Thanks for the feedback, Walgreens

Even though today was overcast, I decided to stick to my original plan of taking the pinhole camera to the Old Gray Cemetery downtown, because I'm still sticking with my plan of getting a better feel for the camera by photographing things and places that I am familiar with. I've photographed it in color and in black and white (getting better at black and white was 2010's photography goal), so I figured I might as well photograph it in pinhole, since that's my current kick.

Because of the low light, many of the photos are blurry and indistinct, which the lady at Walgreens was happy to inform me of when I came to pick them up.

"Your photos, they're all really hazy and blurry and weird."

Like your face, lady? I don't come here for your abuse. I have angry Ferro Lad for that. Maybe when you get done building your own camera from scratch we can talk about the photos that you take with it.

Or, you know, maybe I could learn to accept criticism without feeling like the only response is MURDER! SWEET HOT MURDER!

Rather than say any of that, or murdering her, I instead explained that it was a homemade camera with no lenses that doesn't work as well on cloudy days, and she and I had a nice conversation for a few minutes about pinhole cameras, where I learned to make one, and a photography class that she took a few years ago where she read about them. By the time we were done, my photos had gone from hazy, blurry, and weird to "That's so interesting!", so maybe she felt bad about her initial comments.

Either way, she is right. They are kind of hazy and a little blurry, but they also are interesting:



That line is a scratch on the film. I can see it on the negative. This line, however:



is some kind of processing error at Walgreens. It's not on the print or the negative, but there it is on the photo CD. I might scan the print in at some point, and replace this photo with the scan.

Or, you know, it could be a spirit photo.

I took several photos of statues, of which these three are the best and clearest:







The rest came out so blurry that you can't even tell they are statues, so I did not post them.

Here's another view of the cemetery, looking downhill:



and then these two are tied for my favorite of the day:





I guess I don't have to have a favorite, so I'll just say I like them both.

Back to the Old Gray

A couple of years ago, I went to Knoxville's historic Old Gray Cemetery to walk around and take pictures, and I decided that I wanted to again this weekend. I'm still working on my black and white photography, and it's the only place nearby that I know of with a lot of sculpture. I was leery of going by myself, though, since last time I got chased away by goth vampire cultists, so Kristin agreed that she would go with me.

Then this morning she stood me (but had a really good excuse; stupid work), so I went anyway, and that's how I ended up starring in "The Blair Witch Project Part III". OK, maybe not. The place was pretty much deserted this time, so I didn't get Blair Witched or Friday the Thirteenthed or even Prom Nighted, and instead I got some decent photos.

I stopped on my way there to take a picture of the MAC Auto Loans sign:



That sign is on the way to Bryan's apartment, and is another one of those things that I always said I would get a photo of when I had more time. Every time I went past it, though, we were always on the way to Bryan's for something, and usually running late, so there never seemed to be a good opportunity to pull over for a minute and snap a shot. I guess I should have made a special trip.

After I stopped at the sign, I drove the rest of the way to the cemetery, pausing to get a shot of part of the church across the street:



There are a number of interesting and intricately carved tombstones in the Old Gray, especially for local history buffs, but I ignored them for the most part since my goal for today was to get statues with shadows on them. I made an exception for this carving, though:



It caught my eye, so to speak.

The rest of the photography went well enough, I think:













This lady makes me think of the Vanderbilts for some reason. She just looks like someone you'd see strolling the gardens of a gigantic mansion in 1920's Newport, sighing over the lack of cucumber sandwiches:



I think the pictures came out ok, but there's nothing there that really wows me, and makes me look at it and say, "Oh, hey, that's a good photo." This one intrigues me:



The slight blurriness adds something, but I'm not sure if "interesting photo" is the same as "good photo". Still, I didn't get carved into pieces and fed to vampire brides, so I'm going to count it as a good day.

The Old Gray Cemetery

I got bored sitting around the apartment, and didn’t want to do laundry even though it desperately needs to be done and I have to step over a pile of it to get from the bedroom to the bathroom, so I decided to procrastinate by going to see the historic Old Gray Cemetery. It’s the final resting place of governors, senators, other congresspeople, mayors, industrialists, and other famous Tennesseans.

It says so on the sign:



I didn’t realize when I decided to head down there that it’s not in the best part of town. There were a lot of homeless people resting on the benches and outside the gates, and a couple times I felt a little unsafe because some of them looked a little spooky, but some of that might have been because cemeteries are always a little spooky to me.

There were a lot of statues:







This one, I thought, was the most striking:





If you click on it and go to the big size, you can see that the eyes even have irises and pupils sculpted in. I don’t really know who Horne was, but I’m willing to bet that the statue is a really precise likeness.

I also want to go pick up a book on cemeteries or tombstones, because I don’t understand a lot of the symbols, and feel like they’re important:



I know at least one of those stands for the Masons, but have no clue on the rest, and that’s not even counting the indirect, sculptural symbolism:







I’m sure the shawl/shroud, hand, and flower all mean very specific things, but have no idea what those things are.

There were also some signs of the cemetery showing its age, as some of the stones and statues have broken due to elements or vandalism:





Overall it was a really peaceful afternoon, until I got spooked by the cultists. Or goth chicks. Or vampire wedding. I don’t know what it was, but I passed a group of really tall girls and a couple guys in suits, and at first I thought they were at a funeral, but didn’t see one anywhere. I lost sight of them for a little while, but then I saw them again and they’d all put on black capes and were circled around a grave with a bouquet of white flowers:



At first I wondered what they were doing, and was about to walk closer, and then I remembered the hundreds of movies I’ve seen and books I’ve read where people make just that kind of stupid mistake. One minute you’re approaching a strange caped group in the back of an isolated cemetery, and the next minute you’re on the six o’clock news tied to an obelisk with your bowels disemboweled and pentacles drawn on you with your own blood.

I beat a hasty retreat to the car. Somebody else can get Blair Witched, thanks, but it won’t be me.