The Towers That Be
I have attempted to photograph these columns multiple times, and each time something has gone wrong. On one visit, the lens’s field of view did not fit my conceptualization. Next, I used a 24mm lens on a camera with a bad light leak. Another time, I droppedContinue Reading
Okay—Who Did What?
This warning sign is near the back (south side) of the Old Fourth Ward Park reservoir, where the water is quite deep. Whenever I see a sign like this, I wonder what triggered its installation. At the north side of the park, the reservoir has a shallow edgeContinue Reading
The Fab 50’s: Slowly Working My Way Through Minolta’s Normal Lenses
The 50mm focal length is a mainstay of photography. Budding photographers are advised to get a 50mm lens as their first purchase. Leica Thread Mount (LTM) rangefinders offered 50mm lenses before SLRs existed. And when SLRs arrived in the late 1950s, 50mm lenses were among the very first lensesContinue Reading
Film Fare: LomoChrome Color ’92–Blue and Grain
As the saying goes, “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.” When it comes to Lomography’s range of color films, this saying rings true. The traditional color films: CN 100, 400, and 800 are pretty standard in their renditions. The more artsy films–Turquoise, Purple, Metropolis, andContinue Reading
So—It’s Not a Cannon…
From 50 yards away, this looks like a cannon. That was my impression every time I drove by. It always seemed odd that a cannon would be in Old Fourth Ward Park, because I never read of it being a battlefield. But I went with my impression and decidedContinue Reading
An Odd Year in the Garden
Usually, by late November, all the flowers are gone. This autumn has been different. After a one-day freeze, the temps returned to the 70s, and flowers are still blooming. The coneflowers have new blooms, and the red sage is still vibrant. Even the sweet alyssum, which usually dies with theContinue Reading
VMLP 42: Minolta MD Zoom 24-35mm, f/3.5 — A Good Thing in a Small Package
The early 1980s seem to have been the glory days for manual Minolta zooms. The 24-35mm f/3.5, released in 1981, was among the early wave of MD III lenses introduced between 1981 and 1983. Many members of this group — 35-105mm f/3.5-4.5, 28-85mm f3.5-4.5, 70-210mm f/4, and the last versionContinue Reading
Film Fare: Going Through the Freezer
Starting in the middle of the pandemic, I began buying an assortment of films to experiment with. Prior to that time, I had used only Kodak and Fuji consumer films (UltraMax and Fuji Superia X-tra 400) bought locally. Black-and-white film entered my repertoire in late 2020, via UltrafineContinue Reading
Best Cameras vs Most Used Cameras
A few weeks ago, I read a post recommended by Jim Grey. It talked about the “best” camera in terms of capability, quality, and dependability as compared to the one you use most often. After giving this idea some thought, I realized that I’m in the same boat asContinue Reading
The Vintage Minolta Love Project, an Update
The Vintage Minolta Love Project (VMLP) has been a key driver of Earth, Sun, Film posts from the beginning. The VMLP started with a simple goal—shoot all the major Minolta SLRs from the 1958 SR-2 to the 2004 Maxxum 70. In doing so, I hoped to learn photography, experience Minolta’sContinue Reading
