Author: Tom (Admin)
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Going to Goa: On the Beach
Sharing a few photos from our recent trip to Goa, a former Portuguese colony in west/south India. One of the things tourists love about the beaches here is how clean they are. Whether it’s the currents, the population size or some other reason, we can definitely say there is a huge difference between what we…
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Ayudha Pooja in our Community
The other day a group of colleagues living close together and all of the domestic staff they employ came together for an annual tradition called the “Ayudha Pooja.” This is something which Hindus, especially in South India, have celebrated as long as anyone can remember. Traditionally it is observed on the final, or ninth day…
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Going to Goa: Sahakari Spice Plantation
One thing you can do when you’re visiting the Indian state of Goa, on the south/western coast, is to stop by a spice plantation. Presumably the spice plantations that dot Goa and other parts of India are remnants of the once-extremely-profitable spice industry which drove Europeans farther and farther across the globe in search of…
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Going to Goa: Shri Mangeshi Temple and Procession
We recently took several days to visit Goa, a small state and former Portuguese colony on the western coast of India. For one of our outings, we hired a local driver, “Seby”, to take us around for the better part of the afternoon, to see some of the local sights. One of the places we…
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Street Photography: Is Black and White Best?
A few days ago, I came home from work and sat down at the computer to see what folks were up to on Facebook, and I saw the “Photographic Society of Madras” was hosting a talk by an American street photographer, to start in 15 minutes – and it was only a mile away! So…
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The Ansco Craftsman Camera: Should I Build It?
I recently came into possession of an Ansco Craftsman Camera Home Construction Kit, and I don’t know what I should do with it. These kits were introduced in 1950 and marketed through magazines like “Boys’ Life” to try and recruit schoolchildren into photography, presumably to make them lifelong consumers of Ansco film. Â The idea appears…
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Chennai Photowalk Part 3: Kapaleeshwarar Temple
…as far as this particular photowalk goes, I’ve saved the best for last. We initially went into the less-trafficked entrance entrance to this amazing temple, following the lead of the Indians in our group, and after a few photos, were ushered out and told to come in the other entrance. But not before I scored…
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Chennai Photowalk Part 2: Streets at Night
It seems strange to think that, after 2 months living in this city, we haven’t really been out at night. I’ve been out very early and there are a surprising number of people up and about – this is the time when the trucks are unloaded bringing new stock to the shops. But in the…
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Chennai Photowalk: In Search of Golu
Golu, also known as Kolu or Bommai Golu – the “festival of dolls” – has come to Chennai. Golu is celebrated during the festival of Navratri in southern India. I find the background of the festival confusing, not knowing many of the stories relating to Hinduism, but the festival manifests itself in southern India in…
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From the Township to the Championship: The Amazing Story Behind One Photo
This is Sofia Simon, a fifteen-year-old, in Giza, Egypt. Â She’s on a layover in Cairo, on her way to compete in the World Biathle Championships in Cyprus. Â Never heard of biathle? Â Eighteen months ago, neither had Sofia. Â Eighteen months ago, she couldn’t swim, either. Â And tomorrow she will represent her country in a sport that…
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Crater Lake and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
I just finished “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” – probably the only person to have never read this book. Â The characters follow almost the exact same route through Oregon and northern California as we did on our very own “Chautauqua” last summer. Â I have always been drawn to Crater Lake – I’m not…
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Found Film: 110 “Pocket Instamatic”
One of those small 110 cartridges people used to put in “pocket instamatic” and other miniature cameras in the 1970s and 1980s came into my possession the other day. Â All twelve pictures had been taken. Â No idea whose it was originally – it was probably found in an old camera picked up at a garage…
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The International Coastal Cleanup: Chennai, India
Today we joined thousands of Chennaiites in taking part in the 2013 International Coastal Cleanup. Regular readers in this blog will recognize that Chennai struggles to maintain clean beaches and waterways, like many large urban areas on the coast.  It was impressive to see the number of people involved and active in this annual event.…
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Vintage Photos with the Agfa Billy Record I
Here’s another post about vintage cameras from this blog that doesn’t know what it wants to be. Agfa’s Billy Record I was produced from 1950 to 1952 in the U.S. Zone of post-World War II Germany. The export model (to the U.S.) was known as the Ventura 69. It shoots at 3 speeds (1/25, 1/50,…
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Passing Out in India (It’s Not What You Think)
I had the honor and pleasure of attending the Passing Out Parade at Chennai’s Officers’ Training Academy (OTA). Â To “pass out” of a military academy means, in a number of countries, to graduate, or move on. Â In the case of this particular passing out parade, 350 graduates went from being cadets, to being junior officers…
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Ganesha Chaturthi, Chennai Style (Part 2: Video)
Yesterday I explained a bit about the festival currently ongoing in Chennai (and across India) – Ganesha Chaturthi – and posted some photos. It’s hard to really capture the atmosphere of the event with photos only – a video in this case is much more helpful. Â After watching this video, if you think this is…
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Ganesha Chaturthi, Chennai Style
Today was day 7 of Ganesha Chaturthi, the Hindu festival celebrating the (re-)birth of Lord Ganesha, the son of Shiva and Parvati. Â To celebrate this festival, many Indian families display a statue of Ganesha in their homes, and after making specific types of offerings and engaging in certain rituals, will immerse the (usually clay) statue…
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Color Film Processing at Home
There are quite a few opinions out there on the ‘net that processing color film yourself is just too darn hard. Â I’m happy to report that I managed to do it for the first time – and if I can do it, it’s definitely not that hard. Â You do have to be able to keep…
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Is There Really Such a Thing as Too Many Cameras?
I was very excited to get a package this week containing twelve new old junk vintage cameras, bringing the size of my collection to around fifty. Â Here are the new arrivals: And (changing subjects briefly, but I’ll come back to this) India has a lot of monkeys – 13 types, in fact – but we…
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At a South Indian Wedding
We had a unique opportunity to attend a South Indian wedding reception the other night. Â And I knew it would be an excellent photo-op, so I brought along my Ricoh with flash and a couple of rolls of film! As I understand it, a wedding in India used to last several days, but for practical…
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Reflecting on Afghanistan, 2006
Today, September 11, was a day of service to the local community. Â A group of Americans and Indians did some cleanup, painting, and entertaining of children at a local school for the mentally handicapped. Â The idea was to get out and do something for the needy, either in honor of those who lost their lives…
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Success! Processing B & W Film for the First Time
This weekend, I set out to try and cut the expenses for my hobby a bit by learning to process the film myself. I ordered the chemicals for both black/white and color film processing a few weeks ago, along with a developing tank from the 1950s I picked up on eBay for 3 bucks. The…
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Preparing to Process my Own Film for the First Time
It has been about seven months since I started fooling around with film photography again, after a break of decades.  My daughter suggested we try and load up an old folder we had picked up years ago at a flea market in Belgium – I blogged about it back in February. Today, laughing, she said…
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and yet MORE Adventures with Redscale Photography
Yesterday I blogged about redscale photography with 35mm film – i.e. taking a roll of normal film and flipping the film inside the cartridge so that the light passes through the film itself before it hits the emulsion and causes the chemical reactions that produce an image. The same technique can also be applied, of…
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More Adventures with Redscale Photography
What’s redscale photography? I didn’t know either at first – I saw some “redscale film” for sale and started asking about it, and found out that it’s nothing more than ordinary film, but reversed. Photographic film has layers of chemicals in a certain order to produce the best effect, and as light enters the camera…