Description: Office front, Little Five Points, Atlanta Background: I have passed by this office many times on my way to Zesto’s, Atlanta’s answer to Dairy Queen. Each time, I smile. There is something about the list of practices that strikes me as incongruent. I cannot explain why. Maybe it’s the factContinue Reading
The Vintage Minolta Love Project began as a stroll through Minolta’s SLR models, starting with the SR-2. No other camera types were given any serious consideration—TLRs were too expensive, point and shoots seemed like a waste of time, and I had an active dislike for rangefinders. Some may find this difficult toContinue Reading
Composition lies at the center of photography, painting, and drawing. Capturing the viewer’s attention, telling a story, invoking a mood all rely on composition at some level. In my quest to make better images, I have spent much of the last six months studying lighting and composition. I suppose oneContinue Reading
Some things look far easier to accomplish than they are. I learned this lesson again when trying to capture images of gear to use for user experience reports. Often, I would set up a spot to shoot and find that window light didn’t work—too much reflection, too dim, wrong angle,Continue Reading
Over the last two years, I have seen emulsions disappear and prices skyrocket. For example, two years ago, I bought two rolls of 35mm Kodak Ektar to use for garden shots. Those two rolls sat in my freezer until this July, when I finally used one. Thankfully, many of theContinue Reading
Buying old cameras, regardless of source, requires one to test them for functionality before any serious use. So, when I started buying vintage Minoltas in February 2019, I had to create a testing protocol. The first film I used was Fuji Superia Xtra 400 with 36 exposures (all I couldContinue Reading
Modern cameras make it easy to take a picture. Most have a “Program” mode that takes care of metering, shutter speed, and aperture, leaving the picture-taker free to compose and focus. Generally, I avoid Program mode in favor of aperture priority because of my bokeh preferences. My technical knowledge hasContinue Reading
Exploring the history and growth of photography, researching techniques and practices—all add to the enjoyment of learning photography and snapping the shutter. Josh Solomon is responsible for my latest library additions. His post extolling the virtue of The Camera set me on a quest to find the 51-year-old Life Library of Photography. There areContinue Reading
Developing scanning expertise was never a goal for me. My practice has been to accept scanned images pretty much as they are. For black and white, this works nearly 100% of the time; color is another story. Over the past year, I have been more focused on testing cameras thanContinue Reading
There is something special about looking through a viewfinder, framing a scene, pausing to be sure all is as desired, then slowly pressing the shutter button. Anticipation–that itch to see the scene on a negative–starts right then. The unknowns account for some of the allure of using film—failure is alwaysContinue Reading
