Old Time Cameras

Where I have been and some apologies

2008-03-28T17:48:00.000-07:00

First off I have to apologize for not responding to folks leaving comments here. I have actually been very busy this last year and have not had the time or energy to put into the blog like I have wanted to. I am a more able now to do so.

The other problem I have had has been technical. I have had some problems with my computer and internet access. anyway, after losing most of my software and reinstalling almost everything, I am back up and running except that I need a wireless card for a desktop. That is my next purchase once the tax returns come. The school where I work actually blocks blogspot, even though I use it in the classroom, so I am not able to access my blog there. That leaves the community computer for now.

Please keep looking, commenting and asking questions. I will respond as soon as I am able.

Mike

Kiev 4 and Hell's Canyon

2008-03-28T17:28:00.000-07:00

I sold a few of my cameras a month or so ago and bought a Kiev 4, rangefinder camera from the Former Soviet Union. It is patterned after the Contax line of cameras and is quite a gem. I loaded up a roll and we headed to Hell's Canyon as it was the only place around with less than two feet of snow.

Here is Bubba waiting in my classroom to load up and get going on our trip.

Here he is holding his sister and mother in the palm of his hand. Show-off.

Still life I took before we left to test focus and film.

Ranch on the way. Bear sculptures and around three to four feet of snow. The rest are all Hell's Canyon.

Some Polaroid Pics

2008-03-28T16:41:00.000-07:00

Polaroid is closing its doors for good on its instant film production. It is a bit sad because of all the artistic uses for Polaroid film. Fuji is still producing instant film that can be used in pacfilm cameras so there still is an outlet, albeit a more expensive one. These were taken using polaroid 665 film that produces a black and white photo as well as negative. i took these last summer, but finally got around to scanning them. Polaroid actually stopped production of this film a year ago or so. Great stuff.

My Girl

2007-10-16T21:58:00.000-07:00

This is my girl Alex ready to go watch her brother play football. We adopted her almost two years ago and have been eternally grateful since that time. She is posing for her dad here and loves to have her picture taken.

Little Guy Football

2007-10-16T21:40:00.000-07:00

My son, #27, has been playing football this fall and has a game twice a week. These are some pics of him playing fullback. Taken with my Kodak digital. I know it isn't old or film, but I needed to do something quick, so that I could post.

Me as a little guy!

2006-11-05T19:36:00.000-08:00

My dad gave me a box of 8mm movies to transfer to DVD. They are old family movies of rodeo's, family reunion's, and such. They are a treasure to me, as they contain some video of my grandparents and great grandparents. In the box of goodies, I found a couple of boxes of slides. These are a couple of slides of me as a kid. Yikes!! I will add a couple of my brother in his diaper with a cowboy hat on, my sister in pony tails, and various and assorted others.

Where I live part of the time

2006-10-29T10:27:00.000-08:00

I resigned from my job at the university so that I could teach English and Spanish. I ended up getting offered a job to teach at a small school near Joseph Oregon. The area is spectacularly beautiful, with mountains surrounding the whole area, and wildlife all around.

The school was getting ready to sell off all of the darkroom supplies so I decided to rescue all that good stuff, and started a photography club. I ended up with around 25 members, which is more than I thought we would have. I mentioned the fact that we were meeting for the first time, over at nelsonfoto, and the fine folks there started sending gifts. I got a few 35mm cameras to loan those students that didn't have a camera, chemicals to develop film and paper, 100' of film, and various goodies. The generosity from those folks is amazing.

Hagar in the Land Down Under

2006-10-22T22:49:00.000-07:00

Another participant in the Hagar trip around the world posted a few images and a great travel log and history of his city. For the full write-up, please look here http://nelsonfoto.com/v/showthread.php?t=6305. The quality from all of the participants so far has been fabulous. Thank you all for participating.

Hagar in Germany Part II

2006-10-08T17:36:00.001-07:00

Hagar, the traveling camera had a chance to visit a gay pride parade and get a few photos. These are actually quite good and I am surprised at the ability of my friends to get street shots with this old beast. For a complete rundown of the photos taken at the parade please see nelsonfoto at http://nelsonfoto.com/v/showthread.php?t=5728 (Not Safe For Work).

Friday Night Lights

2006-10-08T17:29:00.000-07:00

Here a couple from a night game our local high school was playing.

Photos from Field Trip

2006-10-08T16:52:00.000-07:00

The Biology teacher and I took all of the sophomores on a biology/poetry field trip about a week ago. We ended up catching two grouse and banding them, hiking and observing nature, and doing a bit of research on the plants and animals of the region. These are some photos from the trip.

Holga Pics from Florida

2006-09-22T22:03:00.000-07:00

This is a set of photos from our trip to Florida this year. This is how behind I actually am with my blog. I have been overly busy this year and am still trying to finish up a house I have been working on.

This photo was of a way hot girl that my brother wanted a photo of. I didn't want to do it, but...

This is my mom with our new baby.

My extremely sunburnt brother who wanted the photo of the hot girl.

Of course, you have to have a shot of seagulls when you go to the beach.

John Ford's West--Part three

2006-08-18T08:35:00.000-07:00

I was watching a John Wayne movie the other night and recognized the area where the film was shot. Many of the western movies were shot in Utah around where my grandparents were from. These shots are from that same area.

Flowers--again

2006-08-07T14:44:00.000-07:00

Please remember to click on photo to see larger image. Thanks for looking.

Altoids Pinhole and First Color Pinhole

2006-08-07T14:32:00.000-07:00

This is my first attempt at color pinhole photography. It was made in an Altoids tin that I decided to play with. It is not the best, but gives me a good starting point.

Minolta Himatic Underwater Camera

2006-07-22T09:01:00.000-07:00

My family and I recently took a trip to Florida to visit my mom and to introduce her to her new grandaughter. Sinc eFlorida has sun, sand, and water, I thought that I would take a camera that could handle all three. I chose the Minolta Weathermatic simply because I have had great success with the Himatic line.

These first two pics were from a test roll that I ran, to make sure the camera worked. My only complaint is that it does not have the most sharp focus in the world, being in a waterproof housing.

This is our first pic taken in the water. The pool water was nice and clear which made shooting underwater pretty easy.

This was taken in the ocean from a distance of about 8 inches. The water was pretty murky so underwater shooting was poor.

These next two pics show what the camera was made for, wading out into the water and taking a photo from the level of the water, not above it. This is my son jumping waves and me snapping the picture with part of the camera still in the water. It offers a different perspective.

This is my one shot of a cute girl on the beach. My brother made me take it!!! Honest. My wife didn't believe me either so I have to be extra careful. My only real regret is that the camera was not sharper out of the water and that I was not closer.

Hagar The Viking in Germany

2006-07-18T20:03:00.000-07:00

A gentleman in Germany was the next to receive Hagar the Ansco Viking that I had sent off. He got some fab pics from the old camera. For a better explanation and to see more photos, please got to http://nelsonfoto.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4793 and take a visit.

In his own words: "Hagar safely arrived here in Germany mid-June. So I had the great opportunity to show Hagar around in Frankfurt, which is one of the cities where the FIFA World Cup Germany 2006 soccer championship is being held. While Hagar had missed the wild English soccer fans attending the game England-Paraguay, he got several chances to mingle with the celebrating German fans after two victorious games (none of which was played in Frankfurt) of the German team."

Summer Roses

2006-07-08T13:56:00.000-07:00

John Ford's West #2

2006-07-06T19:41:00.000-07:00

What's Florida without Gators?

2006-07-01T12:36:00.000-07:00

or Flamingos?

Kodak No.1Pocket and Arches

2006-06-29T21:34:00.000-07:00

This is a Kodak No.1 Pocket camera that uses 120 film and produces a 6x9 negative. I went through southern Utah, on my way to a family reunion, and decided to use this camera to help document my trip. The camera was produced until 1926 and uses 120 rollfilm. I used this to try and document the west as seen through the eyes of John Ford, the director. The pictures certainly have a distinct stamp on them and could pass for something actually taken back in the 1920's.

Flowers

2006-06-19T11:09:00.000-07:00

I am in the midst of processing film taken while in Florida. I have been working all kinds of crazy hours lately, so I don't have enough done to post here. I am heading to Colorado andUtah for a family reunion this weekend so I will have more film to process. I think I shot about six rolls of 35mm and three rolls of 120 film while in Florida. I hope to have at least one or two decent shots from those rolls. I should shoot about that many on this trip, so will have plenty of material for the blog, but I am a bit behind on the processing and scanning. Please keep checking back and feel free to leave comments and suggestions. I need suggestions to help continually improve my photography, so help me out.

Here are some flowers taken earlier this spring. I just can't get enough of the macro. The roses are coming on strong now, so I will have some images of those to post. I understand that some may get bored with the same ol' shots, but after a long, gray, and rainy winter and spring, flowers are extra nice for me.

PS. Hagar the Viking is now in Germany. Can't wait to see the images. I will update those as they come in.

The Viking Lands in Wales

2006-06-13T14:44:00.000-07:00

Sandeha, a very nice gentleman and fellow photographer from Wales, took Hagar around to show the Viking the sights. I am increasingly aware of my shortcomings as a photographer with the postings of the participants of the Hagar trip. Using the same camera, these photographers post much better results than I got and Sandeha is no exception to this statement. He actually put some colorthrough the camera which turned out quite nice. For the rest of the photos, please visit http://www.nelsonfoto.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4402 His website http://www.sandehalynch.com/ is also worth a visit. Be sure to click on the photos below for larger views.

Hagar the Viking update

2006-06-09T10:43:00.000-07:00

This is Phillip with Hagar the Ansco Viking camera in Newfoundland. Apparantly, the camera and Phillip got along together just fine, because the images are very good. For more images and information on the trip please visit http://nelsonfoto.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4236

I quote, "The only authenticated Norse (=Viking) archaeological site in North America is at Lance aux Meadows (a.k.a. L'anse aux meadows and known locally as Lancey Meadows) in Northern Newfoundland. A street in St. John's is named for that community: "

A mister Sebastian Toombs took some time to show the Viking around Victoria B.C. for a time and I have posted two of the photos here. Unfortunately, Hagar decided to decapitate a few people and buildings, but I will let Mr Toombs tell the story, because he does it better than I. Please visit http://nelsonfoto.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4118 for more photos and the running dialogue.

Hagar is now in Wales and is happily snapping away.

Oh, One more thing

2006-06-02T11:58:00.000-07:00

Thought I would try something in Sepia. What think ye?

I will also update Hagar the Ansco Viking's travel next week. He has seen two more stops recently. Cool!!!