"Its Exposure is Totally Rad"

Sorry for the delay between posts. I try to post every two weeks or so, but we've had a busy April so far forcing me to put the blog on the back-burner for a while.

On April 5th, we had our kids' annual elementary school fund raiser. Jean was on the committee which means I was volunteered to handle several photography and computer related tasks. It was all worthwhile as we raised a lot of money for the school PTA. That same weekend, we had some dear friends from Napa Valley come stay with us. Being from Napa, they are professional wine drinkers. So the fact that Jean and I were able to pull our weight before and during the fund raiser was even more impressive.

We said goodbye to our guests, then left for Captiva Florida a few days later. We've taken a family vacation there the past 5 years. The kids know their way around and love the beach now that they're older, but there is also a pool if they need a break. We had wonderful weather and Jean and I celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary at our favorite restaurant down there.

During the trip, I shot 8 rolls of slide film. No digital. Just a couple of Leicas and my Rolleiflex. One day on the beach, I was taking a shot of the kids with my Rolleiflex, and a young woman walking by commented on the camera saying, "Its exposure is totally rad." As I mentioned before, what's old is new again.

On vacations, I shoot slide film because our kids love to see a slideshow on the big screen - especially of themselves. The quality of a projected slide is unbelievable too. The key is to keep the slide show short (edit!) and light, not like those marathon slide shows I remember as a kid. I also scan the slides into the computer for digital slide shows and prints. It's a lot of work but worth the effort.

Hope the weather by you is turning to Spring like it is here in Chicago. We're gearing up for a busy May and June. We're pretty much booked up with portrait sittings and weddings until July. Stay tuned for more updates - and thanks for reading.

Sundance Catalog

In the weeks leading up to the Holidays, our house received about a dozen catalogs a day. Places I never heard of or knew existed. Some repeated themselves once or twice a week. I felt sorry for our mail carrier and the recycling guy. After the new year, things settled down and one Sundance catalog promoting the 2008 film festival caught my eye.

Flipping through (I always start at the back and work towards the front - odd) I noticed in one shot, they had a vintage Rolleiflex camera sitting on the table as a prop along with what looks like a Mamiya rangefinder next to it. Looking closer, I realized the model was carrying a box with reels of film on a set designed to look like a darkroom. The Rolleiflex appears on other pages in the catalog, but it is not for sale. However, they will sell you a new Seagull camera manufactured in China and a very good value for the money. There was one other page where they were selling "vintage home movie cameras" from the '50s and '60s to decorate your home theater.

I guess where I'm going with this story is I'm glad there is still a lot of interest out there for film. Walking around downtown Chicago, I always see students with their manual cameras loaded with Tri-X film out on-assignment. Friday, I was in the Cultural Center taking pictures of the Tiffany Dome and I was stopped by somebody asking about my Leica. And, as I mentioned before, I always get a reaction when I pull out my Rolleiflex especially from the younger crowd. Film seems simpler. Nostalgic maybe. Makes you think before you take the picture rather than chimping afterwards. Hopefully it will be around for a long time.