Tag Archives: Reality So Subtle Pinhole

November #CameraChallenge Part I: The Story of Waneka Lake

Still hanging out with Jason Avery and the @IlfordPhoto gang on Twitter, and during November another #camerachallenge.  For Part I we had a choice between telling a story and looking for patterns.  I chose to tell a story.  Actually two stories; this is the one that I posted for the Challenge.  Both stories were told using my Reality So Subtle 6X6F Pinhole Camera.

Waneka_Geese

So here we tell the Story of Waneka Lake.  Originally constructed in 1865 by impounding a Natural Spring.  The Waneka Family were ranchers that owned most of the land around the coal mining town of Lafayette, Colorado.  One Ranch Structure, the Granary, remains:

 

The property changed hands several times through 1900 eventually belonging to town founder and local mine owner, Mary Miller (then called Miller and Harmon Lake).  In the early 1900’s the Northern Colorado Power Company struck a deal with Mary Miller to split the cost of building an electrical power plant 50:50.  Opened in 1906 and enlarged in 1908, the Plant supplied 6000 kilowatts of power to the Boulder Area:

Waneka-Lake-1908-400x309

The Power Plant occupied the site of the current Boat House:

Boat_House

The only evidence that remains are some of the Clinkers, a stoney residue of coal burned in a furnace (husband for scale):

Donald_Clinkers

Here, a Frisbee Golf site has been placed in the Clinkers:

Frisbee_Golf

In the 1920’s this Power Plant was replaced by a larger one outside Boulder:

New_Power_Plant

The present day City Park is a 147 acre recreational area.  In addition to Frisbee Golf there are boat rentals during the summer months, a 1.2 mile walking/hiking trail, a migratory bird sanctuary and for a small town pretty spectacular 4th of July Fireworks.

Boat_Dock

 

So here ends my Story of Waneka lake.  For more details take a stroll through the Historical Society website.

My Pinhole Day at Aztec Ruins

I finally have submitted an image to the World Wide Pinhole Day site.  Last year I had a great image but never uploaded it. Darn! But this year I didn’t let it pass me by:

KEJohnson_WWPHDay_2019_AztecRuins2

From the Aztec Ruins, New Mexico.  A misnomer of course, because this was built by the “Ancient Ones” circa  11th Century BCE.  The Great Kiva was reconstructed in 1934 by Hopi and Puebloan workers.  The image above was the one I submitted…..Below all of the best images.  Reality So Subtle 6X6F Pinhole Camera, Kodak Portra 400 Film, @ 5 minutes exposure time:

Range Testing of Realty So Subtle is Done!

We spent an afternoon at Arcosanti, Paolo Soleri’s Urban Laboratory.  They had a wonderful path that allowed me to test the pinhole range and estimate the distance.  I wanted to do this because when I tried it before I was way off in my range estimates.  I got exactly what I needed, and a nice image of their sign:

Arcosanti_Pinhole

 

I plan on going back for Pinhole Day and capturing some interior photos.

Through The Glass Update: My Photo Travel Kit

So as I embark on my Medical Journey in Arizona, as  I am able I will be doing only Photography and Music as my therapies.  Most of my cameras are shown here.  But these are the ones I’m taking to AZ:

My Medium Format Favorite:  Mamiya 6X7: with 43 mm, 50 mm, 150 mm and 210 mm lenses.  But I mostly use the 43 an 50 mm.

Mamiya7X7Resize

Mamiya 645 for more versatility.  This camera gives me all of the SLR options, including  a a nice 80 mm macro:

MyMamiyas

The Fuji GA645Zi; My Medium Format Street Camera, because of the auto-focus and auto-advance.  Basically a medium format point and shoot;  which is why I got it.

FujiGA645Zi

Pinhole Cameras: Diana Multi:  I’ve had a lot of fun with this camera over the past year.

Diana_Pinhole

The Reality So Subtle Pinhole:  Still working out the Range Finding on this camera.  I have the filter-option 6X6 model.  I have to say this camera has the smoothest mechanism of any Pinhole I’ve ever used.  So I’ll take it with me and work on the range (maybe I should watch some of the YouTube videos?)

ReallySoSubtle_Posted

And Finally, my “riding shotgun” always in the front seat and ready Minolta X-700:  My jump out of the car and shoot camera.  I have 3 of these and they are all going.  I use my trusty Tamron-adaptall 28-200 zoom.  A combination I have been using since the early 90’s.

Minolta_X700

OK, It occurs to me that I won’t really use all of these cameras in a 3-4 month period.  Which one would you leave behind?