March update
It's been a rough month. Last time I posted, I had suffered so much pain from a kidney stone that I had to go to the hospital ER. I just got the bill back from that visit and my portion amounts to nearly $1200. Ugh. I'm going to have to make installment payments to pay that off. I saw a urologist, who says my stones have likely passed without my knowing it because they were small (<=2mm); a follow-up X-ray come out negative and he's ordered a more extensive urinalysis to ascertain whether my diet and other factors could make me have more in the future.
The first appointment with a regular doctor, Danny's doctor, went well. He's the one who referred me to the urologist; both of them are in the same medical network as the hospital, so everyone's information is getting passed around nicely. I've been concerned for about a decade now about my tendency toward high blood pressure, so he tentatively put me on a mild medication (benazepril, 20 mg daily). My next appointment will be a full physical, to rule out any other problems.
The braces are also going well. To say that my teeth are straighter now than when I started would be a gross understatement. Now, they're in better shape than many people I know, and most of my teeth are in their correct places and only need some finessing around. In a month or two, my orthodonist will refer me back to my oral-maxillofacial surgeon for consultation on how and when I'll have my jaw surgery. I'm hoping it'll be as soon as possible after I return from our annual trip to the Argonauts/Castaways leather run in Wisconsin in August.
A couple of weeks ago we attended the annual run in Nashville hosted by the Conductors. It's always been one of our favorites, as the Conductors are always friendly and they always put on one hell of a show. I was kinda bummed because I didn't have any luck hooking up with anyone, but who wants a guy in braces anyway? So I kept a few cameras always at hand and spent my time getting my mad skillz out of winter hock and trying some new techniques -- which moderate success. All told, I shot something like 500 digital shots, about 7 rolls of film, and about a dozen film sheets.
The major technique I tried for the first time there was pushing. To push film, you expose it at a higher ISO (sensitivity rating) than it actually is, then compensate for the discrepancy while developing. It reminds me of the concept of "body English" on a pinball machine. Most films will push one to two stops rather well, depending on where you start. Pushing the previous formulation Kodak Portra (a professional color film) from 800 to 3200 was a failure that resulted in unusable negatives with excessive grain and blocked shadows, but I was able to push it from 400 to 800 without it breaking a sweat. Kodak's just recently made some improvements to the Portra line, so I can't wait to see how much better that stuff works.
Here you can see the entire set. Images with my logo in the lower left-hand corner were shot digitally; images without it were shot on film. I used my Nikon F4s for 35mm, a Mamiya 645 Pro for medium format, and a Graflex Crown Graphic for 4x5 large format. I particularly enjoyed demonstrating large format photography to some guys who posed for me. A friend and a great photographer in his own right, Chris Skelley, took the first three photos here of me; my husband Danny took the fourth with my trusty little Argus C3. You can click to embiggen.
Yes, Virginia, that's a twisty J.M. Boswell Jumbo X pipe I've got in the first photo. The camera I'm holding in the second is the Mamiya 645 Pro.
Much to Danny's pleasure, I've had to stop my gear addiction. I'm hitting a twin critical mass: redundancy of cameras and tightness of finances. In the past month the only major things I've bought have been a Rolleiflex Automat Model 4 (ca. late 1940s), and a Soligor Spot Sensor spot meter that proved its usefulness during the Nashville trip.
In a couple of weeks, I'll be co-teaching an informal workshop on film developing. An acquaintance will be showing how to develop black-and-white film, and then I'll demonstrate developing color (C-41 process). It should be fun!
The first appointment with a regular doctor, Danny's doctor, went well. He's the one who referred me to the urologist; both of them are in the same medical network as the hospital, so everyone's information is getting passed around nicely. I've been concerned for about a decade now about my tendency toward high blood pressure, so he tentatively put me on a mild medication (benazepril, 20 mg daily). My next appointment will be a full physical, to rule out any other problems.
The braces are also going well. To say that my teeth are straighter now than when I started would be a gross understatement. Now, they're in better shape than many people I know, and most of my teeth are in their correct places and only need some finessing around. In a month or two, my orthodonist will refer me back to my oral-maxillofacial surgeon for consultation on how and when I'll have my jaw surgery. I'm hoping it'll be as soon as possible after I return from our annual trip to the Argonauts/Castaways leather run in Wisconsin in August.
A couple of weeks ago we attended the annual run in Nashville hosted by the Conductors. It's always been one of our favorites, as the Conductors are always friendly and they always put on one hell of a show. I was kinda bummed because I didn't have any luck hooking up with anyone, but who wants a guy in braces anyway? So I kept a few cameras always at hand and spent my time getting my mad skillz out of winter hock and trying some new techniques -- which moderate success. All told, I shot something like 500 digital shots, about 7 rolls of film, and about a dozen film sheets.
The major technique I tried for the first time there was pushing. To push film, you expose it at a higher ISO (sensitivity rating) than it actually is, then compensate for the discrepancy while developing. It reminds me of the concept of "body English" on a pinball machine. Most films will push one to two stops rather well, depending on where you start. Pushing the previous formulation Kodak Portra (a professional color film) from 800 to 3200 was a failure that resulted in unusable negatives with excessive grain and blocked shadows, but I was able to push it from 400 to 800 without it breaking a sweat. Kodak's just recently made some improvements to the Portra line, so I can't wait to see how much better that stuff works.
Here you can see the entire set. Images with my logo in the lower left-hand corner were shot digitally; images without it were shot on film. I used my Nikon F4s for 35mm, a Mamiya 645 Pro for medium format, and a Graflex Crown Graphic for 4x5 large format. I particularly enjoyed demonstrating large format photography to some guys who posed for me. A friend and a great photographer in his own right, Chris Skelley, took the first three photos here of me; my husband Danny took the fourth with my trusty little Argus C3. You can click to embiggen.
Yes, Virginia, that's a twisty J.M. Boswell Jumbo X pipe I've got in the first photo. The camera I'm holding in the second is the Mamiya 645 Pro.
Much to Danny's pleasure, I've had to stop my gear addiction. I'm hitting a twin critical mass: redundancy of cameras and tightness of finances. In the past month the only major things I've bought have been a Rolleiflex Automat Model 4 (ca. late 1940s), and a Soligor Spot Sensor spot meter that proved its usefulness during the Nashville trip.
In a couple of weeks, I'll be co-teaching an informal workshop on film developing. An acquaintance will be showing how to develop black-and-white film, and then I'll demonstrate developing color (C-41 process). It should be fun!