Daguerreian Society Auction October 28th – Click Here
Toronto. On the 15th last week the Daguerreian Society sent me a notice that its annual auction was nearly ready online and a preview could be had.
Check it out to see what images and ephemera you could add to your collection.
If you can’t be on hand in person, there are arrangements for both live and absentee bids to be recorded as well. Just click the icon at left and scroll to the bottom of the notice.
PhotoEd Magazine for Fall 2017
Toronto. At the September 2017 executive meeting, member and our GTCCC representative, Felix Russo, had with him copies of the latest issue of PhotoEd magazine.
This 50th issue (Fall 2017) is the first to be edited and published by Rita Godlevskis with no input from Felix, the founder and first editor of PhotoEd.
Congratulations to her and all the best! Rita was the guiding light behind our revamped Photographic Canadiana which is in its 43rd year of publication. This issue of PhotoEd is out on the newsstands today for a very reasonable $7.95.
PHOTO News Autumn 2017
Toronto. A few days back I opened my Globe and Mail as I began breakfast. To my delight, the latest issue of Norm Rosen’s magazine popped out. Check out the PHOTO News web site to see many articles and back issues. And if you are not a Globe subscriber, then sign up for a free subscription.
Norm’s magazine is unusual in two ways: The articles while informative do not diss the advertisers; and two, the magazine is free.
How is this possible? A glossy full size magazine full of interesting articles and photographs? Norm says it is by making sure the advertisements cover publishing costs and using newspaper distribution to distribute the majority of issues. The magazine maybe free, but it is worth the time it takes to read the articles and admire photos. Take a look today.
NYT Photo Archive – Rudolph P Bratty Family Collection, Ryerson University. On exhibit until Dec 10, 2017
Toronto. In the Globe Arts last Saturday (September 16th) an aricle covered the recently opened exhibit at Ryerson Image Centre called The Faraway Nearby. This exhibit features some 200 photographs of Canadian subjects contained in the nearly 25,000 New York Times Archive photographs acquired by Ryerson University courtesy of the generous donation by the Bratty family. (When I attended university in the 1960s, my room-mate bought the Saturday Times, a massive edition of the NYT newspaper taking all weekend to read.)
The exhibit, now open, runs to December 10th of this year. The photo at left is the Canadian women’s Olympic speed-skating team at Lake Placid NY in 1932. The print still shows the NYT crop lines in red! Click on it to see a larger view.
If for some unfathomable reason you will miss this exhibit (or even if you do take it in), drop by the PHSC’s Toronto meeting at our regular North York Library location this coming January and hear the details of the behind-the-scenes curating on this exhibit by Denise Birkhofer of Ryerson.
Post shot portrait lighting adjustment on the iPhone 8 Plus
Toronto. … I gotta wear shades is a nuclear holocaust song by Timbuk3. Apple’s recent announcement of the iPhone 8 and the anniversary model iPhone X (iPhone 10) celebrating a decade since the industry disrupting iPhone was first released, prompted me to think about photography and its future.
Since photography as we know it, first burst on the world’s stage, in January 1839, many things have happened: Wet-plate, dry-plate, albums, CDVs, Cabinet cards, instantaneous photographs, movies, stereo, flexible film, colour, digital, internet, social media.
The PHSC was formed in 1974 to promote the history of photography at a time when film was king. So why is an historical society even talking about the future? Well, everything is history, eventually. For example, when I was born, photography was nearing its first century and had already made remarkable changes. The Kodak camera was almost universal; most people used black and white film; those few who wanted colour either used painfully slow and grainy colour processes of the day or made/bought hand-coloured monochrome prints coloured with special dyes. Continue reading
PHSC News 17-03 – just click the icon
Toronto. we start the fall session with a bang! Editor Sonja Pushchak delivers another wonderful pdf newsletter detailing the events of this fall plus other entertaining notes and articles.
The announcements cover: our fall fair; the September meeting; Our fall auction; The PHSC talks as presently known to next June; and the Classifieds.
Articles cover, Back to Style; In memoriam (Boris Spremo); The Evidence Room; Equipment Review; Web Links; Photo Book 101; and finally, Ask Phinny (replacing Ask Vicky).
Click HERE to read and down load this tasty issue issue – and join us on Wednesday, September 20th for a Canadian based Show and Tell celebrating our country’s 150th anniversary!
Selfie taken by a Macaque Monkey for photographer David Slater back in 2011
Toronto. Do you remember reading my post back in July about the Monkey Selfie? On Wednesday the internet was awash with notes that the famous Monkey Selfie ownership lawsuit had been settled out of court. I was alerted to this in Wednesday’s Globe.
My favourite paper reprinted the Sudhin Thanawala article from the Associated Press complete with a copy of one of the original photographs in the dispute.
The out of court settlement assigns 25% of future earning from the photos t0 a charity aiding the monkeys and the balance to the British photographer, David Slater. I have attached a copy of the article in case the link disappears.
Thanks to George Dunbar for clarifying the details – the lawsuit was abandoned, not settled. The out of court arrangement is between the photographer and PETA.
A camera in hand is the best camera…
Toronto.. As the saying goes, “The best camera is the one in your hand…” For the first 70 or so years of photography the most important accessory was a good tripod! The sensitive media were so slow it was impossible to take a sharp hand-held image. Maddox’s dry plate technology and the later roll films helped of course. Maddox’s medium was fast enough to usher in instantaneous pictures. But no matter how good your camera was, it was utterly useless sitting on the shelf.
This hit home to me this past Monday when I woke to the bang and crash of the end of my driveway being torn up. Some weeks earlier I acknowledged to a city inspector that their contractor’s small back hoe’s blade had indeed put the three yard-long gouges in the bottom of my drive while it dug down to my water inlet valve. A skilled team descended on my now naked drive to add a few inches of gravel and ready it for asphalt.
Thinking I should record this event, I rushed outside. As I watched the team in action, I realized two things: first, my camera was indoors, and second, I had my iPod Touch in my pocket. I pulled it out and proceeded to take a dozen and a half shots over the next hour. My Sony would have taken sharper photos but it was in the house and in use it would have been obvious to all.
This example image was originally 2592×1936 pixels or about 5 Mp and reduced to 1296×968 pixels or about 1.3 Mp. It was shot with what would be a 35mm lens on a 35mm camera but was actually a 3.3mm lens. In the bright sunlight of the day, the tiny camera set itself to ISO 25, f/2.4 and 1/905 seconds speed. No wonder cameras are being seriously challenged now that every smartphone can take photos and easily upload them to the internet.
Click for Vendor Table Form
Toronto. Did you enjoy our last show at the A&L Club at 14 Elm Street? Our next one is this coming November. Free Admission. Open Noon to 4 pm.
Our Image Show Chairman Ashley Cook says, “The leaves are turning red and the pumpkin spice lattes are on every corner, which means it’s also getting closer to the Image Show!
“Mark your calendars for Sunday, November the 26th and join us at the Arts & Letters Club in downtown Toronto.
“Interested in becoming a vendor for the show? We have a limited number of tables available, and they go fast! You can find an application form by clicking the icon above left, or click here. For more information get in touch with me (Ashley Cook) at fair@phsc.ca.
View of ROM from Bloor St with an iPod Touch during a visit to the Family Camera exhibition
Toronto. Departing Programme Co-ordinator Les Jones arranged the various presentations for the balance of this year and the first two months of the next membership year (2018/9).
Please note that some of the presentations are tentative and all are subject to change. We welcome both members and public to join us each month as we offer a mix of old and new photographic ideas and concepts – with free coffee and treats!
Go to our Programs page for times and directions.
Changes in the program will be posted here on our web site and in the PHSC News which is a free pdf format newsletter we send out each month just before an event or presentation. You can sign up at news@phsc.ca to have your copy sent directly to your inbox!
Program Sept 2017 – June 2018
EVENTS
Click the above icon to download the form and mail a copy with your cheque. You can include your donation with the join/renew form too.
Stan White – Poems & Photos
Mise Au Point – sur la photographie Quebecois
