October 02, 2007

even more, Old School...

Music | My Foolish Heart by Lin Halliday

My buddy Randy Kepple and I go back almost as long as I have lived in Portland. Our backgrounds for photography are amazingly similar in how we came up thru the ranks and it shows in our appreciation for the finer points of photography. We are similar in age also, so we often have the same view on how photography has changed and how we talk like old veterans and how things used to be.

I took him to Blue Moon Camera a shop where the entire store is dedicated to the use of mechanical film cameras. 8x10, 4x5, Nikons from the 60's, to cameras where the film format has long been forgotten can be had. The real beauty of this place is that it brings back memories from my childhood. I saw a camera similar to what my Dad used to use when I was around 5. These pieces of history still work and show mechanical ingenious, often no longer found these days.

Randy was particularly interested in a beautiful German made medium format camera. The familiar scent of the leather used at the time was like smelling what it must have been like when that camera was made. It is familiar and we know it well. Our appreciation for this tool was apparent. And the thought of resurrecting the old camera I know was tickling in his mind.

I found that all these years, I've lived within a few miles of this great resource that actually has 8x10 film and they also process 8x10 film. This is fantastic news to me as I thought 8x10 film was very difficult to get. I now know I have this option to use my old Century Camera with Kodak lens. Cost will only get more prohibitive, but I hope to at least one more time, shoot with a piece of history.

1 comment:

Randy said...

It was amazing to me to stand there in this little shop on the corner of a major metropolitan area and reflect on how quickly our society has abandoned such beauty. Digital has come a very long way in a very short time, but there is nothing that can touch film and the organic process of creating when shooting film.

When will we get to see this beast you claim to have in your possession? I think it's time to bring it out of the closet, dust it off and throw a few pix on your blog old friend! :)

 
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