Grand Forks City Hall

I've been spending some time going back and adding labels to all my previous posts (mostly about the photos, not so much about my words). As I've been doing this, I've had the opportunity to look at some of the night photographs that I had posted early on in this blog's life. Photos that come from a time before I got my own film scanner, and so had to rely on store scans (some of these I've already re-scanned, and others have similarity with new work that I've scanned myself).

I find that having my own scanner has really opened up many new possibilities in the way that I interpret an image. With picture CDs, the purpose of the jpeg is to allow U to get an exact duplicate of the store print, meaning that the file has the same (largely) automated "corrections" to contrast and colour as the print that U took home. With the scanner, I start with the raw and unedited data that exists within the piece of film, and I get to choose what "corrections" will be made, how, and in what order. Often enough, I find that it's just easier to get the effect that I want when working with the raw data, because, often enough, those automated store processes either edit out, or over emphasise, various subtleties that I really like working with (or at least having the option of working with). And all of this without even talking about the difference in file size, 20 million picture pixels compared with little more than 1.5 million.

The photo is actually the first shot that I ever took of Grand Forks City Hall, on 11 July of 2006. Ironically, I probably could have gotten the same end result off of picture CD jpeg (at least as far as this blog is concerned, printing is whole 'nother story).

I'm back from Alberta. It was a hectic trip. I did get a few shots in BC, but none in Alberta. In all my life, I can only remember seeing one roadside turnout on an Alberta secondary highway (and come to think of it, outside of the national parks, I don't remember too many on the primary highways either). Motorhomes great for traveling though, at least when U can find somewhere to park the 31 foot monstrosity, which is fewer places than U'd think. So rush rush rush, and then to top it off, on the way home, we have to limp the 400km with a busted radiator and shot rear suspension. Honestly the best thing about the whole trip was all the pretty fall colours that I didn't get to photograph.

Anyway, this photo was shot late last spring between Midway and Greenwood BC. I'm showing it mainly because I haven't got my film scanner yet, seems that the Nikon rep for Andres Audiotronic is screwing around, which given my views on Nikon Canada doesn't surprise me in the least bit. If things aren't straightened out by tomorrow, I'm going to have to get my scanner elsewhere, which means going either to Kelowna, or fucking Vancouver.

I've been trying to find something to post. With the exception of a few shots posted over at dA (most of which I've already posted here), I've only got three rolls worth ofWalmart scans on my hard drive (I have many more on disk, but what with having a film scanner on order -- for almost a bleedin month now! -- I didn't see much point in loading those into the HD, or, for that matter, getting CDs with the last four rolls I had developed).

Anyway, I shot this in my front yard, on 23 June this year. f5.6 for 1/1000 of a second, 400ASA Kodak C-41 B&W, with my Nikon 28-80mm G series set for 28mm

Dog Tired

It's been a long day. Left here for the Greenwood job at 7:15am, got home for supper at 6:45pm.

Another long day tomorrow.

This is Dusty, taken some time this summer, f-something-er-other (probably 5.6, maybe 8).

Picture, Work, and More Patriarchical Idiocy

Well, I'm glad last week's over, of course this week there's a lot of work for Wednesday through Friday or Saturday, depending on how things go.

This is a very small park behind Grand Forks City Hall (about five trees, some shrubs/flowers and two pic-nic tables. I don't think they could do anything else with that particular wedge of land) shot back around 945pm on 11 July of this year. f16 for 60 seconds, on ASA400 Kodak C-41 Process B&W.

*I still haven't heard back about my film scanner yet. I'm hoping to have the damn thing by the end of the month, or early next.

*Found this (Pregnancy as the punishment for being single) over at Pandagon, linking here (Den of the Biting Beaver). Seems that Plan B isn't available Over The Counter in the US until New Year's, and Biting Beaver has effectively been turned down for EC because she isn't married and wasn't raped. To quote the Pandagon article:

...the question about marriage is really a way for the doctor to gauge whether the proper owner of the uterus--—he who poked and owned it--has been told what the ninny that'’s merely managing his uterus is doing with it. On a more abstract level, this shows really how marriage confers status on women--—the married woman can invoke her man'’s authority and rights in these circumstances. She may not have a right to Plan B, but her husband has a right to it that he can pass on to her. The wedding ring is like having a hall pass in the the patriarchy (emphasis mine).

Pedophilia, Patriarchy & the Conservative Agenda (Part 1)

It seems like it's time for me to do one of my transcendental Integrationist things, but first the pic. It is another one of my early shots, taken in Penticton near the Penticton Rose Garden and the S.S. Sicamous (shown previously).


Over at Feministe, Jill brought up The Sexualization of Girls, by quoting part of a Rosa Brooks Op-ed article in the L.A. Times, the gist of which is that it is all but impossible to find clothing for young girls which doesn't make them look like street walkers, and that the sale and manufacture of provocative kiddy clothing (among other things) is being used by pedophiles to somewhat justify their predatory acts. While over at Pandagon I found out that the son of an Evangelist was busted for trafficking child porn.

So, where are the connections? Well, we can talk about patriarchy and how within this system a woman is supposed to derive her own sense of worth through being an object of male desire (being sexualised a la Girls Gone Wild and that ilk), while the Conservative precept that nudity=sex, that skin=sin, has become ingrained in North American culture (I previously touched on both points here).

developmentally speaking, the earlier in life a person is indoctrinated to a way of thinking or behaving, the more difficult it is to break the habit (brand marketers rely on this to manufacture lifelong customers). From a perspective of Patriarchy, the sooner a girl gets indoctrinated into wearing makeup, and pretty (or revealing) clothing, in order to feel good about herself (having won male and, in general, societal approval for wearing such things) the more difficult it will be for her to reject these everyday trappings of patriarchy later in her life.

Now, in and of itself, the clothing and makeup and whatever else could be quite innocuous -- tank-tops, bikinis and thongs have no inherent meaning outside of a cultural context -- but, in North America, where nudity=sex, those items of clothing which show more skin become associated with sex and are imbued with sexual meaning by the culture at large.

In short, in North America, nudity=sex and (some) clothing=sex. Since children are usually either clothed or nude (and either state is considered sexual), children become sexualised objects.

Tired

Man am I tired. Spent eight hours yesterady, installing an air conditioner. Then today, I spent another three and a half hours, continuing the installation of furnace in a space that maxes out at five feet tall. I hate cellars now. At least I should ring up some decent hours this month.

This shot has sorta been nagging me every time I go though the few scans I have on my computer. Right now I like it because I didn't have to fiddle with contrast or anything in post. Taken f8 1/500th of a second on Kodak ASA400 C-41 B&W, June 23. (I had around 500 Wal-mart scans on board untill a hard disk failure a couple months ago. I could re-load them, but can't be bothered since I'm getting my own scanner soon).

*edit: photo was taken near Rock Creek, BC*

Deer & Beer

Lastnight was kinda interesting. I left home around 6pm, and shot a total of 1/3 of a roll of film including two shots of whitetail (probably a yearling, judging by size) that I was able to get within about 4 metres of, near the local railway trestle on the Trans Canada Trail (more about that when I actually post the pic). I know Diana must have been smiling on me to get close enough to 'fill the frame' with a wild animal while using something as short as 80mm.
The other shots were just my typical landscape crap, we'll see if anything turns out.

Around 9pm, I went to The Winnie and had a couple pints.
Met this bloke, Yuri, and discussed some philosophy. His understanding of the nature of God is similar to mine. I suspect that we have much to teach eachother, although getting him to shut-up long enough to listen may be a problem (I wonder how many beer he had had by the time we met. He wasn't wasted, but may have had enough to be the cause of his verbal diarrhea).

This shot was taken in the small wood near my house, back on 28 April '06. Using a 28-80mm zoom, f8, AP, and a Kodak C-41 400ASA B&W that I haven't used much, (and lightly sepia toned in Photoshop). It was about 5pm, with the contrasty late afternoon light that U get in wooded areas. This is one of only two decent shots that I got of these two does chewing their cuds (I took six shot total).

The Navigator

Well, I figured it's time to test the photo capabilites of this place, I am a photographer after all.

This is Dusty, my Shih Tzu, as my family and I were entering Banff National Park, on our way home from visiting relatives in Alberta over the July long weekend.