Monthly Archives: December 2010

Celebrity Death

Leave a reply

Here at the end of 2010 we can look back and go “wow” a lot of celebrities died in the past year. I know, it’s a morbid way to think. But there was another celebrity that passed away in 2010, one mourned by thousands of photographers. Well probably not thousands, but a good number. The celebrity….Kodachrome. The film it self hasn’t been produced since 2009 but the many rolls still out there has been processed by Dwayne’s Photo, the last lab in the world that still did the long and complex K-14 process, and then on Dec 30th at noon, Dwayne’s would not accept any more Kodachrome for processing. But they’re still wading through all the film they’ve been flooded with.

Kent Street
My first experience with Kodachrome wasn’t a good one, poorly stored expired film…

What made Kodachrome so special? The colours, as Paul Simon immortalized in words “They give us those nice bright colors, They give us the greens of summers, Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day, Oh yeah” in his song Kodachrome (which many people still sing whenever I mention the the film). Also the sheer stability of the film. Kodachrome was unique, it was a game changer when Kodak introduced it in the mid 1930s, it was also the first consumer colour slide film. At it’s very base Kodachrome is a black and white film which is what gives it the stability (Kodak says you won’t start seeing degradation for a good 100 years, and then just the yellows will start to fade (if stored properly), the colours are introduced during the processing. This alone makes Kodachrome near impossible to duplicate in a home darkroom, unless you just do it as a black and white film.

Standing Against the Wall
Although by Roll 4 the results were much better!

Also there’s a state park in Utah named Kodachrome Basin Park. Yeah, it was that special.

Niagara On The Lake
I felt very akin to the professionals and tourists that had before me shot probably this very building in Niagara-on-the-lake on Kodachrome (some even with a Nikon F3)

So what was my Kodachrome Toll…having getting into the game late and getting a limited stock of the film from 2009 to 2010 Here’s the break down.

  • Total number of Frames shot: 324
    • Total number of Kodachrome 64 Frames shot: 252
    • Total number of Kodachrome 40 Frames shot: 36
    • Total number of Kodachrome 25 Frames shot: 36
  • Total Number of frames shot on the Nikon F3: 180
  • Total Number of frames shot on the Nikon F4: 108
  • Total Number of frames shot on the Contax G2: 36

The Horseshoe Falls
The Horseshoe (Canadian) Falls at Niagara Falls they have probably been captured thousands of times on Kodachrome.

The only thing I’m sorry for is that I won’t be able to use Kodachrome in my Project:52.

Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day, Oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don’t take my Kodachrome away

The Fifty-Two Roll Project

4 Replies

Many people do a project 365 (where they post at least one photo per day for the entire year). I did actually consider doing this for 2011, but decided why not take my passion for shooting film and doing a roll (or pack) per week of film. Pick a camera, a lens, and a film shoot it in a week, take it in for processing, then post the best seven shots. Starting Jan 1st, 2011.

Here are my guidelines
1) Some weeks may have themes attached to them, the subject shot or equipment used must meet this theme.
2) It must be an analog photography format. (35mm, Medium Format (6×9, 6×6, 6×4.5), or Instant (Type 100 or Integral).
3) I must post at least 7 shots for the week, I may post more if I so desire.
4) A week starts on Saturday, Ends on Friday. Film from the week prior is brought in for processing on the Monday, Must be scanned, processed, and posted before the next film drop off (if possible).

If you have a suggestion for a theme (or constraint) please feel free to post in the comments.

Electric Photography…1932?

Leave a reply

As I was reading through the latest PHSC news letter I came across a neat little article that I’m shamelessly re-publishing here.

George Dunbar found this piece of news in the Modern Mechanix magazine of June 1932. It showed the latest development of an electric camera that worked without film, before the digital age.

It is described as a revolutionary camera developed by Mr. K. Wilcke, a German scientist. Light enters the camera and strikes a glass plate, on which is a very fine coating of a metal-like platinum or gold. It is so fine that it will permit the passage of light. Backed up to this metal film is a layer of selenium, behind which is placed a piece paper soaked in a special electrolyte. The last member of hte group is another metal plate, which serves as a second electrode.

Through the process of electrolysis the image is impressed upon the selenium will be reproduced upon the paper, the most metal being deposited in the dark portion of the picture.

Now, this isn’t digital technology in the sense that we know it, and I’m sure the images weren’t that great, and it was probably a very complex thing to work with. But wow, trying to get away from film since 1932.

Help-Portrait – It’s about Love

Leave a reply

As I mentioned in a previous post I was going to this year be participating the Help-Portrait event. That event was this past weekend and all I can say is that it’s all about love.

I’m not talking about romantic love (there was some of that) but love, family love, love of the art, love of people.

The Milton event in which I was a part of took place at the Darling House for kids, it’s a place were families with children who have mental and physical difficulties can go as a respite from taking care of these very special children in their own homes to a safe place with trained professionals to give them a hand and give the families a chance to be just that, a family, to laugh to play, and this past weekend get photographed…a lot.

Seriously we had three stations setup with at least four or five photographers at each. And seriously it was a blast, I had a great time working with photographers of every level, getting a chance to use full studio strobes. But the most important part was that I got to see families that love each other. Sure they may have children who won’t grow up to be the next person to walk on the moon, or invent the cure for cancer, but that didn’t matter, they were their children, or their brother or sister. And they loved them, and it showed in the photos I took of them.

And if wasn’t just the families that loved it, but the photographers also, I personally had a blast! Nothing like checking your ego at the door, not worrying about call backs, future business, no cards, no portfolios. I did it for my love of photography, and making the families happy. And I could tell that the other photographers there did it for the same reason!

Watch the Lion!
Jewels and her handy Lion helper.

Santa's Helper
One of Santa’s helpers going around and shooting candids!

One of the Team
Brent one of the candid photographers.

Does Anyone Know how this works?
Does anyone know how this works? Setting up for the group portrait.

Tom, the organizer was shooting both stills and video on his 7D and put together this wonderful video of us.

Also if you want more candid shots, check out Brent Pilgrim’s blog for a post and photos.