Window obsession: A long line of repeat behavior

The first time I got my hands on old windows, it was the beginning of a life long obsession with glass and glazing. I have NO idea where all of this came from...I never lived in an old house that had really cool old windows, at least not until I was 23. I moved into an apartment in an old farmhouse (250 years +/-) and the windows were a mess. I wanted to paint, and I can remember not being quite sure what to do about the peeling paint on the window frames. In the end, being 23 and in a hurry, I painted over them. I cringe to think about it now. The NEXT time I experienced a curiosity about windows, it was the same farmhouse, several years later, when I moved into the other apartment. I must have been 27 then. This time, I decided that I'd do it right, whatever that meant. I'm German. I grew up hearing "if you are going to do something, do it right" and I probably felt like I had to do a better job on these windows than the ones in the first apartment. So, off I go, embarking on a long journey of trial and error. By the last window, I had it right! AND, I couldn't be stopped. (I also got lead poisoning...and ever since I have worn a very lovely mask that filters out the lead.) From there, I went on to get myself involved in other people's windows, whether they wanted me to or not. I couldn't resist the quiet plea for help that old, battered windows seem to project. And although I can clearly see the positive side of new windows, with double panes and easy cleaning advantages, I will probably never lose the desire to remove old windows from their frames; gently strip, sand and strengthen them, replace the old glazing (keeping the original glass if possible of course) and then putting them back. I think that it is the paint abuse that gets me the most worked up- you know, when people put layer after layer of paint onto the windows, or any woodwork, really. Makes me nuts. You should always take the paint OFF first, then start over. Sure, it takes hours, days, even months, to do it right. But damn, those sure are pretty windows when you're done! I have this little fantasy that if I didn't have my real life (photography, jobs, boyfriend, dogs, house payments, you know) I'd find someone old and wise who fixed old windows, and I'd apprentice with him for a few years. I'd love to work with someone who knew all sorts of tricks, and appreciated the windows like I do.Stripped, sanded, and ready to be prepped for painting.


Stripping them is hard work. Between an array of chisels, scrapers, and other hand tools, I also used the dreaded heat gun. Not only does the heat gun vaporize lead in the paint, but it does a nice job of cracking glass if you aren't careful...

The frames/sills had to be stripped and sanded, too. Couldn't leave them the way they were!

Not quite sure what THAT look is for, but I really was enjoying myself!

Film processing stories: Dog park pics

I have found that due to a combination of forces (weddings!) I am not at the park as often lately...and when I am, I seem to drag my feet about making time to develop the negatives. This has me mildly alarmed, but ya know? I can't do everything, and this is my one personal project. Everything else is for other people, and it keeps me hopping. Yesterday I needed to go to WSC to pull images for a publication. While waiting for the final image choices to come in, I figured I had an hour or so, so I processed 5 rolls of film. As I discovered when I stepped into the film processing room, there was lots of prep work to do first. The summer session class in June was managed just by the professor- no lab tech this time. The place was a mess when I went in yesterday. The chemistry was old (developer), bad (fixer), empty (permawash) and moldy (photo flo). There were beakers, reels, thermometers, and developing tanks all over the place. The trays to catch drips were a disaster. The counters had so much chemistry on them I had to scrub for a LONG time to get it off. The sink was slimy. Aaaargh! At any rate, here are some dog park photos.

Martha's Vineyard June 2008

This year's trip to Martha's Vineyard was the 4th for me. The annual gathering of "Tom and Stephen's" friends at a rental house in Lobsterville has been going on for eons. Way before my time. It comes with a deep seated mystique to it from all the years of hearing stories about the Vineyard gatherings. The first year, I shot to document Stephen working on the beach. The second year, I shot a few digital images, nothing special. The third year, I took was some Holga images (both color and BW). This year I hardly shot at all, but what I did shoot was also with the Holga, BW only. I had a hard time down there this year. Let me give some background...the trip was scheduled for June 17, 18 and 19. My last day at WSC was Friday the 13th, and right after work I had to rush to Sturbridge to shoot for Old Sturbridge Village. First thing on the 14th, I had to pack everything up (and leave early) to drive the 5 hours to NY to photograph a cousin's wedding at 2. Sunday I left by noon- had to drive back home to meet with wedding clients at 6pm. Monday, I had to work on a ton of stuff and get ready to leave for MV the next day. Tuesday we drove down, got on the ferry with the bikes, and headed to MV. I called a wedding client to meet us in Vineyard Haven, for her proof book/DVD pick up. Once that was all set, Jonathan and I biked the 18 miles to the Lobsterville house. I was tired, mentally disturbed (I do not do well with whirlwinds of activity...), beginning to bleed (period) and wanting to be alone. The house, when everyone arrives back at it, has anywhere between 6 and 9 people in it. I really should have thought it all thru a little better and simply stayed at home. This year I was miserable; Jonathan and I had a few misunderstandings, I was not feeling well (above and beyond the period related issues), and I couldn't get home fast enough. However, getting home included a stop at Jonathan's moms house for the night, and I took an antihistamine because I couldn't breathe. Intending to lay down for a little while, I ended up sleeping for 15 hours, which was actually a wonderful gift. I headed home Friday morning and then geared up for another wedding that weekend. I am exhausted just thinking about it. It is a wonderful thing that I have had this summer off from WSC, but this whole experience was right after I was done, and I had no time to calm down from all my jobs. Sometimes I think I need to be more careful about how I schedule my time...I do tend to get stressed about too many things scheduled tightly together. It makes me want to run and hide from the world. Or scrape paint. Either one.

Night Holgas

The fireworks display in Worcester did indeed happen...it stopped raining just in time, really. I bought several rolls of color film to try in the Holgas. It's amazing how fast the fireworks display went by without even actually seeing it. Well, I saw it, but because I was running around from spot to spot with the tripod and camera bag, it feels like it was over in an instant. All I remember is holding the shutter open and running thru some semblance of counting in my head. Then a precise 4 counts for the winding between exposures.
A holga recreation of my current header image...

To see the photos in the grid above bigger, go to my pbase galleries. I can't figure out how to make things clickable in this blog.

House bandaids

My poor house...it was obviously given a quickie "fix up" when it was for sale, and now the poor thing is showing it's true colors. Last year I fixed the roof- that was a very important part to deal with right off. I also had the hardwood floors refinished before I moved in. But the other home improvement projects- siding, walkway, patio, new front steps- they may need to be put on hold. There's only so much I am capable of doing, and so far I have done it. (Painting walls, bathroom wall board, cleaning.) I am currently scraping the paint off of my window frames (exterior) and fixing things up- tacking down/replacing trim, filling holes, recaulking, priming, painting, etc.

The more time I spend on a ladder in close proximity to my house shingles, the angrier I get. I mean, I knew I needed to deal with the siding, but I had no idea HOW bad the shingles really were. They are all falling apart, splitting, peeling badly, and rotting in areas. Unfortunately, the siding quotes that I got last year range from $16,000 to $27,000, depending on the contractor and the type of siding quoted. And don't even suggest vinyl siding, I can't stand it and will never put it on my house even if it is less expensive and has no upkeep. It is gross. When a sales rep came out last year to quote me for siding, I made him take the vinyl sample back out to the van, out of my house.

If this is not the sexiest get-up I own, I don't know what is. Good thing I don't wear this to weddings.A mid-process shot of the side window, and then a finished shot. Oh, and I decided I don't like the fake shutters so I am leaving them off. Why put something like that on a house if they don't actually DO something? Seems silly. Back in the days when shutters had a purpose, I can understand that. But now? Nah. And besides, as I quickly discovered, they make great places for wasp nests...

I went to the bank today, just to see what my options might be for financing the siding. Final answer: none, unless I want a co-signer. Nah. I am sure that the bank can see that I am financially stretched right now and they want to be sure that people pay back their loans. In all honesty, I agree with that. But it leaves me figuring out other options for fixing the siding. I could simply scrape, tack, and do touch up painting, and hope that got me thru a couple of more years. I could start to re-shingle it myself, one small section at a time. I have never done shingling, but I'd be willing to try.

India: More scans

The kids scaled these large metal "buoys" in a split second to peer down at us. We had just been let off of the boat, so that the crew could dismantle the boat, float it under the bridge, and then reassemble it on the other side. Due to the layout of the land, these metal buoys were the only shelter to find- and we were all desperate to pee, after being on the boat for several hours. No one wanted to pee with such an audience, so we pretended that we were simply looking..and then we noticed that we hadn't been the first ones to consider the area a toilet. The ground below was a veritable mine field of human feces.
The day of the camel ride ended here- at a place created for the tourists to "camp" overnight. It was a huge enclosed area of the desert with many large, permanent tents. Although visually striking, the real reason I was up so early shooting was because it was so cold I couldn't sleep any more. I was frozen. That night I had slept in all the clothes that I'd brought along, and in my gloves, too! The gloves were the only residual New England thing I had with me as I had been expecting a warm climate in India. That didn't really happen. It is my understanding that the desert climate is much different than other areas in India, but I didn't know that before going. Well, ok, I had read that the desert can be cold but I didn't believe it.
The camels were a litle intimidating, but I couldn't resist getting just a little closer...
I mentioned before that I only saw about 3 pet dogs in India. This was one of them, although how much of a pet he really was I can't say. But, he did have a leash, and was desperate to play with me!
This place in Pushkar stopped me in my tracks. Old, worn, beaten, blue and had an odd geometry for my eyes. Despite the human-less appearance, this was actually a huge feat to accomplish. The road was a main one, and was very busy with cows, locals, and tourists.

India: Negative scans a half year later!

When I renegotiated my work contract with WSC, from 12 months to 10 months, my goals were two-fold. One, I needed the time off in order to shoot and edit weddings. Two, I wanted time to devote to my personal projects- whether that is house stuff or photography work. I found myself sitting here on this drizzly 4th, pondering my "summer TO DO list", and was pleasantly surprised to realize that I am actually in a position to start really working with my India negatives. See, when I came back from India and had the color film processed at LB Wheatons, I asked for small (4x4) work prints to act as my "contact sheets". My intent was to choose negatives to scan after looking the work prints over. However, my scanner was acting odd with the actual negs, so instead I did quickie scans of the work prints. Yikes. It makes me cringe to think of it, but it was all I could do at the time. NOW I can take the time to scan certain negs individually and then work with them in Lightroom and Photoshop. In all, I will probably scan about 100 images, and follow that up with cleaning them of the dust, adjusting colors and levels, etc. The negatives, for some reason, seem to be very, ummm, irregular. I don't know how else to describe it- they have lots of "dirt" on them that isn't dust (see example series below for a before/after example from one). It's patchy cloudy stuff, and it is all over. If anyone has any ideas, I am listening. It took me several hours to scan and clean about 10 images. Eventually, I will have several of them printed. If not for a show of some sort, then at least for my house. I have to see these printed! BIG.

The initial scan...(above)The final image- cleaned up a bit!

I am pleased that between Photoshop and Lightroom, I can get what I want from the negs. I am just surprised by all the mess on them, seeing as they look ok on the light table and they didn't print that way from LB Wheatons. If it wasn't for my wanting to control all of the details to each image, I could simply have them printed by LBW "straight". But I don't want to do that. It makes me shiver to think of doing that and going back and forth over print pickyness (on my part) to have things re-done exactly the way I want.

This one (above) from Varanasi is definitely growing on me. It's interesting how my feelings about certain images will change over time. In a way, I am glad that it has taken me 6 months to get to this project.

The children behind the Taj haunt me. This little girl followed me (and probably every other tourist) as I walked along this barbed wire fence. She had asked for money earlier, when there were several children begging me for money. I gave them some, and one of the boys grabbed it and ran off, leaving the others to want MORE money. The begging was one of the most heart breaking AND annoying aspects to the trip. We were advised not to give money (and this was the only time that I did) because you can't help them, really, and you will continue to be inundated by demands.

I photographed lots of Dogs in India. They are all strays, people there don't have pets like we do. (Well, I did see 3 pet dogs, but that was over a span of 3 weeks, and multiple locations!) I imagine that they are all exhausted from simply existing. The dogs and cows eat garbage, so the good pickings are random for them.

Dog Park Holgas

Boy, have I fallen behind on the dog park negatives! I just scanned images that have SNOW in them. Hmmm. And I have a few rolls still waiting to be processed. Ah, well, life does get in the way sometimes- until this week, I haven't had time to do my own projects. I have had weddings every weekend, and thankfully the next one isn't until July 19th. So a few of the dog park photos were kinda interesting- I will post a few.

For anyone who doesn't know, my holgas are cheap plastic cameras that use medium format film. They can't be controlled like normal cameras, you have to guesstimate on exposure time and focus. It's a riot! I plan to take them everywhere with me. AND in the future, I will bring packets of developer, fix, etc with me and process the film before I fly home. After the India disaster (fogged film from airport radiation) I would rather exercise more control over my film fate.

The holga (above) was accidentally left on "bulb" for a few rolls. Most of them are trash, but this one caught my eye. It took a bit of tweaking to get the image to appear, but I could see it on the negative so I knew it was there.This girl comes every weekend with her Boston's- they are a bit more wired than my three!Another from the "bulb" accident negatives. I like how the dog is streaking thru and leaping out of the frame.

This was an interesting catch- the dog looks like he is stopping quickly. I like the raised paw and the shadow, plus the clarity to the body and the motion blur to the ground.

This one almost looks like a double exposure to me- the fur texture of the bigger dog is almost identical to the grass tone and texture. And it's a self portrait!

By the way, I may have killed my flash last weekend shooting at the park. I always have it on the cable (like in the shadow above) and it slipped and fell...into the stream. A $500 flash on a $25 camera. Ah, well.

Tonight I will load the holgas with color film and head to Jonathans to do long exposures of the firework. They should be right next to his place, I figure that the deck at his house or Stephens should be about right to get the perspective I want. I don't really care about fireworks, but I want to see what the holga can do with time exposures for things like that.