Back in Time

This weekend was far less active compared to my last, but I got a special surprise activity on Sunday.

I went to Lee Vining to attend church and pick up a few staple foods at the Mono Market. When I came back in the afternoon there was a red tent set up behind my house... hmm.... I deposited my groceries and went back outside to investigate. I met a group of a guys who were using old-style cameras (and a lot of chemicals) to make tin-types - well, aluminum types, but hey. There were also a couple guys there taking pictures on x-ray film, and also taking photos for some sort of tricky carbon developing process that involves gelatin and 4 days of your time, and makes photographs that will last forever.

"We really want to get pictures of people in costume," they said, "we like taking photos of the buildings, but what we really love is portraiture!"

Well, it was my day off, after all....

I ate lunch, walked down to the barn, pulled out my favorite late-1800s costume, got dressed, and walked back up to the house, where five exuberant photographers spent the better part of the afternoon posing me for exposures lasting as long as 25 seconds and averaging at about 15 seconds. Norm and Dave, who were dressed up to give Stamp Mill tours and history talks today, also came over and lent their services, with stunning results. I didn't see all the different photographs that they took of me, but I did get to see a few. One tin type, in particular, was astoundingly perfect. They took down my information and promised to send me some prints of the photographs they had taken. The one who does the carbon process is going to send me the real deal, the tin typers I don't know if they'll send me prints or an actual tin type - we'll see. Either way, it turned out to be a very fun afternoon and really interesting. Certainly the experience of a lifetime. How often do you get to sit for tin types in this day and age?

But now it's back to work - my weekend got cut short because one of our staff members is indisposed and I'm going to work a week of 8-hour days to help with coverage.

Until next time!