Woman's Best Friend Too!

Andy makes sure I behave and don't over do.

2019 Photography Goals

Adding a photo and reposting.......

I had a lot of success in 2018.  OK, that depends on how you measure success.  I had a lot of recognition in 2018.  Success is more a measure of meeting Personal Goals that satisfy one's Artistic Vision.

So these were my stated goals for 2018:

• Focus on Darkroom Printing Time Especially prints of Moab Symposium events
• Attend THE FINAL Moab Photo Symposium in May 2018
• Continue Experiments with IR Film
• Practice with my newly converted digital full spectrum camera
• Continue the Charge towards Gallery Submissions (Check My 'Fine Art' Page Here)

I did have prints for Moab and attended the Final Show.  I also submitted images for the Wrap-up Book.

I gave up on IR film and moved on to my Full Spectrum converted Nikon-1.  I use the IR filter to block the parts of the spectrum I'm not interested in.  I got the full spectrum set-up for Ghost Hunting (We'll follow-up on that later).

Still entering contests even though we have discussed why that is bad......

So what are my 2019 Goals:

• First, Survive my latest medical complications
• Second, more thoughtful and meditative pursuit of my photography
• Stay Focussed
• More Darkroom time
• AND getting back to the Roots of This Blog; Recording my Life and Times on the Front Range.
• Restarting Vintage Camera News and Online Weekend Features
• Continuing the 52 Rolls Redux
• Film and Camera Reviews
• Travel Photography
• Snapshots from Life

Saturdays Online: Gadgets don't make it better.......Even when they are Hipster!

You can be a professional (or get professional results) with a Holga if you are really good!  But the trend today is that vintage photographic methods are hipster:

I wish I could still get Polaroid Roll film for my Father's Camera......

I would still only have photos like these, and it would not make me famous.  But vintage family photos have given me many fond memories:

The upside of all this is that Film is now holding its own and even making somewhat of a comeback.

Sunday Online: Importance of Family History

I'm not looking too happy in this one.........But I do have a record of myself as an almost 2 year  old from Easter 1962.  The Annual Easter Photo on the Front Porch was one of our Family rituals.

Getting OUR stories told is important, especially in a time of mass shootings and church burnings going on in the Carolinas and Georgia.  And I remember the KKK rally held in may neighborhood around this time too!

So for the Day After the 4th of July we celebrate the arrival on line of a new African American Genealogy Resource.

Saturdays Online: Preserving (Family) History Through Photography

This Is AMAZING!  14 portraits of Veterans of the American Revolution.  They lived long enough to have portraits made after Photography was invented.  As I looked at these images it brought me closer to the history that these men represented.  And if they had thought to look for women survivors of that age, there might have been more. AND the number one reason why prints (and even better negatives) matter.  They will survive (at least some of them will).  And if you need confirmation of that go to Forgotten Old Photos. Remember, one of the important results of Photography was, that for the first time people could see images of their parents and grandparents, when they were young.

Like my mother's Freshman Year Photo from Hunter College.  If you've been following this BLOG you know that mom is still going strong @ 91 and will be joining me on Colorado for Mother's Day.  She still lives in Ohio.........

Lost Land J33 Camera

Love this camera.  Too bad I can't get film for it!

In "like new" condition, as my Father carefully packed it away in its original box after every use.

It's Polaroid Week!

A Week now and A Week in the Fall.  I don't have a functioning Polaroid, but I have fond memories of the Family Photos take with my Father's J33 Land Camera.

And I do Promote All Things Film!

You can follow the Fun on Twitter!

Saturdays Online: Families Lost and Found

A sad story to report of Families Lost and Found, or more to the point Families LOST.

Old photographs preserve family history, which means all of our History. I remember reading that one of the major impacts of photography was that grand children were able to see the grand parent as young people and realized the lives they had in the past.    Before Photography everyone's grand parents (and maybe even their own parents) were just OLD.

The link reminds us to perhaps, get into your very senior Aunt or Uncle so-and-so's attic or basement and search for your Family's past.  And please don't throw away your history, even if the keeper of that history doesn't think it matters.

And a good story from Families sometimes Found.  If you read through "Forgotton Old Photos" you often see that people in the photos can be identified and sometimes connected to living relatives.

So I'll end with Family Friends:  Christopher and Blanche Blenman on their Wedding Day sometime in the 1920's (you can tell by their clothing).  He may also have gone by the name George.  I have both in my records. And if there are any Blenman's still out their in Brooklyn, NY.  I may have a photo of your grand parents.  Please get in touch.

Saturdays Online: Exploring Sepia

We often see Sepia toned portraits, but let's explore  the Sepia Landscape and the Early Photographers in the American West did.  Isn't the photo above a little more interesting than the original below?

But those old Sepia Portraits are Nice too:

 Alice Howell (cousin) 1920's.

Saturdays Online: The Importance of Selfie!

Yes they are annoying.  But I a recent blog article I read by Kim Ence, encourages us to Selfie and explains the importance of the candid family and friends photo.  So we aren't talking about that self-absorbed "This is me" at some event or special location, we are saying :  "photogaphers need to step in front of the camera from time to time".  Let someone else take that family photo and let us see who you are!

Selfie's can also be artsy if you work at it a little bit.

Saturdays Online: Can't Stop Shooting Film

Often when I participate in Photography Workshops, someone has to ask why I shoot film.  I get tired of the question, mostly because what anyone of us does or doesn't do is an "Artistic Choice" and we should not be asked to justify what pleases us aesthetically.

So I'm not on a rant, but here is my short list:

• I like working in the dark room (its not a photograph until you print it!).
• I like film cameras, and am a collector (if you've got it, use it).
• Because of the survivability of real Print Images, I was able to make a wonderful photo book for my Mother's 90th Birthday.  This only applies to real photographic paper, not your ink jet image.  Also B&W survives better than color.
• I work on spectacular digital imagery as a satellite image analyst.  I do not care to spend my free time (aside from blogging) tied to Photoshop and my computer.  Nothing can compare to the 'photography' I work with professionally from "my employer's digital camera" 500 +km in Earth orbit.
• Also Read about our Blogger Friend Aubrey's recent experience with digital rot.

Please view this video from Amrit Vatsa.  It answers all the questions you've ever had regarding why some of us love film.  It's not a bother its a pleasure.  He makes an elegant comparison to painting.  Did we stop painting just because it's an old analog format?  Or is there actual pleasure in creating something with your hands that you will eventually be able to hold in your hands?  And how old are those paintings in the Egyptian Tombs?


And search through that old box of photographs and negatives that you found in your grand parent's attic.  Who knows what you might find?

Even this un-restored photo of myself, Mom, brother Kevin and our Dog Tessie brings back such vivid memories of the summer of 1965:

 

It's just soooo 1960's.

Saturday Online: Shackleton Photos Found!

100 year old negatives from Ernest Shackleton's Famous Endurance Voyage and Rescue have been carefully developed.

Please read the comments on this post site.  Can we please get over it digital people!  No matter how many times you back up your images or transfer them to new storage technologies, no one is going to find them 100 years later in a block of ice and be able to read those files.

And if you would just print those digital images, they'd stand a better chance of surviving! And may be even end up some where like: "Forgotten Old Photos"  for future generations to enjoy by accidental discovery.  No one is going to find your facebook page or photography blog anywhere 100 years from now.

And old Photo Prints are FUN!

 

Like my Mom's Graduation picture from Brooklyn Girl's High School, 1941.  

They give us a glimpse of our Family & History that we wouldn't have any other way. 

So Print your favorite images for the best chance at preservation (on real photographic paper please).

Happy 90th Birthday Mom!

Finally here and the Party is ready to go on the weekend.......

HAPPY NEW YEAR! & New Year's Photography Resolutions 2014

Please check out the previous entry which shows a preview of my mom’s birthday book.  I also completed our annual photo calendar, this year with a quirky theme “Sign of the Times”.

Now let's see how I've done with last year's goals: 

Workshops and Photo Activities for 2013:

·         Moab Photo Symposium 10^th Anniversary (May 2013 and already registered for 2014)

·         Denver in the Dark (October 2013)

·         25^th Anniversary Banquet for the Urban Wildlife Photo Club

Major Resolutions from 2013 Completed:

·         Found most, but not all of the missing Norway and Africa Slides.  Still more boxes need to be thoroughly gone through.

·         Planned but not yet built the UV box.  But we have all the necessary parts.  A good winter project for Donald.

·         The BIGGEST DEAL:  Got my Mamiya 6X7 which I have already posted photos from. A belated graduation self-gift.  Will soon post a write-up on the details of camera.

·         We will be getting a 4X5 kickstarter pinhole camera in early 2014

·         Participated in World Wide Pinhole day at the Lafayette Library

Donald was the big winner on Photo Presents this year:

·         Horizon Perfekt Panorama Camera (FromLomography):

·         His own full-size carbon fiber tripod, so he can stop borrowing mine

Upcoming for 2014 and Beyond:

·         Spending more time in the dark room

·         Build UV light box for alternative processes

·         More Photography Workshops

·         More active in photography organizations

·         Don’t Forget World Wide Pinhole Day, April 27, 2014!

·         Getting started in the world of Smart Phone Photography (Stills and Video)

·         Finally get my solargram set up in the front yard!

What I've Been Doing Instead of Blogging, Finally Done!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly allows you to customize your photo book just the way you want.

Now I can work on My New Year's Resolutions and Introduce you to our newest camera family additions..........

The Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month........

The Armistice ending WWI went into effect.  After WWII we renamed it Veteran's Day here in America.

This is a special posting of Monday's On-line featuring imagery from WWI and WWII and photos taken by a Korean War Veteran..

First a recent link to World War I as the first real Media documentation of War:  We often forget how grim it really was.

Next images from World War II in Color.  All in Kodachrome! The Italian Campaign where my Father served. See some of his photos HERE (B&W).  And more WWII in color here.

And Finally a preview of some beautiful photography by my late Father-in-law from Post war Japan.  He was on his way to Korea, and fortunately for him the Korean War ended before he got there.

And what Most Veterans Actually Wish for our Future:

Saturday's On-Line: Popularity of Alternative Processes

With all of the digital around, and the constant drive it seems to "kill" film photography and silver printing, I find it interesting that older photographic processes are in vogue.  Check out my local StudioQ and  the Wet Plate Collodion Process:

http://studioq.com/

These older methods (e.g. Cyanotype, van Dyke, Daguerrotypes, Tintypes, Gum Bichromate +many more.....) are called Alternative Photography.  The classification "alternative processes" speaks to previously standard methods of photography from the 19th Century, that have generally been replaced by silver emulsion film photography. 

Whereas caffenol film developing, plastic cameras, and pinholes are classified as Experimental Photography.  These are methods and processes (with the exception of Pinholes) that did not exist in the 19th Century.

Film and Silver Printing are holding their own, and should at the least be classed in the future with Alternative Processes (i.e. an alternative to digital).

I am a part-time practitioner of Cyanotype and van Dyke, although not as much lately.  But we are in the process of building a UV light source, and then you'll see more beginning this winter.  This is the standard for my Vintage Family Photo Project.

Below: One of our Wedding Photos that I re-printed as an alternative process using Liquid Emulsion.

Happy 87th Birthday Mom!

Mom's graduation from grade school.  In those day grade school ended at 8th grade, then directly to high school as a freshman........

They made their own graduation dresses as a part of sewing class.......

Continuing with the family project means turning this into a cyanotype or van dyke.....

Veteran's Day 2010

Honoring all of our Veterans, Past and Present:

Dad (left) on the Firing Range, training for WWII.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Also my blog avatar.........I think I'm 3 years old in this picture.

It was made by printing on high contrast film and developing in regular paper developer.

The background is composed of maps of the countries that are part of my family tree.