TheFlyingCamera

Well, I got to develop my night shots from my first night photo class outing over the weekend, and made a couple preliminary prints. I got one absolute killer shot of the Washington Monument at sunset, when the sun had just dropped below the horizon but the clouds were still illuminated. I grabbed that one while my other classmates who had also arrived early were huddling down in the Metro station entrance to stay out of the wind. This was my second time shooting with my Turner-Reich triple-convertible, and I have to say the lens produces some pretty great results.

Later, we went down to the new Museum of the American Indian, and I had a chance to try out my Darlot Hemispherique Rapide #2 (an 1870s vintage brass wide-angle lens). The #2 is extremely small, only an inch in diameter, and perhaps an 8" or 9" focal length. This little lens covers at least whole plate. I'll have to give it a try on my 8x10 and see if it covers that too. It's about an f8 lens, and takes waterhouse stops, which I don't have, and uses the lenscap as a shutter, which I do have.

I got some great shots of the entrance facade of the museum. They turned the lights off in the lobby, so the ground floor terrace is pitch black, but the upper stories are illuminated from within. When you view the print, it creates an optical illusion because the building extends further out the higher up you go. With the ground floor black, it looks like it should be the sky, and it encourages you to turn the print upside down and look at it like an MC Escher drawing.