FlipFlash, film, pixels and me

It’s fair to say that my interest in photography started at a very young age when my parents bought me a 110 format Kodak Ektra 1. I may still have this camera somewhere in a box (Update: The Ektra 1 has been FOUND!). I remember the big green number “1” on it. It had no flash, but could accept the popular Flip Flash. This was not my first camera, however, but I remember using it the most as a kid. It may just have been a Can-Do camera for less than $18, but hey, if it was good enough for Michael Landon, it was good enough for me. Before this, I believe I shot at least one roll of film using a hand-me-down Kodak Starfish Brownie. I think this was a 120 format and I never had a bulb for it. I have no idea what became of any of the pictures I took with either one of these. I do recall that most of them were grainy, blurry, or were pictures of thumbs and mundane subjects.

Not much changed for me but I remember being fascinated by my mom’s Kodak Disc camera. She actually had two of these before the format basically died out! Then my dad changed everything when he bought a Pentax SLR and a couple of lenses. Several years later and somewhat forgotten, I borrowed the Pentax and used it in a photography class with my best friend, John Nicholson. John had already started working with 35mm equipment and was even doing darkroom work with the school yearbook. By the end of the year, and a second class with John and another friend and neighbor, John Spitzmueller, I was hooked. We even used the second class to do a slideshow project on how to make a clay animated movie. Of course, we made the movie too and donated the project to our teacher as an example project for future classes.

At some point I decided to buy my own equipment and return the Pentax to my dad. John accompanied me to National Camera where I bought a Canon EOS 630 and a 35-135mm USM lens. Although the EOS 630 was not Canon’s pro model, it was so feature-rich and capable that I can recall telling John that it was the last 35mm camera I would ever need. It wasn’t the last 35mm I would buy, but it definitely served me well as an SLR. I continued to use it even up to a couple of years ago when I brought it to Alaska. However, by this time, the digital revolution had taken hold and I knew I was going to have to dive in.

I started with a monster SLR made by Sony called the Mavica FD-91. This was a feature-packed camera sadly capable of only .8 megapixels (point-eight) and it recorded all images to a 3.5-inch floppy disk. What it lacked in image quality, it made up in features. With a 14x optical zoom and optical image stabilization, this camera could do some amazing things. It also could focus at zero distance, meaning I could focus on something that was flush against the lens itself! Finally, the system had manual features that made it a very capable camera. As fun and versatile this camera was, the resolution was low and the quality due to the floppy disk media was disappointing. Although great from the standpoint that I documented a few trips and family events, I quickly outgrew this camera.

I decided to go the opposite route when I replaced the Mavica with a Canon S300 Digital Elph. This little beauty is a 2.1 megapixel pocket camera with plenty of automation and manual features. A perfect traveling camera, the S300 was a capable camera and helped to build a modest image library. However, I eventually found myself longing for the creative flexibility of an SLR and decided it would eventually be time to get into something much better.

Despite the allure of digital photography, I also became interested in the cult phenomenon known as Lomography. Centered on the Russian Lomo LC-A camera, Lomography is basically a worldwide marketing gimmick perpetuated by Austrian businessmen. However, the concept is interesting. Basically, you take this cheap (well, not actually inexpensive) Russian 35mm compact (a cheaper copy of the Cosina CX-2 which I also own) and you wildly shoot photos with complete disregard for technique. The camera employs an unusual lens which creates barrel distortion effects and vignetting while keeping the center in focus. The compact size and auto exposure encourages low-light, close-up and candid shots sometimes producing blurred, abstract images with over-saturated colors and odd lighting effects. In essence, the camera turns its design idiosyncrasies and exposure defects into art!

Last year I decided to take the digital plunge again and retire the EOS 630 replacing it with the Canon EOS 20D, an 8.2 megapixel digital SLR. A convenient benefit is that my 135mm zoom lens which I have had for nearly 15 years works fine with this camera. I had already picked up a fast f/1.4 50mm USM lens for the 630 several years ago, so I had two lenses that would work with the 20D. I was simply updating the camera body to finally escape having to deal with film. The 630 was a great camera and I never had a single problem with it. I will keep it as a backup just in case.

Now, armed with a fancy new digital SLR I knew I needed to explore some creativity with lenses. I was interested in experimenting with wide angle, so I took a chance on the Canon 10-22mm EF-S USM ultra wide angle zoom. The EF-S mounts only to a couple of cameras in the current Canon lineup, so that’s risky considering that I may one day decide to replace the body again with something better. However, I decided that shooting at 10mm was something I needed to do, and with the 20D there is a crop factor due to the sensor not filling the entire frame of a 35mm negative, so this lens really only yields 16mm. That’s still super wide, and as I explore the use of this lens, I may not have found an eye for great composition, but I do love the versatility and drama this lens brings.

More recently, I decided I wanted to try shooting macro subjects. This was a big decision because of the string of equipment purchases that are necessary to really do it right. Macro is basically photography of subjects enlarged or close-up so that the image on film (metaphorically speaking in my case) is life-size or bigger. In other words, if you took film out of the camera and compared it to the subject, it would appear as actual size. Getting this close and magnified requires a lens capable of focusing at short distances. I opted for the Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM. This will let me get 1:1 images. At that magnification, the depth of field is also very small, so the best shots are taken at tiny apertures. That means you need more light, so I needed a flash. I grabbed the Canon Speedlite 580EX. Shooting subjects so close prevents a top-mounted flash from illuminating the scene, so I needed an off-camera flash cord hot shoe adapter, and since I don’t have a third arm, I eventually got the slick Wimberly Shape Shifter, a flash bracket like no other. This thing bends in every imaginable position and it is perfect for putting light right where you need it when doing macro work. It does scare small children, however.

As you can see, the equipment list has no limits, but capturing great images has a lot more to do with the photographer than the equipment. So, I plan to give myself some opportunities to practice this summer.

My story with cameras is probably not very different than most people. Kodak moments are a part of our culture. Although I do enjoy photography, I certainly don’t consider myself an expert or even an artist in this field. My body of work is personal, certainly not professional. Yet, I strive to find an artistic eye and hope to continually improve my ability to take pictures for myself and to share with others. If you haven’t already noticed, the camera icon at the top of every page here takes you to my image gallery where I post the images I want to share. You can also find out what’s new by reading the blog area of this site which often has images or links to other media (but is rarely updated).