Emboldened by receiving first award in the Main Street exhibit at the Art Garage in Green Bay, after retrieving the camera and photographs, Team Pinholica, led by the Variable Cuboid, seized the opportunity to take on Titletown. The middle angle 45mm front got the starter's nod.
Titletown is an office and entertainment development just west of Lambeau Field, the home of the Green Bay Packers, who've won 13 NFL championships, four more than da Bearss. Everything has a sponsor. In the middle is Ariens Hill (lawn care equipment made just southwest of here), a tiny ski slope on the roof of a retail complex.
Stereotypically of Wisconsin, there are two microbreweries. Hinterland, which really makes us sound rustic, was the first advance into their territory. Extra points here for photographing through glass with an effective defense against reflections of the bar behind. Everyone being seated by the hostess passed by the camera leaning on the glass wall. She asked if I needed something, but no yellow flags when I said I was just taking a photograph.
Rising to the occasion, up several flights of stairs for the over-the-top view, this time wide open on a mezzanine with no glass and no football fans.
It's a Hail Mary pass going for that up nort' look with the woodsy mural and iron chandeliers in urban sprawl Ashwaubenon.
After that first qualifying round, time for the big leagues. There really is no "back" to Lambeau Field but Pinholica leads with their typical "Behind..." tactic, combining "Hey, my camera has a square format" composition, an aggressive formation with the rule of thirds, and maybe a fake with a little paradoelia.
Under the bleachers. A little risqué for the straightlaced NFL, but an author/title joke should work in Titletown.
Well, this is an unusual format for a square shooter. With that continuously rising front, it couldn't be correcting for sliding open the axial instead of upper pinhole, so it must be an unforced shutter opening error. A lucky save by that rule of thirds. All the gates are also sponsored. As inconspicuous as its products, the Invisalign gate faces the side of the parking lot bordered by regular residential neighborhoods 100 yards away.
Time out on a shaded stairway to substitute the 60mm front.
Facing busy Lombardi Avenue and Oneida Street, there's a little more pomp and depth to the presentation, which calls for more perspective compression. Plenty of parking lot to drop back into for the long view. An appropriately monumental staircase leading to a modern temple.
Rolling out that lean-the-camera-against-a-wall play again for the long stretch of the three-story Lombardi trophy, this time to avoid getting blocked by a passing fan.
In a vacant hallway outside the back door of the bar on the luxury box level, a risky standing switch in the changing bag to the 35mm front, to capture the expansive space of the atrium. Oh no, that rookie shutter error again. After exclusive play with side sliding shutters for the last season, we saw some practice with the old style up-riser for a few posts, but they seem not to be able to get it all the way out with the tripod at full reach. Relying again on a lucky balance of the composition and good grab of the light. No harm, no foul.
Bummer for the Pinholicans. Delay of game for jammed film! Panic on the field leads to a broken winder. They're gonna need a proper darkroom for that. Forty-five-mile penalty with no time remaining!
Futzing in the dark regains another frame for a team picture. Mostly to test that a new pinhole for the 20mm front isn't blocked by anything.
Trainer's report
If the film jams, don't keep trying, you'll break the winder! This is going to take some Dremel and glue therapy.
The film jam occurred because of insufficient care and winding at the beginning of the roll! That crinkled film made it a little wider at the leading bottom edge of the film until new film just had nowhere to go. The film holder should be back in the game with the corners reinforced with a little Liquitex and some extra, careful turns when loading. This wouldn't load onto a Paterson developing reel, but it was easy with a classic stainless steel spiral. Started at the other end, it could have gotten on the Paterson reel, but it was in the dark and I didn't realize the extent of the crinkling yet.
The 35mm front has a .23mm pinhole, the 45mm front a .27mm, and the 60mm front, a .30mm. All are hand-drilled and mounted on a continuously adjustable rising front. The format is 6x6cm. The film was Kentmere 400 semi-stand developed in Rodinal 1:100.
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