I walked by a small studio late this afternoon on the way to the car and noticed a sign on the door that said open. Just a large room off the sidewalk with framed color photographs on the walls (without any prices) and a woman sitting toward the back behind a small desk talking on the telephone. So I went in and took a quick look around. They were not very good. Comforting. There's a show starting Monday near Berkeley, a group show of photographers that includes a young woman just out of school who works at my camera shop. So I'll go. And see. What they're up to. Why not? Maybe see something that gives me a kick with my own shooting. My own dry as dust not a clever image in my head or my eye current photography habit. It could happen.

Have I mentioned how happy I am that it's Friday?

I flipped through some pictures I shot at a going away party for one of my coworkers and scanned this one, curious to see what the grain structure looked like compared to some of the color negatives I've taken recently (and bitched about here). A little better, maybe, but still that crappy grain quality and weird tropical pastel color. I'm tempted to take a photography class just so I can ask the instructor if this is normal. I've been using Fuji NPS because everybody said it was the hot stuff. I started with Kodak VPS and use Kodak for everything else, TMAX 400 and Tri-X for black and white, Ektachrome 100s for color (slides). I tried Fuji Velvia. Too much saturation. Loses any sense of reality, particularly with lighter skin tones. So maybe I just stick with Kodak and forget negative films altogether. Kodak and Coca Cola. Oh yes, and God. Stick with the basics.