I was invested in The Impossible Project early on but didn’t think the film was that great.  Just today with cleaning up I found my stash of photos taken with this film.  Not as negative as I once was.  

Thanks to the nice neighbor lady who moved to Florida - she gifted me a Canon Ftb which is great.  She also gave me the 4 point and shoots which I think I will love shooting.  She also had in the box a Vivicam 335 - a 1.3 MB digital camera.  Here are the results.  Safe to say the camera is well on it’s way to some landfill

The surest way to fail in photography technically is to grab an old point and shoot that you’ve never used and put in 16 year expired film and go shooting.  You folks will just have to wait till I get the film back but his is exactly what I did.

Porsche Club Racing which is a national series actually started in the 1970’s here in Colorado at 2nd Creek Raceway. This weekend was the 2019 installment.  Just a few photos from the time spent at the track

A very few of the offerings at the latest Christie’s Photography Auction

This weekend in Santa Fe the Colorado Airstream Club had a rally.  Just down the road from Santa Fe Skies RV park was the grand opening of the Vintage Trailer Supply Store.  They put on talks, food trucks and a place to see some vintage trailers.  A very good time.

Every year in South Eastern Colorado there is a migration of Oklahoma Brown Back Tarantulas.  These are 8-10 year old males looking for a mate.  The females are in burrows in the grasslands. Once the males have mated they are usually dead by November because of cold exposure.  They are docile for the most part.  Their bite is not poisonous but if bitten one could get infected.  They also have hairs on their abdomens that can be “sprayed” at an attacker.  The hairs are irritating.  

If you’ve every wondered how YOU could become more American than your friends or neighbors, here’s the solution.

Get yourself a big ole ass of a truck and hang the Stars and Stripes on it WITH a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag for good measure.   I will never understand this phenomenon.  In a much milder form are those folks who wear an American Flag Pin on their suit coat.  What is your point.  We’re all American’s here ( for the most part). But somehow you need to be a Super American?  Sheesh.

Working on a new self publish photo book.  It is called ’ Instant Story’ and consists of shots made on the Fuji Instax camera.  

First track day since open heart surgery.  Went slow, had company in the car so am not anxious to cause them a heart attack!

Started off as a BW Cinema only film.  Now is available in 35 mm cassettes for still photography.  Here are a few shots, M7 35/1.4 ASPH.  A little graining on these scans.  When the film is sent back to me I will rescan and see if that’s what the problem is.

The Fence

Duke is healed now

Boom Box of Shame

The Fence is a nationwide traveling photo exhibit.  Boom Box of Shame is how we hear about every Rockies loss - another today is headed our way

Is really a Flight of Japanese Whiskey:

Suntory Toki 

is a blended whisky from Suntory’s three distilleries: Yamazaki, Hakushu and Chita. This is a round and sweet blend with a refreshing citrus character and a spicy finish.

‘Toki’ means ‘time’ in Japanese. Toki has a different composition to its sister blend, Suntory Hibiki, and its main components are Hakushu single malt and Chita grain whisky.

Hibiki Japanese Harmony 

is a blend of Japanese malt and grain whiskies from Yamazaki, Hakushu and Chita. Presented in the brand’s trademark 24-faceted bottle representing the Japanese seasons, this is light, approachable and moreish with enticing notes of orange peel and white chocolate.

Mars Iwai

“Here we have a full meal from the whisky’s kitchen. Fumes of briny peat, malt, and robust smoke emanate from its double doors. The palate serves up smoked meats, crushed almonds and peppercorns, along with a generous helping of creamy malt. You’ll want to chew on this for a bit.”

Mars Iwai

Hibiki Harmony

Suntory Toki

Mars had the boldest taste followed by Hibiki Harmony.  Suntory Toki was very light with little in the way of a “hug”. My favorite was the Hibiki Harmony

As we are about 5 weeks away from being in the Land of the Rising Sun it is now time to learn how to use chopsticks.  

Largest outdoor photography exhibit is what The Fence purports to be.  Went to the Cherry Creek Park installation this morning.  Very nice exhibit and very inspiring.

This is a rangefinder 645.  The lens is very sharp and it’s easy to use walking along a street.  It doesn’t have TTL metering so the exposures aren’t always perfect.  Here’s a sample of photos taken in the last two weeks

I started commonmanphotography blog as a place where newcomers could learn more about photography - especially digital photography.  It is at first mostly about equipment because this is where most of us start.  Ideally, you would start at technique, how to see, what is your vision?  The fact is that most of us start way down the line at the equipment questions.  So this is where the blog starts.

This is from Ken Rockwell’s review:

“The Nikon 35Ti was a rich guy’s vacation camera. The model name means 35(mm lens) and Titanium covers. It cost about a grand ($1,000) when it came out in 1993. 

The Nikon 35Ti is one of the very best non-SLR 35mm film cameras ever made, and has one of the best lenses ever put on a 35mm camera by anyone.

In 2009, the Nikon 35Ti remains a fantastic film camera, especially if you value technical image quality. The 35Ti has a real Nikon Matrix meter, and give great results even with picky Fuji Velvia 50 slide film. 

Because of the Matrix meter and extraordinary lens, the Nikon 35Ti is the best compact film camera ever made for landscape, nature and fine art photography.

For speed and ease-of-use by a pro photographer, especially for people photography, the Konica Hexar operates and focuses more quickly. The Hexar’s meter is as primitive as a Leica, meaning its only an old center-weighted meter. The old style meters, like Leicas and the Hexar, require constant babysitting and exposure compensation to yield perfect slide exposures. Because of this, the Hexar is best used with negative film. 

The Nikon 35Ti is best for careful photos of things. The Konica Hexar is best for people, action, news and sports.”

I’ve pretty much decided that this is the camera I’m taking to Japan in 6 weeks.  I’ve also realized that for best results use fresh film.  Duh?  I’ve gotten away with using out of date film but unless you want to do lots of post scanning processing it’s best to use the fresh stuff.