I think this picture is exactly what they are talking about when they say, “meter for the shadows.”
Meter for the Shadows
Month: December 2022
Morning Pictures: Kind of a Bust
I went to two places this morning to take a few film pics. Both places ended up kinda sucky. First was a frozen Forrest Lake. It was 8:00am, less than an hour after sunrise, and the light on the ice was kinda cool, but it just felt weird. There were a handful of people there bitching loudly about yesterday’s Patriots game. I felt weird standing there taking pictures of nothing while they were hanging out. I wasn’t anywhere near them but it was still strange.
The second spot was a public parking lot that only holds about eight cars right next to the Spicket River, which is very high right now, across the street from the top of the Spicket Falls Dam. There was nothing to see there though. I took a couple of pictures of the buildings across the river reflecting in the water. Maybe one will look okay? Doubtful though.
All in all, kind of a waste. I might try again tomorrow though if I can get out a few minutes earlier. This sort of thing is easier and better when the sun comes up before 6:00am rather than after 7:00am. I didn’t take the point and shoot though, so I don’t have anything for the photo a day yet. I’ll get something. Where’s the cat?
Sale
Today is the day we sell our Mazda to Bellana and become a one car household.
Ornament: 2022 Edition
Dig my new camera!
I Don’t Want to Work Tomorrow
The kids are here today. They go to their father’s house tomorrow morning and stay there until Christmas Eve. Then they stay over until Christmas morning before going back to their fathers until the day after New Year. Then on the 4th we hop on a plane and fly to Disney World for the better part of two weeks.
Christmas is one week away. That means we have five grueling work days to go before the first of the two holidays. Then we have a holiday, then four grueling work days until the second holiday which extends into a two week vacation. Damn, I hope it’s warm in Florida in January. We did February in 2020, now we try January.
I don’t want the kids to go, but if we’re going to monopolize their times on the trip to Florida then we should give dad equal time before we leave. It’s fair, even if it sucks donkey balls.
We finally completed the last christmas decoration of the year tonight. We bought this year’s ornaments and hung them on the tree. Can you guess what mine is? Of course you can. It’s a little camera. I’ll see about getting a picture of it later because what’s more artsy then a camera taking a picture of a fake camera?
We’re spending the day with Wes Anderson movies today. The French Dispatch is on right now. Is everyone in his movies a veteran of James Bond movies? I think so.
The Oil Light is Off… For Now?
I took the car back to Valvoline today to see if they might have messed something up on yesterday’s oil change. They said everything looked okay but they drained and refilled it anyway. My cynical side wonders if that means they did find something but didn’t want to tell me. Probably not.
The oil pressure light was off when I started the car but I expected that. We had been driving around looking at lights for quite a while before it popped on last night and the engine was nice and hot, whereas this morning it was bellow freezing. I drove around for a while after leaving the shop just to see if warming it up would trip the light again. It did not. Is the car clear to give to Bellana? No clue, but we’ll do it and see what happens.
I made a couple of stops along the way. I stopped at the Spicket dam and took some film pics. I also stopped at St Mary’s Cemetery and took a few more. I might have actually been in Bellevue Cemetery though. I’m not sure where one ends and the other starts. I also stopped at Goodwill and dropped off a bag of jackets. The winter jacket I replaced the other day was in the bag. The leather jacket Jen bought me for Christmas in 2007 that I still wore all the time even though it was pretty ratty and the lining was falling apart was in the bag as well. I was sad to let that one go. The sentimental value of a gift from our first christmas together is very high, but I asked her if I should donate it or keep it and she voted for donate, so off it went.
As for fun with film, I took my camera and Dad’s 50mm lens. I want to bring that pairing to Disney but I feel I need to test it a lot first. I learned quite a bit today. First, the viewfinder gets REALLY dim when the aperture is small. I started at f5.6 and it was okay. I bumped it up to f11 at one point and I could barely see anything. I took to opening it all the way, f2, to focus, then closing it down to take the photo. That brings up the second issue: Focusing is a royal bitch. That’s a problem with manual lenses on all cameras, but it seemed especially difficult for me today. I hope I got things right, but it was a bit of a struggle for my old-person-eyes. Speaking of old person eyes, I can barely read the light meter on that camera. Dad’s camera has an arrow that moves around as you change the shutter speed or the aperture. When it points to the middle of the meter you’re good. My camera has an arrow that points to the shutter speed you need to use based on the aperture setting. It’s almost impossible for me to read the values. My eyes just don’t want to make it out, and it’s worse when the viewfinder dims. I eventually switched to the Auto setting, which is just Aperture Priority. I am thinking that’s what I’ll do at Disney. My manual film camera suddenly isn’t as appealing in full manual. It’s cool though, I can still go manual like crazy with the DSLR.
I did not finish the roll of film in the camera, so I will need to take it out again before I can send it out for developing. I think I have eight or nine shots left. It’s hard to tell exactly. Maybe the cat will come out and say hello and I’ll sneak in another pic of two.
I also had my digital point and shoot with me so here are some driving around picture. Enjoy!
And that, friends is the story of the oil light. I hope you enjoyed your stay today. Come back any time.
State Hospital Cemetery
Yesterday I shared the last useable shot taken with Dad’s Pentax K1000. Today we start going through the last batch of unshared, useable shots taken with my Nikon FG-20. There are a bunch, so it will take a while to plow through them all.
This is from the Tewksbury State Hospital Cemetery, which is made up of tiny unnamed grave markers. It used to be the saddest place on Earth (in my limited opinion) but now that honor goes to the nursing home my mother is living in. Sad face.
I like using fully manual cameras, like the K1000 and the FG-20, but I am coming to the conclusion that my eyes may require something with autofocus. Maybe a Nikon F100 or (gasp) an F5?
Anyway, here’s today’s picture.
Oil Light Blues
Remember the posts over the last couple of days where I wrote about transferring one of our cars to Bellana and how I was getting all of the routine maintenance done first so that it would be in good shape for her?
Last night we took that car our for a drive around town to look at xmas lights. The oil pressure light came on.
What the ever loving fuck?
I’m going to bring it back to Valvoline this morning and ask them exactly that question. If they don’t see anything wrong I’m going to bring it to the dealer, though Lowell is a long drive with an oil light on.
Shit.
I’m an Idiot
I had my gastric bypass surgery over seven months ago. Today was the first time I forgot to wait 15 minutes after having a drink before having something to eat. I started eating dinner nine minutes after having a drink.
What the hell, moron? Seven months? What’s wrong with you?
Dumbass.
Harry is here. We’re going to pile into the car and go look at xmas lights. That’s like my punishment for being a moron*.
*No it isn’t.
Cat: Black and White
She’s adorable when she sits on the back of the couch.
Inside the Red Head's Head 