nirbhao

Thursday night we had a waxing crescent moon at about 10%, but the whole thing was actualling illuminated. venus was next to it, low in the sky. it was stunning.

here's an astronomy chart:


I was thrilled. I got some 100 speed film, climbed up on my roof, and shot some of the longest exposure shots I could manage.

Saturday a friend was kind enough to take me to get the film developed, and when I went back to pick it up, the tech immediately started apologizing. not the, "your pictures aren't ready apology," either.

the film was processed, she told me. but as soon as it hit the photo deck, the machine shut down. she reassured me that their machine hadn't started up correctly that morning anyway.

she didn't charge.

I did manage to get my pictures printed, but after realizing that the negatives were scratched and had fingerprints on them, I didn't make too extensive of a rescue effort.



nearly every print showed the negative's exposure damage, and my heart sunk as I looked through them.

at the same time, I wasn't doing this for a project or for pay. I just wanted to capture that beautiful moon. and I did. my minolta and I were up by the bathouse in our dark little neighborhood doing my best not to scrape my ass as I chuckled about wearing a skirt for such a project.

I felt so happy and alive while shooting the moon.

so that's what I'll hold on to.