Saturday, November 11, 2000

If you're a bumbling amateur like me, then the Beginner's Guide to Photographic Exposure will be a big help in understanding why that last roll of film looked the way it did and what you can do about the next one.

It's slowly beginning to make sense. Even when the results don't match exactly with what I wanted, I am beginning to understand just what went wrong and what needs to be done the next time a similar situation is encountered. Taking notes and shooting as much film as I can afford seems to be moving things in the right direction.
9:17 PM ::link::

If you are a taphophile, a "lover of tombstones", check out the Grave-L mailing list.

You're not as strange as everyone keeps telling you.

Well, maybe you are, but at least you can hang out with others that think our hobby is just great. ;)
6:02 PM ::link::

Thanks, KayCee. :)
Keep smiling, cause you sure bring a big smile to everyone else.
5:21 PM ::link::

I've been scanning and uploading all morning to bring you some new cemetery pictures. Two new graveyards have been added, Mount Carmel and Trinity as well as some new black and white and pinhole experiments in the Loudon Park section.
4:25 PM ::link::

Friday, November 10, 2000

Dreamscapes has a nice collection of infrared cemetery and landscape photos. Good choice of names, these images are definitely in the dream state.

I picked up a roll of the stuff on my way home from work and if it's nice and sunny one of these late afternoons or early mornings, I'm going to have another go at it.
8:48 PM ::link::

Exhumation planned for Monday in Covington, Kentucky. Yeah, it's been a long week, so enjoy some Friday humor.
12:51 PM ::link::

35 members of a Mormon congregation in Pittsburgh worked for 3 hours to right 20 fallen tombstones at Homewood cemetery. Among the markers repaired was one of a five year old child who died in 1898.
10:47 AM ::link::

Looks like the modern flush to the ground marker cemeteries are becoming less popular than the traditional parklike settings which allow raised monuments, at least in Conneaut, Ohio. Glad to see this change in attitude, as the use of a traditional gravemarker certainly makes for a more interesting cemetery.
10:14 AM ::link::

Thursday, November 09, 2000

Here's a preview of coming attractions, not too bad at all for no glass between the film and the subject, just a tiny hole in an old coffee can lid.

9:31 PM ::link::

I must have been really lucky this weekend in the experiments with pinhole photography. I picked up the prints from the camera store after work today and the results were even better than I had hoped. I think I've found the right combination of pinhole size, focal length and exposure time. Not that every picture was perfect, mind you. I did get a rather pointed lesson in the importance of scrupulously sealing all stray light leaks from the roll I shot on Saturday.

The roll from Sunday's trip to Mount Carmel came out better, though. With a new smaller pinhole mounted in a light tight manner, the images were much clearer and sharper but still have that softness that comes from 10 and 15 second exposures. The wind whipping the bright autumn leaves adds a nice touch, bringing to mind another pinhole photographer's expression of spreading time across a piece of film.

I hope to find a few hours to be able to scan and upload the results in the next few days. Might even get brave enough to try doing some infrared pinhole pics.
8:06 PM ::link::

I've got to agree with Silver on this one. If the casting of your vote is not important enough for you to pay close attention to what you are doing, then don't bother in the first place. Think of it as evolution in action.
2:24 PM ::link::

Wednesday, November 08, 2000

Memento Mori offers a short history of burial practices in the early United States, leading up to the movement towards urban/rural parks as cemeteries.
9:03 PM ::link::

Enjoy the poetry of Carla Sweigart and the cemetery photgraphy of K. Hoffman at the Back Door to the Morgue.
8:54 PM ::link::

Working inside a ten foot by ten foot camera with a mural sized print, Richard Gaskins can produce some spectacular results.
7:59 PM ::link::

Cemeteries aren't the only place to find wonderful stonework. Take a look at sacred architecture around the world and enjoy the geometry of worship.
7:25 PM ::link::

While I usually enjoy tombstones that reflect the personality of the departed, this may have overstepped the bounds of good taste.
9:54 AM ::link::

Feeling that your vote didn't count for much with the electoral college system rather than the popular vote deciding the outcome of the presidential race? This article, "Math Against Tyranny", looks at the mathematics of the system and how the electoral college may actually make your individual vote more powerful.
8:26 AM ::link::

Tuesday, November 07, 2000

How important is the election today? Has it captured the attention of the American people? Not if you examine the search engine rankings for the top phrases over the past week. Mp3, sex and shopping occupy the top 3 spots, while the presidential candidates did not even make it into the top 150 phrases. Bread and circuses seem to be the driving force in our culture.
6:53 AM ::link::

Monday, November 06, 2000

Interesting essay about choices, ethics and personal responsibility...Ethics from the Barrel of a Gun.
10:13 PM ::link::

Just finished reading Hong Kong, an adventure novel by Stephen Coonts. Pure escapism for the most part, but interesting in light of the "cyber-war" in the Middle East. Mao's aphorism, "Political power comes from the barrel of a gun", is a bit outdated as revolutionary hackers shut down China as a prelude to seizing power.
9:53 PM ::link::

What kind of low down scumball would steal an angel?

Yeah, a 3 foot marble statue would look just great on top of the Christmas tree this year. Or maybe they plan to use it as some sort of Gawthic lawn jockey? The kind of person that would do something like that is too stupid to keep quiet about it, so they'll end up telling all their friends about the kewl angel they ripped off from the cemetery. They'll get caught, and maybe do some community service, cleaning up cemeteries, one can hope.

Idiots like that just ruin it for those who enjoy strolling through beautiful old graveyards. Now the cemetery is planning security fences, lighting, and all the great stuff that promises a safer environment but just destroys the atmosphere of what could be a delightful place.
9:24 PM ::link::

Elton John shares 387 images from his photographic collection in an exhibit at the High Museum of Art, in Atlanta, Georgia.
10:55 AM ::link::

Edgar Allan Poe is still making news, with the announcement that one of his ciphers, or coded messages, has been cracked.
10:02 AM ::link::

Sunday, November 05, 2000

Thanks to June for a tip about a fine cemetery on the east side of town. Sandwiched between the Baltimore Travel Plaza (read bus station ) and the concrete chaos of Interstate 95, Mount Carmel holds its own against urban encroachment. There are some very nice statues here, including some original works.

While many sections of the cemetery are in wonderful shape, part of this one's charm is that parts of it are quite overgrown, with paths wandering through the woods leading to all sorts of hidden treasures.

I managed to get what I hope will be some adequate shots of the place, including more experiments with yet another pinhole lens. The new pinhole is about as small a hole as I could make and still maintain roundness. I'm hoping that this will improve the sharpness a bit, the other one seemed to be a bit too soft for the look I want.
2:16 PM ::link::

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