Pinhole Fly

FLANGE FOCAL DISTANCE:  44mm

Subject Distance: 1 inch
[brief report]

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.. Not art, not clear and sharp, but we like the novelty of it all.
.. Got another 4" of wet snow last night.
.. Snow pack is now 120% of historical snow water content.
.. Gloomy weather leads to indoor entertainment.
.. The whole damn house is getting documented with pinhole photography. We'll not bore you with details. This shot makes pretty good wallpaper.

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.. Midges and giant streamers sighted in the environs of Craig, Montana. Get thee to the "Mighty MO."
.. Lower Gallatin River Canyon heating up like wildfire. No stonies reported but the fish are taking giant subsurface offerings.
.. The Madison River in the lowlands, where open, is seeing the first of the mayflies and squadrons of snow flies are permeating fisher folk's orifices. Might be a good time to visit.

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E-QUAKE

FELT THIS ONE

one of more than 300/year

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.. It's rare to feel them.
===>  http://quake.utah.edu/helicorder/ydc_webi.htm

Bare Pavement

CITY CREWS SUCCESSFUL

Bottom Found

wallpaper

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.. We have glimmerings of impending Spring. The temperature hit 40° F, and the sun was readily apparent in the broken cloud cover. Things are looking up.

Diversions

A DIFFERENT CUP OF TEA

Winter's Haze Enhanced

not for everyone

Digital Pinhole Image: 1/60, on camera flash, f256, distance 1".

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.. The winter is a bit on the long side up here. Fishing becomes a greater chore than usual. We tend to fish less and extemporize more. This winter was the perfect example.

Mahogany Pinhole: 4x5, 79mm focal distance, f156.
Shutter speeds by thumb.

.. During one long evening we stumbled onto an old pinhole camera project in the corner of a long forgotten trunk. Hmmmmm? It sparked interest in this, the earliest of photographic techniques.
.. We diverted our lachrymose moods of winter into useless busywork and puttered with the concept of, and application of pinholes to everything.
.. One bit of silliness involved yards and yards of Duct Tape, black paper, and a hole in our window shade. Thus we turned our front room into a camera obscura.

Canon EOS 30D pinhole.

.. Sheeze, what winter does to the mind. We averted cabin fever with cabin obscura. And, it did pass the time. Given the irregular viewing wall in our 'cabin camera' it brought to mind the weltanschauung we held during the 60's.
.. Lately we've adapted some of our large format gear into primitive hulks that we call cameras. We've also transformed a couple of digital cameras into digital pinhole devices, (the sensors needed cleaning anyway.) It's amazing what you can do with tin foil, electricians tape, a short extension tube, and black card stock.

Indulgent friend.

.. We've even adulterated the view camera with a pinhole. Now that is pure sacrilege! They all will make pictures. The images however, are not for everyone.
.. Today, with post processing, photoshopping, and enhancements - both in and out of camera, images tend to be presented in a cookie cutter fashion: overly sharp, overly saturated, over the top. We call them good and go on down the road.

Indulgent friend's dog.

.. Pinhole images require a bit of engagement. They are not starkly identifiable in an instant. This means that the viewer takes a bit longer to decipher them. It's not what everybody wants or needs. It is fun though.
.. We have badgered our friends and neighbors, (and neighbor's dogs,) into enduring our follies this winter. They endure and indulge us and admire the ethereal images that happen. We nod and accept their friendship.

Back door.

.. Done with panache and aplomb, the images can be quite charming or very disturbing. We've not reached either stage yet, but we're looking forward to opening day in Yellowstone National Park.
.. Our scouting trip this year will combine stream observation with vista observation. Not in the name of art, rather in the name of getting to the best places first.
.. The big images are going to be challenging. Exposure times in the minutes, reciprocity failure, temperature corrections, apertures in the hundreds, and aiming with crude sighting devices should make the venture rewarding. In our case it's as much about observing as it is about the final image.

.. We'll not be posting any fuzzy, ugly, indecipherable images during the season, (we make and break promises with ease,) but we shall take a fresh look at some of the iconic images in Yellowstone Park before the fishing starts.
.. And, why mention this at all? Because Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day is just around the corner. It happens on the last Sunday in April, (that's April 24, 2011 - Easter Sunday, this year.)

.. Pinhole fanatics around the globe will take a picture and post it to the website. A snapshot in time that happens every year. We're sending them one from the high country and, meager as it is; it's our contribution.
.. P.S. The fishing and catching, by the way, is now going great guns in the Gallatin River Canyon. After we've fished out all the good holes we'll let you know where it was best.

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Rumors Abound

SUNBATHING IN SHASTA ?

Boats On The Madison ?

grass in the valley ?

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.. We've heard the rumors that it's Springtime in the Rockies. That may be. Just couldn't prove it by the conditions here.

.. But then again, it's hard to convince us of anything. We noticed the lovely picture of sun and salubrity over at THE TROUT UNDERGROUND and have concluded that stream deprivation has addled the gray matter of the author. It just can't be that nice over there.
..Reports from neighbors that have visited the outside world have brought back stories of strange happenings: green-growing things sprouting from naked earth, boats bobbing on the Madison River, flip-flops on feet in Bozeman, and bare knees on bicyclists in shorts being flashed in Belgrade. We're going to investigate.
.. Rumor has it that the catching is so good at "MILEPOST 59," that it's hard to find a parking spot on that stretch of the Gallatin River.
.. There is also a rumor that it will be near 40° F today. We'll wait that one out. The snow pack is not of record depth, but it is of near record snow water content. With several little storms lined up for the near future we anticipate water in the rivers to stay at good levels well into July - hope springs eternal.
.. Should we spy any of the strange phenomena reported from the lowlands we'll document them and report it here. Great snort; a bare deck on the Upper Sac, hardly believable. Must be Photoshop.

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Photos courtesy G.M. Craeg

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DOA ?

HB 309 TABLED

Thanks Are In Order
celebrations may be premature 

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.. The odious "Ditch Bill" has been tabled in the Montana Senate Agriculture Committee. This is interim good news.
.. Now then, those of you who wrote letters, made phone calls, or sent emails - DO IT AGAIN!
.. Thank the party you wrote to. Express your gratitude at sanity prevailing in this bizarre legislative session. The thank you's are just about as important as the call to arms. Don't let it slide.
.. A tabled bill is not dead! Repeat; "A TABLED BILL IS NOT DEAD!" Sneak attacks are possible at the last minute when they think you're not looking. Write those letters. Let them know that you are watching.
.. Read the news and analysis at these sites:
==> Chi Wulff,
==> Will Fish For Work,
==> Tight Line Adventures.

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.. Brookings pictures to follow.

Photo courtesy of G.M. Craeg

Winter Sun