Great for posting images on the web or sending them via email, etc… but not for printing and display. Then again, I’m just not good at it yet, things will probably change a lot when I have more experience.

So, I scanned a shot off the Tri-X I shot with the Minilux. Here is the result:

caladventuremill.jpg

I basically scanned it with default settings in Vuescan (since I have yet to learn about white and black points) then tweaked the curves and levels (which I also haven’t learned yet, but I truly think I amproved the image just by playing around with it) for about a half hour, then I finished it off by cloning out a few dust specks and resizing it for the web.

Yes, I am very aware that it is not a very interesting photo, nor is it very well composed, but at least I think I got the exposure right. Oh, actually the camera did that. So the picture sucks, but at least I’ve finally really gotten started… I shot, develeloped and scanned the first image off my first roll of Tri-X.

In case you didn’t recognize (or have never been there), this was actually shot at Disney’s California Adventure. A relatively boring park, but Disney always does a really good job with their sets and details, so there are places in the park you can shoot and other’s would be hard pressed to realize it was a set. An example comes to mind of a shot of their waterfall (on the other side of the rocks you see in the background of the mill) that some guy posted on photo.net and people responded quite well to, until he revealed where it was taken. If you look closely near the right edge of the frame on the trestle you can barely make out a raft full of people on their way to getting soaked in the rapids, compliments of the big mouse himself.

——————–

I just realized that posting images directly to the journal may not be a good idea. So I’m going to link to them in the future, but the first one gets to stay. I’m not sure how to do this well yet, but I will just have to figure it out.

9/6/02

Published on September 6, 2002 in Text. 0 Comments .

Well, the dog’s name is now Lucky, and she really is a sweet little doggy. She must have been homeless for a while though, because she doesn’t like being inside much. She spends a lot of her time at the door, and she lets out a little howl about once an hour (or non-stop if I leave her and go outside by myself). She is potty trained, though, and that is a huge releif… not just for me now, but it will also aid in adopting her out. Anthony spent $216 on her so far, for the tests on her tumor (or fatty growth) and to get her cleaned up. Too bad she doesn’t seem to like other dogs, or she’d be really happy playing with mine all day long. Instead, she growls when they start sniffing around her, but that’s ok, it’s not like she bites them. We will be finding out whether or not she has cancer tomorrow. I really hope it’s not cancer. There’s no way Anthony or I could afford to put her through the operation and treatment, and that would mean having her put down… I’d really rather not think of this, I’m really starting to get attached to her.

So, with Lucky here I am stuck in the apartment. I can’t go out or she will undoubtedly get me in some serious trouble with the neighbors… she is quite the howler when she’s upset. It’s a real shame, too, because today is the first overcast day since I’ve been in Hollywood, and i was looking forward to getting some less contrasty shooting done this afternoon. Oh well, instead I just burned half a roll on the dogs. Unfortunately I can’t get enough light to come in through the windows though, so some are done with flash and the others are done with crappy ceiling based light. I need to get a smaller lamp so I can get some horizontal lighting. I took a few shots of Daria the other day as she was contemplating her next Scrabble word and I’m confident they will look very unflattering, seeing as how the ceiling bulb will leave not-so nice shadows in all the wrong places on her face. If only I didn’t hate the look of flash shadows, or if I only had a tilt-capable flash. I should have thought of that when I bought all the new gear. Oh, wait… I actually did. I bought the Metz-Contax SCA adapter and was just about to order a 54 MZ-3 when Daria fell in love with this retro-looking peach colored bicycle, so the last of the money ($300) from my big EOS sale went towards the bike that is in the apartment sitting right behind me as I type this, collecting dust. It’s not really safe to ride bikes on the streets of Hollywood.

I contacted Dave Beckerman today, partly to ask him a couple photo questions, partly to apologize for ripping off his site design. He was really cool about it, didn’t seem to mind, and he answered all my questions, then recommended a book which I just ordered. From what I can tell Dave seems like a really cool guy. Maybe when I go to NY (next year?) I’ll try to stop by and meet him..

9/5/02

Published on September 5, 2002 in Text. 0 Comments .

Haven’t written for a week, but this is how I expected it to be in the beginning, so I’m not worried or disappointed. I had quite an adventure running along the 101 Freeway today. As I was on my way home, going through a bit of traffic, I saw a dog trotting the other way on the shoulder. I pulled over, hopped out, and tried to call her over to me. She just gave me a quick glance and kept going. A guy pulled over after I had followed her for a bit and got out to help me, and we chased this poor dog for a half mile or more… a few times she actually ran out into the lanes, but luckily the cars stopped short of hitting her or either of us… until we finally got her cornered. We noticed that she had a huge growth coming out of her side, maybe the size of a grapefruit, probably bigger. Originally we thought she had been hit by a car or something, but upon closer inspection it looked more like a tumor of some sort. After we just stood around her for maybe 10 minutes, trapping her against a fence, not wanting to scare her back into a run, she just decided to walk up to me and be pet. She was a very friendly and calm dog, not what you’d expect from one that’s been living on the streets, which is what she appeared to be doing. So I held on to our new friend while Anthony (the good samaritan) went to get his car, and luckily he also stopped along the way and saved me from getting a ticket for expired registration from the police officer who had just stopped where I left my car. So he exited the freeway and made it back to where we were and got back on, and we loaded her up and he took off with her. He said he’d take her to a vet and he agreed to pay for her medical bills up to a certain amount (a very generous amount, too) and I agreed to take her in until I could find her a good home and adopt her out (sonce that’s the best I can do being broke and all). As it is right now we are waiting for the vet to call so I can go pick her up for the night, they are taking tissue samples to test whether the growth is a cancerous tumor or just a fatty tissue growth. The results of her test will unfortunately decide her fate. The cost for surgery to remove a fatty growth along with the hospital stay and grooming, etc… Anthony can take care of. If it is cancer, though, it will cost a lot more, because they will need to do reconstructive surgery and rehabilitate her for a lengthy amount of time. If that’s the case, I don’t think he will be able to afford it. I, unfortunately, am flat broke, and can’t pitch in at all, or I would. I just hope it is fatty tissue and not cancer. One interesting thing is that the vet says that she is in amazingly good health considering that she appears to have been homeless for quite a while (they can tell because her teeth are jacked up from all the stuff she has bitten and chewed on in search of food, among other things). There are no sores or infections on her body, and she has an abnormally great temperment for a street dog. I think maybe she had a homeless owner, I see a lot of homeless people in Hollywood with dogs. That would explain why she isn’t afraid of people, because a lone dog gets yelled at, kicked and has rocks thrown at it… but the dogs with homeless owners at least have an owner to protect them.

Many people would probably laugh at us for putting forth so much time, effort and money for some dog that we don’t even know, let alone a street dog trotting along the freeway, but what can I say, I love dogs. Whatever the outcome, even if she has to be put to sleep because of the cancer… it will be a better conclusion than for her to have been hit by a car. As for those who say so what, it’s just a dog… don’t forget that she could have run out into traffic and caused himans to be killed, too.

——————–

So that’s my big story for the day. Big story for the week, really. On to photography…

I just finished the roll of XP2 Super I had in the G2. It took a long time, because I’ve really wanted to start shooting with Tri-X, so I wasn’t interested in shooting the XP2. I ended up mostly shooting with the Minilux and the Bessa-L for the past week or so because I already had Tri-X loaded in them.

The thing that is holding back my darkroom (I’ve had the equipment for over a year) is that I don’t have a table to set it up on yet. That shows how much I need to get a job… I can’t even afford to get a folding table right now.

Tomorrow I plan to develop the few rolls of Tri-X I’ve shot. The XP2 will have to wait until I can afford to drop it off to be processed. I think I have about 5 rolls or so ready to go. What’s the point of taking pictures if you never see the results? How do you improve if you don’t get to see what you’re doing wrong? Don’t ask me. Last week I developed 14 rolls of TMAX that I had shot over a year ago. Nothing good on any of them, but I should have found that out a year ago, not now. Then again, I hadn’t shot much anything since then (around May, 2000) until about 2 months ago, when I decided to get back into photography full force. This time I will do it right, and I will continue to do it, or I may as well sell all my cameras and jut keep an Olympus Stylus Epic, and shoot pictures of my friends, dogs and family for the rest of my life, an eternal snapshooter. Hell, I’ll probably get the same results as I do now with any of the cameras I have… I have a lot to learn and a long way to go…

Newer Entries »