tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41624058426840753612024-02-18T21:59:55.300-06:00I Still Shoot Film Too (Also)Exploring old fashioned film photography once again!
John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.comBlogger375125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-37543088329161248942019-06-01T09:38:00.002-05:002019-06-08T09:48:27.414-05:00Gotta Love that Portra<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQJlbCsMIlXn1aAAmUVmJnLvSh_-qQ2Kcz4PVgl6lwmvFJQSyfX1_NjwIhpIOFSrgLNTXxR58DhXXaFF-WnxE5TlbFX6_1ZvAkMVuUjdDtc-ih3g6MVXDgI0OILjp2k1rWXGCW6fb4zUY/s1600/000454090017-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1037" data-original-width="1565" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQJlbCsMIlXn1aAAmUVmJnLvSh_-qQ2Kcz4PVgl6lwmvFJQSyfX1_NjwIhpIOFSrgLNTXxR58DhXXaFF-WnxE5TlbFX6_1ZvAkMVuUjdDtc-ih3g6MVXDgI0OILjp2k1rWXGCW6fb4zUY/s320/000454090017-001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Kodak as well as other film manufacturers have always had some kind of hierarchy when it comes film. At the bottom of the list was the everyday "family snapshot" kind of film. For Kodak its the Kodak Gold or Ultramax 400. These days the only difference between these kinds of films and the best so called "professional" films are that the latter are generally not available in drug stores or Walmart. The difference in price, especially when you consider processing in the mix is almost negligible. To be honest, there's not much difference in quality either but there is still something special about Portra. It just has a look that says you cared enough about this shot to use the very best film. Although I still like Gold and Untramax very much Portra is more and more becoming my "go to" film.<br />
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Here's a nice family snapshot of my son and his beautiful family shot on Portra 400 with my Pentax ZX-7. It probably would have been just as good on Gold or Ultramax but Portra just has "That Look!"<br />
<br />John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-57741859117863337402019-05-25T22:43:00.003-05:002019-05-25T22:43:56.459-05:00WPPD 2019<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ-aTNaR2hjqLGFECNDzLTlE4bG20-AexxIw-ot3JfrovQUSKL87DiqKJwf0bkFfXY1BQb4OCv2WewpWOnX2biNKWBX1FqmDncJ2nBOOJNQjoGfKxWmIY3yrLV2A9gHokIZNPu7_79OXE/s1600/1-000452890011-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="640" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ-aTNaR2hjqLGFECNDzLTlE4bG20-AexxIw-ot3JfrovQUSKL87DiqKJwf0bkFfXY1BQb4OCv2WewpWOnX2biNKWBX1FqmDncJ2nBOOJNQjoGfKxWmIY3yrLV2A9gHokIZNPu7_79OXE/s320/1-000452890011-001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here's my submission for this year's Worldwide Pinhole Photograhy Day. This vigilant and graceful Guardian Angle watches over those who sleep at a nearby cemetery in Port Vincent, Louisiana. </div>
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I have really come to love Kodak Ektar, especially for pinhole. The colors are just beautiful and the film speed puts me right in a "sweet spot" for shutter speeds on all of my pinhole cameras. This particular photo was shot with the Holga Pinhole Camera (f192) resulting in a 6 x 6 image on 120 roll film. The exposure here was 1.5 seconds.</div>
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John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-5981096131177736922019-05-21T05:23:00.001-05:002019-05-21T05:23:46.506-05:00Budding Young Photographer Takes Her Work Seriously<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKbzEBD3MOG7xP_E1ApxPbcE-fnOR_9RNoqEU_rohbd7cPai2nUPpVBJZgaRSv2FU81XK4s8PaUTX3aH6XSti38xubTnUIH-aMXEKtQ924TmmVlX9jr-iY1-6PM8cJd7Y91A0NF7uMCuY/s1600/000263540019-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="910" data-original-width="1373" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKbzEBD3MOG7xP_E1ApxPbcE-fnOR_9RNoqEU_rohbd7cPai2nUPpVBJZgaRSv2FU81XK4s8PaUTX3aH6XSti38xubTnUIH-aMXEKtQ924TmmVlX9jr-iY1-6PM8cJd7Y91A0NF7uMCuY/s320/000263540019-001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I took my budding young photographer granddaughter Claire out on a photo shoot to capture images for a contest she participates in every year and could not help but shoot the shooter. She takes her photography very seriously and was one of the winners in the contest last year. She was of course shooting digital (Pentax istDL) while I was shooting my favorite black and white film in one of my favorite cameras, Kodak Tri-X in my Pentax ZX-7.<br />
<br />John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-78849248155623595952019-05-20T21:34:00.000-05:002019-05-20T21:34:07.749-05:00Graduation Day at the Fire Hydrant<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimbG6lRHXY8HsE4zkOjZheeIJgWcuNVExI8_-TzNqC1UGc40UjUBJNoJ1J3wU6Ep8VDxfodmwzpMo44USMRJ1UvBgLK4w5OeTzW2KKZOfMVbQAoQynVuzv1FppjV3EateL4Fr0fat4GHo/s1600/000207870002-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1039" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimbG6lRHXY8HsE4zkOjZheeIJgWcuNVExI8_-TzNqC1UGc40UjUBJNoJ1J3wU6Ep8VDxfodmwzpMo44USMRJ1UvBgLK4w5OeTzW2KKZOfMVbQAoQynVuzv1FppjV3EateL4Fr0fat4GHo/s320/000207870002-001.jpg" width="315" /></a></div>
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Last year when my son graduated with honors from Southeastern Louisiana University we naturally had a photo shoot and in addition to all the digital photos I had to shoot a roll of Portra 400 with the Holga. This was my favorite. If you have followed this blog for any time at all you know how I love fire hydrants and there just happened to be one where we were shooting. How could I resist!<br />
<br />John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-78757757642373301002019-05-18T22:45:00.000-05:002019-05-18T22:46:54.928-05:00WPPD 2018<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj1xgt7dVpzN-nZUmpc2dTlcMJtqXj3q-3Hvuy8xQW6E4S_aU_aB3B8C1xE-_g6jEbez8hyQOf858fN4fk5clx1YHCbEn2ejIIVD89Cy-U0nB5rP9IDvqUfp4YkSU5-gZT655rwJSR7n0/s1600/1-000160370019-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="640" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj1xgt7dVpzN-nZUmpc2dTlcMJtqXj3q-3Hvuy8xQW6E4S_aU_aB3B8C1xE-_g6jEbez8hyQOf858fN4fk5clx1YHCbEn2ejIIVD89Cy-U0nB5rP9IDvqUfp4YkSU5-gZT655rwJSR7n0/s320/1-000160370019-001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Clearly it's been a while since I posted anything here but not for lack of subject matter. In any case I will try to bring things up to date a bit. Here's last year's Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day submission. Its a shot of one of my favorite pinhole subjects at the local Baton Rouge Botanical Gardens. This was a 2 second exposure from the very first roll of film through my new (at the time) Holga 135PC, 35mm plastic pinhole Camera. It was shot on Kodak Portra 160 color film on a sunny spring day.John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-15530161704627522472017-06-03T10:27:00.000-05:002017-06-03T10:27:50.003-05:00Another Ondu Pinhole<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8xENx1xjt99clBsEFivvHm7-OISw2EaJvdlwS7vo9dyNcIzcgsL4PD0Jt01oriY4tyAhCM45TWJb2pa1NSO7KKpOl88Ng-7acYNgT9gI0T2GlmwBhaQ8TgIPUk6ylHYK7BePc-6gu5Dk/s1600/26670008-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1516" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8xENx1xjt99clBsEFivvHm7-OISw2EaJvdlwS7vo9dyNcIzcgsL4PD0Jt01oriY4tyAhCM45TWJb2pa1NSO7KKpOl88Ng-7acYNgT9gI0T2GlmwBhaQ8TgIPUk6ylHYK7BePc-6gu5Dk/s320/26670008-001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This is one of the Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day (WPPD) images
that I didn’t submit to the WPPD Gallery this year but in many ways I actually
like this one better than the one I did submit. I was shooting a long (16 second)
exposure on Kodak Portra 400 with my new Ondu 35mm Pocket Pinhole camera but I
couldn’t get the red birdhouse in the foreground to stay still. The birdhouse
hangs on a stainless steel cable from a tree limb and was facing away. When I
turned it so that it was facing the way I wanted it to face it would slowly
turn back around.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I decided the next best thing to actually having the
birdhouse facing the way I wanted was to have it turn and thereby “blur out”
during the exposure so I rotated it around so that it made a complete 360
degree turn during the 16 second exposure and the image above is what was captured
in my little wooden box.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In spite of my misgivings about the shutter the Ondu really
is a beautifully crafted camera. The wood it is made out of was clearly
carefully selected and finished to produce a work of art. I love wood and love
working with wood and I appreciate that the fit and finish on the Ondu is some
of the finest work I have seen on something made of wood. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I will probably continue to use it just because of the
pleasure derived from handling such a beautiful well made camera.<br clear="all" style="mso-special-character: line-break; page-break-before: always;" />
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<br />John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-3058156852598727082017-05-21T16:44:00.001-05:002017-05-21T16:44:33.282-05:00WPPD 2017 & The Ondu<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifK6LxriNSQJRlVyXMKptXI9OddKkEQLWL2Yy5rhaFoLU8a3cwi9oyib30yYVlb3lNyC_qHTO03vUGaFqrBpVg9wsur05sJza7slZT8iH-xawkIr5Q_O43x5GQvhY8vjhQbHHtLJn5rhU/s1600/26670010-002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifK6LxriNSQJRlVyXMKptXI9OddKkEQLWL2Yy5rhaFoLU8a3cwi9oyib30yYVlb3lNyC_qHTO03vUGaFqrBpVg9wsur05sJza7slZT8iH-xawkIr5Q_O43x5GQvhY8vjhQbHHtLJn5rhU/s320/26670010-002.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Well its Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day (WPPD) time
again! Actually WPPD was on April 30<sup>th</sup> this year but I just got my
film & scans back, picked out the one I wanted to post to the WPPD website
and got it uploaded. The image shown above is the one I selected. It is an 8
second exposure on Kodak Portra 400 shot with the new Ondu 35mm Pocket Pinhole acquired
last year through their most recent Kickstarter campaign.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It is a delightful compact little camera hand crafted from
the most beautiful wood. This was the very first roll of film I put through it
and was generally pleased with the results. My biggest complaint is the
shutter. This is basically just a piece of wood that pivots up and down across
the pinhole and works fine except it is very easy to not get it open all the way
or to get your hand and fingers in the way when opening and closing. For longer
exposures this is not a big deal but for short exposures it can create a brown blur
at the periphery of the image. Here’s a picture of Ondu.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Enxgp9ai0fEIJqlUJik3LKiDTk_yJPowC9au2uj1W4g1e956_ycVf-83Q8kBNHeJfpFKBKUp_fOsy21WDohcf6I6N7c1-ik6fTZ2tVZHcU3QTo6oGVGGgVQnvVMBbNDaiarDCZ10KP4/s1600/IMGP7843.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Enxgp9ai0fEIJqlUJik3LKiDTk_yJPowC9au2uj1W4g1e956_ycVf-83Q8kBNHeJfpFKBKUp_fOsy21WDohcf6I6N7c1-ik6fTZ2tVZHcU3QTo6oGVGGgVQnvVMBbNDaiarDCZ10KP4/s320/IMGP7843.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In
the future I will use this camera with slower film and/or select compositions
that require longer exposures so that I can take the time to make sure the
shutter is completely open. Anything longer than 10 seconds should be fine for
this strategy. That way even if the shutter arm is in the way briefly it will
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John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-24424602444141778632017-03-11T17:07:00.001-06:002017-03-12T08:05:24.759-05:00The Magic of Photographs!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtkPUpelXy0saHu8yfgoLdBUvWqWPIqcptAMXokXcAro_8TVcR0BYJtYvVtIK2Uejfqusk3sEvIGs6OwOJfibXomCx2SkBTp4xi1mFjbRMpp8S_fZlbdtpL5YWMAyMmLyY1II4zXnKfiw/s1600/img027-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtkPUpelXy0saHu8yfgoLdBUvWqWPIqcptAMXokXcAro_8TVcR0BYJtYvVtIK2Uejfqusk3sEvIGs6OwOJfibXomCx2SkBTp4xi1mFjbRMpp8S_fZlbdtpL5YWMAyMmLyY1II4zXnKfiw/s320/img027-001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I know its been a while since I posted anything here but I
have been so busy with so many things the past several months and so much has
happened in my life as well the world of photography.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In the world of photography the mighty Holga met its demise
as we learned last year that production was being discontinued only to find out in the
last week that its back in production again with new deliveries expected at
Freestyle Photographic Supplies sometime in June. Ferrannia moves towards
shipping its new black and white film while continuing work on getting its
color slide film ready for market later this year. Kodak Alaris also announced
that it is reintroducing Ektachrome slide film as the phenomenal film industry
continues to surprise everyone with its refusal to concede to digital and die.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On the personal front we had “The Great Flood of August
2016” that affected thousand in South Louisiana including us. No we didn’t
flood, but my daughter and her family did. My brother-in-law and his family
flooded also and since our home was spared we were blessed to be able to
provide shelter for both of them a time. <o:p></o:p></div>
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With so many friends and family flooded and displaced along
with the usual ups and downs of life there really hasn’t been much time for
photography other than the never ending and ever increasing collection of family
photos for birthdays and holiday gatherings that are so important to those
participating but not so much for blog readers; which leads me to the photo
above.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Even mundane family photographs can take on special
significance after a half century or under just the right circumstances. The
photo above is of “yours truly” at Mardi Gras in New Orleans with my Dad back
in about 1956 when I was 4 or 5 years old. If you know anything about Mardi
Gras you will understand that this is street photography at its best. The New
Orleans Mardi Gras frequently draws nearly a million people out into the
streets in and around the area for a two week long street party focused around
parades and other events. Of course in 1956 it was a smaller party but so was
everything else, including me and the city itself.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This photograph was undoubtedly taken by my mother (notice
she’s not in the picture) using her Kodak Brownie Target Six-20 box camera loaded
with whatever black and white film was in vogue at the time. This beautiful camera
produced many of my childhood pictures in a striking 6x9 format negative that
required little if any enlargement. I recently acquired one of these fine old
cameras and used it to produce the photo featured in my last blog post. That
photo of my son, his wife and my grandson shows the quality image that these fine
old cameras are capable of, especially when used with modern film.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I actually thought
this photo of me so many years ago had been lost forever after Hurricane
Katrina destroyed our home in 2005, only to discover my sister had a copy in
one of her photo albums which I was able to scan. Even though the quality of
the original image was not that great and of course this is a scan of a
fifty-something year old photograph that time has not been kind to, the image is
still magical for me. And that’s what photography is really all about isn’t it?<o:p></o:p></div>
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John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-66165905218342590212016-09-05T09:32:00.000-05:002016-09-05T09:32:28.145-05:00Kodak Brownie Six-20 – First Results!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv_7wHKSsA2-yLu43jc8KoEIT9mbHXG_XipIen_OI8MD8RR6EqksaIBdkmXTuGe3gS0OnDlXY97J6nofPqQVLxF7hby-wBo_i3y56d5cpSQG-rTKI1aZnv0UbhrLCkX3dhcmnyU4uuA7c/s1600/48650002-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv_7wHKSsA2-yLu43jc8KoEIT9mbHXG_XipIen_OI8MD8RR6EqksaIBdkmXTuGe3gS0OnDlXY97J6nofPqQVLxF7hby-wBo_i3y56d5cpSQG-rTKI1aZnv0UbhrLCkX3dhcmnyU4uuA7c/s320/48650002-001.JPG" width="218" /></a></div>
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Here is a great family photograph from the first roll of
Kodak Portra 400 through my new (to me) Kodak Brownie Six-20 box camera. This
is of course what these fine old box cameras were designed to do and I can
remember my Mother taking shoeboxes and photo albums full of these kind of
pictures, except in those day (1950’s & early 1960’s) they were all black
and white.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The image is a little fuzzy but that is likely as much from
my unsteady hand as anything else. This is actually one of the sharper images I
took on this first roll. Sixty years ago my mother took great photos with a
camera just like this one but I freely admit to feeling a little awkward
holding and operating the shutter. With a likely shutter speed of 1/50 or less
holding the camera absolutely still during the exposure is essential and takes
a little practice.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Its also noteworthy that unlike modern photographs that are
generally taken with the camera held at “eye level” these old box cameras require
that you look down through the “waste level” viewer so that the camera is
actually looking up at the subjects providing a different point of view for all
photographs.</div>
John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-27571115802910578142016-08-06T17:13:00.000-05:002016-08-06T17:13:41.839-05:00Moonstruck Again!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOg1ZKejaeeaOk5Z-EqrRhGC6uazDgbx0ydX-e2aJk9cY96o22OO6fTkeROTb_X-tgEjAUpJx8spVvRQVt1VbbcRxUgbxgFj9tbKKFEwm5UxHy7Wif1Hl2zamI_UwBADnDyPPiGUM2xL8/s1600/IMGP0935-002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOg1ZKejaeeaOk5Z-EqrRhGC6uazDgbx0ydX-e2aJk9cY96o22OO6fTkeROTb_X-tgEjAUpJx8spVvRQVt1VbbcRxUgbxgFj9tbKKFEwm5UxHy7Wif1Hl2zamI_UwBADnDyPPiGUM2xL8/s320/IMGP0935-002.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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There are few things as faithful as the lunar phases. Every
28 days we can count on another full moon and unless my schedule or the weather
ruins it I will take every opportunity to try to shoot some more beautiful moonlit
portraits. Last month I experimented until I got things the way I wanted them
and finally after two nights of shooting I got a great portrait of my son. This
month I picked up where I left off in June and almost immediately got a couple
more amazing images. The first one is my lovely wife Mary, and with her
assistance I even got a selfie.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIi7XbWY4YlEWBGOy5wEy6iU1xpEuNIWDpeK7fUPlgHa8vZ6atXkXoYIdufBegX9bH0Lf2jszUODSjdvv9aNiF-Cblp9Ww_9ljbfs1yNoZkX2MIoAZus7VFMzztYI9pTNMcSiJ0VWw0jU/s1600/IMGP0936-002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIi7XbWY4YlEWBGOy5wEy6iU1xpEuNIWDpeK7fUPlgHa8vZ6atXkXoYIdufBegX9bH0Lf2jszUODSjdvv9aNiF-Cblp9Ww_9ljbfs1yNoZkX2MIoAZus7VFMzztYI9pTNMcSiJ0VWw0jU/s320/IMGP0936-002.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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There is definitely something about the light of the full
moon that greatly enhances these portraits. I may have to try shooting similar
portraits during the day to prove it to myself but I do not believe that
anything else I could do (other than shooting by the light of the full moon),
even with studio lighting would produce images as unique and pleasing. This is
especially true when you consider I am shooting at f-2.8, ISO 12,800 with a 1
to 1.5 second exposure. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course part of the credit must go to the excellent
on-board processor of the Pentax K-S1 for the quality of the images. These are
jpegs pretty much right out of the camera with very little post processing.</div>
John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-58228019922710212382016-07-31T20:17:00.000-05:002016-07-31T20:17:07.198-05:00Cameras, cameras and more cameras!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL3PrxJmRGIMn-qTfo6KhKcMOBzbqHsxWI1KoAJipcD-pwc2v48DU5H61qX16eZFuFs1HGz2Wpr60t-mzfQCmgCoJ0CBE5hy50ZRG2Cl4ERZbQIh_qZSTs1d_evGstsd3GsbTLfekEUjo/s1600/IMGP4071-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL3PrxJmRGIMn-qTfo6KhKcMOBzbqHsxWI1KoAJipcD-pwc2v48DU5H61qX16eZFuFs1HGz2Wpr60t-mzfQCmgCoJ0CBE5hy50ZRG2Cl4ERZbQIh_qZSTs1d_evGstsd3GsbTLfekEUjo/s320/IMGP4071-001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You may have noticed that the last few blog posts have been
all about new (to me) vintage cameras. I didn’t suddenly run out and buy a
bunch of cameras to play with. The truth is I had gotten burned out on
constantly trying out new cameras a year or so ago and just recently got over
it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have actually had a couple of these cameras since last
year but was not inspired to “play” with them until now. When I am “testing” a new camera I am
understandably more concerned with the camera than the photograph so the
results of these shoots are interesting but not always inspiring. I tend to
shoot the same subjects or images over and over again so I can compare the
cameras capabilities to others I have shot with. If you have looked through my
blog posts you will see that I have done a fair amount of that kind of thing
but about a year ago I just got bored with shooting the same images all the
time and decided to make the photograph, rather than the camera my focus. At
that point I focused on just a couple cameras, mainly pinhole, and started trying
to make photographs that made me feel like I had accomplished something of
value. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I said all that to explain that after taking nearly a year
to pursue my interest in photographs rather than cameras I can now enjoy
playing with cameras again too and look forward to getting the film from these
latest ones back so I can see the results and share them with you.</div>
John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-31402460970592503112016-07-17T15:55:00.002-05:002016-07-17T15:55:40.019-05:00Brownie Super 27<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWi-wWs5sJ9_9jYKFEvmf8lMca3t_SzkPxITJmME6hDmp8_CukZ_KvVd3kS14Zu5OEjb3mAZ7k5-TqtuxzDxma8SAZY5CswMCD18PDiSyE-GAsF8LlxjuA0f_GxwjfFPRR6bLLcdA4i7c/s1600/IMGP7524-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWi-wWs5sJ9_9jYKFEvmf8lMca3t_SzkPxITJmME6hDmp8_CukZ_KvVd3kS14Zu5OEjb3mAZ7k5-TqtuxzDxma8SAZY5CswMCD18PDiSyE-GAsF8LlxjuA0f_GxwjfFPRR6bLLcdA4i7c/s320/IMGP7524-001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What can I say about this little 1960’s jewel except it is
“super!” This is a 60’s version of a Kodak box camera except like everything in
the 1960’s it has a lot of extra “bells & whistles.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This camera starts out with a clean sleek modern (in a
vintage sort of way) design and a big bright (amazingly big & bright)
viewfinder. The rotary shutter is working now just as crisply as it did nearly
60 years ago when it was new and has two speeds. 1/80<sup>th</sup> is the
normal shutter speed but if you open the little door to expose the flash it
changes to 1/30. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Did I mention it has a built in flash? Yep, just open the
little door that usually conceals it and pop in an AG-1 bulb (if you can find
one). Oh, by the way you will have to also put in a couple AA batteries in the
battery compartment on the bottom.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The aperture is also rather sophisticated for a box camera.
The normal setting is f13.5 for bright sunny days but you can turn the little
selector on the front to choose f8 when its cloudy. With the two apertures and
two shutter speeds you have a total of four different exposure settings, and a
flash! Not too shabby for a simple box camera.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The camera handled well and was a pleasure to shoot as I
went through my first roll of 127 Rerapan black & white film. I haven’t
found any AG-1 flash bulbs so everything was shot in daylight. The only
complaint I had was that the shutter is pretty easy to press so that if you wind
after each shot like I do the shutter is always cocked and it is a bit too easy
to inadvertently press the shutter when you don’t intend to. I wasted one frame
on the roll that way.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
This 127 camera shoots in the square format yielding twelve
shots. I can’t wait to see how they come out but if the way the camera looks
and handles is any indication the pictures should be great!<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-59035343683211440812016-07-13T20:40:00.003-05:002016-07-13T20:40:22.614-05:00Kodak Brownie Target Six-20<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpLxtYQaFb1Th8nfkHZmWZl-64w_ljIqZp4QM-WlHej21F0t-J6xb1YwV0tnknnZ34NPy2S0j85UaYJwRRJHkUTASD3vDTdGsnX1Kb6c4cP9GIx9ZaBeYGn3VWZm-O8iJvVXMWVM_shJU/s1600/DSCN2771-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpLxtYQaFb1Th8nfkHZmWZl-64w_ljIqZp4QM-WlHej21F0t-J6xb1YwV0tnknnZ34NPy2S0j85UaYJwRRJHkUTASD3vDTdGsnX1Kb6c4cP9GIx9ZaBeYGn3VWZm-O8iJvVXMWVM_shJU/s320/DSCN2771-001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thanks to my wonderful wife I now have a beautiful vintage
box camera like the one my Mama shot all our family photos with back in the
1950’s when I was growing up. I have long wanted one and occasionally looked
for one on line but my wife finally bought me one for an anniversary present.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Kodak Brownie Target Six-20 shown above is about as
simple a box camera as you could find but the utter simplicity combined with
the super cool art deco face plate add up to one of the all-time classics. It
of course shoots 620 film like so many of the old box cameras and the reliable
rotary shutter has a single speed of about 1/30<sup>th</sup> of a second so
keeping both camera and subject still during exposure is essential to good
results. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is a little tab next to the shutter that can be pulled
out for “Bulb” setting which simply means that when this is done the shutter
stays open as long as the shutter lever is depressed – not a great benefit for
a camera without a tripod mount. Hand holding a camera for long exposures is
generally not the way to get clear photographs.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The lens is a simple meniscus type with two apertures. The
normal one is f11 but there is another pull out tab on top which slides a
smaller f16 aperture in place for extra depth of field or for use with bright
sunlit scenes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The box is leatherette covered cardboard with a stamped
sheet metal film frame and advance. There is the usual little red film counter
window on the rear.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That’s it! In a sense it was the original Holga except with
better optics and clearly much better build quality. I doubt we’ll be seeing
too many Holgas still working 70 years from now. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I shot a roll of Kodak Portra 400 with it already and should
have the 8, 6x9 images back from The Darkroom soon. I will pick one or two of
the best ones and post them here with a brief review of my experience with this
lovely old camera.</div>
John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-67672186922452930292016-07-10T16:33:00.000-05:002016-07-10T16:33:38.067-05:00Rekkord!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRP9r8kBl-p_COSM41-g6IYbRvNRtzjg7M4gtzEcSsyiZnyOXidalzsJ3tQRvhhMuULQXzrFqeIVHGWc5Ng5-0xk-qJT8DHB-6BiN3kKN-23ElfV_KyHqg8PtP3QFyB-W6uhAMY4VsHvY/s1600/IMGP7474-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRP9r8kBl-p_COSM41-g6IYbRvNRtzjg7M4gtzEcSsyiZnyOXidalzsJ3tQRvhhMuULQXzrFqeIVHGWc5Ng5-0xk-qJT8DHB-6BiN3kKN-23ElfV_KyHqg8PtP3QFyB-W6uhAMY4VsHvY/s320/IMGP7474-001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">My friend recently gave me
this beautiful old camera but I have been unable to find out much about it so
far. "Rekkord" right under the lens is the only marking except on the
lens itself where it says "Luminere Anastigmat Nacor 1.6.3 F:135" From that and the little I have
been able to glean I believe it is a French, pre-World War II era, 9 x 12 (approx. 3.5” x 4.75”) large format
camera. My friend said his Dad brought it back from France where he served in
WWII and it had been sitting in his garage with several film holders for years.
It is in surprisingly good condition. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Although even my “go to”
film lab, The Darkroom, doesn’t develop this size film I was able to find out
that Freestyle Photographic actually carries some Fomapan 9x12 black &
white film so I may just have to figure out how to process it myself. I have
been trying to avoid darkroom work since the 1970’s when I decided I much preferred
shooting pictures rather than processing or even post processing images. Still,
using a change bag to transfer the film into a Patterson tank and process using
the Taco method should be pretty simple. That and scanning a few images should
take no more than an hour – not an overwhelming investment in time and effort
for the pleasure of seeing how a 70 year old camera still works after all these
years.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Stay tuned!</span></div>
John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-6481874288199264952016-06-25T09:54:00.000-05:002016-06-25T09:55:56.614-05:00Portraits by Moonlight<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Np-VycF0OLlr6UGl5mSQ8nLYYb0LPouGDu0Dv_D7x5GrCHvQ4VDjIfWnaMN7GkmELlVHmsiIHRNsUyc3qAVwviI_oUXLOUVQ1yr4S0haIze5jx2obqC9zn8TaWGa_aNsXwBQGeh5338/s1600/IMGP0902-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Np-VycF0OLlr6UGl5mSQ8nLYYb0LPouGDu0Dv_D7x5GrCHvQ4VDjIfWnaMN7GkmELlVHmsiIHRNsUyc3qAVwviI_oUXLOUVQ1yr4S0haIze5jx2obqC9zn8TaWGa_aNsXwBQGeh5338/s320/IMGP0902-001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The moon has stood as a silent sentinel over the nocturnal
affairs of man for thousands of years in its never ending dance around the sun with
planet Earth. Every twenty-eight days it reaches opposition and reflects the
full brunt of the sun’s light over the night. Although not nearly as bright as
the sun, the light of the full moon has its own magic and is sufficiently
brilliant to allow photographs to be made.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My first experience with photography and the moon came when
I attempted to photograph the moon itself. Surprisingly, it did not require a
long exposure at all. In fact (as I discovered) a good exposure of the moon can
often be taken at f8 - f16 and shutter speeds of 1/30 to 1/100. It is only the
night sky around the moon that is dark, not the moon itself.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I decided to try to shoot portraits by the light of the
moon, I was astounded to find almost nothing anywhere on the World Wide Web
about it. Oh to be sure there were a few crazies out there like me who had
dabbled in it and even someone with a few tips for capturing landscapes in
moonlight, but I was shocked to find I might be the first to think portraits
taken in the light of the moon might hold special allure. Try as I may I could
find no information anywhere on the subject so I began as all pioneers do by
heading out on my own.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After just a couple outings and maybe a dozen exposures I
arrived at what I was looking for. The photograph above of my son Noah was shot with my Pentax
K-S1 on “Auto” with a +4 overexposure set on the EV compensation wheel to end up
with a 1 second exposure at f2.8 with the ISO @ 12,800 using the 40mm f2.8
Pancake lens. This lens is beautiful for portraits as well as other situations
calling for a fast, short telephoto lens. The autofocus worked splendidly once
I got the hang of “sighting-in” and focusing in the dark. I even tried “live
view” to no avail but the focus assist light was just enough for me to compose
and the camera’s AF to properly do its thing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As you can see the image is not unlike a regular daylight
photograph but there is “something different” and unique about the lighting
that makes it easily distinguishable from similar daylight portraits that might
be taken in the same spot. If you didn’t already know it was taken in the light
of the full moon you probably would not identify it as such but you would
immediately recognize that it was different and perhaps think it had been shot
under some kind of special studio lighting.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This image was shot a couple days before the full moon. It
is noteworthy that the amount of light varies greatly from day to day and
increases 2% to 3% each day until it reaches full (100%) at the exact moment of
the opposition or “full moon” so that this image was taken with only about 95%
of the moon’s full lighting capacity. That may not seem to be a lot but over
the course of a couple days it can easily mean a difference of a stop or more. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
My immediate plans are to collect a gallery of these
moonlight portraits to gain more experience and expertise and eventually to try
to duplicate the work on film. That will of course be the ultimate challenge
since there is no film available at ISO 12,800.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-12233877938923078532016-06-05T15:44:00.001-05:002016-06-05T15:44:35.525-05:00On the Streets!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEird6_H6d_TrfxEPMK9OavSDT2CWQdsqJsVE2UEdW9IvoIGG7qvJccdECgBs2yfzxvMe2fZJzNNUlyf1OLizZPn7gU0Ma-uLgbJFx-LtRO610YGgm62z-mRioAH-AXiG1LIlWmadEyOewE/s1600/016-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEird6_H6d_TrfxEPMK9OavSDT2CWQdsqJsVE2UEdW9IvoIGG7qvJccdECgBs2yfzxvMe2fZJzNNUlyf1OLizZPn7gU0Ma-uLgbJFx-LtRO610YGgm62z-mRioAH-AXiG1LIlWmadEyOewE/s320/016-001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I don't do a lot of street photography anymore but when I do this is what it looks like. This was shot on Kodak Tri-X with the Pentax ZX-7 (my favorite black & white film and my favorite 35mm SLR) one rainy day while waiting in the car in the parking lot while my ran in the store to pick up something.<br />
<br />
I just couldn't resist as these lovely ladies all decked out in their finest shopping attire strolled by in the rain. No raincoats, no umbrellas, and they didn't even speed up their saundering selves but just slowly sashayed by in utter defiance of the weather.<br />
<br />
Street photography is a bit risky these day with folks seemingly so agitated much of the time. I've had women accuse me of trying to take photographs of their children (I wasn't at the time) like that was some kind of crime in and of itself. I can remember when people were flattered if you wanted to take their picture.John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-32056324114547417632016-06-01T13:24:00.001-05:002016-06-01T13:24:33.872-05:00Speaking of Fire Hydrants!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWSrhyqpJ1x7u8Cr-5QtJrn80pTOqH0dJ0pMk3UPMszlOxgoO6iE41UHrYYI7hIw5BqhjCDM2iqNp4W2YrSYWbZPnsBQStbVoBGoyOEya1F6KJ3MVgH0nAXqIRbMYBGxXjbgkW1h6wDwI/s1600/78120003-002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWSrhyqpJ1x7u8Cr-5QtJrn80pTOqH0dJ0pMk3UPMszlOxgoO6iE41UHrYYI7hIw5BqhjCDM2iqNp4W2YrSYWbZPnsBQStbVoBGoyOEya1F6KJ3MVgH0nAXqIRbMYBGxXjbgkW1h6wDwI/s320/78120003-002.JPG" width="315" /></a></div>
Here is the other Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day (WPPD) shot that I am really happy with even though it was not the one I submitted to the WPPD gallery. Of course I have taken this same (or similar) shot of the fire hydrant in front of the old state capitol before with various cameras and films and even have some digital images of it but I think this may end up being my favorite.<br />
<br />
This image was shot with the Holga Pinhole Camera on Kodak Portra 400 processed and scanned by The Darkroom. The exposure was 1 second and I had to get down in the gutter (literally) with the tripod to line up and take the shot.<br />
<br />
The only way this gets better - maybe - is if I shoot it again with the Holga WPC on Ektar. Ektar is my favorite film for pinhole. Its almost like Kodak had pinhole in mind when they came up with that emulsion but unfortunately I was out of it when WPPD snuck up on me this year. The WPC will shoot a 6x9 or 6x12 negative meaning the image would be either 1.5 or 2 times wider than the 6x6 negative produced by the Holga PC. This could be a much cooler image or just one with a bunch of distractions on the periphery. In any case that will have to await my next film order to stock up on Ektar again.John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-84305017609606636432016-05-29T14:23:00.001-05:002016-05-29T14:23:53.157-05:00Truckload of Happiness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO13t0WRPWjR_pTeF8Ud5d2h_Fa8d-cMTXjGkQL1y4U8xAPk2JulGB47GDkAFw6RubtCv4CXeowcs65fpzkMGX1nBkoPW9i7Smg5XVxgRR1IziB955BI8c37qtoP2YzDF8zxn7_OCQ8j8/s1600/DSCN2737-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO13t0WRPWjR_pTeF8Ud5d2h_Fa8d-cMTXjGkQL1y4U8xAPk2JulGB47GDkAFw6RubtCv4CXeowcs65fpzkMGX1nBkoPW9i7Smg5XVxgRR1IziB955BI8c37qtoP2YzDF8zxn7_OCQ8j8/s320/DSCN2737-001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Anyone who has followed me for a while knows I have a thing for fire hydrants. Imagine my glee when I happened upon a whole truckload of them on the way to work the other day. Unfortunately all I had ready to shoot was my diminutive Nikon P-300 point & shoot. Well, I guess it really is a bit more than a point & shoot. It does have some serious manual override capabilities but all that's a bit difficult to manage while driving on an Interstate highway through morning traffic so I am grateful for the "Auto" setting.<br />
<br />
My apologies for the quality of the image but driving with one hand and shooting pictures through a dirty windshield with the other does not contribute to image quality so it is what it is. I am grateful for it since it will serve as a reminder of a morning thrill for many years to come. Every time I see this photo I will smile - hope you will too. John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-9978544471464013142016-05-28T09:37:00.001-05:002016-05-28T09:37:43.546-05:00Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day 2016<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_BXOf1u2PUazrpuJ4AB7Q2JCWAf4hWeVKIIOkcRnMdshuTf_EB4ojFcbDGKnQrQA2RzPzjEsVpsE-1L5nsYDTgEB-jljYxwD-r9PrbGxAXVfZiy3rAlQUUYnUE3BKn-5XbCRukx6LPuE/s1600/JMSWPPD2016-78120006-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_BXOf1u2PUazrpuJ4AB7Q2JCWAf4hWeVKIIOkcRnMdshuTf_EB4ojFcbDGKnQrQA2RzPzjEsVpsE-1L5nsYDTgEB-jljYxwD-r9PrbGxAXVfZiy3rAlQUUYnUE3BKn-5XbCRukx6LPuE/s320/JMSWPPD2016-78120006-001.jpg" width="315" /></a></div>
Wow! It seems its been a while since I posted anything here. I guess I've been so wrapped up with shooting events with digital I kind of lost track of my film projects. Not that I am any kind of professional photographer or anything. I do shoot happenings for friends, family and a couple organizations I am affiliated with including our local church. All that must be done on digital of course because no one wants to wait for film to be processed anymore. Most of the time they are all impatient if I take more than a day or two to do the post processing and as you already know (if you follow this blog) I don't do much in post at all - a little cropping here and there and some color correction and that about it. That's why I love my Pentax digitals. They consistently produce jpegs that have the kind of IQ I prefer without having to shoot RAW and spend hours in post processing.<br />
<br />
Anyway, Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day has come and gone with no mention from me so I am here to correct that now - you didn't think I would ignore or miss that very special day did you?<br />
<br />
The image above is the one I uploaded to the WPPD gallery this year. You can check it out here...<br />
<br />
http://pinholeday.org/gallery/2016/?id=1887<br />
<br />
...and be sure to linger a while and view some of the other 2000 or so images uploaded so far. There are only a couple days left for folks to get their images up so there is likely to be a "mad rush" between now and May 31st for all the last minute entries so be sure to go back frequently until then to see all of them.John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-82038475856329734652016-02-20T09:18:00.004-06:002016-02-20T09:18:57.963-06:00Digital Pinhole<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgcYsAASJviBvpKdC3bRX95-SZM__kyE6yAFN0RzFeptsYm-eS8z_YglKY_N_KH-voQ2ZMRHlqjaATGlcrPknxYvP7vmVEkSjcEFDbd4FFUwTP_fuiVqKuAxw-4113KjrsCPRL30PbgRM/s1600/IMGP0176-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgcYsAASJviBvpKdC3bRX95-SZM__kyE6yAFN0RzFeptsYm-eS8z_YglKY_N_KH-voQ2ZMRHlqjaATGlcrPknxYvP7vmVEkSjcEFDbd4FFUwTP_fuiVqKuAxw-4113KjrsCPRL30PbgRM/s320/IMGP0176-001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A couple years ago I got a Holga HPL-P “pinhole lens” for my
Pentax K mount cameras and I have been less than satisfied with it. First I
discovered it was really set up for digital “crop frame” or APS-C cameras so
that when I used it with a 35mm film (full frame body) it did not fill the
frame but left the image in a little circle in the middle of the frame.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then I tried it with my Pentax digital camera (I was using
an istDL at the time) and was not impressed at all. The image quality was
nothing to get excited about and unlike most true pinhole cameras the focal
length was such that the field of view was essentially the same as a standard
50mm lens.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fast forward to today – these days I am shooting with a
Pentax KS-1 and I decided to try the HPL-P again. The focal length and field of
view is still the same but the much more advanced sensor and processor in the
KS-1 does a much better job so that with minimal tweaking in post processing I
ended up with the amazingly sharp and clear and colorful image shown above.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am still of the opinion that film is better for shooting
pinhole and that the wide angle, infinite depth of field effect of traditional
pinhole images is what it is all about but I have to admit the images resulting
from my latest efforts with this “lens” and DSLR combination is very pleasing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This
makes me want to play with digit</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">a</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">l
pinhole some more.</span><br />
<br />John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-23074225665747702292016-01-23T10:32:00.002-06:002016-05-28T15:40:19.465-05:0035mm Rocks!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGJI3X5E2mS0e4KMY-uO29CjwgG3XJabwE26NCVaZVWvtZXxVhNIc3HH8ukWo2UIqRvTzJHK2CJXJ9V8epCDOu31DxJp5PMfQdSpwcJv98hLoQE7eeLGqLyVKDF99mE0Orf-lXutML_y4/s1600/33890016-002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGJI3X5E2mS0e4KMY-uO29CjwgG3XJabwE26NCVaZVWvtZXxVhNIc3HH8ukWo2UIqRvTzJHK2CJXJ9V8epCDOu31DxJp5PMfQdSpwcJv98hLoQE7eeLGqLyVKDF99mE0Orf-lXutML_y4/s320/33890016-002.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I know I have been extolling the virtues of 110 film lately
and even posted a couple things about digital but 35mm has been and continues
to be the King of film formats. So here’s a shot from a couple months ago that
I really like. It was taken with my Pentax ZX-7 on Kodak Portra 400 color
negative film.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now if I am being honest, the ZX-7 is probably my favorite
35mm SLR. I also have a ZX-L that I like the “feel” of and it is a great
camera, probably a little better build than the ZX-7 but the ZX-7 just works
for me. I can shoot on full auto, programed auto, aperture preferred, shutter
preferred or fully manual. Coupled with a 28-80 zoom (I’ve been wanting to get
a 28 -90 but just haven’t found one at a reasonable price yet) it is about as
close to an all-purpose 35mm SLR as you could want. It even has a decent pop up
flash.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As for film, Portra 400 has a beautiful color balance, just
enough speed to cover the gamut of shooting scenarios and just does almost everything
I want a film to do. Now don’t misunderstand what I am saying. There are other great
films out there. I love Ektar for shooting pinhole. Velvia is a beautiful film
to experiment with, and of course my all-time favorite black & white film –
Tri-X. But for color negative film to cover any contingency I find myself coming
back again and again to Portra.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All that to address the all important question, “if you had
to be stuck somewhere/anywhere” (you fill in that blank) with only one film camera and only one film –
what would it be? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
For me, it would most likely be the Pentax ZX-7 loaded with
Kodak Portra 400. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-50644957374748983452016-01-16T12:45:00.000-06:002016-01-23T08:59:50.017-06:00Pentax K-S1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiduh_LC-IHD6XKVUYPcQqqrMMFSM8oYjoY2nKNkylXQcZLXUaRe7bY-2RaSr7HN-rzl6e7I5m2RDncQh_-GoDDXzvY_PaawRKl45ojnoBzaqiEsvppjtFTVpbcuMjLKTsEj5oswM9CSeU/s1600/IMGP0135-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiduh_LC-IHD6XKVUYPcQqqrMMFSM8oYjoY2nKNkylXQcZLXUaRe7bY-2RaSr7HN-rzl6e7I5m2RDncQh_-GoDDXzvY_PaawRKl45ojnoBzaqiEsvppjtFTVpbcuMjLKTsEj5oswM9CSeU/s320/IMGP0135-001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the best surprises so far with the new Pentax K-S1 I
got for Christmas is the way is does “in-camera” black & white jpegs! Being
a film guy and a lover of Kodak Tri-X film I have intentionally avoided black
& white with digital because it always looks, well, bland. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I know you can do all kinds of things with post processing
but I like taking pictures, not sitting in front of a computer. I already do
enough of that. My photography is intended to give me a break from that so I
always shoot color jpeg images with digital and if I want black & white I use
one of my film cameras loaded with Tri-X. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That said, I was delighted to find that there is at least
one of the three black & white settings on the K-S1 that results in amazing
black & white images. To find it go
to “MENU 1” “Custom Image” and select
“BW.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is a “Bold Monochrome” setting available in another
place in the menu and another on the control ring under “Effects” but those have
too much contrast and not enough gray tones for my taste.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I don’t want to take away anything from this little (and I
do mean little) camera’s ability to produce fantastic color images. Like most
Pentax DSLR’s it excels there too, but I am delighted to finally find a digital
that can produce the kind of black & white images I like.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What I like is totally black blacks, white whites and an
abundant assortment of grays in between. In the film world Kodak Tri-X delivers
this faithfully but in my experience the Pentax K-S1 is the first DSLR to
achieve this.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
No doubt I will have much more to say about this camera in
future posts but this is what caught my attention the first couple times I used
the camera.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-76415097108647720952016-01-09T11:02:00.000-06:002016-01-09T11:02:06.160-06:00More 110<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFShcDVBZZDy0OF0K9d3_z3C_LEys5ZuBbYKuGy_UJLOss3UKiqz-wJtlyTeOlOTG1rHy_r21X2OFYH6n0lmjHSVG7kn2b58s5hR8rFV3TIPZ4A5DyE7DguHfcGWZWtB9YEWoUnPWI3m0/s1600/45750019-002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFShcDVBZZDy0OF0K9d3_z3C_LEys5ZuBbYKuGy_UJLOss3UKiqz-wJtlyTeOlOTG1rHy_r21X2OFYH6n0lmjHSVG7kn2b58s5hR8rFV3TIPZ4A5DyE7DguHfcGWZWtB9YEWoUnPWI3m0/s320/45750019-002.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s another shot taken with the Minolta 460Tx on Lomo
Tiger color negative film. The image quality is excellent for such a small
negative and the color from the Lomo Tiger film is great. I really don’t know
why the shots from this camera seem so much better than the supposedly higher quality 110
cameras I have tried previously but this little camera could easily become one
of my favorites if my tests continue to result in these kind of photos.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Next roll I will shoot some with the flash and see how that
works out. Stay tuned!<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-52605565965704449802016-01-02T17:43:00.000-06:002016-01-02T17:43:16.454-06:00110 Film Rocks Again!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWHq5P__4IU7DcqomU2sMn5CFTUF1JMCGTT9LtSJOt3R8cOxhWGPk-bwBSQVely6ZVTEWOtaQFhpZFRUOi6aggiRed_8N4VVY_z1E0MWMrrv2cvIpmLXHNhyphenhyphenLaG_EFgN8jLMsbZcgYeQM/s1600/45750020-002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWHq5P__4IU7DcqomU2sMn5CFTUF1JMCGTT9LtSJOt3R8cOxhWGPk-bwBSQVely6ZVTEWOtaQFhpZFRUOi6aggiRed_8N4VVY_z1E0MWMrrv2cvIpmLXHNhyphenhyphenLaG_EFgN8jLMsbZcgYeQM/s320/45750020-002.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I always thought that 110 film resulted in pretty crappy pictures
going all the way back to my early experiences in the 1970’s but I have been
dabbling with it again off and on for the last couple years hoping for better
results.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My first try was with the smallest SLR ever produced, the
Pentax Auto 110. Unfortunately the first roll of film through this little jewel
broke the film advance and so ended my experimenting with 110. The partial roll
I tried to take pictures with was developed and while the images were better
than I remembered 110 being they were not nearly as good as 35mm.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My second attempt was with a Rollei A110. This robust little
camera has thus far has refused to break even when a pesky roll of film got
stuck and threatened to do the same thing to it that happened to the Pentax. Again the images were much better than what I
remembered from the 1970’s but still not up to par with 35mm or even current digital
point & shoot cameras. My biggest complaint about the Rollei however, is
that it is just too small to hold, carry and operate comfortably. I always feel
awkward using it for some reason. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Still, I have to confess there is something more than
nostalgia that kept me thinking that there was a 110 film camera that could
produce reasonably good quality images while maintaining the 110 film mystique
that captured a generation of photo enthusiasts and be comfortable and reliable
to use.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Enter the Minolta 460Tx! This is a diminutive slab of a
camera I stumbled across at Goodwill and picked up for less than $10. Looking
like so many of the 1970’s vintage 110’s the Minolta 460Tx has two lenses (one
normal and one telephoto), three apertures, one shutter speed, zone focusing
and of course a built in flash. The image quality is excellent while still having
whatever it is that makes 110, 110.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
The image above was shot on Lomo Tiger which, as it turns
out, is an excellent color negative film for these little cameras producing sharp
and very colorful photos. Maybe I have finally found “MY” 110 camera! Only time and more rolls of film will tell for
sure.</div>
John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162405842684075361.post-11139741675767289162015-10-24T12:11:00.000-05:002015-10-24T12:11:03.883-05:00Photo Professional<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvTu8XOR9R7mIMneoGk-MCOG99s6GlSd8-TkDrwLNfGPNWY4ABmdkCeYfXAEmDWWjcCR-lgdA_CsY1H3KCjoeOUgnDOISxJoDk724Ll_Oaw_srauvr3gdupstBT3CP3LTw4_bumUJq6Xo/s1600/DSCN2382-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvTu8XOR9R7mIMneoGk-MCOG99s6GlSd8-TkDrwLNfGPNWY4ABmdkCeYfXAEmDWWjcCR-lgdA_CsY1H3KCjoeOUgnDOISxJoDk724Ll_Oaw_srauvr3gdupstBT3CP3LTw4_bumUJq6Xo/s320/DSCN2382-001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s a shot of a couple guys hard at work. I don’t
generally consider myself a professional photographer although I am
occasionally paid for my work. When this happens this is the kind of pictures I
am usually taking.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Actually, the one below is more typical. The one above was
one I shot because it was just a great shot even though it had no technical
value to the project at hand.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnqv6G3H-KK9AfuP7eyqx279v8dHFJhFDxc3owqDZf166erbl0M_LGvCLs9q7hz6k76RN4JEQjx_jEXQSs5L8ZNoWXJpI1n-F1Mmd1tj2RyUngV9OWqSN0m7ReNRbtDMwXG_u2OzRyY8Y/s1600/DSCN2399-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnqv6G3H-KK9AfuP7eyqx279v8dHFJhFDxc3owqDZf166erbl0M_LGvCLs9q7hz6k76RN4JEQjx_jEXQSs5L8ZNoWXJpI1n-F1Mmd1tj2RyUngV9OWqSN0m7ReNRbtDMwXG_u2OzRyY8Y/s320/DSCN2399-001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I do not want to diminish the value of artistic or creative
photography but there is also a practical side of photography. Whether we’re
dealing with equipment installation like this or some other more mundane image
like damage to a vehicle after an accident or the contents of your house for an
insurance claim, the ability to accurately capture an image that documents or
records something is an always useful and necessary tool.</div>
<br />John Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15113244256673942412noreply@blogger.com0