Author: Tom (Admin)
-
Sharing our Passion: Kids in Madagascar Get a First Taste of Photography
A few years ago, I joined a couple of other folks with a passion for photography and an interest in doing something for the local community in Antananarivo, Madagascar. We collaborated to successfully crowdfund a small youth center that would cater to local vulnerable kids who, for whatever reason, were not attending school. Thanks to…
-
Visit to Isalo National Park, Madagascar
Shortly before leaving Madagascar after having lived there for more than three years, I finally made it to Isalo National Park, which is one of the premier tourist destinations in country, and one I would have regretted missing out on. My wife and daughter had visited this huge national park, established in 1962, which incorporates…
-
One Last Trip – “Lemur Island”
Given today’s justifiable flak surrounding the keeping of pet lemurs or the existence of lemur “petting zoos” that rely on capturing lemurs from the wild, Madagascar’s “Lemur Island” (officially “Vakona Private Reserve”) near Andasibe-Mantadia National Park is seen by some as controversial. The reserve consists of several different islands (lemurs don’t cross water) criss-crossed with…
-
Off the Beaten Path in Vatomandry, Madagascar
You could live in Madagascar – for as long as three years – and have trouble getting to see all of the on the beaten path things there are to see in that country–in fact, that’s what I just did, and I can confirm this. But for one of my final posts on traveling in…
-
Testing Kentmere 400 Film
I’m not sure why I’ve never really heard of this film – most online discussion refers to it as a “cheaper” film produced by Ilford Photo, but I was quite impressed. I found the tones and the grain very pleasant, and found the results nicely balanced despite having shot both day and night, indoor, outdoor,…
-
Locust Swarm in Madagascar
Shortly after arriving in Madagascar a few years ago, we watched the BBC’s Planet Earth II episode in which a film crew found it amazingly difficult to track down a swarm containing more than a billion of the tiny, destructive creatures. Apparently, it can be surprisingly difficult to find and film them. We had also…
-
Camera Review: the Pho-Tak Traveler 120
Never heard of the Pho-Tak Corporation and the cameras they manufactured around 1948-1950 in Chicago? Neither had I, until I unwrapped this Christmas gift from my daughter, who sparked my interest in vintage cameras about 6 years ago. It’s a solid little tank of a camera, made almost entirely of metal, with a worn black…
-
Ektachrome Returns!
I followed with interest the hype surrounding the re-release by Kodak Alaris of Ektachrome 100 slide film, announced in early 2017, after having been completely phased out by 2013. Honestly, initially I wasn’t that interested, but as time wore on I become more intrigued as to what the slide film might offer. When the long-awaited…
-
Rice Harvest in Antananarivo
After three years living in Antananarivo, you gradually stop noticing the things that you found so fascinating and unique about this city as a newcomer. Antananarivo is a city of 1.5 million people. It has a downtown – an older, French-looking “haute ville” (high city) – cobblestone roads running along, over, and under the hills…
-
Great News: Jerome is Learning English and Coding!
Way back in 2016 when I was still new to Madagascar, Anne and I saw an online notice that a crowdfunding initiative on the eastern coast of the country was looking for a photographer and a videographer to produce a crowdfunding video and associated imagery to support a project (at the time still unnamed) to…
-
Swimming with Whale Sharks in Madagascar
Check another item off the bucket list: in November, we made it to Nosy Be to see the whale sharks – considered endangered by some – feeding on the plankton that “bloom” there the same time every year. This capped off an amazing year in Madagascar – just a month prior, we managed to get out…
-
…but what’s there to do in southern Madagascar?
In our quest to see everything there is to see in Madagascar (for which, honestly speaking, there is simply not enough time, but we’re trying our absolute best!) we recently made our way to south Madagascar. Specifically, we went to “Fort Dauphin” – which was renamed Tolagnaro, (or Toalagnaro), in 1975 and yet inexplicably, everyone…
-
Vintage Camera Test: the No. 1A Autographic Kodak Junior
The No. 1A Autographic Junior was made in various versions between 1914 and 1927. it’s got a beautifully detailed brass and enamel faceplate, a fold-out foot with the Kodak logo, and its name engraved on a brass plate below the shutter assembly. They all shot 6.5 by 11 cm frames on size 116 autographic film…
-
My Experience with Kodak AEROCHROME
A few months ago, I’d never heard of “Aerochrome” film. What is aerochrome? According to Kodak, “KODAK AEROCHROME III Infrared Film 1443 is an infrared-sensitive, false-color reversal film intended for various aerial photographic applications where infrared discriminations may yield practical results.” It was discontinued in 2010 and the last bit of it expired in 2011.…
-
Making a Camera Work: The No. 2 Folding Pocket Kodak Model C or Maybe D…
Among the growing group of people who collect and operate vintage film cameras, there are two types of people: those who quickly figure out a way to make an old camera work again, and those who obsess way too long over making an old camera work, to the point that it’s no longer really about…
-
Results, #ShittyCameraChallenge, October Edition
Back in June, I was excited to post my results in the first Shitty Camera Challenge. At the time, the results were completely appropriate for the camera I used at the time, and I still lie awake at night wondering how my life would have been different, had I been selected (at random) as that…
-
Vintage Camera Review: No. 3A Folding Pocket Kodak No. B-4
The No. 3A Folding Pocket Kodak No. B-4, despite its “pocket” moniker, is a hefty folding camera made between June 1908 and April 1909 which I got from my parents for Christmas a few years ago. It consists of a leatherbound wood-and-aluminum case with shiny nickel fittings that conceals intricate, shiny brass knobs, dials and gauges,…
-
Vintage Camera Review: Kodak No. 1A Folding Hawk-Eye Model 1
This was once a beautiful camera. It’s made of sheet metal painted black and covered in leatherette, with a wooden baseboard and shiny nickel and black metal parts, and a little brass, complemented by red leather bellows. It folds open to sit horizontally on a shelf, or can be folded to be carried with its…
-
Vintage Camera Review: No. 1A Folding Pocket Kodak
Of all my cameras, this has probably been one of the most difficult to work with. But once I figured out the problem, I firmly kicked myself. A couple of times, for good measure. Made of brass, wood, stainless steel and covered with leather, this 1906-1912 folder with red leather bellows is a beautiful camera. …
-
Whale Watching in Madagascar
Every June or July, thousands of humpback whales migrate thousands of miles north from Antarctica to have their young just off the coast of Madagascar. And finally we made it up in time to see them (September is best!) Not only did I want to go out and see them, but it was also one…
-
Twelve Months, Twelve Cameras, Twelve Decades…and One Film. #ATG365
In August 2017, the hosts of podcast Against the Grain discussed photographers’ tendency to immediately look at photos they’ve shot (chimping) and how film photography slows the process down, resulting in an increased emphasis on capturing the photo, without constantly worrying about the end result. They suggested taking this idea of removing “chimping” to an extreme by…
-
Andringitra Park in Madagascar: Sheer Cliffs and Ringtails
Andringitra National Park is one of those places where adventure travelers go. It’s got peaks that people go out and climb over a four-day period. The one in the photo above is just a two-day climb for rock climbers, not quite in the park. People will climb the sheer cliff and sleep the first night…
-
New Project: Mini-Documentaries on Madagascar’s Informal Sector
I’m excited to be working on a new and admittedly somewhat ambitious project: a series of short documentaries examining some jobs in Madagascar’s informal sector. I plan to describe the work itself, but also spend some time thinking about why these jobs exist in Madagascar (and probably other developing countries), but not elsewhere. I’ve played…
-
Review: Canon FTb
I received my Canon FTb in a box of cameras I ordered on eBay when I was bored a few years ago and have run several rolls of film through it over the years (after I repaired it) with outstanding results, so I thought it would be appropriate to finally do a formal review on…
-
Camera Review: Ansco B-2 Cadet
For reasons known only to them, camera manufacturers have, over the years, felt that “cadet” was a good name for a camera. There are at least 20 or so cameras (plus an exposure meter and an enlarger) called Cadets, to include at least eight made by the Ansco company.  There’s the Ansco Cadet A8, B2,…