Nepal. Kathmandu and around – 1999

April 12, 2013 by Howard Dale Posted in Uncategorized Tagged gallery Leave a comment

I was going through a box full of old prints and negatives when I came across a few old Kodak picture CDs. I had no idea what was on them. So I took a look and to my surprise found a “treasure trove” of pictures I had taken in and around Kathmandu in 1999. I didn’t usually have them put on Kodak CDs, but for some reason I had this time. I’m glad I did too. I’ve tried scanning some of the pictures from prints. It was a very time consuming process and I wasn’t entirely happy with the results. It was much easier to work from the CDs. I’m not sure what camera was used. It would have been either a Minolta Hi-Matic 7sii or a Canon AE-1, most likely the Canon as I don’t think I could have gotten as close with the Minolta as some of these shots seem to require. Fourteen years later I can’t remember much about my motivation in taken the pictures so I’ll let them speak for themselves other than to say that I can’t resist calling the first one “Kids with kids”. There are more pictures in a Nepal album here.

Santa Monica 2003

April 5, 2013 by Howard Dale Posted in Black & White, Canon Powershot S-50, Photography Tagged gallery Leave a comment

Incoming Waves.

I was reading some articles about Garry Winogrand. One of them mentioned that he never developed film right after shooting it. He would wait for some time (maybe even a couple of years) so that the memory of taking the photo would have faded. Supposedly this allowed him to be more objective in judging his images: “If I was in a good mood when I was shooting one day, then developed the film right away…I might choose a picture because I remember how good it felt when I took it, not necessarily because it was a great shot. You make better choices if you approach your contact sheets cold, separating the editing from the picture taking as much as possible.” (from an interview with one of his students).

With this in mind I took a look back at some of my old pictures. I wanted to see how I felt about them now. Then I re-edited a few. These are the results. They were all taken in 20003 with a Canon Sureshot S-50, 5 megapixel camera at the Santa Monica pier in California.

Santa Monica Pier

Seagulls

Cyclist

A tale of two ceiling fans

April 4, 2013 by Howard Dale Posted in Abstracts, Black & White, Photography, Sony Alpha Nex 5N Tagged gallery Leave a comment

Here the fan is a secondary player. I was lying on the sofa in our living room reading and I happened to look up. I was struck by the pattern of light cast by a table lamp onto the ceiling. The fan just adds a bit of visual variety to the image.

Again a chance image. I was having lunch at a nearby restaurant: Holy Smoke – it’s a great barbecue place with a large selection of beers, many of which I’d never heard of. I was waiting for my food to arrive and playing with my camera. I glanced around to see if there was anything “picture worthy”. Eventually I looked up and saw the fan with its static light fixtures and spinning blades. It took a few different shutter speeds before I got the kind of blur that I wanted.

Baxter Cemetery abandoned in the woods

March 31, 2013 by Howard Dale Posted in Black & White, Places, Ruins, Sony Alpha Nex 5N Tagged gallery Leave a comment

The old abandonned Baxter cemetery. 48 graves, the earliest dating to 1820. It’s less than 10 minutes walk from the house – in the woods between Lake Shore Road and the Taconic Parkway. It’s not so easy to find. At first there’s a bit of a path, but eventually you end up just “bushwacking” through the woods until you bump into it (or not. Luckily I did). Apparently three Revolutionary War veterans are buried here. It’s a bit spooky. Not the kind of place to go up to on a dark and stormy night. Not that I would go up there after dark (I probably wouldn’t find it and would likely break a leg falling over a dead tree) The old cemetery seems even more spooky in “antique” looking black and white

[Show slideshow]

Olympus Pen FT

March 27, 2013 by Howard Dale Posted in Camera Collection, Olympus Pen FT Tagged gallery Leave a comment

I acquired this camera as a result of a swap with Tom, a friend of mine. He needed a compact digital camera and was willing to trade the Olympus Pen FT. I had a four year old Panasonic ZS3 that I had bought second hand and was not using that much.

What an incredible camera! It’s a half frame (e.g. it will take 72 shots on a 36 exposure roll of film) film camera. It looks like a rangefinder camera and is about the same size. But it’s not a rangefinder. It’s an SLR! It came out in 1966 and looks just like the earlier Pen F. However, unlike the Pen F this model has a built in, but somewhat quirky, through the lens (TTL) exposure meter. Rather than provide aperture/shutter speed combination it gives a number. It’s not immediately apparent which f stop the number relates to. Someone has taken a marker and marked the numbers against the appropriate f stop on the aperture ring, but some of them have blurred. Doesn’t matter much to me as I’d probably either guess the exposure or use a separate meter anyway.

It’s an extremely well designed camera that just feels right in the hands. Amazingly everything seems to work. Although dim (apparently this is normal for this camera) the viewfinder still allows for easy focus. The shutter speeds work and sound about right. Aperture settings work fine. The self-timer is missing its button but still seems to work fine. Other than that and the marker inscribed exposure numbers the camera is in pretty good shape although it could do with a cleaning. The lens is a 35mm f1.8 F.Zuiko.

I haven’t yet tried it with film (and I’m not at all sure how I’d get half frame film processed), but I did acquire an adapter for my Sony Nex 5n, which allowed me to try out the lens. Some samples below. I love the colours, but the lens seems to have a tendency to flare. I don’t know if this is typical or if there’s something wrong with the lens. I’m sure a lens hood would help. Even with the flare I find the results attractive.