Category Archives: history

this is where I came in …

Posted on March 30, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. As kids, we sometimes missed the start of a movie at a Saturday matinee. The solution was simple – we sat through the second running until we saw what we had missed, then left … As a kid, on … Continue reading →

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keep to the right now, ma

Posted on March 26, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. When Canada was established in 1867,  the automobile did not exist. By the time it came into being, Quebec had followed France in driving to the right. Ontario elected to follow suit to be in line with its neighbouring … Continue reading →

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stormy weather

Posted on March 22, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. Image collectors have a great many images from daguerreotype portraits on. One genre of eye-catching images is that of landscapes in inclement weather  – be it rain, snow, wind, threatening clouds, etc. An otherwise mundane subject can be transformed … Continue reading →

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a French Da Vinci in photography?

Posted on March 21, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. You may have never heard of a Frenchman of the name, “Louis Arthur Ducos du Hauron“, but by 1870, after Maxwell’s ribbon experiment, he had devised most of the ways humans could create colour images. Unfortunately, this was well … Continue reading →

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illustrating books, etc.

Posted on March 17, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. Books, newspapers, and magazines were illustrated on occasion with lithographs or drawings transposed to engraved plates. In the 1820s, there was considerable interest in capturing a scene by the effect of sunlight. A young Frenchman, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, liked … Continue reading →

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projecting dreams

Posted on March 15, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. Like stereo, the eyes and the brain work together to give one the sensation of motion. In the case of ‘movies’ a phenomenon called “persistence of vision”  transforms the sequence of still frames (about 24 per second) seen by … Continue reading →

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on stereo viewing

Posted on March 14, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. Our brain is a marvellous organ. Each eye sees a scene/person at a slightly different angle. The brain merges these two images to create what we see as a stereo or 3D ‘picture’ of the scene or person we … Continue reading →

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flying cameras

Posted on March 13, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. This photo of a Montreal landmark, St Joseph’s Oratory on Queen Mary Road, was taken by an Exakta and 135mm Steinheil lens on Kodachrome from a CJAD news helicopter. Aerial photos have been taken since the late 1850s when … Continue reading →

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flight of fancy

Posted on March 12, 2024 by Robert

Toronto.  The cut line for the photograph at left says, ” Raúl Pescara’s 16-bladed helicopter leaves the ground at Issy les Moulineaux, France, to attempt the world endurance record in January 1924. Pescara’s flight set a new record, staying airborne … Continue reading →

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down the line

Posted on March 8, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. One specialty by photographers is photographing trains, lines and train stations. In our January 2016 meeting speaker Ralph Beaumont and his ‘sidekick’ Rod Clarke presented the story of  “Heckman’s Canadian Pacific“. For many decades trains were the prestigious way … Continue reading →

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