Category Archives: history

flighty photos

Posted on March 26, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. Some photographers use propeller driven aircraft in their activities. Exec member Wayne Gilbert often used a small aircraft as he shot views of buildings. This ceased when his friend and pilot retired. The use of a small aircraft circumvented … Continue reading →

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what a find for the image collector

Posted on March 22, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. I always enjoy emails from George Dunbar. George diligently researches photographic history and comes up with the darnedest things! This time it is a doozy for those of us who collect photos by long ago Ontario photographers. George writes, … Continue reading →

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a baleful eye on historic events

Posted on March 20, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. Not long after its invention, photography and photographers recorded exotic landscapes, famous people, disasters, wrecks, wars, etc.  Before the evolution of such photographs, we relied on wood cuts, steel cuts, and the written word to describe events near and … Continue reading →

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… and everything nice …

Posted on March 19, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. From the earliest days of photography to the invention of dry plates, shutter speeds were unnecessary – the media were far far too slow. A simple hat or lens cap (and verbal counting) served as a shutter. As to … Continue reading →

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a Jolly Irishman makes photography colourful

Posted on March 17, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. One of the goals of photography was to let light create natural colour. All the methods possible were recorded by the Frenchman, Louis Ducos du Hauron and based on the experiments of James Clerk Maxwell. Of course today with … Continue reading →

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Christmas time and the giftin’ is easy

Posted on March 14, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. Well this is either a few months late or a lot of months early for Christmas! My thanks to George Dunbar for sharing this piece of history with us – a December 1951 ad from Kodak in Popular Mechanics … Continue reading →

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kalart to the rescue

Posted on March 13, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. In the mid last century after WW2, flash bulb photography became popular for shooting the very slow media at night or indoors. This avoided using either very slow speeds, or the somewhat intimidating and restraining AC photo flood lamps. … Continue reading →

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a short-lived fad

Posted on March 10, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. George Dunbar sent along this article from Popular Mechanics in its August 1951 issue. The article is about a Vermont man who ‘light paints’ with his camera and a pen light. Shown are a flower and a caricature of … Continue reading →

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mac and alex

Posted on March 7, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. George Dunbar sent me an email recently saying, “The photography of Alexander Henderson is featured in the March issue of Maclean’s magazine.” I subscribed to Maclean’s years ago finding its stories far more interesting to me than the various … Continue reading →

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broaden the beam, matey

Posted on March 6, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. In the early days of photography, studios took portraits by soft northern light, avoided appointments on cloudy days, used ‘unobtrusive’ hand holds, neck braces and clamps to hold the patient, (I meant subject) steady for the seconds/minutes needed to … Continue reading →

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