Potash Road, Moab

Moab is another place near and very dear to me.  The rock formations, arches, and the mighty Colorado River make it a timeless place.  While walking around the area you can hear and feel the spirit of the early explorers whispering in your ear.  It's magical!  If I wasn't so enamored with New Mexico, I'd want to live in Moab....who knows...maybe one day I will.

This was made with a homemade 4 x 5 pinhole and some ERA 100 sheet film.  I really liked this film from China, but I can't get it anymore.

It performs like T-max but was about half the cost.

Fort McKavett in slow light

Fort Mckavett is a dear and special place.  After you arrive, your pulse will slow, a grin will permanently affix itself to your face and the sky will share its stars like no other place on Earth.

True, it does get cloudy sometimes, but friends and food more than make up for any pesky clouds trying to spoil a good time.

These photos were all made with a pinhole camera this past fall.  I've made hundreds of photos here, but each time I go to the Fort the sky is different, the light is different and my walking around in a pinhole trance is different so I keep adding to my collection.

The most impressive ruin on the site is the old Commanding Officers Quarters.  It looks small in this photo, but believe me it's huge!  Unlike some other parks or historical sites, you can walk up to and inside this one and feel the history leaking out of the walls.  I love this building!

This is a view of the parade grounds.  As you can see it was windy because the flag is blown straight out. This old tree is known as the hangin' tree.  At one time the folks at the site were thinking of removing it because it's long dead, but changed their minds and decided to let it stay.   I'm happy they did because I'm very attached to it.

It's the first thing I look for upon arrival at the Fort and I always tell it hello and touch the rough bark.  Little critters use it for shelter.  I think a lot of other folks are attached to it too and hope it stays.

Here's another view of the Commanding Officer's Quarters through some live oak trees.
This is one of the first views I ever shot with a pinhole camera.  I keep working on getting a really good one, but for now this one will do.

The shirt says it all!  Star Party!
This is my dear friend Dan.  He's a past president of The Johnson Space Center Astronomical Society and was gracious enough to remain still for this pinhole portrait!

Some of my fondest memories at the Fort involve sitting on this porch and visiting with my good friends.
Dan is an exceptional conversationalist!

Up a Tree

This was a practice shot made with a Holga I converted to pinhole.

I've converted several Holgas to pinhole and each one of them shoots a bit differently....this particular camera went to Patagonia to a teacher!

It really makes me happy to spread some pinhole fun around the world!

Dirty Laundry

I have always liked laundromats.  A lot!

I don't know if it's the sight of all that shiny glass and chrome around the doors of the washers and dryers, or just the fact that there's big-time instant gratification about having clean warm clothes just out of the dryer that smell fresh.

It's also a quiet place, one where you can hear your own thoughts, unless one of the washers is out of balance and then the whole building sounds like it's coming apart! But normally it's very peaceful.

I'm also rather fond of folding clothes...even fitted sheets, which I fold well enough that the woman that runs the laundry calls me "the sheet lady".

Today I took my Illy coffee can pinhole along with me to pass the time while washing clothes. I usually read while I'm waiting but I had just finished a book and didn't really want to start another one so played with the pinhole instead.

This was a 10 minutes exposure on Arista Ultra 4 x 5 sheet film.
Marinated in caffenol for 7 minutes.

What could be easier than that?

Working Out!

It's been bitter cold for about 5 days and instead of staying inside with a bad case of cabin fever, I went outside for some pinhole fun while my hubby cut up some firewood.

The only heat we have in our house is from a small wood-burning stove, but hold on before you start offering sympathies.  It's not a bad way to heat, plus it's a renewable source, plus cutting and gathering firewood is a great workout!

Our home is small, so it's easy to keep it warm with the wood stove.

This is a 2 minute exposure made with a 4 x 5 Santa Barbara pinhole camera.
Ilford FP4 125 speed sheet film.

Winter Window Garden

Click on the image to see it bigger!  It looks better large.

It is my pleasure to offer something new...new as far as I just shot this, today!

While working on  getting my pinhole groove back, I noticed that I had a few exposures left in my Zero Image 2000 pinhole.  It shoots 120 film and was loaded with Fuji Acros 100.  Perfect!

What to shoot, what to shoot?  It's blowing a gale outdoors so I decided to shoot my little indoor window garden.

Besides pinhole and peanut butter, I do like to tinker with plants.  I come from a long line of green thumbs, (almost all of my ancestors were farmers in the mid-west) so having a small garden is par for the course.

I have a couple of Amaryllis that are in various stages of growing and blooming.  An African Violet that just won't stop blooming.  A Jade tree that weighs a ton that I started from a little cutting from a friend, and "Big Mama".

Big Mama is an aloe Vera plant that I brought here with me from Texas.
She, and I know she's a she because she is constantly having babies that I re-pot and give away, weighs about 60 pounds, blooms in the summer and has saved me many a blister from assorted burns I've suffered over the years.

Big Mama is 12 years old and makes me smile every time I see her.  This may sound goofy to just smile about a plant, but I do like her a lot.  She spends the cold months indoors with the jade tree, African Violets and my Christmas Cactus.  The rest of the year she and her buddies go outside in the sunshine and warm air.

The Christmas Cactus just finished blooming and will bloom again around Easter.  Some people have told me they have trouble getting them to bloom again after they bring them home from the store, but mine seems to be really happy in my south window.
So there you have it. My family of plants.

Oh! And yes, that is an avocado pit growing in water on the far right.  I can't help myself but to grow one each year.  There's something primal about seeing the tangled mass of roots twining around themselves in the water that I can't resist.

This Zero Image 2000 pinhole is 2 shots welded together in PS.  I say welded because the seam is visible and not too neat, but it was the best job I could do considering I moved the camera too much when setting things up.
Anyway, I've totally rambled on about it too much, so enjoy.

Next time I'll shoot this in colour so you can see the delicate hue of the violets and Amaryllis.   I love those bulbs!

Let's get this pinhole party started!

Since it's been a month since I've really posted any pinhole stuff, I've got a lot of catching up to do.

Blondies, Corona, New Mexico.
July 2013 road trip

This was made with a Holga that I converted to pinhole and some Fomapan 100 film.

I really like this camera because it is small, it's extremely lightweight and it uses 120 film so I don't have to reload too often.

It's truly easy to travel with.

Peanut Butter and Pinhole

Peanut Butter and Pinhole

One has nothing to do with the other except they are two of my all-time favorite things!

They each sustain me albeit on very different levels.

Peanut butter (always crunchy) feeds my late night cravings before I go to sleep and pinhole feeds my imagination and creative soul.

It seems they are forever entwined now because I can’t dream without either one of them.

If I think a little bit more about this unlikely combo, I can link them further.

Peanut butter is pure, at least the kind I eat is.  No sugar, no oil, no fluffifiers, nothing but ground up peanuts and salt.

Open the lid and eat it right out of the jar with a spoon!  It's simplicity at its best.

Pinhole is pure too.  It's just a light tight box with a hole in it.  No dials, no blinky lights, and no fooling around. 

Open the box, insert a film and make a photo!  More simple goodness! 

I'm going to stop writing now before you figure out I'm just a light tight box full of nuts.

I'll post a few pinhole photos in a day or two….after I have some peanut butter.

Beck

p.s. I've missed being here!