Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day

For those not in the know, today is Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day, and to celebrate we participated in a learning exercise creating our own pinhole cameras (partially at least) and then using them to make photographs at a friend’s art studio in downtown Columbus.

A group of six of us gathered at the studio where we were first treated to a slide show of other much more expertly done pinhole photographs to inspire us on what we can hope to achieve someday with a little more time, patience and experimentation. 

We then got to work on putting a pinhole in a piece of brass shim using a needle-like apparatus secured to an X-acto knife. Although I would have preferred just to gouge the needle through the foil, apparently you want to do this gently since it will affect the quality of your photo later.

We were then shown how to secure this flap to the top of our box to cover the pre-drilled circular hole.

Next we all went upstairs to the darkroom where we were each given a piece of light-sensitive photo paper to secure to the inside of our box, after which we taped our boxes shut to prevent any light leaks.

Then we all went outside into the daylight to find potential subjects for our photos. Since this was a learning experience for us all, we were each assigned different exposure times to better gauge how long to leave our flaps off. I was assigned 40 seconds whilst Andrew got a shorter time of 20 seconds, and the rest of our classmates had intervals up to 2 minutes.

It was advised that we set our boxes down and use the timer on our phones to get the time more exact, so we all spread out to seek inspiration. I decided just to try a selfie for my first go, and wasn’t disappointed with the results as I look almost ghost-like.

(negative image)

After everyone had captured an image, we filed back inside and squeezed back into the darkroom where we untaped our boxes and removed our piece of paper (while under mostly dark conditions with just a safe light to guide us).

The developing process was my favorite part, and certainly a blast from the past as we each eagerly awaited the results of our efforts. As is always the case, the results were a bit mixed depending on the exposure time and the subject chosen. No one seemed unhappy, so we all put a new piece of paper in our boxes and retaped them for another session outside. We did this three times – still with mixed results and some with very impressive impressions (not me though, but rarely am I ever the star student).

Andrew's second effort

At the end of the day we all agreed it was a lot of fun and decided not to wait another year before gathering to do this again, so our instructor is going to set up another studio session so we can get in some more practice. A couple of my classmates made plans to take their cameras with them on a future weekend escape. Andrew and I are going to make another pinhole camera out of an empty wooden cigar box I have. We’re also discussing tentative plans to convert our ensuite bathroom into a darkroom for occasional use.

Here’s a link where you can see the photos our group posted to the Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day site:

http://pinholeday.org/gallery/2019/index.php?formType=list&f_action=refresh&countryName=United+States&provinceName=Ohio&cityName=&Country=United+States&Province=Ohio&City=

Here's a link to where all (3) of my photos (both in raw & processed format) are posted on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/authorwannabe/

 

What I Ate in San Francisco

I like to consider myself a little bit of a foodie in that I am curious about different foods and often will try something new rather than stick to what’s safe. That’s why I was happy to be a little adventurous during my recent trip to San Francisco.

The first thrill for my taste buds was the Almond Rose Latte (Almond Rose Latte - featuring illy espresso, almond & milk with the scent of roses.) I had for breakfast from an Illy coffee shop. The runner-up choices were Lavender Mint or Salted Caramel. I only wish we could trade in half our Starbuck stores in Columbus for an Illy branch!

The first night my uncle and I spent on our own while my husband was at his Google Cloud conference, we decided to visit the trendy place in town (Walnut Creek), True Food Kitchen. I would describe it as organic food for hipsters and yuppies – perfect for us! (I say that tongue-in-cheek as we are neither). As Hilliard, where I live, is hardly a haven for anything trendy, it’s safe to say I had never heard of this restaurant, but apparently Columbus will be getting one next spring in our fancy shopping district of Easton Town Center.

Anyway, my uncle had mentioned this place to me and advised me to have a look at their menu online https://www.truefoodkitchen.com/ to see if there was anything I liked. I skimmed it, and most everything looked good, so I knew I’d be able to find something.

For our starter we ordered the Green Asparagus which I normally wouldn’t have been too bothered about, but when we read the description, we just had to try it: lemon almond ricotta, pickled strawberry, arugula, radish. I was curious what pickled strawberry would taste like, but it kind of got buried in between the arugula and ricotta cheese.

Though I don’t normally order cocktails (usually preferring to stick to wine or water), I decided to try a Strawberry Rhubarb Margarita, which was pretty good.

I was torn between the Cauliflower Polenta Bowl and the Spaghetti Squash Casserole, but as we had had Italian on Sunday, and I rarely ever have polenta, I went with that. According to the menu, the meal consisted of asparagus, snow pea, edamame, snap pea, yellow squash, watermelon radish, chili thread. I believe my uncle had one of the other bowls, though not sure which one (but his had shrimp).

I cleaned my bowl, so I was rewarded with dessert. We split a small round flourless chocolate cake that was a perfect end to the meal.

The other new thing I tried while visiting my uncle was a Poke bowl (pronounced Pokey – like Pokemon!) from a restaurant called Lemonade (though I kind of wish we could have visited Oke Poke because they have the best name : )  https://www.lemonadela.com/seasonal-menu

I had heard of Poke bowls, but they’re somewhat slow to catch on here in Hilliard, though my sister told me you can apparently purchase them from Target in the produce and meat department. I didn’t realize it’s like ordering sushi in a bowl.

I ordered the Chef’s Favorite Salmon Thai Breaker (sweet soy ginger salmon poke with Thai Peanut Noodles). It was pretty good and I was able to finish it all, and was definitely pretty full afterwards! Since the place was named ‘Lemonade,’

I felt obligated to order one of the many flavors to wash down my lunch, so I went with the Blood Orange, but only finished about half before tossing it to go shopping. 

In addition to the above, I also ate plenty of sour dough, which is apparently a thing in San Francisco, though I don’t ever remember observing that on my previous three trips to the city over the years.

My uncle took me (and later my husband) to a crepes place in downtown Walnut Creek called Crepes Ooh La La which is actually owned / managed by a Frenchman. I’m not sure if my uncle had ever been there, but now, thanks to me, he has been there twice in one week!

Although I’ve had both savory and sweet crepes, I opted for sweet on both visits. The first time I tried the ricotta, applesauce & cinnamon crepe.

The second time I opted for something a bit more Moorish, so I ordered the Peanut Butter, Nutella, Bananas & whipped cream (what can I say? I have the taste buds of a 10 year-old). Both were excellent, but the second one was definitely a lot more filling. I think it was a good suggestion by my uncle that we take a long walk around the downtown after.

Thus concludes my food adventure in the city.

Ode to Notre Dame

As I’m sure you’ve all heard by now the famous Parisian landmark, Notre Dame, just suffered a devastating fire which toppled the iconic steeple -

and destroyed most of the roof, which was currently undergoing extensive repairs.

My husband Andrew and I were lucky enough to visit the cathedral in June of 2005 on our week long excursion around Paris. Here’s what I wrote in my journal about our visit:

“From there we went on to visit Notre Dame. I wasn’t that impressed by the inside. After all, if you’ve seen one cathedral, you’ve seen them all! (actually, some of them are more unique) However, once you step outside and look around it, you can’t help but feel impressed by the amount of decoration and detail. When I showed our neighbor, Laurie, all the pictures we took of the gargoyles she was horrified and disgusted by them, but I found them rather fascinating. I also thought it was interesting how the gargoyles served a useful purpose as drain spouts. We observed this after it started raining rather heavily while we stood outside. You can just about see the water dribbling out of their mouths in some of our photos.

Later in the day we decided to check out the view from the top of Notre Dame. Before ascending, Andy tried to cheer me up – “At least it’s not as many stairs as St. Paul’s Cathedral!” This is true. I suppose 387 instead of 530 does sound a little more achievable. I had shin splints for at least two days afterwards, but I still think it was worth it.”

Okay, so perhaps I wasn’t exactly wowed by Notre Dame as a somewhat cynical tourist then, I have to admit we haven’t seen many (if any) cathedrals with flying buttress.’ Here’s what a CBS news story said about them:

Flying buttresses prevail

"CBS News correspondent Seth Doane said new video gave people around the world their first look inside the charred cathedral on Tuesday.

He said two-thirds of the building's roof was destroyed, but the medieval stone masons who built the iconic structure may have saved the main walls of the building by doing such a good job on the renowned flying buttresses, the half-arch supports that fortify the upper level of the cathedral."

My condolences go out to the Parisians. Although we have very few landmarks as old as Notre Dame (after all, America is still a pretty young country in comparison), we would probably feel the same sense of devastation if, for example, the Statue of Liberty were destroyed.

I am happy to hear that the Parisians hope to rebuild Notre Dame, and I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that they expect such an undertaking to take decades. After all, (Basilica) De La Sagrada Familia, an icon of Barcelona, is still under construction after more than 135 years (though expected to be completed in 2026). Also, as they say, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”