Category Archives: history

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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a portrait for peanuts

Posted on December 7, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. A portrait captures not only the subject, but the ‘essence’ of the subject. It is a rare attribute for a photographer. Yousuf Karsh in Ottawa was one such photographer known world wide for his arresting portraits of the famous, … Continue reading →

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bridging the gap

Posted on December 6, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Niagara Falls has always been an attraction – one way or the other. InFebruary, 2011, we were enchanted by a talk on Niagara given by Dr Norman Ball. His talk was titled, “Niagara Falls: A Story of Crazies, Improbabilities … Continue reading →

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the sky is falling …

Posted on December 5, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. … or so said Chicken Little in the Children’s fable (I learnt the English version … ). For many years film and glass plates were basically insensitive to blue light (orthochromatic) so clouds and sky exposed for the landscape … Continue reading →

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