Author Archives: Robert

candlelight’s no longer a pain

Posted on October 26, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. In the days of film, candlelight was so dim and the media so slow that only a tripod could keep the camera steady. Inanimate objects or perhaps adults could stay still enough but children and animals were utterly hopeless … Continue reading →

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all things to all people

Posted on October 25, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Mid last century we called Kodak, “The Great Yellow Father”. Kodak was everywhere. To think photography was to think Kodak. Sure other companies touted their photographic wares but Kodak was photography to so many of us. The above advertisement … Continue reading →

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dialling for Dags

Posted on October 24, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Our friends to the south often hold fairs and auctions to market images from the beginnings of photography. They do a wonderful job for those enamoured with old photographs, especially Daguerreotypes. Their annual is a massive soft cover book … Continue reading →

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photographers’ blues on October 24, 2022

Posted on October 23, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Nope. Not a sad occasion but a happy one! A cyanotype photograph has much in common with the blueprint used before the days of cheap copy processes. Horst Herget is a collodion process photographer here in Toronto and has … Continue reading →

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remembrance day next month

Posted on October 22, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. As a kid in grade school we held a special remembrance each November 11th. The ritual was emphasized in high school with Vimy Ridge models, the ‘In Flanders Fields’ poem, minute of silence, pin-on poppy, etc. George Dunbar spotted … Continue reading →

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a bridge too far …

Posted on October 21, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. The other day, George Dunbar sent me an article on the Lethbridge, Alberta ‘High Level Bridge’ over the ‘Oldman River Valley’. The article is illustrated with a photo by the late Toronto photographer Jane Hinton (1936-2020). Some of Ms … Continue reading →

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October PHSC Meeting this coming Saturday

Posted on October 20, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. You may have noticed we were rather silent this Wednesday as the usual locale is still not open for meetings as yet. Our program chair has lined up an alternative session for this Saturday at the RIC. Celio writes, … Continue reading →

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sometimes a camera is really special

Posted on October 19, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Take for example the camera in this 1934 advertisement. Two years earlier in 1932, Kodak began marketing a new smaller film format for the family ‘movie’ photographer  starting out during the great depression when money and jobs were so … Continue reading →

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time gentlemen please

Posted on October 18, 2022 by Robert

Toronto.  For decades companies would rebadge fancy watches for sales staff and other folk, As a youth, I bought a Bulova Accutron which is a mechanism driven by a tuning fork in turn driven by a transistor. Companies like Amanda … Continue reading →

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fiddling with film

Posted on October 17, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Birgit Buchart over at Lomography sent me a note the other day. Lomography announced a new 35mm camera with a bunch of accessories to bring out the experimental side of the snap shooter. The camera is offered in two … Continue reading →

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