I hadn't shot anything with the 120 populist since I originally posted the plans in 2008. I've mentioned before that I just didn't get the extra kick from the larger film format. Maybe Pinhole Day will bring out the charm in this format for me.
For Pinhole Day, I like to find pictures that both feature the conditions that day, and feature my Wisconsin location.
I started in the garden with a long shot. It definitely identifies the time of year with just the beds of daffodils providing color, but it's kind of a boring shot.
I did get this extreme close up of a daffodil, which is certainly an indicator of the time of year. This is 6x9cm film so this is at least one to one magnification. The somewhat low contrast doesn't do it any favors in this case, and the house in the background in the upper right hand corner bugs me a little bit.
Sarah recently got these silver candelabras for a song, so that kind of pinpointed the moment in time for me. It was pretty dark, so when we left to go out for brunch, I set the camera up and left it for about two hours until we got back. This is a close contender for the WPPD gallery.
I went around to the front of the house to capture how plantings on the north side of front door, which gets a little more sun, are more advanced than the south side which gets shaded by the pine tree. We should do something about straightening out those few concrete steps. I never notice it except in a photographs, and then it drives me crazy.
Here's another finalist for submission, the magnolia in full blossom. This has been a great year for it. We had a few warm days which made it blossom, but it's been kinda cold ever since so it's persisted in this state for almost two weeks now. With the flowers blowing around it's pretty pinholey and I love the petals on the ground among the wood violets (which drew me to this composition) . I hate the truck parked across the street. Wish I'd noticed it at the time.
We went for a walk in Menomonie Park. The custom whittled winder fell out in the back yard earlier and totally vanished among the rest of the twigs etc, so I covered the hole with black tape and ducked into dim light to wind it after that. I couldn't really do that in the park, so only took this one shot of the giant marble globe, which I thought a pretty appropriate subject for Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day.
In the evening I still had one frame left, so I set the camera on the kitchen table pointed at the stove and refrigerator for about two hours while we watched Masterpiece Theatre.
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So it's on to the Glenlivet Vertical Populist. I built it shortly after Sarah gave me the Scotch for Christmas in 2008, got it out again for Pinhole Day in 2012, and shot a roll with it last fall.
The thing that captured my eye in Menomonie Park were the still leafless trees on the already green grass that grow along the shore of Lake Winnebago.
If anybody saw my images of the total lunar eclipse last September, this is where I took them from. This shot could be a contender.
The rocks along the shore placed to prevent erosion and the curve of the shoreline make for some compositional interest.
This S curve of the path as it winds under the trees is another classic compositional element.
There was supposed to be a full moon and thinking of Gregg Kemp, I was inspired by his moon photos to try this with the streak of the moon rising through the magnolia blossoms. Unfortunately it remained cloudy all night, and the two hours I left it out there was only enough to make a very thin negative.
So this portrait of a single tree bent by the near constant wind coming off Lake Winnebago is now my leading choice, primarily because of the composition and it kinda captures the mood of the day.
I still have three exposures I took on Pinhole Day in the Populist, but I really want to feature one of these cameras, so I'll probably pick one of these. Go to the 2016 Pinhole Day exhibition and search for me to find out.
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