Category Archives: history

the Jack Roy of photography

Posted on April 20, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. Jack Roy used the stage name of Rodney Dangerfield. As Dangerfield, his catch phrase was, “I don’t get no respect”.  The vast majority of professional and amateur photographers viewed Polaroid in the same light. Polaroid had very innovative cameras … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on the Jack Roy of photography

Yousuf Russia LIFE 1963

Posted on April 19, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. One of our most famous portrait photographers of all time was Karsh of Ottawa. Some members strive to collect portraits taken by Karsh. One member – Shelton Chen – even wrote and published a book of Karsh Portraits. In … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Yousuf Russia LIFE 1963

gearing up for great pix

Posted on April 17, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. In the early decades of photography, the media were so slow a hat or lens cap worked just fine to control exposures. Lenses were left open or used waterhouse stops inserted into a slot in the lens barrel until … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on gearing up for great pix

the last picture show

Posted on April 16, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. Over a century ago, it was discovered that a rapid sequence of still images would seem to show motion. This phenomenon was based on human  “persistence of vision” which neatly fills in the brief gap between images. This concept … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on the last picture show

binocular vision

Posted on April 14, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. My first visit to Toronto Camera was in 1960 when they were on Church Street. I remember buying a Hansa Enlarger and Braun slide projector plus some chemicals and paper. I also picked up a copy of their July … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on binocular vision

megal what??

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Robert

Toronto.  We have featured essays from the”Fans in a Flashbulb” site from time to time. This essay is entitled, “A Time Travelling Magical Megalethoscope View of the Palace of Versailles” and was published at the end of last month. If like … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on megal what??

clowning around

Posted on April 4, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. Remember Emmett Kelley and these others? In this strip are many famous folk each with a camera of choice. My Friend George Dunbar asks, “The famous with cameras … Who are they?” Food for thought back in the days … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged | Comments Off on clowning around

and the winner is …

Posted on April 1, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. Mid last century, companies worked hard to win a larger slice of the amateur photo market – especially in the USA, We saw where give-a-ways of non competing products for a few dollars and proof of purchase were used, … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on and the winner is …

cough, cough

Posted on March 27, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. Many companies last century offered deals on non-competing products to expand their market segment. An example was Marlboro cigarettes and Kodak (in the days before the link between cigarettes and lung cancer/heart disease was legally confirmed and tobacco products … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on cough, cough

predicting glass

Posted on March 23, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. Wikipedia has an article on a famous essay that predicted things we take for granted today – like computers, Google Glass, AI, internet, robots and more. In 1939, Vannevar Bush published his essay “Mechanization and the Record”. After the … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on predicting glass