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| Photos with stories |
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Sometimes the story is as interesting as the picture Sometimes it is neat to read the events that led up to or were related to how a certain picture came about. Or, there could be something special about the camera used. Read on. |
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| Okay picture, but special experience When you do a lot of shooting, as I did in the 60's and 70's, often responses come natural. She and I had been walking together only about a minute before. I suddenly felt this should make a good picture. I had my Nikon F with a 58mm, and stepped up my pace and at the same time switched lenses to my 35mm wide angle. I walked up a rise, turned and shot. Not a great picture, but one that remains special to me because of the feeling. Later I asked her why she hadn't stopped or asked me what I was doing. She said she just assumed I knew what I wanted and kept on walking. This young lady was also special to me for other reasons. I had shot pictures of several students in her dorm. When she asked me if I would photograph her, she asked me not to take it wrong, but she didn't think I made exceptional portraits of people, but when she looked at my pictures, she could see them in my pictures. WOW, what a compliment. Also she said she normally didn't like having her picture taken, but after seeing pictures of her friends she actually wanted me to photograph her if I would. |
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This made a magazine cover Okay, so it was just a small state publication, but I was still proud. What made it extra special was how it was shot. I believe the camera was a Folding Kodak 3a camera (red bellows, wood insets, f7.7 lens, pre WW I ). I had an outdated roll of 122 film (this was early 70's, and already there were no new rolls to be had) and decided I wanted to try out the camera. This was the best picture on the roll. I printed it and put it on display in the store. A customer who published a small publication for the state saw it and asked to use it for his front cover. When I told him what camera I used, he put that into the cover information also. The picture was taken near Manhattan, Kansas of a small creek. |
| My Favorite Model For about 10 years, as she was growning up, this young lady, a niece of mine, appeared in ads and mailings I produced, and in print displays in the store. Her mother once said she could depend on me to shoot a new set of pictures of her every Easter. As she got into her late teens, she became more self conscious and not as willing to be photographed in casual settings. This was in the last group of posed photos I made of her. I was helping her get photos of her clothes she made for 4-H. |
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The disappearance of the small farm You probably can't tell from this little print, but in enlargements the small spec in the distance on the road is a man walking away. I had no symbolism in mind when I shot it, I just liked the composition. The camera I used was unique in the way it was set up. A 2X3 Pacemaker Speed Graphic - normal so far. But it had a 90mm Leica Elmar for a lens, made for the Leica 35mm rangefinder camera but it covered the 6X9 format - no shutter so I had to shoot using the focal plane shutter. In the roll back I was using a special film called H & W Control. It was similar to what people do today with Kodak Tec Pan and Technidol - extreme fine grain, high contrast film processed in a tone extending developer. At 16X20 this is still grainless. |
| Pendelum Patterns Probably today you would say this is too much work and let your computer do it. If you want to do it the old fashioned way, here is what you do. You suspend a small flashlight by a string, probably about half way down the room. Use black tape to cover all except a small circle of the bulb. Set your camera on the floor below it. Turn out all other lights, start the light swinging, open the shutter and expose. If you want a multiple pattern, cover the lens, start the light swinging another way and uncover the lens again. Close the shutter when you are done. It's a trial and error, and they all look different. This was shot with the old black brick camera, the Argus C-3. |
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Pretty ordinary picture of a Jet? Only unique thing about this is how it was shot. The plane is a Russian Mig. The camera was also Russian. This was the first shot I took on my Kiev 4a. I was using a Russian Jupiter 35mm wide angle, and I took the exposure reading with a Russian Lenningrad light meter. Too bad I wasn't shooting Russian film I guess to make it a complete Russian picture. |
| Here's Zeke's story This is my good luck charm, Zeke the frog He was supposed to be holding this space til I found a picture to replace him, but since some of you like him, here's his story. Back in 1969 I went on a vacation with a buddy from work. One of our first stops was in Colorado Springs, where we visited a niece of his. She showed us some of the less common sites, and at the end she gave me this little frog she made - a small beanbag frog. For years he sat on my dash, and then on a dresser at home, and for about the last 10 years here at work on top of my computer. I think he is cute, and he reminds me of a very nice person I met over 30 years ago. |
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Fell in love with the Clarus 35mm This was shot with the American made focal plane 35mm camera, the Clarus MS-35. I was very impressed at the time with the sharpness of the lens and the feel of the camera. I still enjoy shooting the Clarus. To find out more about this camera, go to my camera collecting site and the Scott's Photographica link. He even has a chat box dedicated just to Clarus. |
| This almost wasn't printed In the early 70's when I shot this, I was going through a sharpness kick. I was shooting Leica's and Alpa's. This was shot with an Agfa Karomat IV, and it was a grab shot that was slightly overexposed and not quite crisp. It set for several years until I was looking at some Magnum Photography pictures (I think those guys are the greatest), and came across one of the greatest WW II pictures, a soldier falling during the Spanish conflict, shot by Robert Capa. Not sharp, but the emotion is tremendous. I decided that maybe content outruled detail, and printed this finally. |
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Texture Screens and Masks Texture screens and masks are fads that seem to come and go over the years. During the mid 70's there was a resurgence of the fad. I played with both. This is one of my few surviving prints. This was shot in Denver, probably with a Nikon F, in the early 70's. I was there for a training course, and had some time in the morning to roam around the park and do some shooting. I caught this shot of what appeared to be a student late for class. It was fall, so this leaf mask seemed appropriate for the time. |
| Rainbows in the fountain are created by a Harris shutter Kodak describes an item called a Harris Shutter in one of their old How To books. It used the three main colors, Red, Blue and Green (I think that was the set, I can't find the book and my home made Harris Shutter is long gone). You make a long slot with a hole and filter adapter mounted to the back. You mount the filters in a slide that you can drop down this slot - a short solid area to act as a dark slide when you open the shutter, then you drop the slide and expose the film separately to each color creating a rainbow effect on moving objects, like water. |
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Wonderful images of Konica I 35mm cameras Years ago my youngest brother gave me a Konica I (f2.8) that I had serviced, tried out, and was very impressed with the sharpness. I think the ad line "the lens alone is worth the price" was worthy of earlier cameras than the Konica III that was the one that earned that label. Recently I picked up another Konica I, pretty rough looking but everything works (except slow shutter speeds) and glass looks good. It is an f3.5. I shot it at a local park, and choose this picture of a wagon wheel to show off because I liked the colors. What the print this small does not show is how tack sharp the image is. I am sure it must be a 4 element lens, probably Tessar formula, to be this good. |
| Sheet Film SLR's are great When I had a darkroom and more time, one camera that was usually in my car when I went out to do some shooting was my 3 1/4X 4 1/4 Super D Graflex. I generally carried a thick emulsion sheet film such as Super Panchro type B, Super XX or Royal Pan. I assume this shot was with Royal Pan since that was my top favorite. Unfortunately this little reproduction has no chance at showing the detail and lack of grain that is in the 16X20 print I copied. |
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