Category Archives: history

photography and a six foot atlas

Posted on July 12, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. How the heck do you photograph a rare atlas? Very carefully, apparently with lavish attention to detail, lighting, and preservation. The Open Culture site on May 11th, 2017 published an article by Ted Mills titled, “Timelapse Film Shows How … Continue reading →

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the professionals

Posted on July 8, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. Many of our members are professional photographers – working or retired. And many of those folk belong to the Professionals Photographers of Canada (PPOC). Amongst other things, the PPOC runs a photo contest and has a series of online … Continue reading →

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clarifying a radical new process and camera

Posted on July 7, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. Many of us recall the iconic Polaroid Land camera of 1948 and its amazing ‘picture-in-a-minute’ black and white in-camera printing process. The basic idea dates back to pre-war Europe (1939).  Successful retail marketing occurred with this  American-made Edwin  Land … Continue reading →

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a tradition in the sky

Posted on July 4, 2023 by Robert

Toronto.  As I write this post on Canada Day when we too celebrate with fireworks (smoke and rain permitting), I am thinking of our good friends to the south who celebrate Independence Day with fireworks too. The photo at left … Continue reading →

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transparent history

Posted on June 30, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. We think of history as the distant past. Not necessarily so. Slides, or colour transparencies taken by amateurs can sometimes be an historic record beyond the intended audience of the immediate family. The slide here shows a hilly street … Continue reading →

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high resolution

Posted on June 29, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. One thing a daguerreotype had going for it from the ‘get go’ was resolution. The terribly slow process was (depending on lens quality, plate, focussing, movement, etc.) always capable of very high resolution. Even today,  the existing mid 1850s … Continue reading →

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made to measure

Posted on June 28, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. In the days of film, darkroom work was all wet and gooey either in full darkness or with dim reddish or brownish illumination. Strange powders were measured out and added to water and mixed to create magical solutions. Some … Continue reading →

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something’ to chew on …

Posted on June 27, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. In the late 1950s, I bought a Minox IIIs, tank, enlarger, etc. After the camera  was lost in the mail, I bought a new Minox IIIB. The IIIs and older cameras were about the size of a package of … Continue reading →

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fishing’ for fotos

Posted on June 26, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. Okay, not all of you collect photos and only a few of you who do can pay a business like PhotoCentral for them. At left is just small example of the photographs they offer. In this case, it is … Continue reading →

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back to the future

Posted on June 25, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. As we have said many times, archives and libraries are a great source of photographs depicting local history. A few photo enthusiasts take an old street scene and re-photograph it today from about the same location and with a … Continue reading →

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