Miner's Christmas In Columbia Ca

We were able to bring our Magic Lantern Shows,  Wet Plate Photography, and Telegraph to  Columbia State Historic Park  for the "Miner's Christmas" event. 

Here was our performance area.  They said we were the first group to ever use the new building.  Matt operated the lantern,  Brandon made Tintypes, and we hoodwinked Shannon's dad  into keeping an eye on the telegraph.  We had about 600 visitors and Matt was performing non-stop. We didn't have time to take out our cameras for photos but took a couple when the crowds were gone.  

Matt  built the tripod from scratch for use with his  whole plate camera.  (The one below the screen). Though it also worked quite well for the lantern. The trunk holding the lanterns is one we use to carry our equipment.  The one on the right is a custom camera case we  built for as well.  It served well as a bench for kids to sit on to watch the show. 

The screen is just a simple piece of canvas nailed to the wall. All the windows had shutters so we could close them to keep the screen reasonably dark. 

We set the Telegraph up outside the building to draw folks into the room. We didn't have a table so we just clamped it to the rails.   The setup was a little bit odd but it did a great job attracting folks to the venue. Kids always love playing with the telegraph. "How do you backspace?"

We also set up the Tintype studio and Darkroom inside the building.  Guests got to experience a little bit of ether smell with their magic lantern show, but it made a nice opportunity to demonstrate multiple technologies at once.  Getting to operate the tintype booth inside is a great luxury. No more dust, pine needles, and wind interfering. 

Overall, it was a great event.  Keeping all three demonstrations running for the public can be challenging, but we got a lot of positive feedback from the crowd and look forward to doing it again. 

Happy Holidays to everyone from the Schnittker Family!!! 

Gold Rush Days At Columbia SHP

 We took a family vacation up to Columbia, Ca. to visit Columbia State Historic Park.  Our plan was to enjoy the town and also set up the wet plate photography darkroom to get a few photos of the many historic structures.  As this was a historic venue, and we often end up chatting with folks, we also threw the Telegraph and Magic Lantern into the car alongside the darkroom.  I thought maybe we'd get to do a Magic Lantern show at the hotel.  I let the park staff know I was coming so they wouldn't worry about the big contraption set up in the park. 

We connected with the park staff on site and they were absolutely impressed with our stuff.  They asked us to set up on the main street!  When I mentioned the telegraph and magic lantern, they asked us to bring that as well.  They put us in the "Bowling Alley" and we had the room to ourselves to demonstrate for the public. I ran the lantern, Brandon ran the tintype booth, and Emily ran the telegraph. They even made a poster and plastered us all over town. Good thing we brought our period clothes!!! (though they had loaner costumes).

This was a fun event, we'll be back!

Make Believe At Muzeo

 Matt was asked to give a Magic Lantern Show for a live event at the Muzeo Museum in Anaheim Ca. The museum is about 5 minutes from Disneyland and was hosting an event called "Make Believe at Muzeo" in collaboration with the Museum Of Make Believe.   

We made this a family event where Shannon brought her snack bag booth and Emily helped run the telegraph. 

Artwork by Geoff Mitchell. 

We had the wet plate photography studio, candle dipping and snack bags all set up outside. 

Shannon brought her snack bags to sell as well ( http://randomsacks.com ).

For the Magic Lantern Show,  I brought my primary lantern as well as a Marcy Sciopticon as backup.  Both lanterns were powered with batteries and use an LED light. Notice also the small lantern in front of the table.  This was placed by the organizers as part of the decor to fill the screen in between performances.

The show was short with a performance of "Jack And The Beanstalk" as well as several slip slides for comedy.  It was great to finally perform in front of a live audience and get real time feedback on what worked and what did not.

Overall, the event went well.  I got lots of laughs on the slip slides.  The event was live streamed.  The stream is on YouTube if interested.  I can say that watching one's own performance certainly highlights room for improvement!  

The following links will take you to the exact parts of the the show where we were involved.

• 6 Minutes : Candle Dipping
• 8 Minutes: Telegraph
• 9 Minutes: Wet Plate Photography
• 16 Minutes: Random Sacks Of Kindness (http://randomsacks.com)
  
• 2 Hours: Magic Lantern Show
  

Yosemite Camping 2021

 We spent April 5th through 10th camping in Yosemite.  It was a great time to visit.  Evenings were around 40 degrees and the days were in the low 70s. It was great camping and hiking weather. 

On the way in to the valley, we stopped at the overlook. 

We brought two tents for this trip.  Our regular 3 Meter diameter Soul Pad as well as an 1800's style triangle army tent. 

Getting set up takes a few hours. Shannon's parents came along to help.

Ah, work is done, time to relax.

We had a new addition to our camping equipment this year.  Ben and I built an "Off Grid" cell phone charger.  Although there is not much reception in Yosemite, Cell phones now have replaced cameras, flashlights, weather stations, and MP3 Players to become an all in one device so it's handy to keep them charged.  The box has a 10 Watt Solar panel and 36 Amp Hours of 12V battery backup. 

The large bell tent lights up nicely in the evening.

Camping breakfasts are aways awesome!

I brought my Wet Plate Photography equipment.   We also had Catherine Segura from CAS Photography with us on the trip which was a great opportunity for me to get some coaching from a real Pro!  She was a great mentor and helped me a lot. 

With Catherine's help and coaching.  I was able to get a little better with each photo. 

Catherine also took an amazing picture of Shannon's dad!  

Photo by Catherine Segura of C.A.S. Photography

We used a portable field darkroom that Catherine designed and built. 

We got some great pictures of Yosemite Falls.  Yosemite Falls was a favorite of well known Wet Plate Photographer Will Dunniway.  I had the good fortune to visit Will in 2019 and he helped me tremendously.  Since he was close to Yosemite, Catherine and I had we had hoped to visit him during the trip.  However, he passed away the same week.   This was bittersweet, but it was nice to be able to give a tribute to him by photographing the falls he loved so much. 

We later headed over to the overlook to take some more photos.  Bridle veil falls lit up with a beautiful rainbow.  It felt as though Will Dunniway was letting us know he was glad that we were there as he had passed away the same day. 

I also brought along the Magic Lantern and performed Magic Lantern shows for the other campers.  I've been getting mentored by Terry Borton of the American Magic Lantern Theater and this was a great chance to practice the craft for the public. 

With all the photography and Magic Lantern performances were were pretty busy, though we still managed to fit in a hike.  This one was to the upper portion of Lower Yosemite Falls.  The views were breathtaking. 

Overall this was an amazing trip.  It was great to be out in the Sierras hiking, camping, taking pictures, and performing shows.  I look forward to when we can do it again.