Going old school (film)

Today was my lucky day. I was having coffee with an old friend of mine and he mentioned his late father had an old SLR camera and he didn't know what to do with it. Just the past couple of days I've been looking at and considering a film camera to experiment with and now this comes up! Pete (my friend with the camera) offered the camera to me and I gratefully accepted. I really feel honored to receive what was surely a treasured camera to Pete's father. It is a beautiful circa 1985 Olympus OM-PC with 50mm, 1.8 and 70-210mm zoom lenses with filters.
I hadn't used a proper film camera since the Pentax K1000 back in 1988 school art class so there is once again a learning curve. Funny thing is, my last DSLR was an Olympus which had a unique way of displaying the light metering and this camera is no different. In truly quirky Olympus fashion the actual light metering is not shown but instead you get the suggested shutter speed. It works - just different from anything else.
This afternoon I went for a little stroll downtown and snapped a few test shots with some very old film that was provided with the camera so we'll see what happens. All I know is the camera sure feels nice! It is so small compared to my Canon 7D. It also takes me forever to set the camera up for a shot. I'll get faster but there is no way I'll be as fast as I am with the Canon. Also, it is strange not getting the instant gratification of seeing your photo on the camera display. I have to go get the film processed to see if anything worked. How archaic, yet it makes me look forward to seeing the results, somewhat like looking forward to see what is in your Christmas stocking.
I'm sure this camera will enjoy it's new home. And thank you Pete!

Currently on display

Right now, as we sit here, I have 14 photos on display at Coffee on the Moon in Duncan. The display runs until the beginning of January. After that I will be moving the pieces to new homes. Some will be going to new owners (thank you!) and some will be going to galleries, shops and restaurants around Duncan. I encourage you to see the photos while they're at the Moon as this is the largest sampling of my collection that you will get to see for some time. You can see the other photos here on my Flickr page.

Tragedy strikes

I was heading out to take some photos in the afternoon snow and was just about to turn around when I saw this plume of smoke just up ahead. My stomach sank for a moment as I suspected the worst. When I rounded the corner I found every one's nightmare. A house fire. The elderly couple escaped unharmed but all was lost. I got there just as things started to get crazy. The front windows popped out, the electrical lines were sizzling and zapping away and through all this a couple guys were hammering away at the couple's locked car window to get something out for the lady (purse maybe). The husband suggested we all push the car out of the driveway. That was not going to happen. Although the fire hall was really just across the street, understandably it took some time for the volunteers to arrive and the house was fully engulfed. Horrible to witness such a loss and I held back from taking photos of the couple's faces as they were obviously going through a very heart wrenching situation.

Snow day portraits

While doing outdoor family portraits has it's share of challenges, try adding a fresh snowfall and sub-zero temperatures, along with a nice strong wind off the ocean. Not an ideal combination. Especially when the the youngest of the children is under two years old. It's just not the ideal setting for a family portrait at that point. This is what I faced on Saturday. The youngest of the family lasted almost 10 minutes which was perfectly understandable. The weather was not pleasent by any means. Luckily the family lived nearby and we were able to finish the photos indoors.

No, not me...

Ok, I caved in and started a blog. I'll post some photos and stories here when I have something worth sharing. Stay tuned...