[LargeFormat] Rites of passage

[Brock Nanson]

That's what we call them around here - not sure if they have a 'real' name 
or not!  They do stand for a long time however...

No picture of the old guy or his sons.  They're known around here however 
- they've been the root of many stories.  Or perhaps 'butt' of many 
'stories'! ;-)  One of the sons actually is a photographer now.  Or 
at least I've seen his name associated with photography - I don't think 
it's his day job.

The final print I made of the fence included a full moon from another neg.  
Handy having several enlargers at your disposal (university photo club 
darkroom).  Haven't seen it in years... if I can find it I'll scan and 
post it on my website.

Brock

On Sat, 8 Nov 2003, stuart phillips wrote:

> You had me rolling around with that story.
> 
> BTW: thanks for telling me what that kind of fence is called. Saw some in
> New England a while ago.
> 
> BTW: any pics of the old coot?
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Brock Nanson" <brock@nanson.org>
> To: <largeformat@f32.net>
> Sent: Saturday, November 08, 2003 1:59 PM
> Subject: RE: [LargeFormat] Rites of passage
> 
> 
> > This is something I suppose we all face at one time or another.  Often,
> if
> > we're like U.D. and enjoy stirring the pot!
> >
> > A friend and I went out into the country one cold and dark February
> night
> > about (Aaack!) 16 or 17 years ago.  It was 35mm equipment, but that
> > doesn't really change the thread any - we'd have used LF if we'd had the
> > gear at that time.
> >
> > The goal was to mess about with long exposures and paint with flash.  We
> > set up on an old snake fence next to the road (the zig-zag fence made
> from
> > small logs commonly used in this area before barbed wire).  Wide angle
> > lens, shutter on B, I walked down the road and popped my flash at a few
> > points to light the fence.  A few minutes after the first exposure, a
> 4x4
> > came careening out towards us from a farmhouse at the far side of the
> > field.  The old coot and his two grown sons (apparently home from
> > rocket-science school for the weekend) were wedged across the bench
> seat,
> > with a rifle between one's knees.
> >
> > 'Whadya think YOU'RE doing out here?', in full view of the camera on
> > tripod.
> >
> > 'Building a piano, what does it look like?'... We were still in
> university
> > at the time and cocky... besides which, the gun wasn't leveled at us and
> > only served to egg us on.  The intimidation was having the opposite
> effect
> > to what they had anticipated.
> >
> > One of the sons was evidently a photographer because he figured out what
> > the camera and tripod was for.  'What are you taking pictures of?'
> >
> > 'The fence.'
> >
> > 'What speed of film are you using?'
> >
> > '100 speed TMax'
> >
> > 'That'll never work, it's too dark out here'.  Real stretch to work that
> > out... 11PM in the dead of winter, no moon, out in the country.  It WAS
> > dark.  No question, this guy was bright!
> >
> > 'Well, I guess we're just wasting our time and film then.'
> >
> > Old Coot: 'You guys better clear out of here - this is private property'
> >
> > 'That side of the fence might be, but not where we're standing.  We'll
> > leave when we're done.'
> >
> > 'You better move out now, I'm calling the cops'.
> >
> > 'Tell them to hurry, we'll likely be done within a half hour.'
> >
> > Off they went in a cloud of dust and a spray of gravel.  We hung around
> > for longer than a half hour hoping the police would show up so we could
> > casually mention these guys were driving around with a rifle.  No luck.
> >
> > We got some great shots that night as it turned out.  I guess it wasn't
> as
> > dark as they thought ;-)
> >
> > -- Brock Nanson
> > Kamloops BC Canada
> >
> >
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> >
> 
> 
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-- 
Brock Nanson
Kamloops BC Canada