Category Archives: history

to hell and back

Posted on December 21, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. In the heady days of railway travel there were many railroads operating. On such railroad was the Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railroad with headquarters in Hamilton. My friend’s grandfather and father called it the “To Hell and Back” railroad. … Continue reading →

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I met a camera that wasn’t there …

Posted on December 20, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. We have all (well some of us) heard about artificial intelligence (AI) tools and the amazing job they can do to create a photo. They can also create photos of cameras that were never made! The PetaPixel site shows … Continue reading →

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Christmas a century ago

Posted on December 19, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Our erstwhile historian and good friend, George Dunbar, discovered this photo from the LAC in ‘The Lake Report‘ and shared it with us. It shows the two sides in WW1 taking a break and celebrating Christmas together. One soldier … Continue reading →

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just another ad for the Beacon II

Posted on December 18, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. George Dunbar came across this ad in Popular Mechanics for July 1948 and shared it with us. I did a couple of posts on this typical box camera and its predecessor (both dressed up to look like the popular … Continue reading →

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Edward and the Giant Camera

Posted on December 16, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Edward Weston was an iconic American photographer. In 1973 Aperture printed a massive coffee table size book called, “Edward Weston: Fifty Years” with many of his famous prints plus a biography by Ben Maddox. You may be able to … Continue reading →

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taking its measure

Posted on December 15, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. While browsing for photo history material, George Dunbar spotted this May 1948 ad for a GE PR-1 selenium exposure meter and shared it with us. To separate the GE meter from others, it was advertised as having a ‘memory’ … Continue reading →

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the man from T.M.K.

Posted on December 14, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. While searching for photographic historica, George Dunbar came across the works of a Chinese (Hong Kong) photographer, Fan Ho on the South Korean website called, “Public Delivery“. George writes, “Some wonderful ‘street photography’ in China  by Fan Ho. He has been … Continue reading →

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grainy days

Posted on December 13, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. In film photography, grain is the ‘clumping’ of metallic silver created by the development of exposed silver halides. Large clumps were not a great issue when the sensitivity of glass plates was relatively slow and the plates and cameras … Continue reading →

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bowl on

Posted on December 11, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Here’s one way to take a neat video of a bowling strike. The technique can be used in other sports too. George Dunbar, a retired cameraman for IBM here in the Big Smoke, used this technique (totally unrelated to … Continue reading →

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calling all cameras

Posted on December 10, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Anther faux pas in North American camera sales. An article in the April 1948 issue of Popular Mechanics touted a case that carried a small camera plus a ‘portable’ battery powered radio. Smart phone users may relate to this … Continue reading →

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