Graflex Journal 2 16

Posted on August 20, 2016 by Robert
Big Bertha Graflex in NYC

Big Bertha Graflex in NYC

Toronto. Bob Lansdale, editor of our journal, Photographic Canadiana, just sent me this delightful issue of Ken Metcalf’s excellent publication, Graflex Journal covering the Graflex cameras.

The first two stories “Shooting the Big Bertha” by Geoffrey Berliner and “Mine is Bigger than Yours” by Ken Metcalf cover the famous Graflex popular with news and sports photographers  in the pre/post WW2 era.

I first saw one at the 2006 PHSC Spring Fair. Renaud Therrien of Montreal had the one shown here for sale (both the camera and Renaud are shown).

The balance of the 12 page Graflex Journal 2 2016  covers other cameras of interest to the Graflex collector and user. Continue reading →

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Urban Toronto

Posted on August 19, 2016 by Robert
Brick Making Machine - George Dunbar.

Brick Making Machine – George Dunbar 2010.      

Toronto. Member George Dunbar, a retired industrial photographer offers many images to the Urban Toronto site. There is a lot of history on this site. Have a look and see the many images on urbantoronto.ca.

The thumbnail for this post is part of a brick making machine photographed by George. The machine is in the Don Valley Brick Works near Bloor and the DVP.

George shot this photo four years ago in 2010. Take a few minutes to browse around both at George’s images and the Urban Toronto site.

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Star Light, Star Bright…

Posted on August 18, 2016 by Robert

Stellar shot by Scott JarvisToronto. Membership Secretary Wayne Gilbert sent me this document by Scott Jarvis, a Southern Ontario sports/journalism photographer.

Scott offers “Six Tips for Stellar Photography“. The link takes you to the article on Henry’s Blog, or you can click on the Canon shot at left to read Scott’s article in Microsoft Word (doc) format.

Enjoy the ideas and shoot for the heavens…

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Dave Heath 1931-2016

Posted on August 17, 2016 by Robert
David Heath - self portrait c 2002

David Heath – self portrait c 2002

Toronto. John Linsky dropped me a note back in July noting the passing of David Heath.

James Adams wrote a column in the Globe called “Dave Heath: A haunted genius behind the camera“. His column includes some of the photos taken by Heath who was a  photographer, author, and teacher.  Adams’ column quotes Toronto publisher Michael Torosian who spoke to us on April 15, 2009.

The portrait I used is from an inkjet print of a self-portrait taken by Heath in 2002. The  print was gifted to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri in 2014.

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London, Ontario Fall Show Oct 2nd

Posted on August 16, 2016 by Robert

leica m2 picToronto. Ron Tucker of London dropped us a note to say his Fall show “London Vintage Film Camera Show” will be held Sunday, October 2, 2016.

Maureen and Ron have been hosting this popular show for a few years now.

The show will be held in London, Ontario, at the Carling Heights Community Centre, 656 Elizabeth Street. The show is open 10am to 3pm.

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Daguerreian Society Benefit Auction Oct 22nd

Posted on August 15, 2016 by Robert
French 1/6th plate N.P. Lerebours Daguerreotype Camera and plate holder

French 1/6th plate N.P. Lerebours Daguerreotype Camera and plate holder

Toronto. Our friends down south at the Daguerreian Society are holding a Benefit Auction this fall. The date is Saturday, October 22, 2016. The “last call” poster shows the attractive camera I used as a thumbnail.

The poster also identifies what things will and will not be accepted.

The Benefit Auction link is to a summary auction page, the “last call” poster link shows the poster I received. Both links include a hot link to the email address for coordinator Greg French for more information..

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Getty Copyright Lawsuit

Posted on August 12, 2016 by Robert
My Grandchildren brought me this souvenir from the Getty Museum, CA.

My Grandchildren brought me this souvenir from the Getty Museum, CA.

California. Getty Images offers stock photos for a small fee.  But many of their photos are used unlawfully. There are so many images on the internet these days that Getty resorted to some code called a robot (bot for short). This code searches the internet endlessly for any images which have a tiny bit of imbedded code that creates the famous Getty Watermark.

A discovered watermark prompts the robot to send details to the Getty lawyers. For any illegal finding, a “cease and desist” letter goes out. This letter requests the recipient to pay a small fee or remove the image.

US photographer Carol Highsmith donated some 100,000 photographs to the Library of Congress stipulating they were to be placed in the public domain (free to be used by anyone). To her surprise, she received a “cease and desist” letter from Getty and a request to pay $110 US for use of an image. Unfortunately, it was a photo taken by Highsmith and donated to the Library of Congress. Continue reading →

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PHSC Newsletter 16-3

Posted on July 19, 2016 by Robert
Ian and Robert with their Graflex bargains at the auction.

Ian and Robert with their Graflex bargains at the auction.

Toronto. Editor David Bridge timed this nifty and informative edition to be issued a few days before our sixth annual trunk sale (held in memory of the late Larry Boccioletti). In addition to announcing the trunk sale, held this past Sunday, the newsletter carries my review of Robert Lansdale Junior’s gripping story of the CN Tower’s creation on the 40th anniversary of its opening this summer.

We follow with a review of the City of Waterloo Museum’s presentation of member Willy Nassau’s salute to photography called “Thru the Lens, Camera Obscura to Smartphone“. Editor Bridge was fortunate enough to attend the display in person.

The museum exhibit  is followed by a review of our 2016/7 program lineup. We are fortunate indeed to have visionary Les Jones take on the mantle of program director. Over twenty years ago Les was our program director and later our president.  Continue reading →

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Thoughts on Collecting and Leicas

Posted on July 12, 2016 by Robert
Leica M3 from Westlich Auction with a lens from Sam Tamarkin's auction.

Leica M3 from Westlicht auction with a lens from Sam Tamarkin’s auction.

Toronto. Back in June, John Linsky and I swapped emails on some fake Leicas. John’s last message on Leicas was this interesting article about collecting and building a collection using Leicas as an example.

The author, William Fagan, posted the article, “One Man’s Story: Online camera auctions and collecting classic Leicas” on his blog MACFILOS.

His article was originally printed last October in The Leica Society magazine. The aricle, his blog, and the Leica Society (European) site is of considerable interest to PHSC members, especially those interested in collecting hardware.

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