Tag Archives: flash gun

when ‘BC’ meant battery-capacitor

Posted on May 26, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. One of the nagging things affecting the wide use of flash bulbs was the risk of having dying batteries when the old camera and flash were dug out to be used for an event. For a brief period of … Continue reading →

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another way to make money …

Posted on May 20, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. … with photography! Weegee in NYC last century seemed to find many ways to make money from his photography besides taking street photos at night of crimes, etc. –  like books and promotions. George Dunbar writes, “Weegee, one of … Continue reading →

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gilding the lily

Posted on March 30, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. Post WW2, photography literally blossomed with new ideas. Flash bulbs became the rage for solving lighting problem allowing for snaps at night or indoors. Soon all cameras came wth flash synchronized shutters. Many included the soon to be ubiquitous … Continue reading →

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kalart to the rescue

Posted on March 13, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. In the mid last century after WW2, flash bulb photography became popular for shooting the very slow media at night or indoors. This avoided using either very slow speeds, or the somewhat intimidating and restraining AC photo flood lamps. … Continue reading →

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a flashy ad over 60 years ago

Posted on July 26, 2019 by Robert

Toronto. Once the media (glass plates, film) became fast enough for instantaneous outdoor photos, people began creating a means to make indoor photos. In most cases the lack of a bright light was the limiting factor and various means to … Continue reading →

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a flash of colour

Posted on March 31, 2019 by Robert

Toronto. In mid last century amateur photography was quite different than today with ubiquitous smartphone cameras. The small camera phase (mincam) was in full swing. Black and White films ruled – colour was very expensive and even slower than B&W. … Continue reading →

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something’s wrong with this picture

Posted on July 14, 2018 by Robert

Toronto. In 1992, the late Glenn Frey, released the album Strange Weather. Included was the song Love in the 21st Century which includes the above line. Frey was the front man and writer for the dysfunctional rock band the Eagles. When … Continue reading →

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a beacon in the night …

Posted on July 1, 2018 by Robert

Toronto. Happy Canada Day, everyone! As I mentioned in an earlier post, the 1950s saw a burst of inspiration in selling flash guns to the general public as a means to counter the rather anemic speed of the films of … Continue reading →

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a flash in the pan

Posted on June 26, 2018 by Robert

Toronto. For Christmas 1951 I received the gift of a Brownie Hawk-eye kit with a camera (box), a roll of 620  film, flash  bulbs, flash-gun, dry cells for the gun and a plastic protector to hang over the flash-gun in … Continue reading →

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A Flash of Inspiration

Posted on June 16, 2017 by Robert

Toronto. My good friend David Bridge recently did a study of a little flash synchronizer intended to be used in the days when flash bulbs were common but in-camera flash sync was not.  His comments prompted me to dig out … Continue reading →

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