Chicago trip

Went to Chicago for a long weekend and my buddy's wedding, took lots of PB photos of the Windy City! Will post 'em soon!

San Francisco

Got back last night from a 5-day trip to San Francisco. What a beautiful city. Even more do I like the drive up Interstate 5 from LA. Once you hit Kettleman City these golden hills roll up against this clear blue sky that's breathtaking. Took a bunch of photos with the PB. I love that camera, I enjoy snapping indiscriminately. Finally posted some new photos to the gallery. I was taking photos while driving back home of the hills. I did notice that the winder seemed much harder to turn. Perhaps sweaty hands, or the one handed turn. It seems that at the end of my 24 exposure roll of Fuji film it was not turning as easily. I wonder if the camera is getting old. Or maybe it's the film?? I usually use Kodak. That's OK. My film counter is cracked, has been since my trip to Taos, New Mexico. Camera still works fine though, still the first set of batteries!

Desert Hot Springs, CA

04.16.2001 Happy New Year?! Yes, it's been awhile. Went to Desert Hot Springs, CA for Easter weekend. Weather was nice, ate good food, did some hiking, saw some California quails and took some PB photos. I happened to go into town in DHS and saw a Big K-Mart...well, what the heck, I figured, I'll check to see if they have any PhotoBlasters for sale. Sure enough, they had one left...discounted to $14.40!! Snatched it right up. So the moral of this story: check K-Mart as a PhotoBlaster source. It's where' I've purchased all of my 'Blasters! Amazingly, I'm still on the first set of batteries.

Portugal

08.11.2000 First day back from vacation from a 10-day trip to Portugal--Lisbon, the Algarve, and Porto. PB came along everywhere, including the well-known camera hell-on-earth called "the beach". I think the PB survived with minimum salt/sand damage. I found another PB and gave one to my girlfriend as a present before she left to Europe as well. Hers had beer spilled on its back by a clumsy waiter in Portugal. We'll see how that roll develops; it will be a testament to PB durability if the film comes back undamaged. Let's hope so. Still on that first set of batteries, despite my flash modification. Still working like a charm. I've noticed a couple of minute details. First, sometimes I have to slide the lens cover back a tiny bit more to get the camera to activate; almost like it clicks into place. This is a bit annoying, b/c it results in missed shots (have to check if the film is wound, then check the shutter, letting precious moments slip by.) I also noticed that for some reason my girlfriend's PB seems to wind a bit easier than mine...hmmm...anyway, selected photos from the trip to come in the gallery shortly.

Pool party

07.17.2000 Went to a pool party this last Sunday. Trying to finish another roll of 24-exp 100 speed. Another shadowy situation, hopefully these shots will be better. I went ahead and customized my PB this morning, covering the light sensor with two small pieces of black tape (the sensor is located in the little rectangular hole right under the viewfinder on the front of the camera). I figure it's better that the flash goes off all the time than not, even though it will probably eat through my batteries. I may have to just bite the bullet and get this roll developed before it's finished, but I hate wasting film.

BBQ and lessons learned

07.7.2000 Had a BBQ this weekend for the 4th, and finally got to finish my first PhotoBlaster roll (it was a roll of 24 exp. Kodak Gold 100). Took it to my local drugstore to get developed, and had to instruct the technician on what to expect with the Photoblaster shots. As I was walking out, he ran after me, after talking to someone else there about it, and informed me that their equipment couldn't handle it! I guess it's somehow automated to detect the edges of the photo by the black bands separating frames, and the PhotoBlaster confuses it too much. Oh well. So I took it to a different 1-hour place nearby, they did a reasonable job. You can see the results here. A few lessons I learned with this roll:

1. Your subject should really be at least 4 feet away.
2. In low light, your subect shouldn't be more than about 10 feet away. The flash just won't sync sufficiently.
3. Very bright sunlight seemed to overexpose. But taking pictures in shadows seemed to underexpose. Possible solution: cover flash sensor when taking pictures in shadows? Or maybe just faster film?

Of course, all this will change soon; the next roll I plan to shoot is 400 speed. The camera will also be going to Portugal with me in a few weeks, so that will be a good opportunity to test its results. Currently I have another roll of 24 exp. 100 film. Hopefully I can go on a PhotoFrenzy in the next few weeks so I can try out that 400.

Party at A&T's place

06.26.2000 Went to a party at my friend T. & A.'s apt. Great food, great company, great times. Took a bunch of photos with the PB. Also took shots this weekend at my band's show at Rusty's Surf Ranch on the Santa Monica Pier on 6/23. First shots with PB at night, in low light. Hopefully they turn out well! And still not through the first roll...unbelievable. I love that feature of the PB more and more.