a disastrous time

Posted on December 29, 2023 by Robert

San Francisco (View along O’Farrell St. looking southeast toward Market St.) after the 1906 earthquake – W E Worden via Calisophere archives

Toronto. Do you remember 1906 and the massive earthquake that hit San Francisco? As I have often said, photography brings events and history to life down through the ages.

There is a fault line that runs all the way to the Queen Charolette islands and further. When I visited the indians over two decades ago, I watched seismographs in the local city area stutter and stagger as small shifts in the earth’s plates occurred. And as you can see here, earthquakes are not just a California phenomenon!

Here we can see the terrible effect of mother nature over a century ago. The Huntington Library On the University of California’s Calisphere has an online archive with photos taken after the earthquake.

Have a  browse at Calisphere and see the devastation as recorded in 1906 by …. photography! Please note that both the site and this photograph are courtesy of my very good friend, George Dunbar. Mr Dunbar discovered the link and photo while researching photo history. Like me, George is a member of the PHSC.

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remember Dr Barnardo?

Posted on December 28, 2023 by Robert

box of glass slides found in Glasgow and sent to Canada

Toronto. We see in this article another example of photography recording history. In the article, “British Home Children: Antique box tells heart-breaking history” reported by Eloise Alanna, a box of glass slides from Glasgow lands in Canada to complement the sad history of the Home Children (BHC).

Some of the orphanages for children of the poor were run by Dr Barnardo. Children from such orphanages were shipped off to various countries like Canada. Our April 2018 meeting featured Sandra Joyce. She explained the history and (often sad) progress of the orphans shipped to the Dominions and (hopefully) a better life.

This post is based on a story and link sent to me by both George Dunbar and Clint Hryhorijiw. A heartfelt thanks to both. The story is touching not only for Ms Joyce and her talk but that one of my wife’s relatives through an aunt was one of the BHCs who did manage to have a better life over here.

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a tasty treat

Posted on December 27, 2023 by Robert

a working ginger bread box camera

Toronto. This article is a followup to our boxing day post. We have all heard/made gingerbread houses, but what about a gingerbread [box] camera that takes photos?

CBC news the other day commented, “New Westminster’s Dmitri Tcherbadji loves film cameras so much, he decided to make one out of gingerbread.

“It took hours to draw blueprints, bake, and craft a lens out of sugar, but he successfully created an edible, gingerbread camera. He then turned his focus to the CBC’s Baneet Braich and showed her how it works.”

The link here includes a short video showing how the camera is made plus some sample shots. Besides the ‘sugar’ lens, a weighted paper shutter (gravity operated) is used. The film is the Fuji Instax alternative to polaroid film. Instax  eliminates separate development and printing steps. Yummy!

A quick thanks to my friend and our PHSC president, Clint Hryhorijiw, for sharing this piece of festive news with us. Well done Clint!

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boxer

Posted on December 26, 2023 by Robert

box camera in a lot from a recent auction

Toronto. And here we are once again at an official boxing day! To commemorate this event, at left is an old film box camera from a recent auction lot.

Box cameras are the basic camera design: a fixed focus lens with a stop fast (small) enough to give  fixed focus from a few feet to infinity (or using a couple of waterhouse stops to vary the aperture size) ; a sensitive media; a rigid means to correctly separate the media and lens; and a way to point/frame the shot.

A slow shutter speed(s) and daylight make sure the exposure is enough to give a decent negative. Steady hands and/or tripods were a great help in the days before optical stability mechanisms and fast media.

More elaborate camera designs allowed adjustments for aperture, speed, and focus as well as a means to view/frame the subject, measure distance to the subject and possibly collapse the camera or lens for carrying and storage. Or even focal length. Piece of cake!

Of course those who grew up in this digital era and its smartphones don’t see any need for collapsing means, light gauging, etc, etc. Just press and send …

Now off to the store for traditional boxing day bargains!

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Merry Christmas 2023 from all at PHSC

Posted on December 25, 2023 by Robert

Christmas 1966 in Toronto on Kodachome

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t’was the night …

Posted on December 24, 2023 by Robert

what a wonderful gift in 1972 – if you had and used a Polaroid camera

Toronto. Christmas eve again. That magical night loved by all children when ‘Santa’ drops by with gifts for all the children on his list.

We at PHSC wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year wherever you are and whenever you celebrate the season and the new year.

Our post title is from that famous 1823 poem tentatively written  by Clement Clarke Moore and known by those old and young.

The image at left is from a Christmas 1972 issue of LIFE magazine. In it, Polaroid makes two big assumptions: The recipient owns a working Polaroid; and all ‘gift’ photos will come out perfect. Typically, many of my family had a Polaroid camera – used a few times then tossed to the back of a shelf or closet after the delighted owner discovered the cost of having ‘instant’ prints and that many of the costly prints might be ruined as the Polaroid camera is adjusted to work best and the subject is finally suitably posed and alert.

Those of us today born in the digital era think all photos are full colour, cheap, and instant – or what is a smartphone for???

My thanks to very good friend and fellow PHSC member, George Dunbar, for finding and sharing this timely Christmas eve advertisement from years gone by.

 

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a subjective choice

Posted on December 23, 2023 by Robert

Niagara Falls c1974 using Kodachome transparency film

Toronto. We are about an hour’s drive from one of the world’s most famous falls – Niagara. The photo at left is from the late 1970s on Kodachrome transparency film. In spite of its slow speed and high contrast, Kodachome was used at the time to capture events to be saved for the future.

Since the beginning of photography, people and Niagara Falls have been popular subjects. Collectors of photos are certain to have at least one ‘falls’ shot in their collection. We have had many talk about the falls including ways to date photographs by the background and how the falls were used to generate hydro-electric power.

As photographers we have a wide choice of subjects. Colour and framing make the subject appealing, In landscapes capturing a falls can turn an indifferent shot into an eye-catching photograph. Photographer Brian Matiash talks about water falls in his latest LightroomEverywhere blog, “Why I Love Photographing Waterfalls“. Brian lives in Florida these days (more flat and swampy) but at one time he lived in the American west where water falls abound. Have a read!

Think about your subject and a photo’s impact the next time you are off on a shoot or busy searching indoors somewhere for that special photograph to add to your collection!

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a true artist

Posted on December 22, 2023 by Robert

Victor Hugo by Etienne Carjet c1876 about a century and a half ago

Toronto. Before photography, artists used pencil, charcoal, brush, and paint to create a ‘likeness’ of a well to do person. The wealthier and more famous the person, the better he/she could afford a well known painter – a true artist.

When photography was first announced, it was intended to make reproduction in printed matter simpler, or to record scenes in a more lifelike fashion. Very quickly its was realized that it afforded more modest folk to pay for a ‘likeness’.

Shown at left is the French author Victor Hugo whose likeness and spirit were captured by another famous Frenchman, Etienne Carjet.

Since its inception, the art of photography has progressed – more sensitive media; advances in resolution; faithful reproduction of natural colour; movies, three dimensions; Off the shelf equipment and media; processing by third parties; etcetera. As the technical demands were reduced, more and more people embraced the art for various intentions.

Today with digital technology, the technical aspect of photography has become so complete that nearly every one is a ‘photographer’. One thing is missing. A true artist can bring forth the key feeling of a person or scene. A true artist knows how to make an arresting, appealing image of a person or scene. Today millions are photographers; a handful are true artists.

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frozen in time

Posted on December 21, 2023 by Robert

a Nikon frozen in time courtesy Pablo Betancourt

Toronto. Sometimes climate change uncovers a disaster from years past. In this case an event nearly 50 years old. George Dunbar came across this NY Times article (you need an account to read the original article as NYT has a pay wall these days). If you don’t have a subscription, you can read the article here or on the FRI site linked below.

George  writes, “High on Aconcagua, the Western Hemisphere’s highest mountain, the shrinking Polish Glacier spits out what it once devoured.

“That is how Janet Johnson and John Cooper became part of the folklore of Aconcagua. They climbed along with others in 1973. Johnson’s body was found in 1975. Nearly five decades later, an old Nikon camera had emerged from the receding glacier. It was wound, prepared to take the next picture.”

George then notes the Canadian connection to this article, “INDIAN HEAD, SASKATCHEWAN, is about an hour east of Regina. Its tallest structure is a grain elevator. There is not a mountain in sight. On a downtown corner is a former bank, a two-story brick structure from the 1800s. Today it is home to Film Rescue International [FRI], run by a man named Greg Miller.”

And FRI processed the film taken 50 years ago by the Nikon before disaster  hit. You can also read the article here complete with photos and video saved by FRI.

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for meter collectors

Posted on December 20, 2023 by Robert

1946 ad for a GE exposure meter

Toronto.  Many camera collectors also collect exposure meters and calculators. My own collection includes a handful of both. The ad shown here is from the December, 1946 LIFE magazine. George Dunbar, who generously shared it with us, found it while searching the magazines for all ads relevant to photography.

In the late 1950s I bought my first light meter. Before that I resorted to the sheets Kodak inserted in each box of film to help me choose the camera settings based on the light. It was a toss up between GE and Weston for a meter. I ended up buying the Weston Master III. This was rather early in the days of handheld meters and all were based on selenium cells which created a voltage under exposure to light.

Sadly just when you needed the reading (dim outdoor sunlight, indoor lights) selenium meters created almost no voltage. Years later meters based on the far more sensitive cadmium sulfide (CdS) cells appeared on the market. CdS resistance varied with light exposure and required a battery to reflect values on a meter. Under steady light, the resistance varied so the CdS cell was blocked from the light or any voltage until a reading was needed.

Many makers took advantage of a characteristic of mercury cells – constant voltage until end of life. This meant a simple series circuit worked (meter, battery/cell, and CdS). The apple cart was upset when government decreed that all mercury uses polluted the landscape and mercury cell manufacture stopped. Some workarounds were available to replace the cells with mercury-free hearing aid or watch cells. Or you could buy a similar sized alkaline cell  and put up with a need to recalibrate from time to time as the voltage slowly fell.

In the late 1800s various calculators came to market to assist the photographer. Before the dry plate era the exposed plate was developed immediately giving nearly instant feedback to the photographer. The media were so slow a sub-second shutter was unnecessary.

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