A few weeks ago when my brother was visiting Boston we decided to go to the SOWA vintage market.  I was looking for cameras, and in particular Polaroids.  I had gone to the Impossible project store in NYC a month prior (see here) so I knew it was possible to get film for a lot of classic Polaroid cameras.  There were a few there, but the one that caught my eye was a SX-70 (wikipedia has a nice article about it).  I quickly checked eBay and it looked like they were selling in the $75-$200 range.  I am not sure that the guy who was selling it knew what he had.  It was mine for $25.

I ordered some film from the Impossible Project and I was on my way.  The first pack of film was a bit of a failure because the rollers needed to be cleaned and there were a few other problems too.  But the second pack went much better (as you can see here).  I am still learning how to use the camera.  It does have some very basic controls and trying to figure out the appropriate type of subject matter is also a learning curve: focus is soft so I think less detail is probably better.

I have another pack of film in my refrigerator so I will probably shoot that soon.  Hopefully the results will get better as I go. Thanks for stopping by. Come again soon. If you would like to receive an email when I post new photos and/or blog entries head on over to the subscribe page and enter your email.

A couple of weeks ago, during the trials and tribulations of pinhole camera design I was concerned that the problem I was having was not really the camera design, but the developing process.  So I loaded my camera up with a roll of film and went out to see how quickly I could shoot a roll of 36 exposures; of course the goal was to test the fixer, but the secondary challenge was to see what I could get without thinking too much and without a clear subject. I like some of the results. All were taken in Boston’s South End between Tremont and Shawmut Streets and West Springfield and W. Newton Streets (4 Square Blocks).

All photos taken with Carl Zeiss Ikon ZM Rangefinder with Jupiter 3 50mm, f/1.5 with Ilford Delta 100 Pro developed in HC-110 dilution “b” for 6 mins @ 68F.

Quintessential South End.

Parking is always a horror-show in the South End.

Stereotypical Chinese take-out joint.  I can’t help but take photos of this again and again.

In our local public garden on Rutland Street.

Ancient Greece meets the South End.

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I went for a walk around Park Slope in Brooklyn with my sister, my Yashica-mat 124G, and a couple of rolls of expired Fuji slide film (Fujichrome RMS 100/1000 and Provia 100). This camera is so much fun.

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Susu and Tammy.

Sharon and Heather (I think Sharon wins the prize for best 70′s/80′s themed outfit).

A group shot and one of Sharon and Helen together.

And finally a little creative portrait of Tammy to round out the evening.

Happy Birthday Susu!

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This is a scan of a photo that my sister and I took at the Impossible Project’s photobooth in their SoHo Store.

I also acquired a Polaroid Spectra System camera from my parents who came into Brooklyn on Friday night for dinner.  I remember the camera being around our house when I was a kid, but it has not been used in ages.  Thanks to innovative companies like Impossible they are “useful” again. I plan on loading it up with the Impossible film soon and taking it out around my neighborhood – stay tuned for that and some photos with the Lomography films too.

One other fun thing that came out of the weekend is something my sister and I are going to coin the Lomography High-Line Challenge.  We have been wanting to walk the High Line Park the last two times I visited, but thus far we have not had enough time, or it has been too cold, or… well it just hasn’t worked out.  So we decided that next time I come down to visit (maybe in April or May) we would go to Lomography and each buy a camera – most of their cameras are <$100 – and some film and walk the High Line Park all day long taking photos.  Should be a fun day.

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A couple of weeks ago I saw a video on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/39578584) about Ian Ruhter, a photographer who built a delivery truck-sized camera. I think he did it because he he wanted to do something different and unique with his photography.  What he came up with is quite amazing.  I found myself thinking how I can do something that unique with my photography.  I started reading about make-your-own pinhole cameras, and decided I would give it a try. First I started reading about “matchbox” pinhole cameras that are small/simple box cameras made from matchboxes. They are pretty simple and dare I say a little boring. I was going to make one, but alas I could not find a box of matches.

(Below) The Dartmouth Street entrance to the Boston Public Library.  This was the last shot that I took and thankfully the sun was starting to go down so I could actually get some better detail in the photo.  I was only standing about 20 ft. back from the steps and I was able to get both of the statues in the photo.  Wow that is wide.

So I was sitting at my desk and in front of me was one of those cardboard tubes used to roll carpet, and I thought that it would be interesting to try to build a “curved back pinhole camera.” After a few hours of Internet research, a trip to Walgreens, and a long day trapped inside because of the blizzard I had it done.  The design was not entirely expertly thought out.  There are a few deficiencies, but overall it came out pretty good for a first-try.

(Below) This was the first shot I took with the pinhole camera.  It was a 40 min exposure in our living room.  You can see Tammy reading/snoozing on the couch, me reading (I got up and sat down several times throughout the exposure), and the astute observer will also be able to find the cat who slept through the entire process.

So what next?  Well, the day after the blizzard I went out and pinholed Boston.  The images in this entry (except for the one of the camera) were all taken with my custom designed curved-back pinhole camera.  The film was developed in my bathroom.  And the negatives were scanned in my home office.  How’s that for a unique photography endeavor?

(Below) These are a few vertical shots.  The first is the Hancock Tower in Copley Square.  This is the tallest building in Boston and I ALMOST got the whole thing in the frame.  Second is the Prudential tower from Boylston Street.  If you know this area you will probably recognize the statue in front of the tower.  Although it looks like there is something flowing across the frame, that is actually light.  The sun was just off to the right of the frame and I think that is light streaking across the negative.  Last is one of the “Salt-and-Pepper” shakers on the Longfellow Bridge.

All together I think I got about 12 shots off of the roll of film.  Not bad for double-wide negatives.  I will post the whole roll on my Flickr if you are interested in seeing the rest.  I had a lot of fun building this camera and shooting it.  I am going to do some more reading about pinhole cameras and see if I can improve on my prototype.  So there should be more to come.

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On this day the sky was quite clear and then all of a sudden clouds rolled in and the sky became quite ominous.  I noticed this group of birds chaotically flying back and forth from building to building.  I am not sure what prompted them to fly from one building to the other, but it was hypnotic.  I stood for about ten minutes watching and waiting for the next move.

Group of birds flying back-and-forth from “580” to an abandoned building in the SOWA part of Boston’s South End.  (Yashica-Mat 124G on expired Fujichrome Astia 100)

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A few photos of the produce vendors at Haymarket.  The colors here are pretty vibrant even on cold gray days like this one.  (Olympus OM-1 w/ M-Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 on Rollei Digibase CN 200)

This is Mae.  We “met” over a year ago in some of the Google+ photography forums, but had not met in person until this day.  She is very talented photographer and a social media butterfly.  (Olympus OM-1 w/ M-Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 on Rollei Digibase CN 200)

Its not all fruit and vegetables in the Haymarket.  There is meat and fish too. (Olympus OM-1 w/ M-Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 on Rollei Digibase CN 200)

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Not only do you have to drive a car with the driver’s side on the left on the left side of the road, but you have to look out for all sorts of things crossing the road.  There were donkeys, chickens, and goats everywhere.  This was a bit of a traffic-jam situation caused by a group of goats crossing the street. (Leica M9 with Summicron 35mm f/2, edited in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom)

It seems that the locals on St. John do have a decent sense of humor.  All of the “dip” signs had some extra words added for comic value.  This was my favorite.  If you can’t read it, it says “Stinky Donkey… Dip”. That was our green rental Jeep out in the distance on the side of the road. (Leica M9 with Summicron 35mm f/2, edited in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom)

So this one requires a bit of back-story.  The house that we rented had a lime tree hanging over the main courtyard.  I am not sure that we were allowed to take the limes off the tree, but on the other hand there was nothing saying that we couldn’t.  By the end of the week we had picked all of the low-hanging limes, and this was one of them.  I sure hope the owners don’t like Vodka and tonic or margarhitas as much as we do. (Leica M9 with Jupiter 3 50mm f/1.5, edited in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom)

It is winter right?  What would winter be without a snowman?  Or at least a sand snowman.  (Konica Hexar RF with Leica Summicron 35mm f/2 on Fuji 400H film)

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This Christmas my family decided to do something completely different.  Rather than spending the holidays in NJ like I have done for the past 30-something years, we went on an adventure.  We rented a villa in Coral Bay on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands and we did what you do on vacation: rest, eat, drink, hike, snorkel, relax on the beach, and take photos.  It was a great time.  Here are some of the scenic views.

This is the view from the villa that we rented.  The house was called “la mer” and it was perched on the top of Bordeaux Mountain overlooking Coral Bay with views of the British Virgin Islands.  The color photo is a stitched panoramic of the view during the day and the monochrome is of the same view at night. (1st photo w/ Leica M9 and Summicron 35mm f/2, 9 frames stitched in photoshop; 2nd photo Leica M9 with Voigtlander Heliar Super-Wide 15mm f/3.5 lens, edited in silver efx pro)

This is my favorite shot from the trip.  It is of an unnamed beach on the hike from Salt Pond Bay to Ram’s Head.  You can see Ram’s Head in the distance in the middle of the frame.  The beach was made up of large coral and rocks.  It was visually impressive. (Leica M9 with Summicron 35mm f/2, edited in silver efx pro)

This is a shot of Drunk Bay.  It is another coral and rock beach, but this one has been “decorated.”  The beach is chock-full of these coral sculptures made by visitors to the beach.  I imagine that they are somewhat transient and as the tide comes in/out many of them are washed away or altered.  It would be interesting to go back and see how it changes with time. (Leica M9 with Voigtlander Heliar Super-Wide 15mm f/3.5 lens, edited in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom)

Finally this what start of the hike back from the top or Ram’s Head to Salt Pond Bay.  It was also the last hike we did on the vacation and sort-of the beginning of the end of the trip. (Leica M9 with Voigtlander Heliar Super-Wide 15mm f/3.5 lens, edited in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom)

A great time was had by all on this vacation.  We all missed seeing our New Jersey and Wisconsin families for the holidays, but change is good.  It was also really nice to have time to catch up with my parents and siblings.  We don’t often have the time to just sit and relax together.  Hopefully there will be more similar adventures for next year.

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