Roll 8

This is another short roll; it had a blank frame on the roll. If I notice that the shutter has fired with the lens cap on, I can manually cock and fire the shutter on this camera (one more reason to love older mechanical cameras) but sometimes I don't notice until it's too late.

ARTS 2110 - Roll 8 - Ilford HP5+ 400

Ophelia's Garden - I saw a girl outside Brown College (where I live) doing something so odd that I had to photograph it. In the end, I decided not to photograph her, but what she had made. She was playing with weeds in such a distracted manner that she reminded me of Ophelia (from Hamlet). When I asked what she was doing, she said that for a project, she was going to tear out all the spearmint (it didn't look like the spearmint plant I once grew, but then I know very little about plants) which was a weed and would strangle other plants, but then she realized that it was where all the chipmunks lived, so she decided to beautify it instead. Hence this chipmunk-sized gate. If you've been on Grounds at UVa, you know that while there is a significant population of obese, sedentary, self-entitled squirrels, there is a small contingent of hyperactive, paranoid chipmunks.
Anyway, this shot, when I printed it, was a bit flat, but I think I ended up turning it in as part of my final portfolio anyway. Everyone else liked it a lot more than I did (though I suppose it is pretty neat). This scan (and subsequent burning-in with Phootshop) works pretty well though. My concern was Pam's perpetual question: "Would you rather look at this photograph of the thing, or the thing itself?" This is one of the most critical and valuable questions about photography that I've heard, although I suppose it probably sounds self-evident.

1/125 f/4

Also very close to where I live. I feel like I keep re-taking this shot, the luminance ratio is just way too high even for film, so it either comes out too contrasty or all gray. I revised this before posting; this may be as good as it gets. Notably, I think I decreased the "clarity" value in the upper right-hand corner further into the minus. One advantage of Camera Raw in Photoshop CS4 is being able to apply such adjustments locally; it gives real darkroom-like control and more.

1/125 f/5.6

The light falling on this stair-destrian was another spontaneous 'decisive moment.'

1/60 f/11

Trace my path from Mathland (one day I will have to look at names of buildings in the Math Department) through the passage between Clark Hall and Maury Hall.

1/60 f/5.6

This was kind of a neat looking apocalyptic wasteland, but didn't end up working as well as planned.

1/60 f/5.6

And here is the revisit of the alley beside Garrett Hall, covered in scaffolding. Within a few days, it was blocked off... I don't even know if it exists anymore. One thing Pam pointed out in class was America's mutable landscape. In Europe, one can revisit landmarks years later; in America, they are often removed or altered beyond recognition.

1/60 f/4

A neat perspective from the trench in front of Garrett-Hall-that-was, now unobstructed since the magnolias that once stood in front of it have been removed.

1/125 f/11

This goofy covered-up Smartcar I presume is owned by some academic or other. Found near the West Range.

1/125 f/4

After seeing this tree shadow on Newcomb, I saw some photographer making photos of a couple (engagement announcements?) and tried (unsuccessfully) to guess the lens he was using. I was close, but I found it interesting the way I was able to so quickly make a connection with this man using jargon. If you know what you're talking about (or can pretend you do), plenty of photographers will talk to you on a peer level.

1/125 f/8

Here are perhaps the most blatant offenders of finishing the roll. Though in fairness I had meant to make this one for a while. North staircase in Ruffin Hall, before class.

1/60 f/2.8

Center staircase in Ruffin Hall... immediately before class.

1/60 f/4