I have a bad habit of buying more at the Farmer's Market than we can possibly eat in a week, which I did last Saturday. What am I going to do on Saturday morning if don't need any vegetables? Walking around the market, there are lots of opportunities for pictures, but in locations that won't work in pinhole time with a fully extended tripod. Last week during my frenzy of vegetable acquisition, it seemed there was a larger and more varied collection of buskers. The crowd often gives them a little space, and like most performers, aren't fazed about a camera pointed at them. They also can't just stop what they're doing and walk off. It sounded like one of my favorite type of projects, a list of things to photograph so I don't just wander aimlessly with a camera. I filled my pockets with dollar bills and headed downtown.
The first busker was an older dude wailin' the blues. Kinda missed the composition on this picture but I may have been blinded by the shiny Gretsch Resonator. The guitar is amplified through a Fender Frontman over by the guitar case. The mic is coming through the miniature Fender, Marshall and Vox amps behind him.
A young violinist saving for college. She plans to go to Marian University in Fond du Lac. As I was arranging the tripod, a neatly dressed older fellow asked her what permissions she had to perform here. She was originally taken a little aback, took a breath and told him the rules as she understood them (there are none) and gave several examples of what bad practices might get you asked to move or leave. She'll do well in college. I never did hear if the guy was interested in doing his own act or just a self-appointed rule compliance authority.
Warning! I have to interrupt this program for a nerdy discussion of exposure. The places that are dark on an image haven't been exposed. Any thing light that's been in front of them will get exposed pretty fast, or behind them if the dark places move. Even though she moved quite a bit, she's clearly visible against the dark window of Raulf Place. Below the dark band of tile against the side walk, the medium grey concrete with it's dark joints appear quite clearly through her ghostly figure which is in two positions, separated by a shadow where they overlap. Then as you might expect, her white shorts and less moving legs and feet reappear quite clearly. The only thing I can think of is she has a dark blouse on that comes down to where her shorts appear and it's just a coincidence this merges with the bottom of her arm and the line of dark tiles which our brains just expect to continue. Neither the blouse or the tiles exposed anything. Since the rest of the blouse is almost not there, we interpret it as the line of tiles showing through from behind her.
The act at the main stage at Merrit and Main was just one guy with an acoustic guitar. He must have been rockin' because this couple spontaneously came out of the crowd and danced in the street in front of him.
Another older guy doing more classic rock and kind of heavy folk, also not afraid of a little amplfication.
Another college hopeful violinist, this time hoping to go to Purdue.
That was it for buskers at the Farmers' Market this week with half the roll of film unexposed but the Downtown Oshkosh Chalk Walk was also occurring around Opera Square on the next block. The milling crowd votes for favorites in Youth and Adult categories. This young artist was blending the chalk with her right hand extended toward the camera.
Even the grown-ups were right down on the sidewalk. Just out of the frame to the left, Jim Koepnick is on the ground framing a photo of her.
In the middle of this was a policewoman with a 6 week old furry chihuahua puppy in her arms. Before I could ask about a photograph, she handed the sleeping puppy to a woman sitting on the curb in the sunlight. When I asked her about taking a picture, she insisted on giving it to the little dog's owner, which required another hand-off and seating adjusted for the light. By this time the puppy woke up and looked around during the exposure.
If you're not good with the ground, easels are acceptable.
The Chalk Walk had their own musicians, a ukelele lady and her guitarist, also being recorded on video by two people with iPhones.
Handing out temporary tattoos and posing for photos with children was Miss Oshkosh, Taylor Swanson, who told me she loves to have her portrait done.
A two tiara day. At the other end of the table, Miss Oshkosh's Teen, Madelyn Rutkowski. Both of them were very gracious and practiced at posing for the camera for six seconds.
The Little Mutant has .27mm hand-drilled pinholes on the axis and 11mm above it, 45mm from a 6x6cm frame. The film is Arista.edu 400 semistand developed in Rodinal 1:100.
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