Having learned photography in college on an SLR Nikon FM2 in the late 80s and early 90s, then jumping into digital as early as 1999, I never experimented with medium format or shot twin lens reflex cameras until recently—and I honestly don’t really like to use them. They’re bulky, the flipped image is difficult for …
5 Frames with a Tower Reflex 30 and a Kodak Polafilter Hood Read More
A few years ago my brother and his family moved to south western Michigan. It’s quite a distance from Utah where we were raised, but we try to visit when we’re able. They live in between many metro areas so there’s several airports nearby, but none that are particularly close. We recently were delighted to find some discounted airfare to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, and just a week or so before our kids’ spring break. It seemed perfect!
I bought my Nikon F80 from a seller in Spain nearly two years ago. I had wanted to buy an F100, but didn’t want to pay the prices being asked for. While the F100 is undoubtedly an excellent camera, I felt that the F80 was as good (for my needs) as the F100 at a significantly lower price. The camera arrived boxed with its instruction booklet (in Spanish) in close to mint condition. The only fault I found with it was that the pop-up flash didn’t work. This didn’t bother me in the slightest, as I would only ever use flash if Elvis landed in a spaceship and I had no other means of lighting the scene.
June 2022 I was documenting the ceremony and spectacle of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II. Earlier, while allocating my kit, I had found a roll of Ektar 100, expired in 1992. It was only a 12 exposure roll, so I didn’t have much incentive to use it for anything “general” but I realised I had a specific colour-centric application for the flyover that was scheduled as part of the days programming. I don’t usually work with colour, but have seen and missed flyovers in the past, and the colourful trails against the sky were something I wanted to be sure I had at least a snapshot record of.
Not all films are created equal. That’s something you learn when you get into analog photography. Each film stock is its own tool, and there are times when you want to use a specific tool for the task at hand.
Sedona, AZ is a town that reminds me of many remote tourist towns in that it’s generally 50% tourist at any given time, and most of them seem to walk up and down one major roadway lined with overpriced shops and restaurants (example, I bought an 11-dollar ice cream cone). I had never been here before, and all I knew of the area is that it looked like a cowboy movie, and it was red. The soil, the rocks, are of a certain redness unique to the area. This color is caused by the oxidation of the iron-rich sandstone that the terrain is built from. Dirt rust, if you will. Rusty rocks, rusty dirt, and it’s pretty cool.
