McKeown’s Famous Camera Guide due this year

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Robert

MckCamera-smToronto. For years a number of sources were referenced for valuation of cameras. Eventually McKeown’s Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras prevailed and became the standard for many people. I have the 11th edition which is some 900+ pages released in January 2001 for the 2001-2002 years. It covers over 25,000 cameras. An additional version was  released a bit before the devastation of the digital era hit collectors and camera valuations alike.

We were recently advised that a new 4 VOLUME and online edition of this historic guide would appear in 2016. Continue reading →

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Toronto’s William James Family

Posted on March 14, 2016 by Robert
William and his brother in 1912

William and his brother in 1912

Toronto. A few weeks ago George Dunbar sent me this interesting set of images. George frequently browses photographic sites including Toronto’s Urban Toronto web site.

The images were posted last month in Urban Toronto by  a member who goes by the name Goldie who suggests the James family is Toronto’s first Photojournalists. Continue reading →

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April Auction in Massachusetts

Posted on March 12, 2016 by Robert

Toronto. If you find yourself in Massachusetts on Sunday,  April 3rd, drop in at the John McInnis Auctioneers in Amesbury and add a bit to your collection of cameras and images. mad_half-600

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Monkey Business at the PHSC

Posted on March 11, 2016 by Robert
MailChimp.com

MailChimp.com

Toronto. More than 10 million people send 600 million emails daily using the MailChimp service. With issue 15-10 of our newsletter we too have joined this trending service! Our 20 mail lists were converted to Excel, assembled, and cleaned up before David Bridge submitted them to MailChimp.

Our newsletter is also hosted on MailChip servers and when we initiate distribution with the Send This Campaign button, MailChimp sends out a notice to all on our list. Clicking on the notification letter link lets the recipient read the newsletter (and use the hot links in our newsletter – you did know about the hot links :-). The newsletter can be saved as usual to the reader’s computer (some folk have experienced a problem doing this). Using SAVE AS instead of SAVE seems to work – or you can go to this website and download a copy if you really need it on your own computer.

Not only is it faster for us to use this service, but MailChimp offers statistics not otherwise available, backs up our mail list, keeps our lists secure, and simplifies future transfer of this site and the newsletter distribution to other voluneers. It remains to the PHSC volunteers to add and delete addresses as need be before we initiate a new mailing. If you are having trouble using this new service,  drop me or David a note at info@phsc.ca.

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Newsletter 15-10

Posted on March 11, 2016 by Robert
Group Photograph in late 1880s by Toronto photographer Josiah Bruce

Group Photograph in late 1880s by Toronto photographer Josiah Bruce

Toronto. Well, editor David Bridge has served up another delicious issue of the PHSC Newsletter! This issue introduces our March speaker, Ms Elizabeth Larew who discusses Berenice Abbott and glass plate negative.  There is a review of our February outing at Ryerson University, plus more before/after photos of PHSC members.

Bob Lansdale discusses a Goerz Periscope Gun Camera and searches for more details. Our president Clint Hryhorijiw talks about a cabinet card in his article “From Out of the West“. Next is my review of Larry Gubas’s engaging and important book “Zeiss and Photography” followed by a membership blurb with our 40 years of Photographic Canadiana DVD.

Our forthcoming events (auction, fair, meetings) are noted and Louise Freyburger writes on a mystery Josiah Bruce group photograph taken on King Street in the late 1800s. Click the thumbnail of the Bruce Photo, or here or on the menu bar item NEWSLETTER to read and print this edition of our newsletter.

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Harold Staats – Lost Images Exhibit

Posted on March 2, 2016 by Robert

Toronto. View the details here.

Lost-Images

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WCPHA Newsletter March 2016

Posted on March 1, 2016 by Robert
WCPHA Newsletter

WCPHA Newsletter

Toronto. Click here or on the icon at left to see and print the March Newsletter of our associated organization, Western Canada Photographic Historical Association (WCPHA).

This issue discusses Minolta’s bridge cameras in some depth. The author reviews how alternatives to the 35mm format fizzled in the face of the digital onslaught. The merger with Konica and eventual sale of the camera division to Sony is also covered.

It was an interesting article for me since I moved from Coolpix cameras to a Sony F828 and later to the mirrorless Sony NEX line. Check it out and drop in if you find yourself in Vancouver when there is a show or meeting.

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Would this 1946 assignment be banned today?

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Robert
LIFE Magazine stunt in 1946

LIFE Magazine stunt in 1946

Toronto. Member George Dunbar has a warm spot for copyright and privacy issues. George sent me this brief article: In 1946, LIFE magazine hid photographer Yale Joel behind a two-way mirror in the lobby of a Times Square theatre. Joel photographed members of the unsuspecting public who elected to check their looks in the mirror.

In 1946 the stunt sold magazines. Today it would inspire lawsuits no doubt… Click here or on the icon at left for the full story.

N.B. George credits this story to the blog “Fans in a Flashbulb“. Its a great site – take a look around!

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$221,000 US photograph by Ansel Adams

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Robert
Moonrise, Hernandez NM USA by Ansel Adams

Moonrise, Hernandez NM USA by Ansel Adams

Toronto. I first saw a reproduction of this beautiful photograph by Adams in one of the Time-Life books I bought in 1970 (The Camera).

Today, Dalle Kaplan at Swann Auction Galleries announced a print of this shot sold for the astounding sum of $221,000 US in an auction four days ago. The print in question was donated by Adams to Edwin Land of Polaroid fame. Land in turn gave it to his friend and 1952 Nobel Prize winner Edward Purcell. It is the ONLY copy of this Adams photograph to ever be auctioned!

As digital makes its inroads devastating traditional silver based photography, we collectors are slowly shifting from cameras to images. Four decades ago I was astonished at a small silver based print selling for $5,000. Really old prints cased or otherwise went for a few dollars at most. Today as cameras fall in value, their product, prints, are quickly rising in value.

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Review of Heckman’s Canadian Pacific

Posted on February 28, 2016 by Robert
Joseph Heckman of the CPR

Joseph William Heckman of the CPR

This is my review of Ralph Beaumont’s talk on Heckman and his CPR images. Unless otherwise noted the images used are courtesy of Canadian Pacific Corporate Archives.

Bob Lansdale, Clint, and I met with January’s speaker Ralph Beaumont and his friend Rod Clarke for a pre meeting supper at the Trio restaurant upstairs from our meeting room.

Ralph, who used to own the Boston Mills Press publishing company, wrote the Heckman CPR photography book and Rod did the proof reading, image editing and design. We mentioned in the meeting announcement that all images in the book used the original glass plates but we learned that the plates were destroyed years ago and the images came from the albumen contact prints. Due to the way they were permanently mounted in their albums, there was no way the prints could be directly scanned. Instead, the prints were photographed with a digital SLR in situ. Ralph and Rod are both train fanatics with little background in early photographic processes. The finished book is distributed by the Credit Valley Railway Co [http://cvrco.com/bookdistributing2015.htm] Continue reading →

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