Darkroom Day 17

So today my husband and I went into town and ordered the carpeting and the formica counter/desk tops. The carpet folks will have to come out and do their own measuring on Tuesday. Once the carpet and formica are ordered it will take two weeks to get here. In the meantime, we primered the outside walls of the art room/darkroom in the garage. Ron got a big kick out of me apparently. He's a contractor, but I've been painting for years. I've owned five homes and two on my own, and I've done it all: painting, wallpaper, built fences, dug trenches, put in tile - you name it. Okay, so I put the end of the long handle into the 5 gallon bucket of paint and he just thought that was hilarious. He said I dressed up like I was going to work out in the fields! Well, I didn't want to get my hair (which I just washed) full of paint! We had a good time though. It's still not dry inside the room - so we will have to wait another day. Tomorrow will be warmer, so I could probably primer on Monday. We'll see how that goes!

Darkroom Day 15 and 16

Yesterday the walls were textured and that job is done! Now we are letting it dry, and this weekend we are planning on at least painting the outside walls in order for us to move back some shelving and putting things into order and get rid of even more STUFF from the garage. Then we - I mean "I" - will move on to painting the inside of the whole art room. We're supposed to have a big rain and wind storm today, but hopefully the walls will continue to dry.

I know this doesn't have anything to do with photography, but this blog is my outlet so to speak, and what's on my mind today is that my sister Pat will be picking up our Mother's ashes. I wish I could be with her for support as she is going alone. If you're reading this and you have also lost your mother, then you know what I'm talking about and feeling. However, today is my Mom's brother's birthday and he is 90. My husband suggested we go over there and wish him a happy birthday - so I think that's what we are going to do!

Darkroom Day 14

I'm posting a couple of photos today on the status of the art room/darkroom. It's progressing! The taper was here yesterday for the second time. He won't be back for another couple days to let it dry. The doors are hopefully going to get hung today. Although we have a diversion job going on too. We bought a 4 1/2' weeping blue atlas cedar that needs to be planted and Ron and Gary are building a planter box for that right now.

I went to Home Depot yesterday to find out how long it takes to order the formica and carpeting - two weeks. So we will need to order those in another week or so. When the room gets textured, I am doing the painting! I'm not really sure what color we will go with, either a very light warm gold or a light pewter. Either of those two colors would go with the carpet and formica and any artwork/photography I hang in there.

Photography wise, I have a show coming up in April. At some point in the very near future I will need to start printing and matting and framing for that show.

My Mother

I have been absent for a week and am finding it hard to get back into the swing of things - namely, photography! So today I am going to honor my Mother, Velen, who passed away suddenly on Valentine's Day. (My mother's name Velen (aka Belen) is Spanish for 'Bethelem'.)

My Mother was vivacious, fun-loving, creative, artistic, strong and cared for her family deeply. She was also a very beautiful woman. She could do anything and she did whatever it took to help provide for her family, to give her daughters and son the things she didn't have in her own growing up years. Not only was she a retail sales clerk, she was a seamstress by trade. She could sew beautiful clothes and at one time in her career had her own bra business and made bras for women who were hard to fit and for those women who wore a prothesis as a result of cancer. She made her great grandson Sam a doctor's coat to match his Dad and Mom's. She made her great-granddaughter Victoria a beautiful magician's cape when she was going thru her magician's phase. Our Mom could 'make' anything. I remember us wanting things we saw in store windows and she would say, "Oh, I can make that for you when I get home!" And she usually did. Where there was a will there was a way. Of course we ended up saying those same words to our children, and now it's being passed on to theirs.

She was an artist in her own right. She painted with oils, acrylic and water color. I think every member of our family has at least one painting from Grandma. She was painting up to her last days.

She always made time for her grandchildren, inviting them out to stay with her in the desert where she lived. They built forts and explored the desert and she let them be themselves. She nurtured them and gave them wonderful memories of being with their Grandma.

Did I mention she was beautiful? She was very beautiful and dressed to the nine's at every occasion. She loved to dance and was an excellent dancer in her day. In fact, the last day that she spoke, she told my sister Carole, "I wish I could get up and dance!" Later after hearing this, I told my sisters that maybe those were the magic words, maybe that's all she had to say...and she would be on her way.

I love you Mama. You'll be with me always in my heart and soul and in everything I do. You were an inspiration not only to me, Pat, Carole and Joe, but to your grandchildren and great-grandchildren. You taught many of the girls how to sew, inspired them to paint and draw, and encouraged them to go to school and college. You have left us a legacy of strenth, perseverence and most of all LOVE OF FAMILY. We will all miss you dearly - but not to worry, as we will always keep you close in our hearts.

Darkroom Status

Today my husband and I went out to Home Depot and checked out formica counter tops and I selected a 'color', as well as looking at the indoor/outdoor carpet, and decided to just go with an inexpensive carpet that wasn't much more than the indoor/outdoor! We will have to order both but we've got time. The counter tops will be delivered right to the house. We'll most likely have the carpet installed. We also checked out tile for the darkroom area and decided we would go with the tile squares - we can handle that one ourselves.

Later this evening the drywall contractor came by and gave us his bid to do the taping and texturing of the whole room. Since we've hung the drywall - we got a great price!

In regards to photography, today I continued to work on one of my many 'photo' projects. This one is of my Dad who passed away November 28, 2007. I'm realizing that I don't know that much about my stepfather's family. I wished I had asked more questions earlier on, but I did have some information on his family tree - mostly his mother's side of the family. But I have been working with his cousins who reside in New York and they have helped me tremendously in identifying folks in photos. I'm almost done with that particular photo album, then I'll move on to photocopying for the relatives. And I'm also having a video transferred to DVD in regards to an interview he had with the local newspaper. In that interview he goes through his own Army experiences, as well as mentioning some of his own family history.

Darkroom Day 9

Wow! This is coming together fast! The electrician finished his work today, the drywall was added to almost all of the inside of the room! It's getting really exciting! Tomorrow the drywall finish contractor will come by to give us an estimate - I hope he'll want to do it. Next Monday the work will resume and the rest of the drywall will go up. Then I guess we'll have to go shopping and look for the work surfaces which I believe we will be getting formica tops - they're inexpensive in the big scheme of countertops. Things are taking shape and I will post a photo manana!

Darkroom Day 8

Today I beat feet over to Lowe's since I had already done my research online and decided on a stainless steel 25x22, 8 1/2" deep kitchen sink. I also bought the fawcett and drain. I'm happy to have a dark room and happy to have a designated sink too! Some people develop film in closets, laundry rooms, bathrooms, kitchens - you name it. My ol' pal Dave Beckerman in NYC developed in the midst of his apartment, which I believe was a studio at the time. I really admired the guy - and still do, although he succumbed to going completely digital - finally. He is extremely knowledgeable in the entire field of photography. He's just a great guy, and one day we are going to meet in person! ; )

So I have the sink, my husband was quite pleased with my selection. The drywall is completely up on the outside. I'll have to include another photo tomorrow of the progress. The electrician also comes tomorrow. The plumbing is completed - after testing, no leaks! A good sign! It is coming along and trying to figure out where everything will be strategically and functionally placed. I have so much equipment, supplies, books - it will be fun to put it all in order in the new room. I can hardly wait.

Rangefinder

To all you photographers young and old, have you discovered Rangefinder yet? It is a FREE publication to photographers and I have found this magazine to be the one of the best magazines yet. I used to subscribe to Outdoor Photographer, but as the times changed it went totally digital and wasn't alot of help or of interest to me. Black and White Magazine is another good one, however, quite pricey - though it still carries film articles in addition to digital. I only subscribed for a year. Getting back to Rangefinder, which is a monthly publication, it contains extremely helpful articles on lighting, new up and coming photographers, historical articles on famous/not so famous photographers, and of course digital photography programs for the PC, as well as photography conferences if you're in to that. The conferences are pretty pricey in my opinion - but I'm sure it's right for some.

All you have to do is go to Rangefinder.com and you can sign up to receive your free subscription! Give it a try.

Epson Scanner 4490

The fun thing about scanners is that you can restore your old photos which I love to do every now and then. I worked on a couple of photos for Valentine's Day for family and they came out pretty well. If you're starting with an older 'fuzzy' photo, you can only do so much. These photos had been thru it all: tears, old scotch tape in the corners, creases, you name it! So that was my morning project and those are always fun.

We're still waiting for the drywall to be delivered. My husband just called and it is on its' way. We didn't want it delivered tomorrow as it's going to be raining - again starting tonite! At least it's rain and not snow.

My next adventure is to re-watch a YouTube video on how to scan film properly. The electronic manual for the Epson Scanner 4490 does not go into detail at all! I need pictures - I'm a visual person. I still don't have scanning down pat yet, but I keep trying!

Perseverence!

Okay, so today I attacked the Beseler enlarger again and took the lamphouse off and opened it up. It wasn't dirty at all, it's a pretty tight housing unit that seems to keep the dust out. I still don't know though how I would remove the bulb should it ever go out, and I'm sure it's going to go out one of these years. I'll deal with it then.

Drove down to Sacramento and took the two framed photos to the Blue Moon Gallery. There were other artists there bringing in the new art work and they showed quite a bit of enthusiasm over my photos. I'm posting one of them for your enjoyment. I have also spent some time working on some of the San Antonio TX mission photos so that I can post them to a gallery on my website next week.

Enlarger

Finally got around to going thru the Beseler enlarger this morning. I'm hoping all is okay, it's pretty sturdy. I didn't take the lamphouse apart yet - I may need some help although the lamp is working. There is no red filter included, but I shouldn't need it for the black and whites.

Heard from the gallery owner. She was really sick yesterday but feeling better today, so tomorrow I'll take the photos down.

Received a request from my niece in southern California for some photos for her sons' school silent auction event. She's going to let me know what photos they would like. Probably some coastal ones - she wanted 'local' stuff from down there but I don't really have a lot. I do have Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii though.

Tonight we are going out to dinner for our anniversary to Le Bilig French restaurant where my B&W France photos are hanging!

Darkroom Day 6

The construction on the art room/dark room is coming along. Mostly the plumbing today. However, my husband was finally able to get an electrician to come over - hopefully tomorrow. Sheetrock has been ordered and will be delivered on Monday. So that was the productive part of today.

My part was pretty much non-productive! Drove to Sacramento to deliver the two photos to the gallery, but no one was home. Something must have happened for her not to have been there. Also stopped by two restaurant suppliers to check out pricing for a stainless steel sink......hhhhmmmm, even there was pretty pricey. So back to a regular stainless steel sink for now. I'll be calling on that tomorrow.

Darkroom Day 5

Well, my mistake - plumbing is also going in simulatenously with the electrical. So that is what's happening today - mostly plumbing for the darkroom. I'm not having the full on temperature controlled water system. I'm just happy to have cold and hot water running! I'm pretty easy.

Yesterday I cut the mats for the two photos for the gallery that I hope to take to Sacramento either tomorrow or Friday. I'm not sure if I like the single 4-ply of white mat. I'm thinking maybe a 2-layer mat, not sure. I won't be cutting it though. I've cut 2-layer mats and it's not easy. I own a Logan Model 750 and it serves its' purpose, but I think it would help if the mat cutter was even better than what I have. What I think I will start doing is getting the 2 color mat board, so the 4-ply still has a better finished look to it. I've used it before and I guess I just forgot to continue to get it!

Darkroom Day 4

Now the majority of the whole studio is framed in: the darkroom and closet also. It's hard to take a full on shot right now as the garage door can no longer be opened. But you get the idea from the photo. The next step will be to add the electrical outlets and wiring, which my husband has gone to get the electrical boxes. Then the sheetrock I believe will be the next step on the outside walls, followed by insulation and closing the walls off with sheetrock on the inside. It's coming along!

In the meantime I will be printing two 11x14 color photos out so I can mat and frame them for the Blue Moon Gallery. Photography in this gallery is not moving and the economy is not helping, but I will try for another 6 months with two new photos I have from Point Lobos. One is not a vivid color photo as it was taken in the foggy mist and there are a lot of grays in it. The other one was taken at sunset and has more of a warm glow to it. Both of these you can find in my Point Lobos Gallery on my website. Check it out!

Photography in General

I think I may have mentioned this before, however, photography IS the slowest moving medium in the art world as far as galleries go. If you think about the amount of work it takes whether film or digital: going out in the world to take the fabulous photo (being at the right place at the right time), then come back develop and/or print the photo, cut the mats, frame the matted photo, and then take it to the gallery for hanging - that's a lot of (loving) time and effort expended. Then of course, the galleries take their percentage usually 40 - 60%, and if you have a sale then you get your reward, little as it is. That is why I am in it for the ART OF PHOTOGRAPHY. I receive more than my fair share of cudos from the people who admire my work and that in itself encourages me to continue on. One of these days I may add the capability to purchase my photos off my website, but I'm good for now.

And to tell you the truth, I'm not much of a "joiner" of clubs (i.e., photography clubs). Once in a while I might think about it, but I've heard from others who have been to clubs that it's everyone's own perception of what is "beautiful or awesome". Critiquing can be a good thing and I have taken constructive criticism from other photographers and I appreciate their input. But to sit around and evaluate another's work, nit picking to the 'inth degree is not something I would hang around for. What one photographer sees is not necessarily what another photographer appreciates which lends to bad criticism (e.g. '...you should have made the tree the focal point', or '...why not try to capture the scene full on as opposed to just that portion of it?'). Overexposure and underexposure should definitely be something a photographer can identify right off the bat - but I've seen both cases hanging in galleries! So go figure.