rusting chunks, 8mm

A few test shots of our old friends the Rusting Chunks, taken with a shiny new Sigma 8-16mm ultrawide-angle lens. The lens was a splurge for an upcoming vacation, and I figure I ought to learn to use it a little before getting on the plane.

The main use for the lens is actually not for wacky perspective games, but for really really wide, but normal-looking landscapes, interiors, and so forth. But tradition holds that I always go take photos of the Rusting Chunks first thing when a new gadget arrives, so here they are.

cherryleaf

Sunshine through the dark purple leaves of an ornamental cherry tree, Portland Center Park.

rusting chunks, infrared

multimorphic chunks

Ok, so here's a silly experiment I've wanted to try for a while. Over the years I've picked up a variety of thrift store photo doodads of widely varying usefulness, including a few now deeply unfashionable doodads from the groovy 70's. Among the uber-grooviest are a couple of multiple image filters I sorta-overpaid for about a year ago. I posted some photos of "Rusting Chunks #5" with one of them around that time, and warned that I might be posting "more multiple image pics here than strictly necessary". Turns out I haven't actually posted any more since then. Although as of this post I've done it twice, and that may still count as more than strictly necessary.

That time I used the Mirage 5F, this time it's the Mirage 3FP, so it's three images in a row instead of five arrayed in a circle. The effect isn't quite as dramatic as with the 5F, so for most of these pics I broke out a second widget, the Optivision anamorphic lens previously seen in this batch of cat photos.

And what better (or more convenient) subject for 70's-style photos than our old friend the Rusting Chunks? I couldn't think of a better subject, and as it turns out there aren't very many things that easily lend themselves to the multiple-image and/or the anamorphic gimmicks. And it's not for lack of looking. It's worth noting that the multiple image fad died out around the photo world started moving to zoom lenses, in place of the ~50mm prime lenses that had been the standard up until then (in the 35mm film world, I mean). A multiple image filter doesn't zoom with the lens, and pretty much only works as designed at focal lengths around 50mm, or the crop-sensor equivalent (and then not quite as well). Go longer, and you quickly lose the side images, so the filter becomes sort of pointless. Go wider, and the filter vignettes badly due to the thick rim of the filter.



It's easy to imagine someone taking photos just like these circa 1978. I can see it now. He was probably some sweaty chauvinist-pig type named Stan or Marv or something, who always wore a shiny brown leisure suit, a gold medallion, and cologne by the gallon. He'd heard that chicks really dug photographers, and besides photo gear was the latest trendy form of conspicuous consumption. He picked up a couple of multiple image filters thinking they'd help him take hip, with-it, happening pictures. When a woman fell for his cheesy pickup lines down at the singles bar, he'd invite her back to his place to check out his slides and perhaps have a glass of Riunite on ice and possibly fire up some romantic disco tunes on the ol' 8 Track. Having served their purpose, the multiple image filters went back in a drawer and sat unused for 30 years. And now they're mine, mwhahahah....



Speaking of Riunite on ice, we were messing around on YouTube a while back and ran into a bunch of vintage Riunite commercials, with that damn jingle you can't get out of your head. I think I like the skiing one the best of the bunch, although it's a tough call. Anyway, that naturally led to "whatever happened to", and the surprising discovery that it still exists. In fact, you can even be Riunite's friend on Twitter. Which led to, I wonder if it's available here in Portland. Not long after that, I found it and bought some. The Zupan's on Macadam has it, on the bottom shelf in the sparkling wine section, in case you're so inclined. A great thing about Riunite commercials is that, along with the music and happy 70's people, you also get food pairings. Ok, pairings with 70's food. The skiing commercial suggests fondue, so we thought we'd try that. And... it was actually nice. We liked it. Ok, it's kind of sweet, and lightly fizzy, and that's something that Modern Wine Experts regard with the very deepest disdain. But it would be nice on a hot day, as an alternative to beer or soda, assuming the weather ever improves. And if the weather doesn't improve, it also pairs nicely with chicken fried steak (which we verified with bottle #2).

Lest you take me for a complete barbarian, the quest for Riunite led me to take a good look at the sparkling wine aisle, something I don't typically do. So I thought, this year I'll do something different and get some proper from-Champagne champagne for New Years. So the Taittinger was kind of fabulous, and right now I have a bottle of something else in the fridge, and I'm looking for a flimsy excuse to pop the cork.

And all of this started with messing around aimlessly on YouTube. O, how I love thee, interwebs...

cherry trees, portland center park

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A few cherry blossoms in Portland Center Park, which turns out to be the name of the little park that's home to Rusting Chunks #5. Or so I've concluded. There's no actual sign anywhere giving the name. And to confuse matters further, the page on the Parks Bureau's website has a photo of the Chimney Fountain instead of the park itself -- the fountain's a good two blocks north, it's maintained by the Water Bureau, and the land it sits on is city street right-of-way. But other than all that, sure it's part of the park. I mean, if we're going to be all pedantic and fussy about it, which I am, as usual.



Oh, and the city's official SW Portland Walking Map shows the actual park but doesn't give a name, and attaches the "Portland Center Park" label to another chunk of greenspace that doesn't actually exist in the real world. It would be directly under the Lovejoy Fountain Apartments swimming pool, if I'm not mistaken.



But of course you knew all this already, because you number among my nano-legion of truly longtime Gentle Readers, and you remember my previous hair-splitting episode about the place back in this post from back in May '06. I suppose this humble blog's reached the point where everything old is new again, but with better photos this time. Or whatever.



In any case, these photos are closeups of a couple of the cherry trees ringing the Rusting Chunks plaza. Cherry blossom season is by far the best time to visit the park -- the rest of the year it's basically just rust and chunkiness. And I'm afraid you've already missed cherry blossom season '09. So mark your calendars, I guess.

multi-rusting multi-chunks #25

Our old friend Rusting Chunks #5, as seen through a Mirage 5F multiple image filter. You know, one of those widgets that groovy with-it happening photographers were so big on back in the 70's. I picked it up at Goodwill the other day along with a couple of other funky special effect filters. I'd wanted one of these for quite a while, partly because it's so retro -- I remember thinking it was a cool look back when I was a kid, although I didn't know how they did it at the time. Another reason, which seems to me to be a very sensible reason, is that sometimes it's good to do something simply because it's unfashionable. It's hard to think of anything more unfashionable than this. You could, I'm sure, do something similar and possibly more pleasing with Photoshop. Except that people generally don't, as out-there special effects aren't really the "in" look right now. Unless you count HDR, that is. Hmm... HDR plus groovy 70's filters would make for a really interesting look, wouldn't it? Or a really bizarro look, at least.



It seemed appropriate to use the Mirage 5F on the Chunks right off the bat. Ex-groovy 70's photo gear, ex-groovy 70's art, it just makes sense. It's sort of a process of piling on layer upon layer of terminal unfashionableness until the resulting unholy agglomeration becomes inexplicably cool. Or that's the plan, at least.

Incidentally, the previous post here is about the Kelly Fountain, the Chunks' shiny, wet, and slightly less unhip sibling. That post links to a couple of articles about the guy behind the Chunks. It sounds like even he realizes just how anti-trendy his stuff is these days.

Also incidentally, I've finally found the perfect adjective to describe the chunks, a word I've been seeking for a long time. The Chunks, I've realized, are hegemonic. I don't usually indulge in academic lingo here -- I tend to get it all wrong, and maybe I'm doing it wrong now, and I'm not sure I care, quite honestly. But just look at the way the Chunks loom and dominate their surroundings. If that's not hegemony, I don't know what is. Just look for yourself. You know it's true.



The box of filters ran me close to $40, which I guess is a bit more than I think I ought to have paid for a silly lark like this. But I wanted it, so I spent the money, and now I feel like I need to use it a lot to justify the "expense". I mention this, O Gentle Reader(s), as sort of an advance warning. I may end up posting more multiple image pics here than strictly necessary. Before eventually tiring of my new toy and putting it in the filter drawer with the others, I mean, which is bound to happen sooner or later.

So I broke down and bought a Holga...

If you read this blog religiously, which I admit isn't all that likely, you might remember this post from a few months ago where I was playing with a toy digital camera, and swore, cross-my-heart-sorta, that I wasn't going to touch film cameras ever again, although I used the phrase "Holga envy" at one point to describe what I was up to. Well, it's a few months later and here I am with an ever-growing pile of old film cameras. And all that envying must've taken a toll, because I recently became the proud owner of a brand new Holga 120N. So here are a few photos from my very first ever roll with a Holga.

Incidentally it's not my first-ever roll of 120 film I've ever taken. I picked up an old box camera a while back and tried to trim a roll of 120 down so it'd fit in a 620 camera, because I read somewhere on the Interwebs that you could do it at home and not have to pay anyone to trim or respool your film for you. Well, um, that didn't go so well, as it turns out. But I did learn how to load 120 film properly, which is something.

Ok, so the top photo is from Mt. Tabor Park, looking towards downtown Portland. I think this one turned out rather well, even apart from the whole Holga thing. It's got the vignetting stuff, naturally, since you can't really get away from that so long as you've got the usual Holga lens on the camera. But other than that, it's really not all that crappy. Which is fine with me, actually. I hadn't originally planned on buying a Holga at all, and spent a while scavenging around town looking for cheap yet non-toy medium format cameras, but I just didn't find anything that was interesting and in good condition. After searching for a while, I was on Amazon one night after a couple of beers and though, hey, what the hell, I'll just buy a friggin' Holga and see what all the fuss is about. So I guess what I'm trying to say here is that it seemed like a good idea at the time, and there were extenuating circumstances.



And here's my old friend Leland One, a.k.a. "Rusting Chunks No. 5". C'mon, you didn't really think I'd get a new camera and not use it on the Rusting Chunks, did you? Oh, and the moon's in there too, if you look closely.

Before we go too much further, i.e. before I bore you to tears, let me point out that if you'd like to see some pics from people who really know their way around a Holga (and I mean that in a good way, honest!), there's no shortage on Flickr.



A bit of downtown Portland.




O'Bryant Square, downtown.




Tanner Springs, one of my other favorite subjects. What you see here aren't light leaks or other camera defects, actually. This was taken from a moving streetcar, and those are reflections on the window.




Yes, I'm afraid I recently wandered around First Thursday with a Holga. How artsy-fartsy is that, I ask you? Possibly I should've just gotten myself a t-shirt with "Dilettante" in big letters and wandered around wearing that instead. Although I'm not sure that would've been any cheaper.

This photo is seriously underexposed. I thought I had it in its so-called "bulb mode", but I forgot to check, and it turns out I didn't. You wouldn't think there'd be anything to get the hang of with a Holga, but the evidence suggests otherwise.




And here we are back at Mt. Tabor again. This one didn't come out so well. I was more or less facing the sun this time, and the Holga doesn't seem to be so keen on that. It took a bit of GIMP work to get it to where it is now, and I still can't say I'm entirely pleased with the results. But hey, it's a Holga, you were expecting what exactly?