The State of (My) Art

Post-Script: The use of film itself, especially lab-processed color film, is an additional adjustment yet to be completed. For one, there's the matter of being limited to but 36 exposures, which gives one pause to consider the value of any potential image prior to pressing the shutter button.

Then there's the matter of the time delay involved between the emotion-laden moment of compositional discovery and seeing the finished prints in hand, perhaps weeks later, separate from one's initial anticipation. A film-based image, in order to be successful, has to stand up on its own merit much more so than with the immediacy of electronic image capture and its attribute of instantaneous review.

Lastly, there's the financial cost of film processing, especially if desiring lab scans and prints. For simple processing only, where I would scan at home whatever image I might deem worthy, the cost is actually rather modest.

Photo via Minolta X700, typecast via SCM Galaxy 12.

Humble Coffee

Post-Script: The place is so small, and its hard floors and walls reflective enough, that I'm hesitant to bring a typewriter for the distracting noise to the other patrons it might cause. Although the thought of doing so outdoors, along the north-facing entryway sidewalk might work, provided I do it soon enough, before the weather turns cold for the season.

This photo I took with my wife's Samsung Galaxy 4 phone, which I processed a bit in-phone (HDR mode, then a bit of brightness and contrast adjustment), then emailed to myself, after which I did a bit more processing (mainly rotating and resizing) in Filterstorm on the old iPad 2, before uploading to Flickr. I do like the touchscreen interface and camera quality of the G4, though the display does get washed out in bright sun. Typecast via SCM Galaxy 12. Gawd, I love this machine!

I Know a Man

Post-Script: I purposefully haven't described this man's background, and so it will have to suffice to say that he's had a troublesome, somewhat violent, past, including some brain trauma, which I'm certain has contributed to his paranoia. That said, the paranoia and fear in the larger culture, especially from the right-wing media, has no excuse, in my mind, except to manipulate the masses. Fear is a powerful, primordial instinct, as every propagandist worth his salt is cognizant of.

Photo via Lumix G5, typecast via SCM Galaxy Twelve.

The Quick Brown Fox

Post-Script: The background on today's posting is that I occasionally find myself fiddling with a typewriter in my garage, and often will become bored with the standard machine-testing pangram. Recently, I've found myself expanding on the Quick Brown Fox ditty, beginning to explore it as one would a story, to see where it might lead.

Today was one such occasion, when I had to make some adjustments to a Remington Quiet-Riter that I had, earlier this year, gifted to my brother, but which has developed a few issues (the typewriter, not the brother). After a stream-of-consciousness session of testing his machine by filling a full page with such nonsense (some of it a bit more adult-themed than this), I retired to the Man Cave and proceeded to hack out a more formal rendition.

I'm confident there are others out there in the Typosphere who've also indulged in the pleasure of crafting their own secret versions of The Quick Brown Fox. Now would be a good time to share them (hint, hint).

Photo via Lumix G5, typecast via Smith-Corona Galaxy Twelve.

Score One for the Home Team

Post-Script: I know better than to pick up machines from thrift stores that are in less than pristine condition, for to do so means to burden oneself with another fixer-upper, that might need a level of service beyond my ability. And so one has to be picky, ensuring the machine's condition is thorough vetted prior to purchase. There's also the issue that good machines at a cheap price are harder to find. So today's find is especially worthwhile, especially considering the high regard these SCM Galaxy Twelve's hold in the eyes of many typewriter aficionados more learned than myself.

Photos via Fujifilm X10, typecast via SCM Galaxy Twelve.

Sandia Mountain Motoring

Typecast via Hermes Rocket.

Bonus Images:

Daily Observations, October 14, 2014

Post-Script: Photo via iPad 2 and Snapspeed app. Typecast via Hermes Rocket.

Daily Observations

There It Is!"

(Photo courtesy of Pierre Andrews via a Flickr Creative Commons license; click on photo for link to original image)



Post-Script: Last night's balloon sighting over my neighborhood was quite magical and unexpected. Interestingly, I could not find any images of gas balloons in my archives, another sign of how disorganized my work remains, and so I've taken the liberty of linking the top image to a beautiful Creative Commons-licensed image by Pierre Andrews, that reminds me very much of what I saw, although at night. Please click on the image to visit the original link.

Also, the speed at which the balloons were moving last night (about 25+ MPH), while being only 1800-2000 feet above ground level, and dimly lit by a combination of city lights and a near full moon, meant it was nearly impossible to capture a last-minute image.

As of this time, five of the competitors are airborne between Lubbock and Wichita Falls, Texas, with a sixth balloon near Lubbock. See this site for updated flight tracking information.

Typecast via Hermes Rocket (onto grade-school manuscript paper).

The Same, Only Different

Post-Script: I keep thinking about lugging a Speed Graphic press camera, film holders and hefty tripod to the balloons one of these years, which would equip me to create eight black & white images (with four film holders). But then I think about all that weight, and the thought passes quickly.

Here's a link to a Flickr set of images from today.

Typecast via Corona 4, images via Panasonic Lumix G5.

Back to the Future

Post-Script: A couple of print scans from my test roll, taken at the Rio Grande Nature Center in Albuquerque:




For those in a mood to hear old stories from an old storyteller, I was serving in the U.S. Navy, during the late 1970s, when I bought my first Minolta camera. Stationed on an aircraft carrier (U.S.S. Constellation; affectionately know as the Connie), we were anchored in Singapore (along with some of the Soviet navy ships whom we had been playing cat-and-mouse with, just a few days prior) when I walked into a camera store and purchased the SRT101b. As I was finalizing my decision, however, a rotund, European-looking man of middle age walked in, sized us up as U.S. Navy sailors and, pounding his chest in obvious Cold War-induced pride, announced himself in broken English: "Me, Russian!"; then proceeded to pull out a large wad of bills to pay for some camera gear. Afterwards, we figured he was KGB, purchasing some long lenses; all the better to see us with. Or so it seemed to us at the time. Ah, those were the days! H-bombs; the threat of global annihilation; bad-hair bands.

Typecast via Olympia SM9 De Luxe.