My Apartment, Halloween 2005

[MissQueenie]

Hi everyone,

I hope it's okay to post these here; I couldn't figure out where else they'd fit.

I live in a 1930s duplex in Los Angeles, in a neighborhood called Leimert Park. Leimert Park was a low-income housing residential development that was designed by the city back in the depression, but it has since become home to a large (and growing) number of African American middle-class families.

We decorated our porch with pumpkins and traditional Dias De Los Muertos calaveras (sugar skulls), tea lights, and giant candle flares (4 hour burn time!). We only had a handful of trick or treaters, but we're hoping for more next year.

http://homepage.mac.com/fredzyda/PhotoAlbum2.html

 

[Rigby Reardon]

hahaha...the long exposure on frame 2738 is great...looks like that pumpkin just floated across the porch by itself!

So, I'm guessing you're the artist who carved the pumpkins? (They're cute!)

I have to confess something...we had TOO many pumpkins to carve this year - I only carved 5 of the 7 my little girls lined up for me (they colored the other two w/ markers...phew!)...the only way to finish them in time was to employ technology on two of them. Ever seen what a powertool can do to a pumpkin? Fully carved face in 90 seconds. The only drawback was the pumpkin puree all over my boots...ew.

 

[MissQueenie]

hahaha...the long exposure on frame 2738 is great...looks like that pumpkin just floated across the porch by itself!

So, I'm guessing you're the artist who carved the pumpkins? (They're cute!)

I have to confess something...we had TOO many pumpkins to carve this year - I only carved 5 of the 7 my little girls lined up for me (they colored the other two w/ markers...phew!)...the only way to finish them in time was to employ technology on two of them. Ever seen what a powertool can do to a pumpkin? Fully carved face in 90 seconds. The only drawback was the pumpkin puree all over my boots...ew.

I gutted the big boy in the back, and did the eyes. I left the rest to my boyfriend to carve and ran off to make dinner. He's also the talented photographer

Ya know, I'd kind of like to see someone carve a pumpkin with a power tool! I'm picturing a big plastic face sheild and a chainsaw. How many little girls do you have? Maybe next year you can get some acrylic paints and get the girls to paint them all -- no carving needed! And if they're anything like I was (well, am), they won't have to be sad about the carved pumpkins getting tossed out since painted ones keep longer.

 

[Rigby Reardon]

For you, here are four of our pumpkins, two of which got the powertool treatment.

I only used a hole saw on these (a round attachment you put on a power drill for cutting big holes in stuff, like for installing door knobs). The little one in the first pic, I just did that for the eyes & nose...
<a href="http://img125.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10006334re.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/253/10006334re.th.jpg" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a> <--- Click for bigger image

...but on the big one in the second pic I did the WHOLE THING w/ different size hole saws.
<a href="http://img125.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10006304yz.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/5096/10006304yz.th.jpg" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a> <--- Click for bigger image

I was considering pulling out a reciprocating saw for some fast and loose jigsaw work, but at the moment I only have a 9" circular saw...and that would just be WRONG.

Re: the unhelpful staff, I have two litte monkeys, ages 3 & 6. Mommy isn't much for Halloween, and I'm ALL ABOUT Halloween, so all the jobs are mine. I wouldn't mind letting pumpkins sit a few days, normally - back in the northeast we could leave them at least another week! But like me you are here in LA - 90 degrees was TOO HOT to leave those even another day.

 

[Rigby Reardon]

And just for yucks, here's my favorite smiley.
<a href="http://img125.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10006295bu.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/7486/10006295bu.th.jpg" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>

 

[ITG]

Jerry, the ones with the crooked smiles...were you trying to replicate Harrison Ford's smile?

I carved the one on the left and my BF carved the one on the right (I carved mine in one night, he spent like 3 nights working on his):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v179/wickie7/pumpkins02.jpg

Do y'all cook the seeds? My mom has a wonderful recipe for cooking the seeds I'd be happy to share. It involves butter, Worchestershire sauce, salt, and an oven.

 

[Flitcraft]

Man you guys are talented!

 

[Slicksuit]

MissQueenie, can you ask me how your husband did that exposure on 2738, exactly? Is it simply overexposed? Very cool!

 

[Rigby Reardon]

Jerry, the ones with the crooked smiles...were you trying to replicate Harrison Ford's smile?

I carved the one on the left and my BF carved the one on the right (I carved mine in one night, he spent like 3 nights working on his):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v179/wickie7/pumpkins02.jpg

Do y'all cook the seeds? My mom has a wonderful recipe for cooking the seeds I'd be happy to share. It involves butter, Worchestershire sauce, salt, and an oven.

heeeheehee...those are great, Holly! I like YOURS better. The artwork is neat, and always amazing, but to me Jack-O-Lanterns still have to have Jack on them.

The lopsided smile is my Dad's. I see it in my little girl's faces, too. My wife insists it's my smile, too, but I have not a clue what she's on about...

Butter, salt, and an oven, yes, we USUALLY do that...but w/ 5 to carve I streamlined this year. Besides, I was the only one eating them last year... But I've never heard of putting Worchestershire on them! (I assume it's good, or you wouldn't be remembering the recipe, right? )

It occurred to me while in my workshop today that I do have a chainsaw...I may have to try using that on a pumpkin next year.

I'm assuming 2738 was done by just moving the pumpkin during a long slow exposure. I've noticed that low-light shots sometimes leave the shutter open for several seconds, sometimes longer. (Like, c'mon already!) You can see part of the 'tracer' of the candle flame from the starting position of the pumpkin and right before it's final position - but not in the middle - so I'm guessing he hit the button, stepped in front of the shot, moved the pumpkin quickly from his left to his right (blocking it for a moment), and then stepped back out of the shot. (How close was I?:cool2: )

 

[MissQueenie]

MissQueenie, can you ask me how your husband did that exposure on 2738, exactly? Is it simply overexposed? Very cool!

Hey there Slicksuit, this is Fred, Queenie's other half. That photo is a classic trick, I just moved the pumpkin half way through the exposure and made sure I moved fast enough so I didn't show up in the picture. The exposure was 30 seconds, so I just counted to about 15 and then moved the pumpkin to the right for the last part of the exposure. When photography was very young, one of the major challenges was creating emulsions for film that were light sensitive, and so many early photos required extremely long exposures. There is an early shot of Paris with completly empty streets. The streets weren't actually empty when the photo was taken, it just took all day to expose the image, and people were moving so fast, they didn't show up. Long answer to a short question...

 

[ITG]

heeeheehee...those are great, Holly! I like YOURS better. The artwork is neat, and always amazing, but to me Jack-O-Lanterns still have to have Jack on them.

Yeah, I agree, I guess his kinda has Jack on it....Jack the Ripper. But I also prefer the Jack faces. Ours rotted quickly...like in 2 days. Is that normal. I always recall as a kid our pumpkins lasting a big longer.

 

[MissQueenie]

Holly -- great gourds!

...Wow, that sounds a lot worse now that I think about it. Er, I didn't mean it like that? Anyway, the carving looks great! I'm a sucker for traditional leering ones, but I'm always impressed with the really artistic ones. Did your boyfriend use a pattern or did he draw the design himself?

 

[Rigby Reardon]

Holly -- great gourds!

...Wow, that sounds a lot worse now that I think about it. Er, I didn't mean it like that?

heeheehee...don't worry, I keep teasing her whenever she dolls up as Princess Leia, with those tight spiral braid-buns, with, "Hey, Holly, nice buns!", and she hasn't beaten me into the pavement yet...of course, maybe she's been saving up a years' worth for the QM...:rage:

 

[Julius Xavier]

Here was my pumpkin

He took me approx. 4 to 5 hours to do. I screwed up alittle on the fedora. It was my first attempt at a celebrity and also my first attempt at not carving through the whole pumpkin and just having the candle shine through the skin. Hope you all enjoy.



-DocIndyJones


P.S. See ya at the Summit!

 

[Mycroft]

He took me approx. 4 to 5 hours to do. I screwed up alittle on the fedora. It was my first attempt at a celebrity and also my first attempt at not carving through the whole pumpkin and just having the candle shine through the skin. Hope you all enjoy.




-DocIndyJones


P.S. See ya at the Summit!

Holy Holy Hippos, how did you do that and how big was the pumkin ?? I am mean all of yours are great, mine was ok, it was a messed up Frankenstien.

 

[Rigby Reardon]

DIJ, that came out GREAT! THAT is talent...

Hee...a Mar-Lowe-Lantern.

J

 

[ITG]

Have y'all seen this site:
http://www.pumpkingutter.com/

Holly -- great gourds!

...Wow, that sounds a lot worse now that I think about it. Er, I didn't mean it like that? Anyway, the carving looks great! I'm a sucker for traditional leering ones, but I'm always impressed with the really artistic ones. Did your boyfriend use a pattern or did he draw the design himself?

A pattern was used. He chose it...I had nothing to do with it. When he chose that pattern, in my head, I was like "Oh Lordy! That's a hard (and evil) one to do, but he persevered and finished it successfully."

heeheehee...don't worry, I keep teasing her whenever she dolls up as Princess Leia, with those tight spiral braid-buns, with, "Hey, Holly, nice buns!", and she hasn't beaten me into the pavement yet...of course, maybe she's been saving up a years' worth for the QM...:rage:

Beat up my martini friend. Never!