365 Photo Project - Day 228

Taken: August 16, 2010

Location: Healdsburg, CA

This is a first for this project -- an image shot with a film camera. Remember them? A few days ago, I blogged about getting some camera equipment from my Dad, who has been cleaning out a lifetime worth of junk out of his garage in our summer house on Martha's Vineyard. The one diamond in the bunch was the Ricoh twin-lens reflex he got from my Mom as a wedding present in 1959. I suspected it was in near-flawless condition, as he had stored it in its original leather case and with the lens protector. Well, here's the proof. This photo was edited only for size. I did no other touch-up.

I'm way impressed by the deep color and clarity of the image -- I shot this on 400 film which accounts for the graininess of the image. But everything else, pretty much wows me.

The image itself is of our local Healdsburg Post Office, one of my most favorite spots in all of town, more for its convenience and the people who worked there than its architecture. It burned down yesterday in a fire that was initial reported as "possibly suspicious" for reasons that have never really been clearly elaborated to me. The next day, the road was roped off and I walked up to take some pictures. The guy on the left  has "ATF" on the back of his shirt and the one of the right told me he was a federal agent. He came up to chat with me because he wanted to see my camera. Turns out he restores old cameras as a hobby. Funny I write about crime for a hobby. Now that's some very nice symbiosis yes?

365 Photo Project - Day 225

Taken: August 13, 2010

Location: Healdsburg, CA

My Dad decided (likely on the strong prodding of my Mom) to clean out some of his stash of stuff. And by stuff I mean while my Dad would not make it on Hoarders, it's only because my Mom has managed to rein him in over the years. His current bout with garage-cleaning though is my gain. I've mentioned this numerous times on this blog, but it's my Dad who got me interested in photography in the first place. He let me use his cameras and play around in his darkroom. He taught me how to shoot, develop film and make prints, told me about Adams and Bourke-White, Cartier-Bresson, Westin in his favorites the Afreds: Stieglitz and Eisenstaedt, the latter a long-time resident and photo-historian of Martha's Vineyard, where we spent the summers of my youth and where my father's latest stash arrived from.

My Dad sent me two boxes of camera equipment he had saved over the years, some of which he picked up at garage sales, others he bought new and still others, like the one pictured above, were gifts. Most of the stuff is in need of repair or long since outlived its usefulness but there's a few gems in the lot -- some just because it sparks memories of my youth.

The image above is a Ricoh twin-lens reflex camera, a so-called "medium format" camera because the negatives are so large. It is the type of camera used by many of the great photographers of the 20th century and one I've been longing for since I got more serious about taking pictures.

This one is special in all sorts of ways. For one, it was a wedding gift from my Mom to my Dad -- in 1959. Equally thrilling is the camera's condition -- the outside is flawless and the glass looks very clean. I can't wait to see what photos this thing takes. I'll be sure to post them up here soon as I get out and get them developed. Might be awhile though. I am so spoiled by the instant gratification of digital photography. See if my patience holds.

365 Photo Project - Day 175

Taken: June 24, 2010, approx. 2 p.m.
Location: Santa Rosa, Ca.

This is what most photographers would call a mistake. I was sitting at my car at a stop light and thought this would make a great image. Only the red light was about to turn green, there was a car behind me and I had my camera set for the previous night when I was trying to capture a sunset shot. So this was one shot and out. I suppose I could have went around the block again and tried a second time but wouldn't you know it, I was heading for the Apple store to pick up my new iPhone 4, having dutifully reserved it in the middle of the night last week.

A friend pointed out to me that a vintage shot overexposed is kind of serendipitous and you know, I think I will have to agree. I'm traveling South as I write this and won't likely post this until I'm down in LA over the weekend. Further, I'll have limited access to the Internet for the first few days in the City of Angels so bear with me. I'll be shooting for sure. I hope the images will be worth the wait. I should get the weekend's shots up by the end of the day on Sunday.

I did get my that iPhone 4 and it's very wonderfully cool, let me tell you. Warms that old gadget heart of mine for sure.