Category: History
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Which Gen Are You?
Apparently you get a choice between X, Y, and Z, and your taste in clothes, music, and social opinion is assigned to you on that basis. But if you were born before theses letters, you are to be lumped into a broader category – the Baby Boomer. I think this is silly and unscientific. I…
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The Entire Plan
And why we don’t have one. I never realised at the start of my photographic career…and I use the term in its broadest sense…that I never had a complete plan. I was within a small circle of endeavour that was whole; the photos I took and developed were for the high school yearbook, and this…
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If It Works…
And does exactly what you are trying to accomplish. Do not replace it with the next advertised product. This may seem to be basic Franklinian logic, and welcome, but you would be surprised at how it grates upon the sensibilities of major equipment makers. It is anathema to every department in their company. Change is…
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” I’m Sorry You Had To See That. “
Which is photography speak for ” Shit, that was a bad idea – done badly. I wonder if I could sell it on the net? “ We all do naff images at times. The lucky amongst us do them in our own studios and delete them as soon as they pop up on Lightroom. The…
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The Old Shooters Remember The Old Tricks
Like the business of putting one SLR lens in front of another, but reversed. It made for a cheap macro lens. But not a bad one – you sometimes had to do some fancy footwork figuring out the exposure if your camera did not have a TTL meter, but the optical performance was often very…
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I Have Just Realized…
How many misconceptions I have been entertaining regarding photography: a. Seeing urban photographers carry vast amounts of equipment in backpacks around the city is startling – are these people so far from their homes? And the water bottles on the packs. Every blessed design has a pocket and elastic fastener for a water flask. Are…
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Who Did We Have Before We Had DP Review?
In the film and plate era… British Journal Of Photography Amateur Photographer Popular Photography, Modern Photography Grossbild Leica Foto And a host of other national and international magazines and house journals. We had Feininger, and Hedgecoe, and Gevaert. We had Kodak technical booklets and How-To. And we found out what to do by reading and…
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Remember the WOOWA?
Or the YTTRV? They were advertising names for specialist accessories in the Flapoflex catalogues of the 1950’s. Presumably you could go into a shop on the Ginza or down Camera Lane, whisper the code, and the appropriate box would be slipped out onto the glass counter. Or perhaps they were a way of telegraphing back…
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Academia Calling
And in a particularly humourless fashion. There are a number of ways to become a success in the academic world; write a brilliant book, write a mediocre book, or write a diabolically dull one. The first two might improve the chances of you gaining tenure, but the way to absolutely guarantee it is to do…
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Someone , Somewhere, Has A…
Complete collection of Cokin A filters in perfect condition. In a fitted case. With diagrams explaining how to use them. It cost time, money, and effort to assemble it. The more common filters were in the local shops, but the really surreal ones had to be ordered from France and paid for in pre-war francs.…
Dr. Stein's Photographic Establishment 