Goodwill, Good Camera

Sometimes I like to hunt around for cameras at Goodwill Stores as well as tag sales especially now that used camera stores and used camera shows have all but disappeared from the face of the earth. Yes, there is eBay, but there is still something to be said for browsing first hand and not knowing what you may find. In addition to the almost new Polaroid that I picked up at one of my favorite Goodwill Stores (see earlier posting – “Polaroid Paparazzied Puppy”) I also found a very capable Canon AF35ML for only $2 !! This is actually a very nice once top of the line circa 1980s point and shoot, auto focus, auto wind, auto rewind auto everything but espresso maker. It is the only point and shoot of its era that I know of which boasts a fast 1.9 lens. Its kind of like an automatic version of the old Canon GIII. I actually purchased one of these 35MLs a few years earlier at a tag sale for $4 but when I got it home I noticed that although it made all the right whirring and clicking sounds the shutter failed to open. It sits in my study as a memento which is Latin for “remember the last time I got burned buying something?” This time I brought a set of fresh AAs to verify that my $2 investment would not go to waste. I quickly popped them into the ML and checked for shutter, winding, etc.. All systems seemed to be OK. I later loaded it with a $2 roll of film, shot some usual photos of trees and Dexter and had them developed at Walmart for $6. I scanned a few of the negatives and tweaked them as much as my poor iPhoto could stand it and the results can be seen below. Yes, it works! The thing I like about the 35ML is the way it feels in the hands. It’s not a wimpy little camera. By the same token it’s not very heavy either but like the Whopper, it has a nice fit for two hands. It also has a big viewfinder, at least compared to any of today’s digital point and shoots. One thing to be careful of, which can actually be a good thing when you need it, is that it’s always ready to be in a continuous shoot mode if you simply keep your finger on the shutter button. If you do not want to take more than one frame you need to remove your finger immediately after taking the first shot. And now that I’ve shot the obligatory first roll of film its in my study as a memento. (NOTE: I picked the song "Bullet Proof" to go with this posting only because I like it right now. Actually, the 35ML is almost bullet proof, but nothing like a Leica!)

non working ML (dusty)

working ML (cleaner)

photos taken with the "working" ML

Canon GIII

Kent Furnace, Kent, CT - Canon GIII

The Big Dig

I’m just going to write this post only because I haven’t posted anything in almost a month and I have some interesting and funny pictures, movies and links to go with it. The main reason I haven’t been blogging lately, aside from running around visiting colleges for my daughter and going to her concerts, is that I've been digging. No, not a garden, but a 30’ long by 1’ deep trench (approximately). I had to repair / replace some wires which provide electricity to our studio / storage building “out back”. When I wasn't digging or messing around with wires, conduit and splices I was too tired to even sit and “blog” but rather sit and “blob” in front of the boob tube. The whole ordeal made me think of The Three Stooges episode (which I happened to catch while relaxing) where they are plumbers. I could especially relate to Larry digging a hole in the yard and Curly (it was also made with Shemp) pulling wires out of a pipe. What’s funny is that my wife watches the home improvement shows like This Old House, etc. and I always end up watching the The Three Stooges doing home repairs.

In the process of digging I unearthed an old horseshoe. I think if I had dug any deeper I would have found an old horse! But I thought it was pretty interesting and it made me think of what things must have been like on our property in the old farming days. At least I discovered another small piece of history and it must have brought good luck because the lights are finally working again!

Studio

A mole digging in our front yard

Earth Day

lithographic poster by Robert Rauschenberg 1970

In honor of Earth Day I bought a camera bag made of 95% recycled materials. Actually, I bought the bag the day after Earth Day and I got it because I liked it and I kind of needed a midsized camera bag. I did pick up a couple of beer cans off the side of the road yesterday, Earth Day, but I always do that. But the camera pouch really is made of recycled stuff of some sort, maybe old leisure suits from the 1970s, who knows. I especially like the little picture of the polar bears on it. Actually, a portion of my cash for this product is supposed to go to polarbearsinternational.org according to the inside of the label, so I guess I don't feel too guilty about buying it. Whenever I think of Earth Day I think of the poster that Robert Rauschenberg made in 1970 for what would have been the first celebration of that day. Incidentally, that is the same year that Stewart Brand's Whole Earth Catalog was published. Groovy.

History Lesson?

While I was sorting through my pictures to go with "Red" (see next posting below) I came across this somewhat rather typical photo of a red barn which just happens to be up the street from me, well actually, that's kind of the point of this post. It used to be just up the street. It has recently been torn down to make room for yet another cookie cutter designed house. And I thought we were in a housing slump. The rural atmosphere of the neighborhood I live in, like a lot of places is continually diminishing. This barn was a favorite subject of mine. It was a 5 minute walk from my house. The famous photographer Paul Strand used to say that you could take some of the best photographs just outside your back door or in your backyard or something like that! Which is comforting for me because I never really go anywhere! But I'm glad I at least had the chance to take some pictures of that old barn because now it's another part of history.

Red

Usually I look for songs to go along with my posts, to sort of accompany, comment or illustrate an idea. Some work better than others. This time however I simply wanted to add the song “Red” by Daniel Merriweather to my playlist blog basically just because I really love the song a lot. It is one of the best new ballads I’ve heard probably since George Michael did “Careless Whisper”. I’m not saying it’s as good or time worthy as “Careless Whisper” but it’s really good. Once in a while, on Saturday mornings while I’m making breakfast and coffee (mmmmm....home fries!!!) I turn on VH1 to keep in “tune” with current trends in music. It’s not much different from the old days in the 80s when I would watch MTV, especially last week. Instead of the usual Rap and Grunge music there were quite a few, just “normal” pop rock tunes. Is there a return to real music again? Most of the stuff in the Top 20 was actually pretty good, but for me “Red”, even though it was “only” at 13 on the list, was a cut above everything else. Now I just have to find a picture of mine to accompany this song. I hope you enjoy it, the song that is!! I couldn't decide which "red" photograph to use, so here's a bunch, none of which deserve to be used with this song.

A quick note on the Title Block

Here's a quick comment about my Title Block photo which I just recently added. I noticed other people have photos in their title blocks and it seemed like a good idea. I remembered a photograph I took of myself in the mirror which I thought conveyed the image of "cameraguyd" rather well. I like it for several reasons:

1) It has one of my favorite cameras in it (which of course took the picture), the Nikkormat EL.

2) It is in black & white.

3) The bathroom mirror lights made for very nice, even lighting.

4) The irony of a photograph of a camera at the moment it captures itself on film is intriguing.

5) It has very fine detail, contrast and tonality.

6) And most importantly, you can hardly see my face!

INCENSED !&%$#@*&!!??*&%$

Just a quick comment about the 2010 census, seeing as it is that time of year to render unto Caesar. Whenever I am asked to fill out a survey or respond to a poll I never answer the question regarding my race or ethnic origin. If we are to believe, as I do, that a person's race should not be a relevant factor to almost anything except race itself or perhaps a person's physical description in the same way that hair color or stature is why are we being asked what our race is on the census? Out of only 10 questions 2 of them have to do with race. So much for a color blind society. I was going to try and stick to my guns on this and not answer 20% of the ten minute census but according to the government all the questions must be answered fully and truthfully under penalty of law. I checked the law and the census people appear to be right. Neglecting to answer any of the mere 10 questions can be punishable by a $100 fine. A deliberate wrong answer will earn you a $500 penalty. The law does not specify if the fine is for each question in violation or for the entire "test". Misleading answers can possibly amount to a price tag of $5,000 per person. If there are 10 people in one household and the respondent lies about every one of them that could potentially amount to $50,000! I thought the government just wanted to know how many people there are. I doubt that the law which enacts a fine for failure to answer a census question would hold up against the Supreme Court, well let me take that back, at least Antonin Scalia would probably agree with me that it is unconstitutional. The Constitution only requires an enumeration once every 10 years. It does not require anyone to answer any questions. Although I believe this to be true I am not a lawyer or a gambler either for that matter, and I am not willing to bet possibly as much as $600 plus legal fees, etc., to see if I could take this matter to the Supreme Court. Besides, that would take a lot longer than the 10 minutes that the census people say it should take to fill out the form! There's a whole lot of other problems and issues with the census that have stirred up a bunch of controversy. For example the hand held computer devices for the census takers to use do not work with the central computer system, so the people finders will be roaming the streets with a pad and pencil instead. (http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20080403_9574.php)Being a nostalgic kind of guy, I actually kind of like that....the pad and pencil that is, not the waste of 2 billion $$$$. Closer to home in Connecticut there was a problem with people in East Haven being lumped in with New Haven. (http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/new_haven_cty/east-haven-census-confusion) Even closer to home, my home in fact, I would have mistakenly counted my college student son had I not read the census instructions first. I almost never read the instructions for anything whether it is fixing a garage door opener or filing my tax return, but this time something told me I should give the form a precursory glance before filling it out. It actually said not to count a household member who is away at college. Somehow I doubt that my son will be filling out his own census while away at college. This one item alone has a potential to screw things up by double counting college students or not counting them at all. Why not just count people by their primary residence? By the way, what happened to all the people in South Haven? Maybe they all went to jail for not filling out their census forms!