Category Archives: Analog

The Adventures of Me and SuperPizzaBoy on our trip to the Tulsa Zoo with a Canon Canonet

It was my 9/80 day off Friday. I work 80 hours over nine days and get every other Friday off. Son, SuperPizzaBoy and I decided to take a fast trip to the Tulsa Zoo even though we had some on again/off again rains. It turned out to be perfect, the weather was cool, and the zoo was deserted. That suits both SPB and I. We are almost anti-social at times. I mean I like people but when it is crowded, the stupid people are the main ones who show up, or at least make their presence known the most. I don’t want to step on any toes in case you happen to be a stupid person. I mean stupid people don’t decide to be stupid, they are born that way. They can’t help it. Oops Sorry, I digress. And besides they were no stupid people out and about Friday morning, or at least the ones that were well were dispersed. That may be the solution for stupid people, dispersion. You know how some companies, and many present day politicians, ~~used to~~ think that the “Solution to Pollution is Dilution” well maybe it works for stupidity. Maybe not though.

I brought along the fifty year old, plus or minus/ Canon Canonet that my Dad gave me last month. It is a solid hunk of metal, glass, and not much plastic with a light sensor which sets the fstop for a given shutter speed but otherwise is manual focus, film feed, film speed setting, and almost everthing. It sure is silky smooth to operate and the shutter is so quiet that I wondered for a while if it was working. I love it. It’s a real gem.

We saw some Siamangs. I had never seen them so active out on their island. It looks like the zoo staff had put their food in the white plastic jugs strung along the rope so the animals were moving out and across fetching and eating their food.

Here is SuperPizzaBoy with the Zoo’s statue of Ganesha, a Hindu god with an elephant head placed next to the elephant building which is closed for renovations. Some of my fellow Tulsa citizens periodically make a big deal about the statue saying that its presence at the city owned Zoo means that the city is trying to establish Hinduism as an official religion. These are people who really do need a life or a new hobby or something.At least in my opinion.

We saw a tiger, who was pretty loud. Sorry no zoom on my camera and I’m not cropping the photo. The pics today are all SOC!

And a lion who was also mouthing off. I’m wondering if the big cats had their breakfast yet.

These guys, within earshot, seemed pretty nervous. What do they feed those big cats anyway? You ever thought about that? I think these goats have thought about it plenty.

We saw some African Penguins. they are only about a foot tall. They are cool though.

SPB tells me that the penguins are his favorite critters at the zoo.

On the way out we passed the flamingos. Talk about lazy, they were still sleeping. Lazy or smart, I’m not sure. What are the going to do when they wake up? Sure is cool how they can sleep while balancing on one leg. Can you imagine how hard that is? Especially here in Oklahoma where the wind never stops.

So we went home, with a stop at Walgreens to get the film developed. I’m pretty happy with the results.

So what did you do on Friday.

Saturday, if the weather is good SPB and I might be going to Pawhuska (where the Pioneer Woman lives) to look at the Tallgrass Praire Preserve and the the bison who live there. Too bad Sweetie can’t make it, we could stop in and see Ree Drummond (aka “The Pioneer Woman”). She is a great cook but I think she’d lose in a cooking throwdown with Sweetie.

Lomography Super Sampler Camera

I got me new camera (cue the groans from my readership). But wait this one is really cool (more groans). It is a Lomography SuperSampler multi-lens camera. It has four lens and is spring powered. You set the spring by pulling on a ripcord. When you hit the shutter button it opens each of the four shutters over a two second period. That is it for controls. There are no exposure, focus, or anything other buttons, not even a viewfinder. Just my kind of camera.

So I’ve only had one roll of film developed and I’m liking the results so far.

This is cheating. You can’t take a bad flag shot can you?

My mil’s dog Fiona was not too impressed when she found out she couldn’t eat it.

Speaking of mothers-in-law here is mine times four. She is a very long suffering woman. At least as far as what she puts up with from me. But I’m worth it…. Hey throw me a bone somebody.. Oh, somebody cut me some slack!

Also speaking of long sufferring here is Sweetie. One advantage of multi-lens cameras is that all is not ruined by a little thumb in the shot.

And SuperPizzaBoy. I have to treat he and Sweetie a little better. They are going to be picking out my nursing home.

So far I like it. The pics are interesting but the best part is pulling the camera out of my pocket and pulling the ripcord before taking the shot. I get a few looks.

Flowery Hands Wednesday

From a double exposure with my La Sardina 35mm Lomography film camera. I hid the sun with my hand on a bright clear day and snapped the shutter. I then took a picture of my wife’s knockout roses without advancing the film and voila! rosy hands. It worked out better than I thought it would. Poor man’s texturizing maybe?

Wordless Wednesday – Double Exposure

Wordless Wednesday

Weekend Reflections – Split Frame

One of my film cameras has the ability to put two small images on the same 35 mm frame. You shoot one image, wind the film a half frame and shoot the other. It drives the guys at Walgreen’s nuts. This frame shows two buildings set against a gloomy sky that are somehow reflecting blue skies.

Weekend Reflections

Minolta Zoom 110 SLR – My “New” Camera

Way back in 1977 when I graduated from college I bought this camera. It is a single lens reflex camera that uses the once popular 110 cartridge film: a Minolta 110 Zoom. I used it for a few years and moved onto other cameras. I always did like its funky shape and its “feel.” I’m a sensory guy and things have to feel right or I don’t like them. The Minolta had a nice heft to it and the sounds it made when you hit the button to take the shot or pushed the lever to advance the film felt just right. I was never very happy with the photos though. They seemed a little grainy and not very sharp.

Well 110 cartridges have become available again thanks to Lomography dot com so I ordered a couple cartridges and loaded them up and over the last couple of months took a few pictures (Cuz, yall are very nice but I’m not a photographer so I don’t capture images, I’m a picture taker so I take pictures.)

I took the pictures and then waited a month or two before I sent the cartridges off to get processed. Some things never change do they. Well I got the photographs back and I am really happy with them.

The photos are sharper than what I remember and the colors much more vivid. It seems they used to be kind of washed out. So I don’t know if it is the film quality now compared to 35 years ago or maybe my dementia as kicked in the last month or so because of the Girl Scout Cookies I’m eating, or just what.

The camera doesn’t have auto much of anything. You set the f stop and it figures out the shutter speed is about all. You have to focus yourself. Above is a slightly out of focus shot. I still like it but it isn’t very sharp.

(World’s Tallest Totem Pole, Foyill, Oklahoma)

Gotta love Orpha’s. Downtown Tulsa’s last dive bar.

Overall digital beats analog hands down. It’s faster and cheaper and you can tell right then and there what your shot looks like.

Analog, you still have to buy the film and then get it processed. It is pretty expensive.

But I love the look and feel of analog. The various apps and filters available for digital images are amazing but they are not the same thing.

This is SOOC but I’m still a major cheater on this photo.

I think analog will always be a part of my picture taking.

(My son about to be swallowed whole by a blue whale!)

Do you still use your old film cameras?

Fisheye Friday – Holy Family Cathedral and School.

I was wandering around town during lunch the other day. I noticed the reflection of the trees in the window of Holy Family Cathedral School.

Weekend Reflections

Ruby Tuesday 2 – Swing Baby

SuperPizzaBoy close to his first birthday. He is still a happy kid and he still likes to swing.

Ruby Tuesday 2

New Camera for a New Year – Lomography La Sardina Marathon

Well here we are another New Year. I don’t know what has happened but it seems like we fast forwarded from 1986 or so to now awful danged fast. So lets make the most of the time we have and have a Great New Year.

The world’s greatest MIL, Nana gave me another Lomography camera, the La Sardina. I think there are over 50 models of this camera. (Lomography is a fancy name for capturing images with “toy” film cameras.) The basic difference besides metal or plastic is the design. Mine is the “Marathon” that is decorated like a sardine can. There is one model that is just white plastic, the “DIY” and the intention is that you decorate yourself with Sharpie pens for those of us who just have to be us, and are gifted artistically which is so not me.

Lomography is just one of those things that one either “gets” or you don’t. The photographs are not anywhere near the quality of the most inexpensive digital cameras. You pay money for the film and then you pay more money to develop the film, and to top it off I don’t even get prints, the lab puts the images on a cd. Also, there is no view finder so you can’t see what you got until it is developed, there is no zoom, very little if any in the way of exposure or focus settings. It is also very east to forget to take the lens cap off. It doesn’t make any sense at all,I fully admit.

I love the pictures that they take. I can’t explain it and I’m not going to justify it.

Every shot counts and if you put too much foreground in, that’s too bad! I know that digital photographs are so much more superior.

I love playing around with the Camera. Most Lomography cameras make it very easy to make double exposures. Above is son, SuperPizzaBoy walking one of our dogs.

So anyways, I’m liking my new camera. We haven’t had decent weather to do much with it.

Lomography has their “Ten Golden Rules“, as follows. They work. The best Lomo photos are the ones that are up close and spontaneous.

Take your camera everywhere you go
Use it any time – day or night
Lomography is not an interference in your life, but part of it
Try the shot from the hip
Approach the objects of your lomographic desire as close as possible
Don’t think (by William Firebrace)
Be Fast
You don’t have to know beforehand what you captured on film
Afterwards either
Don’t worry about any rules

Anyway, I hope that everybody has a great 2013. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy visiting everybody’s blogs and the visits made to mine. We certainly occupy a the great side of the internet. Thanks Al Gore!

I put many of my Lomo photos on my tumblr blog (along with digital photos). It is just pure images, no blah blah blah but you’ll see some of the same images. Check it out if you have time.

Shadow Shot Sunday 2 – Serendipity

What attracted me to this playground was the yellow tables. When I got the film processed (yes, film!!) I still liked the yellow of the tables but also the shadows, of the fence, the trees, and and me reaching up over the fence to get a clear shot.

ShadowShot Sunday 2