thinking there was a need for a small digital camera without shutter lag in my camera bag, i sold my first little digital and bought another. this one is a small canon a620 and strangely enough, i bought it from the same person who sold me my first.
i quite like it despite having it only for a day or so. i took it out today to breakfast with my saturday morning group and for a walk along whyte avenue and into the farmer's market.


here a few quick snaps...

another new lens; i can't help myself

and then some camera porn...

one more shot

some new photos very few words

a few shots taken recently.

so far behind...

every time i think about writing something i turn tail and run as i am so far behind here that it's hard to know where to begin.

i have a few photos to post tonight, all taken with my new set up.

i was blessed enough to be given a brand new zeiss ikon camera along with a 35/2 zeiss lens.

this kit so impressed me that i sold off some of my canon rangefinder collection just to buy another new lens for it.
these shots were taken with that new lens, a zm 25/2.8.



saturday morning coffee




snow man on whyte avenue




linda




veggie man at the market





i have more photos that need editing, scanning and some processing that will follow...soon ;)

as promised, a few summer photos







and some old fashioned camera porn...this is my $10. goodwill olympus 35rc, redone in black paint and genuine black leather. it's a greyhoundman original.

it's all in the timing

four days after my last blog entry i had a heart attack.
it was three days before my 55th birthday.

there had been a small but important plan in mind for this particular birthday.
on the agenda?
the drinking of a not too smooth scotch and the smoking of a very fine cigar.

this was to be a treat for being ‘so good’.

i had quit smoking about fifteen months prior and can’t even remember the last drink i had.

oh, it was a fine plan...

three days after my cardiac event, on my birthday, i had convinced the doctor that i should go home and start my recovery from the comfort of my own bed.
he wisely agreed.

that same birthday afternoon found me crying in the condiment aisle of my local safeway store, completely overwhelmed at the enormity of a healthy shopping experience.
i had foolishly thought that i was strong enough to get to a bank, make contact with my pharmacy and get all those damn prescriptions filled plus do some food shopping, all on the way home from the hospital.

at this point i was not allowed to drive so my good friend and protector was also designated driver and witness to my minor meltdown.

praise the powers that be for good friends.

what followed was four weeks of not doing much of anything.
no lifting, not even my arms above my head.
no cleaning and a strong warning to stay away from the evil vacuum cleaner.
those things are killers, apparently.

i was allowed three five minute walks a day for the first week.
i think i took only one as i had convinced myself that i would be found dead on the sidewalk, crawling towards my front door as my faithful dog slept on my corpse and the neighbors stepped over my lifeless body.

ok, so the fear level was a tad heightened. hey, i just had a heart attack!

the worst time for me were the nights, just before drifting off to sleep.
especially that first night home.
there were no nurses, doctors or lines running into or out of my body and no monitors of any kind.

how would anyone know if i died in my sleep?
what if i did die in my sleep?
i would miss the whole rest of my life!
thoughts like that only pop up occasionally now.

after four weeks the doctor said i could once again drive and go back to work.
i was overjoyed and scared silly all over again.

my first day back was eventful to say the least.
i was given the warmest welcome back ever and a layoff notice.
and i thought i had mental health problems before...

but was it just a horrible misunderstanding? no, not really.
it was just the absolute worst job of communication, plain and simple.

the next day i was offered any job i wanted in one of our new programs.

it’s true what they say...it’s all in the timing!

and now?
well, i’m taking it easy, i see my doctor ever few weeks and occasionally go into the lab for a test or two.

and i should be starting in that new program any day now.

more photos will be coming, i promise.
as a tease I’ll post a couple soon, maybe tomorrow...

where has the time gone?

my blog has been abandoned all summer!

it was not my intent to run away, honest!

i have not written poem or prose since may, except for all those posts on rangefinderforum.com -

i think i’m almost at 9 thousand.

who knew i had so much to say ;) ?

as for my photography i have not abandoned that,
soon i will begin to process the film i shot this summer, mostly tri-x, and then start the task of editing, scanning and posting.

here are a couple of digi shots of my 'real' cameras.

stay tuned...

a walk on whyte

pray for change


a few photos from the past 2 weekends on whyte avenue...

a hip shot


can


look


walkin' the dog

spring cleaning

there have been times over the years that i get restless, very restless.

these times have come to be known as spring cleaning days for me as i become dissatisfied with things.

things i own, things i do and things (life) in general.

some might call this depression, others a malaise, i just call it restlessness because i need to do something and i usually have little patience for getting it done.
do it now-finish it quickly-get it all out of my sight!
simple really.

so, this spring cleaning is all about cameras and lenses and photo stuff.



i have sold some lenses and am trying to sell others.
i let go of a few accessories that i no longer feel the need for.
edit down, feel free, easier decisions...

now the odd part...

i am in the process of buying a lovely older canon lll with a collapsible lens and can barely wait to play with it. i plan on taking it everywhere i go, seriously.

there is also that 100/2 canon lens i am in search of and i need to research photo printers because I’m selling off the darkroom i never use any more.



i find it odd that my cameras and lenses are from the 1950s and i now digitally scan my hand processed negatives and plan to use a machine to print my digital scans.
i would think ‘schizophrenic’, if i only knew how to spell it.

and now, some signs of the season of spring...

april showers

where to begin?

it has been a bad month so far...well not really but, this was my first thought and while it's not entirely accurate, it feels that way.

intellect versus emotion - - nah, not going there today...

what's happened so far this month?
i was lucky enough to purchase 2 'new' lenses for my photo rig and that's very good.
except one looks like it went through a war and the other was a disappointment because i didn't do my homework.
the 'war' lens is very small and has a reputation for being very sharp. i have not tried it yet. it is a canon 100/3.5 lens made for my canon cameras.
i really should not complain too much as the lens does work, in fact it was recently serviced, and the focus is like butter, maybe better.
it's just ugly!

the other lens is in very nice shape, cosmetically clean and the glass is clear, no marks on it at all. it is the canon 50/1.9 collapsible lens. it works perfectly but does not collapse all the way into my camera body. why? cause it's not supposed to. but i didn't know that when i bought it, hence the previous lack of homework comment.

while being disappointed with both lenses was my burden i decided to take the little 50 out for a spin, might as well see what the lil thing could do.
so i mounted it on my favourite camera and headed out.

ever hear about bad things coming in three's?

i dropped my favourite camera and 'new' lens onto the concrete of whyte avenue.

it was a sickening thud...

maybe you can better understand the bad month comment now.

the camera and lens are now en route to new jersey where i hope they can put humpty together again.

fortunately, i managed to take a few shots with that combo the week before and i'll show you a couple along with a few shots from today, taken with my favourite lens, the canon 35/2.

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new beginnings...old photos

recently, i have begun to scan my own negatives.
prior to this, my scans were made by a local lab and while i am pleased overall with their work, it is not my work.

and so, i have looked about and found some very old negatives to practice on.
these shots were taken a very long time ago when i was young. not younger, young.

my friend kathleen is the model. she is still young.

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an early attempt at street shooting.

robert capa once said, "if your pictures aren't good enough you're not close enough"

i think he was right.

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not by me but of me



shooter unknown

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