Sunday Final

Whew!
What a day.
Okay, not really.
I mean it was a day, but it really wasn't like a real whew! day.
I went out and came back fairly early and spent the rest of day/night developing and scanning film.
It was a retro kind of day.
First there was this:

WTH?
It seems like cameras fall from trees around these parts!
Kodak Signet 35 circa 1950 or so.
When I first got it I thought it was broke, you know, one of them 'as is' purchases, but after fooling with it a bit I got it to go.
Seems it needed some film in order for the shutter to fire.
Ahem.
Anyways:

The old man can take some pictures!
Not me, the camera!
Okay, I'm kinda old too.
Double ahem.
Another great surprise, that oldfangled thing is pretty darn sharp!
Almost digital like.
Sort of.
Then I busted out the ole Kodak Cresta II:

The more I shoot that camera the more I like it.
Not the sharpest but certainly has a look that I like.
Then came the pinhole camera:

The more I shoot pinhole, the more I like that too.
Especially since I made that camera with my own two hands.
Sort of.
I mean I did use a band saw and a drill press.
Though I like pics that are nice and crispy, there's something about the softness of pinhole that I'm starting to appreciate.
I really need to pic my shots though.
Then it was the Big Pinhole:

Okay, not really a big pinhole, but a big format; 4x5.
As you can see I doubled up and even tripled up on some shots just in case of user error.
New film don't you know.
I also figured that the large format, 4x5, isn't really worth shooting pinhole.
For one thing it costs about a dollar a shot, for another, whatever 4x5 can do 120 can do the same.
More on large format later.
I also shot my Zeiss Ikon Contessa, but I didn't finish the roll, maybe tomorrow.
So it was a very retro photo day.
I kinda like it, using cameras I made and cameras from ancient times.
Once again, my photography is moving in another direction.
Wait.
I did take some digital shots:

You know, just for fun.
Anyways, I got do some laziness drills as I covered a lot of ground today.
I'm off tomorrow too and I'd like to get out early to fool around some more.
Maybe.
About the getting out early part.

Sunday Early Edition

Or "I'm Going to Get Some Burritos."
Which ever you like.
So yesterday, while I was out cruising for some mangos, I also had my FT66 pinhole camera with me.
I had used it about a week before, when I was testing out that Pony camera, and had a couple of leftover frames to shoot.
You, the reader, remember the FT66:

The shots from last week:

I like this camera for it's easy to double expose.
In fact I can rewind the whole roll and reshoot it if I desire.
I think I'm getting the hang of shooting it; no more weeble wobble blur.
Yesterday's shots:

I missed that last shot.
I meant to get the sun just behind the top of the building, but with no viewfinder I had to guess.
No such luck.
I think some of those shots are amazing, especially since no glass was used.
On the way back to the Flat Tire Command Center (FTCC), I started thinking about getting something to eat.
I pass by this place all the time, but usually on my out or late at night and it's already closed:

According to the sign they are in their 29 year and yep,  they've been there for as long as I can remember.
So I decided to give them a try.
Lemme just say that I got pretty high burrito standards.
Cisco's Cantina in Kailua, which is no longer there, had the burritos which all other burritos will be compared to.
I ordered mine ala carte:

On the menu it says you can sort of customize if you like, but for my first time I decided to go simple; just some green and red.
It was awesome.
I would have eaten two if it wasn't so big.
The shredded beef was nicely marinated and there was just enough cheese for flavor.
Next time some rojo sauce and more of the red and green.
Hell next time might just be today.
Anyways, I got some plans, you know, the kind where they never happen, so I better get packed up and a rolling.
Don't want to waste the day lest some laziness drills overcome me.
If you know what I mean.

I'm Going to Get Some Mangos

Famous line from a famous movie.
I think.
Something like that.
So anyways, I got up bright and early yesterday and headed down to the park before school.
I wanted to test out this:

That's right vinyl bag fans!
Yet another camera!
Today I present the Agfa Clack, the clack part of the Click and Clack duo from German camera maker Agfa.
The Click is a the 6x6 version while the Clack is 6x9.
These point and shoot cameras intrigue me with their no focus lenses and cheapo construction.
Okay, not cheapo like plastic camera cheapo but these cameras were not marketed to PROs.
Hmmm...
I'll have to make a note of that.
Anyways, I like em because of their ease of use and their picture taking abilities:

Okay, not the sharpest tools in the ole camera shed, but the pictures do have a certain quality about them.
Besides, I was using like 15 year old film.
Did I mention these cameras were really easy to use?
Like just point and shoot?
It just blows my mind that these cameras have lenses that manage to get things in focus when you don't even have to well, focus them!
Awesome!
Bananaheadproof!
Need I say more?
I also got up bright and early today for it was Quest for Mango (QFM) day.
I rode on down to the local farmer's market in search of the fruit that is quickly going out of season.
In fact it is out of season and only the last of the harvest is available.
Actually there are some mangos that fruit all year; my uncle had a tree, common mango I think, that was good all year round.
I got lucky:

I scored like ten pounds of green goodness!
Not only good, but humungous:

What did I do with that blurry green fruit bomb?
Well there will just have to be more on that later.
Maybe.
Busy weekend for me as last night was my first American Football game:

I say American Football for one of my Flickr followers kindly reminded me that football means something totally different on the rest of planet Earth.
So Football Américain it is.
We lost something like a GAGILLION to seven so everyone was sad:

This was better than our first game, a game in which we got only five yards of total offense.
So offensive we were.
Get it?
Offensive? offense? like we stunk?
Nevermind.
Okay, more on football américain later too.
Time to do some laziness drills for I got photo club this afternoon.
Like I said, it's a busy weekend.
Stay tuned.

It's Not the Camera

Okay, I've said this before.
I tell the kids that all the time.
It really isn't the camera, it's the person behind it.
Or is it?
This year with my Photo II class I'm telling the students it is about the camera, what the camera can do.
Learn to use the camera and all the doodads, I tell them, make the shots.
In this case, maybe I was right the first time around.
It really isn't about the camera.
Case in point:

Same shot, two different cameras.
Any difference?
One better than the other?
If I'm not looking at them next to each other I'd take either one.
The cameras?

One camera there is worth about 50x the other one.
One more time:

Crazy non?
Okay now you can tell which one is which based upon the different formats.
The square images are from the Rollei which cost me some big bucks, the other pics are from the Kodak Pony 135 which cost me like 20 bucks with shipping.
The first time I shot the Pony I wasn't too impressed.
A zone focus camera, one you have to set the focus before taking the shot, I didn't really like shooting it and the results were below par.
Probably because of user error combined with a lack of enthusiasm.
The other day I took another look at it, the Pony, and decided to give it a real go and take some real shots to see just what it could do.
I was surprised to say the least:

The Pony 135 was a mid range 35mm camera in Kodak's line way back when.
Way back when meaning the fifties and sixties.
There are about four or five models, each a bit different, the Pony 135 being the first in the line.
Kodak though equipped the Pony with their good lenses and boy does it show!
I expected good results but when I scanned the negatives and saw the pics my mind was like blown!
Yes, it blew my mind!
Ouch!
This camera is crazy good.
In the conditions I was shooting in, mainly strong daylight, this thing rivals any camera I got.
I mean for 20 bucks you can't go wrong!
The Quest for the Pony (QFTP) is on!
It's also given me new respect for Kodaks, which I always thought of as 'consumer' cameras.
Of course I wouldn't take the ole Pony out for a night shoot, the lens just isn't fast enough, but I wouldn't hesitate to take it out on patrol:

It's light, easy to shoot, has a coolness factor that's off the charts, and it takes awesome pictures too.
No more lugging around a thousand dollars worth of glass!
Twenty dollah in my pocket and a twenty dollah camara.
Good to go.
In the case of the Pony, it really isn't about the camera.

Sunday Early Edition

Back on track!
Sort of.
Yesterday I went out with that Cresta camera again, to give it another go.
I had some ideas in mind so I hopped on the ole Flat Tire Earth Machine (FTEM) and went downtown.
Of course like all best laid plans, it didn't happen.

Everytime I go into downtown I remember Vicky's.
Very nice veggie lumpia, but today I decided to double up:

That's right deep fried food fans!
Lumpia and a piroscki!
Why that's like food from the opposite sides of the planet!
I'm multi-cultural don't you know.
Lemme tell, I was a couple of RPM's slower after all that.

Scene from a downtown mall on a Saturday.
I was going to take some pics of the capitol, and I did, but not with this camera.
I did get Aloha Tower:

The Kodak Cresta has a fixed shutter so you have to use the right film.
That mall shot was okay, no direct sunlight, but the Aloha Tower shot is a bit over exposed.
I was shooting 100 speed film and I think on a sunny day 50 would be better.
Anyways, I had some other stuff to do then later in the afternoon I had a meeting with some of the photo club kids.
So far so good with the club thing and after they decided they were going to the beach to catch the sunset so I tagged along:

I finished off the last couple of frames on the Cresta.
Lemme tell you, managing more than five kids with cameras is something of a pain.
By the time we got the beach we had lost most of the light:

The kids did seem enthusiastic though.
Typical:

Girls on one side, boys on the other.
This was only half of the kids that signed up, our next meeting is after Labor Day.
If more show up I'm gonna have to either split the club in two or get another advisor.
I'm kind of excited to see how things go as more people means we can actually do some fund raising and maybe do some real stuff.
Lack of cameras is going to be the real problem, but I got some ideas on how to make that work.
Okay, I got to get out cause I'm a burning light!
Off I go!