wall abstract -- burbank

I still love film, and like I said a while back, I was going to shoot a roll through my old Agfa Silette and post any that I liked. So here’s the first one — I couldn’t pass up this concrete wall in Burbank.

The Silette is about fifty years old already, and it’s about as simple as a camera can get and still give you some control. It has a good range of f-stops, three shutter speeds plus B, and you focus by guessing how far from the subject you are. I carry a small Sekonic Auto-Lumi meter, though for most of this roll I relied on the trusty old ‘sunny 16′ rule. In case you’re not familiar with it, sunny 16 simply means that in bright sunlight you set your f-stop to f16 and your shutter speed to the reciprocal of the film speed, or any equivalent. I used ISO 200 film, so the shutter speed in this case would have been 1/250. The Silette only has a top shutter speed of 1/125, so 1/125 at f22 it was. If you’re not in bright sunlight you have to tweak the exposure a bit, but all in all it’s remarkably accurate.

My digital camera is going to stay on the shelf for awhile and I’m going to shoot some more film. Seeing as the Silette only has a direct viewfinder, accurate framing can be a little funky. I have an old Nikkormat with four lenses that I’m going to run the next couple of rolls through, so stay tuned… more film photography to come.

bark abstract #3

Hard to believe I’ve been in this apartment for three weeks already, and in LA for a year. Time flies.

I’m pretty well set up for the rest of my stay in LA. My daughter and I went Goodwill and found a great table for my computer and scanner and stuff for about twenty bucks. She’s been wanting to show me the Ikea store for some time now, so we went there for a few things. I got a good chair for the desk, a bookshelf, and a few other small items. My biggest purchase there was a foam sleeping pad. It cost about sixty bucks, but it’s only about two inches thick and is easy to roll up and move. And man, is it comfortable.

So… I have a sleeping pad on the floor in one corner, my computer and books in another, a kitchen to cook in, and a bathroom and shower. Pretty much all I need, though another chair or two and a table to eat at would be good. I’ve never cared much for couches — they’re a pain in the ass to move around, and besides… I already have a place to sleep.

It’s a one bedroom apartment, and my daughter of course claimed that as her own. She loves to decorate and try out new things, and it gives her a blank canvas to experiment with. Pretty cool…

This photo goes back almost a year already, and is a detail from the same tree as my ‘eucalyptus trunk’ photo. Eucalyptus bark may look smooth and textureless at first glance, but there are some amazing patterns and abstract designs in it. Fascinating…