Film
Yup. You read that right! I said FILM. Film photography is coming back. More and more people are buying film cameras and lenses and, yes, film! I had two film cameras, a Pentax K-1000 which was my first “real” 35mm camera, and a ProMaster camera which was stolen from me during my divorce and move out from my home. [It still had film in it, too. 🙁]
Once upon a time you could take your film canister into someplace like Walgreen’s, CVS, or a camera store to have your film developed in an hour or less, and you could get your prints and the negatives back quickly so you could look to see how good – or how bad – you did. And, of course, you would buy more film to put into your camera so you could take more photos. For a long time you could buy, and still can buy, throw away cameras that are loaded with film; they were your basic point and shoot cameras. You would shoot all the frames and take the camera into the store to be developed and they would break open the camera in a dark bag and remove the film, and then run it through the chemicals for processing before someone sat down with the processed film and printed what was on the negatives. Yes, I have used those cameras in the past, especially if I was going someplace where I really didn’t want to haul a heavy-ish camera and camera bag. They aren’t bad cameras. The throw away cameras actually take really good photos. They are also good to give to your kids to take photos of their friends, parties, or just the outdoors, and when done you can have the film developed and prints made.
So I have had a desire to get back to film photography. I took a lot of great photos with my Pentax camera, and probably my ProMaster, too, but I don’t remember those photos. I didn’t have a lot of lenses back then because I couldn’t afford them, but I made “do” with what I did have. I even took a course from the New York Institute of Photography and was within one section of finishing and becoming a professional. That was an enjoyable course of study and I’m sad that I no longer have my course materials. [Again, I have no idea whatever happened to them.] I even had a photojournalist badge, but since I didn’t finish the course, it wasn’t validated. However, I never did get into processing and printing my own film. I have a friend that did that when he was taking photos, but that was a lot of chemicals I didn’t want to be bothered with and had no real space to store them or to do film/print developing.
I was just thinking of a time when I was at Silver Springs State Park here in Florida taking a boat ride [I don’t think it was on one of the glass bottomed boats, though] and I was shooting away when I ran out of film in my camera. I rewound my film as fast as I could and I grabbed my camera bag, opened another box of film and loaded my camera as quick as I could,. One woman remarked that she had never seen anyone change film that quickly. Well, heck, I didn’t want to miss anything! [I have been back in Florida for a little over two years, and I live not far from that Park, yet I haven’t managed to get there and see how it’s changed in over 30 years. Someday soon, I hope!]
So, I got itchy and I bought an inexpensive refurbished Canon EOS Rebel Ti film camera and two rolls of 8 print 35mm film [off-brand] to test it out. There are things I need to learn because this camera is very different from my Pentax K1000. Unfortunately it didn’t come with a manual so I had to download one and I’m going to print it so I can learn about this camera. I will say, though, that with the price of film and printing now this probably isn’t going to be the part of my photography that I am going to do a lot. Although, nowadays you can get just the CD without prints and then look at what you’ve taken in the privacy of your home and print what you want and ignore the rest. While a bit early I got this for me for my birthday. You might recall that I had purchased a Canon Powershot Pro1 camera two years ago for my birthday and I have fiddled with it from time to time. I just haven’t been anywhere to take photos, which is my fault. [Being body limited right now I can’t take photos like I used to, and want to, so I have to learn what my body can do for the photos I want. The word for 2026 is LEARN!]
Digital. Film. Phone. Polaroid et al. Throw away [they do come in digital, but those are harder to find]. Professional. Amateur. Just for fun or for profit. Photography has been with us since the mid 1800s, believe it or not. And it will be around for much much longer, I hope. [And I am not discussing video because it’s not something I do , like some folks don’t “do” Windows.]
Posted in Photography by Jason with no comments yet.
Christmas is upon us
Christmas is upon us
that great season of the year
where people are always smiling
spreading Christmas cheer.
‘tis the season of baby Jesus,
the child that was born in the night
it is Him that we’ve come to worship
and pray to this Holy night.
that child that lay in the manger
in a stable so far away
and yet they came to behold Him
a King, born this day.
the shepherds and the wise men
traveled from near and far
searching for baby Jesus
following the Eastern Star.
there they found Him laying
and they fell on bended knee
to worship baby Jesus
the King who would set them free.
they bore Him gifts of splendour
frankincense, myrrh and gold
gifts for the might King
that the whole world should be told.
and in this spirit of giving
as the wise men did of old
we give our gifts to loved ones
as frankincense, myrrh and gold.
Christmas is upon us
so let us spread that cheer
let’s give the gift of wise men
and make it last throughout the year.
James Scott
December 18, 1991
Posted in Holidays by Jason with no comments yet.
Spammers!
I love all you spammers. You know you aren’t going to be approved. But, it’s nice that you apparently seem to notice the same pages over and over. Do you come from the dark web and push up mushrooms to get here? What’s your purpose? Are you bored? Why not go to Walmart and buy a cheap camera and learn how to do something new for a change? Who knows, you might become an international award winning photographer? Oh shoot, that’s probably too much for you. Your scope of focus is inside a little box. You don’t even play any video games. You’re just lazy spammers. If it gives you satisfaction to spam my subscribers list, what can I say?
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged spammers by Jason with comments disabled.
A Gift to Myself
Well, I made it. I turned 70 last month. 70. 51 years longer than “they” said I would. It’s not been easy, for sure. But, I got here. My body feels and acts like it’s much older, but my enthusiasm for life is still young. I mostly have the energy to do things, but my body limits me as to what I can do. And that’s frustrating at times. However….
Every year I buy something for myself for my birthday. I did before I got married and then have since being divorced. In the years when I had the money I would also take myself out for dinner, too; sometimes I would have company for that, but mostly alone. It’s not as bad as it seems.
This year I knew what I wanted for my birthday, if I could only get it. I wanted that first “special” digital camera that I loved so much – the Canon PowerShot Pro1 8 megapixels camera. I found one for sale on Adorama. I snatched that baby up, especially since it didn’t cost much. Granted, it didn’t have much with it, but that’s okay, I still wanted that little camera. And I got it! I needed to buy a few things for it, like a lens cap, and a CF card if I couldn’t find one that I had, but I had the other things that went with it [I’m not sure why I still had them but I’m glad I did!]. I took that camera out of the box and I was in heaven! But frustrated because I had no way to take any photos until the CF card arrived.
The second excitement came when the CF card came. And then it quickly dispersed because getting the card in and out of the camera, well, it’s not easy like it should be, but it is manageable, with a few words said silently. This CF card, however, is an adapter, so I can stick a micro SD card in it to expand the memory space. I think once I put it in and take it out a few times it will be easier to do.
Oh, what a gem this camera is, even at 8 megapixels. Now I just have to familiarize myself with all it’s functions again. No, it doesn’t take photos of the moon, but I did use it to take lightning photos one night very long ago. Those photos are tucked away somewhere on a CD, along with several thousand other photos that this camera took over the years.
Something I didn’t realize at the time I was using the Canon was that it was able to take other lenses that could screw on to the basic fixed lens. I just recently discovered that.
One of the neat things that I like about this camera is that I can look through the view finder without my glasses on and I can see the object clearly. I can’t do that with my other cameras. Of course, then I have the problem of “what to do with my glasses” when taking photos. Pulling them down on my nose just isn’t cool, never mind uncomfortable. But, it’s still a neat thing to be able to do. I wish I had contact lenses and just eliminate that whole problem to begin with.
So, I currently have 6 working cameras: a Pentax K-1000 35 mm film camera; a Canon PowerShot Pro1 8mp digital camera; a Nikon D3000 10mp digital camera; and a Nikon Coolpix P950 16mp digital camera. And, still hiding away somewhere in some box out on the porch, a Nikon Coolpix S220 10mp digital camera that was purchased on a cruise one year. It takes fantastic photos for a small palm sized “pocket” camera. If I knew where it was I would carry it around with me ‘just in case”. [I have the case for it, I just don’t know where the camera is, darn it!] And, of course, my phone camera.
I don’t know what makes the Canon PowerShot Pro1 so special – well, I kind of do – but there are a lot of us out there that still use or want this camera. The lens optics are just incredible!
As I have mentioned before, I don’t like taking people photos, but I really like this one that I took of my wife [now ex, but still very good friend]. It was taken with the Canon. I just like the way the shadows are on her face. And, for me, it turned out to be a very good photo. I also think she’s just plain pretty. ❤️😉
And then, here is a profile photo of Roby. Trying to get him to hold still to take a profile photo isn’t easy, but the Canon made it easy and I like the way it turned out. Neither of these photos have been adjusted by any software. They just are.
So, that’s my gift to myself. I was really sad the day my Pro1 died because it had been such a good, and fun, camera. I missed it. It’s rather like that one pair of shoes, or pants, or whatever, that you really liked that suddenly isn’t there any more and you can’t find a replacement that is satisfying enough, until one day…..
Posted in Personal Thoughts and tagged birthday, camera, canon powershot pro1, gift by Jason with no comments yet.
The Walmart Wanderers
I admit, I shop at Walmart. And sometimes I go without having eaten anything before hand. Being diabetic, that’s not such a good thing, so I usually grab something quick to eat in the car while sitting in the parking lot. Now, being the photographer that I am, I tend to look at things and people [even though I don’t take people pictures] and lately I’ve noticed something about the parking lot at the Walmart that I visit. I call them the “Walmart Wanderers”. They are the people that have been in the store long enough to forget where they parked their car. They wander from aisle to aisle and back again lost, but eventually finding the vessel that will whisk them away back to the safety and familiarity of their castle. Some remember to “call” their car using their key fob, but at times that doesn’t even help, especially if they’re too far away from the car. Strangely, however, this isn’t just a Walmart phenomenon as I have noticed this behavior in other retail parking lots as well. And now, I’m thinking I should take my video cam and vid this new phenomenon.
Okay, I have a confession….this has happened to me on two occasions, once in a Walmart parking lot in Dallas, and once in the Walmart parking lot close to where I now live. And, FWIW, this behavior is divided evenly between men and women!
Posted in Uncategorized by Jason with no comments yet.
Pardon the Dust!
When I mentioned a few posts ago that there would be changes coming, I certainly didn’t mean what you are seeing as of 3/8/2024! In a WordPress update apparently a “critical error” zapped my blog and by the time I was able to get it up and running again, the blog looked completely different, leaving me with just a plain old every day type blog – nothing at all like what it did. 😭 But! at least it was back up, a plain jane no frills blog. It could have been worse; I could have lost everything, but only lost my background, which I have restored, and links, which so far I have not been able to restore, but I will keep trying. It’s been a frustrating several days, but there have been some positive gains in all of this. Like re-learning how to do all of this! Patience, dear man. Patience! And at my age, patience is a premium. 😉
Update….. Got the links back! after a lot of trial and error, but now you see a nice little number after each one. I did not put those numbers there and have no clue at the moment how to get rid of them; they are Rating numbers. So, I will keep plugging away here.
After three days of phone calls to my hosting company, and many hours of trying this and that, I think I’ve done pretty good getting back what I had. But, like I said, the recent changes were not exactly what I had in mind and what I had in mind wasn’t front facing at all. Those changes will still be happening sometime in the near future. For now, however, I am still unpacking and getting rid of things I don’t need after my move, but with the nicer weather I am really hoping to get out and start getting some photos! After all, it’s what I love doing!
Posted in Uncategorized by Jason with no comments yet.
*I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
and mild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1863)
*This is one of my favorite poems written by Longfellow, and it can be found in many hymnals, although it’s not a song that is often sung these days. You will notice the stanza that starts “Then from each black, accursed mouth The cannon thundered in the South”. This stanza is commonly left out of the hymnals. Longfellow wrote this poem on Christmas Day 1863 during the Civil War.
Posted in Holidays, Personal Thoughts and tagged Christmas, Poetry by Jason with no comments yet.
It’s Always Hard to Say Goodbye
If you’ve ever owned and loved a pet and had to have them put down at any time in their life, you know how hard it is to say good bye. It is heartbreaking and brings tears to the most hard-hearted person. No matter how hard we try to hold back the tears, it’s just impossible to do so. And even our vets shed tears when having to put an owner’s pet down because they, too, have invested their hearts and caring into that pet.
And so December 5th, three “parents” said goodbye to little Lexie Starbright. For two years she battled renal failure and finally was too weak to go on any longer. She defied the odds by staying alive much longer than anticipated. But then, this was a Maltese that loved life and everyone in it, and was so full of joy that it was hard to not feel happy around her. I knew from the moment I picked her up as a puppy we would be going home with her, and I’m so glad we did. What a spark of fun she was! That winter we had enough snow to play in [and to make driving a pain] and Lexie thought it was the most fun! running around like crazy! With her snowy white coat and the white of the snow, the only way you could tell where she was was as she was kicking up snow behind her while she was running. And, of course, with the cold brought static electricity so when she rolled around on the couch all of her hair stood out on end! Oh man, was she ever cute! She almost looked like someone’s science experiment!
Seeing her decline over the last two years wasn’t easy; more so for my ex-wife and her husband than for me because I was several states away. But even when I came to visit her I could tell. Somehow, though, she’d always seem to bounce back, but not completely. Each time she was a little less healthy, and when I visited in April it was becoming very apparent that Lexie wouldn’t be around much longer. And when I saw her last Thursday, the decision was made that it was time. It was a hard decision, of course, but the right decision. And so the appointment was made. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to be there.
Little Lexie Starbright, go shine in the heavens my precious one. And go run and play with your brothers and sisters. You will be missed, but you will be in our hearts always. We love you. ❤️
Posted in Pets and tagged pets, rainbow bridge, saying goodbye by Jason with no comments yet.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving! Please remember those that are no longer with us this year by leaving an empty chair and place setting. Also, remember those in the service that aren’t able to be here with us at the Thanksgiving table.
I am thankful for my friends and family, here and around the world, and for all that I have. And especially for my sweet little Roby Lincoln R Scott who has been a wonderful blessing in my life.
Love, blessings, and grace to all!
Posted in Holidays and tagged gathering, photos, turkey by Jason with no comments yet.
The History Of Us
History. It tells us a lot about where we’ve been, and sometimes where we might be going in the future. Many of us tend to ignore it, or tried to just squeak by in school, and then never really giving it too much thought after that.
Today marks the 60th anniversary of the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, our 35th President of the United States and the youngest President ever elected. There have been a lot of theories about who assassinated him that day in Dallas, TX but there has never been an absolute answer. We may never know.
I was at the grocery store yesterday and I picked up a copy of Time’s 100 Photographs The Most Influential Images of All Time. I love books and magazines like this and I have collected quite a few over the years. [A dear friend started me down this path of “photo books”.]
A lot can be told about our lives through photographs, especially the last 150 years. Imagine photos taken that long ago where there were wide open empty spaces; no houses, no lights, no cars, very few people! Photographs exist of Abraham Lincoln delivering the Gettysburg Address. That can be mind boggling when you think of it. 1863! That’s 160 years ago. Want to be even more blown away? How about the earliest known photograph to exist? 1826! I feel sorry for the guy that had to sit there for 8 hours without moving!
Photographs have also documented our wars, from the War Between the States, to both World Wars, Korea, Viet Nam, and continuing up to today. They show the tragedy, heartache, death that war brings mostly to innocent people. It shows our history. History from all over the world. And shows how vulnerable we all are, and that we are all humans.
Photography doesn’t just chronicle us; it chronicles our lives and struggles, poverty and affluence, births and deaths, good times and bad. Photography takes us to the stars and to the underwater depths. It shows us the amazing and the shocking. It makes us laugh and cry. And what is so fantastic about photography today is that it now can be shared with the world via the internet.
So, you see, photography IS history, whether the images are produced by the most expensive cameras that exist or by that little communication device we know as our cell phone. A piece of us, and our lives, and all that gather around us, from peace to wartime, our pets, animals in the wild and in our backyard, the stars above and the ocean depths – it all becomes the History of Us.
Posted in Photography, Reflections and tagged history, jfk, photographic history by Jason with no comments yet.