P.S. this really was from the backyard:
anyone for a game of cribbage?
The End of Summer
Things end, like summer, and jobs. Summer’s not quite over, but it soon will be. The job, it’s over, for now they say…
Soon ducks will be heading off, but not this duck: I found it today in a thrift shop for $2. It’s nothing special but I’m always looking for one, it’s an item I collect for some reason unknown. No typewriters of late – except common ones like Smith Corona Classic 12’s.
This summer saw us back in the Canadian Rockies, a place dear to my heart. Once again we went to look at Lake Louise. Of course it never changes, or rather it changes at a glacial pace. This time I took a picture, but also took the time to do a small watercolour sketch. Note how realistic it is! Quiz: which is the sketch, and which one is the photograph?
If you ever have a chance to see this place, be sure to go for tea at one of the two teahouses that can be reached by hiking for several hours. Tea never tasted better.
Filed under Great Hikes, Painting, Photography, Thrift shop finds, Typewriters
the Caffeinated Photog
These were shot on some old Kodak Gold 200 asa colour film, with my Pentax ME Super. All the colour films seem to be coming out with a very narrow spectrum, and require a lot of shadow, highlight and/or fill light added. But the results are interesting. However, for this sort of home developing I would recommend medium format over 35mm. For one thing they can be scanned at a decent res and will give quite amazing details. The 35mm film needs high res scanning, and that takes a long time. These were scanned at 600 dpi however, which is reasonably quick.
some old car from last summer
gotta love trains
bring back cabooses!
light filtering through trees in the backyard
downtown back alley scene
in the fields near my workplace
more trees – from my lunchtime stroll
walking through the forest near the office
Filed under Photography, Uncategorized
Fun With Coffee
Vintage British “Panther” motorcycle
After my first adventure with Caffenol film developer I loaded one of my twin lens reflexes with a roll of film, that was best before 2007, trusting that it would still be good 7 years out of date. Here are some of the results, and I can report that it worked quite well indeed. I much prefer medium format when it comes to film. Of course I always did, but it was so expensive that I ceased doing it around the time I bought this film. I scanned this at 1200 dpi and the resolution is amazing. I once read that even if the lenses on medium format cameras never approached the resolving power of the best 35mm cameras, they still could outperform them due to the huge advantage of the large negatives.
These pics were shot recently, one at a British car rally, and one on a trip to Port Angeles. They seemed to go together. Ricohflex TLR camera, Fuji ACROS Neopan ASA 100, developed in Caffenol C-M for 12 minutes. Scanned on an Epson 2400 with a homemade 120 format cardboard mask.
Vintage American gas station
Filed under Cameras, Photography, Technology, Travel
Canada Unveils Super Weapon
12 pounders ready for action
Sketching school came and went. Ontario was warm, and muggy, full of insects. Strange thing is, we went 3000 miles and we could still see the USA right there on the other side of the water. The United States is sort of like the moon, no matter where you go in Canada, it’s always right over there, following you. In Ontario they keep potential invaders at bay with these super weapons, which can fire red hot cannon balls, the size of grapefruits, clear across the St. Lawrence River. Incoming cannon balls would have a hard time getting through the roof of the blockhouse however, as it is made up of about 5 layers of criss-crossed logs.
looking across the St Lawrence at the USA
The St. Lawrence River was the route by which most of the interior of North America was first explored. Even today there are not many bridges across, it is so wide.
Coast Guard vessel, far from the coast
The bridge can be seen above, in the background. It costs $2 to cross, and armed guards welcome you on either side. The bridge is called the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge, for lack of a better name I guess. Strangely enough the Canadian side is in Johnstown, not Prescott.
The Smell of Oil
Bond’s Bentley resurfaces
Father’s Day Car Show
it seeps into the brain
slowly, like an oil leak
where it lubes the memory
–
Sunday the British gathered
the shiny SU carburetors
filled with slippery pink oil
–
the XKE was too hot (3 carbs)
the mini, too cool (1 carb)
but the MGB was just right (twin carbs)
–
when they all started their engines
and the field was bare
not a trace was left
–
but a few stains on the grass
some tire marks
and a lingering smell of oil
Morgans in all flavours
Jaguar – six cylinders, three carbs
An original mini – single carb
MGB – twins
Filed under Photography, Technology
When a Bentley WAS a Bentley
konica auto s2, ilford xp-2, caffenol-c-m, scanned at 2400 dpi
Filed under Cameras, Photography, Technology, Uncategorized
From Russia, With Luck
No kidding, this is a mint condition Olympia Progress, Russian. Unfortunately I don’t type Russian, nor do I speak it, or understand it. But I will sell it to the Russians for a tidy sum, since they are now wisely going back to typing classified documents. That is about the only good thing that can be said about Russia these days. Who would have thought that Russia is part of the typewriter insurgency!
Photograph of Chief Russian Insurgent, purportedly typing a secret report. Picture taken with one of those “film” cameras and developed in coffee….
Hey Vlad, want to buy my typewriter? For you, hmmm, $1000, cash only please.
What can this mean? A secret message? Cryptic!
Heavily redacted secret message, obviously in code as well. Proof positive that they are using typewriters for their secret business!
Filed under Photography, Poetry, Technology, Thrift shop finds, Typewriters, Uncategorized
nathanguitars 