I haven’t done an end of year review in quite a while, and since I now keep pretty active journals, my task is easier. Typically, a lot of folks like to review what happened in the photography world at large, but I’m going to confine my review to my own activities, which as things go, are relatively tame. But bear with me, and hopefully, you’ll find some nuggets of wisdom. As I went through my four journals spanning 2022, it’s gratifying to see that I have kept writing them. I know that some people have one journal for an entire year, but I prefer them segmented, since losing one does not negate everything I have penned in. It also makes it easier to carry one along. I’m a fan of the journals made by Denik.com, as I like the simple styling and 5x8” size. Having the journal really helps me with recalling my activities and thoughts, and I wish that I’d been as compulsive about writing in one 20-30 years ago.
In my entry for 1/1/2022, I hoped to finish the toy camera (35mm) issue of Monochrome Mania, and produce 3 issues, including one on panoramas. Explore more of NC and take meaningful images. All checked in as done!
2022 was the year that I discovered the writings of William Least Heat-Moon. Reading Blue Highways for the first time was revelatory - and I wish that I’d known of that book when it first came out in the early 1980s. There are passages in Blue Highways that brought tears - not of sadness but of joy. His descriptive prose really resonated with me, and since that book, I’ve managed to read his other tomes - Prairie Erth, Riverhorse, Roads to Quoz, Writing Blue Highways, and Here, There, Elsewhere. If you are at all interested in traveling and stories about the land and people, I highly recommend Blue Highways and Riverhorse as places to start with his books.
This year, I made a lot of images with Pentax Spotmatics, aside from my Takumar Trek in late June. There is just something about these cameras and their lenses that compels me to use them. As M-42 mount cameras, they have their quirks, but the ease of use, smooth operation, and simplicity make Spotmatics quintessential photographic tools that keep on working for me. In fact, I don’t think Pentax ever made better cameras than the Spotmatic F. I’ve seen so many failing K-mount Pentax SLRs - mostly in the electronics, that I rank them low in durability. If there is one Spotmatic I’d like to find and try out, it would be the Spotmatic ES. Finding a working one seems to be the quest! I have also been trying to find some nice pre-Spotmatic models, such as the Pentax HIII or SV. They are meterless, yet very good, if I can get one that works as it should.
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| The Heiland Pentax HIII- I've bought 2 of these on ebay, and neither one works properly -- maybe a CLA for one will do it. It is after all, over 50 years old. |
I stabilized my Nikon "arsenal" this year, paring it down to cameras that I use, and not ones sitting on a shelf. The bodies that I have owned the longest are the FM2N and the F3HP, both gifted to me in mint condition in 2008. I’ve been using the F3 a lot more of late, particularly because of the viewfinder, and it’s one smooth camera. But my other bodies are: plain prism Nikon F from 1967, Nikon FE2, FM3A, FE10 (keep it in the car), FE black body, FA, N80, F100, F4, and F60. Aside from the F, I have eliminated all non-AI bodies and most non-AI lenses from my collection. As much as I love those Nikkormats, I can get along just fine without them. The plain prism Nikon F is a thing of beauty and simplicity, and I’ve kept the 45mm f/2.8 Nikkor, 20mm f/3.5 Nikkor, 35mm f/2.8 Nikkor, and 50mm f/2 Nikkor just for that body. With the 45mm pancake lens, it’s quite trim!
I tried out a few interesting cameras this year. The Kodak Signet 40 was a real surprise, as it performed quite well and has earned a place in my heart. I used a Contax IIa for the first time, and loved its precise rangefinder focus as well as the images I got from it. I have my Leica M2, and Canon 7, so the Contax had a short stay -- but it is a wonderful camera, if you can find one. I also tried out a Contaflex Super B SLR, and it was the first fully working example of a Contaflex that I’d used. However nice they are, I am still not a fan of lens-shutter SLRs. Zeiss Ikon produced so many different cameras, that to be an expert on the brand would take many years.
This year, I also purchased a Canon EOS M5 mirrorless camera to replace the aging Nikon V1 that I bought a decade earlier. I had briefly entertained a Nikon Z body, but the price on the M5 was really great (again, from KEH), and manual lenses for it from 7 Artisans, TT Artisans, etc., are really cheap and I love the results. The M5 is certainly a very capable camera, and while it does not replace my usual gear, it’s a nice adjunct, and travels well.
This was the first year that I wrote reviews here on Random Camera Blog based on items sent to me by manufacturers/distributors. Usually, I buy the items, but if anyone wants to send me something to review, I’m happy to do so!
One of the things that makes me happy is finding a computer program that allows me to write without having to worry about menus, and can take up most of the space on my screen -- I don’t need to be distracted when I’m in writing mode. Word Grinder on Linux and Windows is one such program, and I use it a lot to write these blog posts. However, more recently, I acquired a used 2008 MacBook for $50, and found this program called Bean - which is absolutely the best writing app I have used. I love the larger font size, and using the MacBook has made me realize why I was such a big Mac fan/user for so many years. I may just have to buy a newer MacBook Air in the coming year. Speaking of acquisitions, I have high praise for the Canon Pixma Pro 200 printer that I purchased in 2021. I have been making wonderful 12x18in. prints that I never would have made in the darkroom. Printing panoramas has opened up a new creative path that I never would have attempted in my old wet darkroom. The ink economy of this printer amazes me, and even if I don’t use it for a month or two, it starts up and prints without a fuss.
This year had me visiting the Film Photography Project in early May for 4 days to help with the unpacking, sorting, and examination of donations for the FPP school donation program. The mountains of boxes gradually diminished while I was there, but as soon as I leave, I know that they’ll build back up again. John Fedele is a great help, and I wish that I lived a bit closer to NJ to help out more often. Being a small part of the FPP has been rewarding, and has really made me a lot of friends in the film community.
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| John Fedele, shot with the Contax IIa. |
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| Camera Heritage Museum, Staunton, VA |
On the way to NJ, I stopped in Staunton, VA, in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley, and visited the Camera Heritage Museum, which I have already written about. It’s an overwhelming place, and like all of these small camera museums, are pretty much the work of one person over many decades of collecting. I think of the late Jack Naylor in Boston who amassed an amazing and quite valuable collection of photographica, and after his death in 2007, much of it was auctioned off for about 2 million dollars. His collection’s scope was world-wide, and contained many unique items. A collection is not a museum - it requires people to curate, conserve, preserve, and properly exhibit with interpretive displays, as well as make it available to researchers. It also requires money to guarantee that it runs in perpetuity (or at least close to it), so that the collections are not dispersed to the winds after the principal collector(s) have passed away. That’s why museums should be in the public trust - for example, the Smithsonian. So, while I appreciate these private photography museums, the long-term outlook for them is not great. I suppose the model to be used might be like that of the Argus Museum in Ann Arbor, MI which started out as a private collection (which I evaluated), and subsequently was given to the county historical society, and is now in good shape to continue into the future.
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| Natural Bridge, VA. Nikon F3HP, Kentmere 400 |
The Shenandoah Valley was again a target in September, when I spent a few days in Lexington, VA. I had wanted to explore more of it, being a fan of Sally Mann’s work, and the visit gave me the opportunity to absorb the history and beauty of Rockbridge County. A return visit is definitely in the works in the coming year. If you do nothing else there, visit Natural Bridge State Park - as the limestone arch is really impressive - and yes, it IS a bridge which US-11 travels over. It’s also the reason Rockbridge County has that name.
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| The Gin Hotel, formerly the Robert E. Lee, Lexington, VA |
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| Proposed Cover for a a photo book |
My Takumar Trek in June, has already been written up here, and I continue to plan for another trek along US-23 to finish up the southern leg, which ends up in Jacksonville, FL. I need only to finish the NC, GA, and FL segment to have traveled and photographed along its length. It was also in late June that I participated in Photostock, held this year in Cross Village, MI - about 30 minutes from Mackinac City. If you have never been to a Photostock meetup, I highly suggest it. When I lived in Michigan, it was a leisurely drive from my home in Ann Arbor to Harbor Springs, and they were always a great time, invigorating, and got the creative juices flowing. There are so many talented photographers at Photostock, and egos are checked at the door. It’s a wonderful time to learn new things, meet old friends, and make new ones.
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| A scene from Photostock 2022 |
One of the things that I wanted to do this year was to try out a 6x9 Fujica camera. Those “Texas Leicas” used to sell for $250 before the prices started to rise up. I wish that I’d bought one a decade ago. However, I found a nice Fujica GL690 body at KEH for around $400. Without a lens. One of my Instagram contacts offered me a free lens for it, but it needed repair. Well, I got the lens and then spent about $200 to have it repaired. So, once that all worked out, I started using the Fujica GL690, and am quite happy with the results. It does take some time to get used to using a large rangefinder camera and get comfortable with it. None of those cameras have internal meters, so basically it’s a pretty simple camera - but with really large negatives at the same 2:3 perspective as a 35mm frame. I made a 12x18 print from it and it just blows me away. So, 2023 will see it getting a lot more use.
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| This camera will see a lot of use in 2023 |
In late August, I contracted COVID from someone that was visiting us for a weekend. That was a week of my life that I will never get back, and thankfully, I had already had my vaccine and boosters. I just cannot imagine how awful it is for an unvaccinated person. It really was more like 2 weeks until I felt perfectly normal again.
I have been doing a lot of scanning of old negatives and slides this year. I had not scanned in any of the negatives from my 2003 trip to NM, and I found so many wonderful images among the new scans. I think that the more removed we are from the event, the more meaningful the images. What I did realize, though, is that while I started a journal for the trip, I stopped after 3 days. It’s takes some discipline to write everything down each day, and I failed that -- so nearly 20 years later, I had to extrapolate the timeline of the photographs from the trip after day 3. Lesson learned. Eventually, all of my old slides will be scanned in, dating from the mid-70s to the 2000s, removed from their clear storage pages, and transferred to metal slide-storage boxes. Each box will have a thumb drive of the scans. They’ll probably all be trashed someday, but I will leave that decision to whomever survives me.
In mid-October, Bill Pivetta and I drove out to Durham, NC to see the Vivian Maier exhibit that was part of the Click! Photofest in Raleigh-Durham. That nearly month-long event is rather amorphous, as exhibitions and events take place in many locations. I’d certainly like to do more at the festival, but I would need to stay a few nights in the area to make it really worthwhile. It was a nice introduction to Durham, and the Vivian Maier exhibit was certainly worth the 4 hr drive each way!
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| Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Outer banks |
In early November, Adrienne, Beverley, and I went to Manteo, NC and the Outer Banks for 4 nights. It was a great time to visit, and the weather was really fantastic, except for the last full day, when there were winds with gusts up to 50 mph -- it was a perfect time to see the Atlantic with some fury to it. The only thing was the salt spray on my gear. I made sure to use a UV filter on the front of my lenses, and after we returned, I wiped my F3 down with a wet cloth and removed any lingering deposits. It’s a 7-8 hr drive from our place in the mountains to the Outer Banks, so not exactly a weekend trip, but I’d like to go again and stay somewhere near Ocracoke to do more photography. I think the Holga and the Horizon 202 would get some use there.
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| Bodie Island Lighthouse, Ansco Pix Panorama |
After going through a lot of film this year, it’s obvious that my most-used films were: Kentmere 400, Kentmere 100, Ilford HP-5, and Eastman 5231. Anything else was a few rolls, at best. I shot very little color film, but I do have a pretty good stockpile of C-41 film in my fridge. It’s no secret that I’m a monochrome maniac, and speaking of that, the final issue for 2022 of Monochrome Mania is all about images from the Ansco Pix Panorama. Having three other very talented photographers - Derek Keaton, Eben Ostby, and Liz Potter made it a first venture into a collaborative issue of my zine, which I hope to repeat for late 2023. Three issues per year for 3 years straight is making me quite pleased. Issue 10 is already in the works, and will probably be available in February.
Podcasts are what I like to listen to while developing film - and my favorite podcast (that’s not the one I’m in) is still All Through A Lens. Eric and Vania do an amazing job putting together well-researched and informative - and entertaining episodes that really keep my attention. If you have not listened to All Through A Lens, I highly recommend that you do. My second favorite podcast is I Dream of Cameras, and Jeff and Gabe really hit my camera gear buttons in their lively presentations. If there are any two people that I’d want to meet at a camera swap, it would be them.
Best wishes to you all for the coming year. May you find creativity, joy, good fortune, and good health.
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| From the Blue Ridge Parkway, Canon EOS M5 |
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