I like the Minolta Semi P—much more than expected. For the second round of testing, I loaded it with Lomography Potsdam Kino, took a few shots around the house, then went for a stroll. Unfortunately, a developing mishap led to odd floral-like patterns on the negatives. The few frames thatContinue Reading
Last year’s bird buffet was a resounding success. I set up the buffet in January, and by March, titmice, cardinals, house finches, and chickadees were regular visitors. Lacking a proper bird feeder, I opted to stick with safflower seeds because squirrels won’t eat them. However, safflower seeds are tiny withContinue Reading
The Old Fourth Ward is a historic Atlanta neighborhood that lies east of downtown Atlanta. The northernmost border of Old Fourth Park abuts North Avenue, one of those streets where, for a long time, one only drove across to get somewhere else—how things change. The new park lies in anContinue Reading
The idea for an image can arise from any experience or thought. This image exists because I had just received a new black SR-1, a camera I’d never heard of until seeing it for sale. The camera was in beautiful condition, and I bought it only because it was black.Continue Reading
The X-570 is not flashy. It is best described as a gracious, reliable, helpful companion. It doesn’t chew with its mouth open, expect you to laugh at bad puns, or eat the takeout you tried to hide in the back of the fridge. It is simply there when needed andContinue Reading
The Polar Vortex came through last winter and dropped temps into the single digits. I watched as my brown garden with defiant patches of green turned all brown. The gardenias suffered the most. The large seven-foot bush in the front of the house turned and remains brown, looking almost asContinue Reading
This was my first roll of Lomography Potsdam Kino. All winter, I’d been looking forward to shooting it. Opening the development tank, I was upset to find the negatives festooned with these odd patterns. I should have known better. While loading the film on the developing reel, it stuck,Continue Reading
Posh folks use “winter” as a verb, as in “We wintered in Palm Springs.” Although my unplanted sweet potato vines and geraniums do not count as posh items, I didn’t want to see them die, having never been properly seated in pots. I bought them along with 30 or moreContinue Reading
Buy enough multi-item lots on eBay, and there is bound to be at least one teleconverter in the batch. Cheap teleconverters have a bad reputation—for a good reason. However, since all I have are cheap, that is what I chose to test. In this case, I used a Tamron 2xContinue Reading
Buying on eBay is an exercise in probability—that is, at some point, you are probably going to buy a dud. We’ve all been there—a “mint” lens with noticeable fungus, a supposedly working camera with a frozen film advance, and the ultimate sales pitch “I don’t know much about cameras, but…” OneContinue Reading
