Category Archives: history

B B B

Posted on July 7, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Some decades back, my VP elected to meet with very junior staff. To break the ice and ease the tension of the many level spread between VP and computer staff, he wore a T-Shirt emblazoned with this alliteration: “Bullshit … Continue reading →

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blinding me with flash

Posted on July 6, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. In the early years of photography, it took daylight to create an image. The processes of the day were far too insensitive for gas light, and later electric light to be of practical use. In the mid to late … Continue reading →

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slipping into history

Posted on July 5, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Post war, nomograms were great marketing tools. Arel, Inc. of St. Louis took it a step further creating an actual slide-rule, not with the traditional A, B, C, D, etc. scales but with calculation scales of interest to serious … Continue reading →

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box it up

Posted on July 4, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. You may have never before heard of a camera called the Micro-16. This little gem, advertised on page 199 in the December 1946 issue of Popular Photography, was only around for five years – 1946 – 1950. It is … Continue reading →

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caution, curves ahead.

Posted on July 3, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Traditional lens elements (before aspheric surfaces became economical) were all slices of a sphere making curvature of field common. Some added elements resolved this aberration to give a flat field at the film/sensor plane. Some cameras use a curved … Continue reading →

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thanks, Helen

Posted on July 2, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. The CDV is roughly a large size business card with a photo mounted on thick card stock. Studios produced them in the 1850s/1860s by the dozens. People sent them to friend and relatives but few identified the person and … Continue reading →

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it pays to advertise

Posted on July 1, 2021 by Robert

Toronto, In 1921, the Mission Art Company, of South Spring Street in Los Angeles sent this  truck cum camera and its phtographers to promote its business. Mark Osterman, who along with his wife, spoke to us back in June of … Continue reading →

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a little slip of a thing …

Posted on June 30, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. … said my mother in describing a skinny young girl. She could just as easily have been describing a Waterhouse stop, or a leaf in a photographic iris diaphragm. In fact, have you ever wondered when and who invented … Continue reading →

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monochrome memories

Posted on June 28, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Snapshots are a visual family history. Without them we have no way to tell how our ancestors looked, worked, partied, vacationed, lived, etc. Or what pets and possessions were special to them. The late Brian Coe knew this when … Continue reading →

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let Ed do it

Posted on June 27, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. One of the best known photographers in America was Edward Weston. I have a massive coffee table size book simply titled “Edward Weston: Fifty Years“. Published in 1973 by Aperture in the States, I bought my copy  new a … Continue reading →

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