Panchromatic - Mama, don't take my Kodachrome(TM) away

In the early 1970's my father was employed by WEA (Warner Brothers, Electra, and Atlantic) Records in Toronto.  In early April, 1973 he had the opportunity, after work, to tour Columbia Records.  It was my understanding at that time, that Columbia Records, in Canada, pressed the vinyl for WEA.

He arrived home late that evening.  In the morning there was an album on the kitchen table, an album they were pressing the night before.  It was Paul Simon's There Goes Rhythm Simon, an album that was not yet released.  A 14-year old kid that wanted to expand his record collection was surprised and delighted to have what no other kid could get.

The first hit single from the album, Kodachrome, became a huge hit that summer.

Kodachrome goes #1 on the CHUM 30 (July 7, 1973)

Kodachrome film would later become a huge hit with me when I owned my first SLR.  As the song tells us "it gives those nice bright colors".

From my friends I learned that you could push the film ISO from 64 to 80 and get the colours to pop even more.

As a kid that grew up with black and white photographs and black and white TV, colour was very exciting.  I still find it tough to enjoy a modern black and white feature film or a modern black and white photograph.  My usual first question to a black and white image is "can I see the colour version?".

There are always exceptions where black and white has a place and sends a dramatic message.  First exception: The 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.  The reasons are obvious.  Second exception... can't think of one.  I'm kidding... there are tons of reasons.  Just don't tell me it gives a "classy look." Rather, I'll take colour pictures for it "makes you think all the world's a sunny day, oh yeah!".

Shooting Level - Portraits at Precious Pastime Photography

My daughter, Angela, recently had me come over to help her create an updated picture for her About page on her website.

I was immediately sent home to get my camera kit when I showed up empty handed. I guess I figured she had all the right gear.

Seeing me struggle with my new camera (D7100) Angela elected to re-configure it, setting it to manual and setting up the exposure, white balance, ISO, aperture, shutter speed and focusing mode. Then she mounted her primary lens. Angela had never used the D7100 but found it all too familiar with the her other Nikon gear. In addition, she knew her studio lighting conditions.

With some elementary high-level instructions she had me snapping away. In the end I had selected my favourite image from the lot but she elected a different image.



After the session with Angela my grandson came out to investigate and I took the opportunity with the studio set up to get in front of the camera with him and put Angela to work.



In the end Angela and I had discussed these images, among others, talking about camera angles for portrait images. We had recently listen to Peter Hurley discuss this topic in his work. He appears dead against upward portrait shots (can't argue with him there) and he's against downward portraits too.

Reviewing his impressive on-line portfolio I could not find anything but straight-on shots.

I think the slight angle downwards, as with the image of my grandson and me, works very well. However, it has been stated that I'm bias when it comes to images of my grandson.



Craig

Friday 13th

I had Friday, May 13th as a vacation day and joined a few family members to enjoy a warm May day away from the house. We grabbed Will, our five month old Australian Shepherd, and stopped in at the Hagersville Auction Centre. The goal was expose Will to lots of people and other animals.

Like every Friday, 13th we were overwhelmed by the volume of bikers heading into Port Dover.





At one point in the livestock barn I had Will with me. In front of us a loose goat stopped motionless in front of an open door. Will and the goat were frozen in time--both wondering what to do and I suspect, both wondering what the hell kind of an ugly animal is that.

The goat owner was in hot pursuit and the goat knew it. He bolted back away from us and into the parking lot where the underside of a Ford F-150 looked secure.



Will was very well behaved at the Hagersville Auction Center. Seen resting under the chairs during the auction.

Will

Will, an Australian Shepherd, will be joining Pixie and Pepper in our home. I suspect he will be two times their size.

Not so recent pics wanted - Brantford Mall

The other day I posted the following message in the Brantford Group on Flickr.

I recently viewed a couple of videos on youtube. 1. taken in September, 2008, before demolition; and 2. showing images of the Brantford Mall in December 1990.

Does anyone have any images prior to the construction of the mall? I have one--an image of Dairee Delight before it was moved to the Home Hardware Plaza.

Do you have any images of the Brantford Mall?

Town Crier downtown to meet Santa

David McKee, Brantford's town crier, attended the city's Santa Claus parade tonight. In full voice he mingled amongst the large crowd of city residents to enjoy the parade.

For years I have been disappointed in the lack of interest in Brantford's downtown.  I will always want to remember Brantford's downtown as it was during Christmas in the 1960s, when Colborne and Dalhousie streets were crowded with people. 

I got to see a bit of that tonight--the people tonight reminded me of the old downtown Brantford from that time.  If it had only been snowing, it would have been perfect.

The Great Houdini

This autumn has been very cold with a bit of snow (a bit more in some places than others) here in south central Ontario.  One morning on my way to work I noticed a black and white object finding shelter under a neighbour's car.  Either a kitten or a small skunk I thought--I drove on.

Over the next few days we learned we had three kittens living in our neighbourhood in some harsh weather conditions.  Unknown to me our automatic garage door opener had failed to close properly one night and we had captured two of the three kittens.  A little tabby, which was scared and a black and white kitten that was fighting for its life--he later became known as Cujo.

A few days later came the third and final kitten--Houdini.  We captured Houdini in the same manner, but this time on purpose.  But, this little kitten knew how to hide.  I moved an huge number of items from garage trying to find this kitten, but the kitten appeared gone.  It was hours before the great Houdini appeared--and what a treat... have you ever seen a moustache on the face of kitten like this before?

Houdini also has white socks with what appears to be a few black toes.  All three have been under great care by my wife who is ready to rename Cujo.

Hawthorne said the novel was not based on any particular house

Halfway down a by-street of one of our New England towns stands a rusty wooden house, with seven acutely peaked gables, facing towards various points of the compass, and a huge, clustered chimney in the midst. The street is Pyncheon Street; the house is the old Pyncheon House; and an elm-tree, of wide circumference, rooted before the door, is familiar to every town-born child by the title of the Pyncheon Elm.

That is the opening paragraph to the novel of The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne.  I should read this.  My wife purchased the novel while in Salem, which she had not read either.  But, it remained a priority stop on our autumn visit to Salem, Massachusetts.  Nathaniel Hawthorne cousin, Susanna Ingersoll, owned the property at one time.

As we waited for our guided tour I did my usual navigation around the grounds attempting to find the right composition.  My wife too joined in the challenge with her camera.  I snapped away and found little excitement in the shots I was taking.  Upon downloading them at home I tried to create a panoramic view of the yard, which did not work very well either.  From now on I'm going to take pictures of everything--even the sky so I can get it all in.  :)

Richard Petty Driving Experience

For a team building exercise and pure fun my employer set up a morning event last Saturday at the Richard Petty Driving Experience at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.

Bad Moon Rising

The lunar eclipse on 20 Feb 2008 was not a bad moon rising. In usual fashion it is my experience and skills at taking moon images that is bad. Last night I used a Minolta AF 75mm-300mm zoom lens (@300mm) with a Jessop 2X Mx/AF converter. Looking at the camera information--how do we get a 900mm focal length from this combination? And, with this collection of shots last night it crossed my mind about condensation as I moved the camera in and out of the house. Probably not a good move--but the eclipse lasted for hours. It was -14C outside--and slightly warmer in. I decided to stay home and attempt to fight off the city light noise (specifically the street lamp in front of my house) and enjoy a beer during the eclipse. The front porch of my southern Ontario home was where I decided to mount the tripod. Comments always welcome... be brutal.

I Love Lucy

Another kitty needs a home. Lucy had found a warm place to curl up in nasty winter weather. However, this was up against a car engine. She has a damaged ear. She is currently doing very well.

Visiting Englishman gets attacked by locals

Our daughter's boyfriend from England enjoys a local Pow-Wow event and ruffles a few feathers of our local friends. Englishmen always get roughed up a bit.

The posters at the event said it all :)

Grand day in London

We returned to England on holiday, since leaving in 2005, to help our daughter move back home. After England had suffered from bad floods we arrived on the best of days. The best day to travel on the London Eye and walk in London--the day of the Tour de France--no cars on the road. Angela took the best picture of the day--see it here.

Niagara--I always enjoying coming here

Mr. Bigglesworth and family

Another day down at the creek

Home for Easter

After a 45 minute delay, that originated at Heathrow, Angela arrives in Toronto on her birthday, for an Easter holiday. She is greeted by two strangers with balloons.

Snow Angel

Winter Wonderland

A another great day for some exercise out at Apps Mill. Whether the weather is cold or warm I love to come out here.

First Dart Game

My daughter's Christmas gift, a dart board, was finally mounted in the games room. Brent mounted the necessary background cork. Our first game, '301' took about 45 minutes to play. Is that a long time? :) I finally got the 'double' 1 necessary to win the game.