Year: 2015
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Strolling (and Rafting) through Rishikesh
Not too long ago, we had a chance to visit Rishikesh, in northern India and the Himalayan foothills, known as a top yoga and adventure travel destination. You may have also heard about Rishikesh as the site of the ashram where the Beatles stayed in the late 1960s, and where they sought (and found, apparently)…
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Confessions of an EBay Junkie
This is what sixty bucks worth of junk looks like: OK, so I admit, I have a problem. I like to go on eBay and type “vintage camera” into the search bar and see what comes up. And I sort by time remaining, so invariably an interesting camera or two will pop up with 3…
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Raymond Albert’s Photos: Postscript
Since October 2014, I have been scanning, restoring and sharing rolls of film that were found in an estate sale and subsequently put up on eBay for sale. Unlike the “found film” I usually develop after it has been neglected in an old shoebox or left inside a forgotten camera for decades, this film was…
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Petri 7S Test
Half a year ago, my mother-in-law asked me if I could use an old Petri 7S and a Minolta SRT101 they had laying around and after some quick research online I responded “most definitely!” The Minolta will be the subject of a later post – this one is about the Petri. The Kuribayashi Camera Industry,…
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When 2000 Giant Ganesha Idols are Immersed in the Sea
My Indian friends who grew up nearby tell me it wasn’t always like this. They say when they were growing up, during the festival Ganesh Chaturthi, they would have a small clay statue of Lord Ganesha, one of Hinduism’s most important deities, which would be dissolved in a pond or a container of water at…
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The Androscoggin Flood of 1953
The Androscoggin River roars past the Rumford Dam in Maine during the March 1953 flood. Compare the river to this photo of the same dam taken recently. Since October, I have been sharing a collection of photos rescued from the estate of the late Raymond Albert – believed to have been taken by him in and…
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Thousands of bugs were bubbling up out of the ground…you’ll never guess what happened next!
On the grounds of a posh Himalayan resort – where the monkeys are normally kept at bay by G4S guards carrying long sticks – thousands of winged insects were bubbling up from the ground – seemingly from nowhere – and taking wing. It was the weirdest thing, because it was like they were appearing out…
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Hiking in a Himalayan Hailstorm
We went on a trek this morning – quite short and easy by trekkers’ standards, but pretty long for old(er) folks staying at a resort in the Himalayas where there’s a golf cart and driver if you don’t feel up to walking down the hill from reception to your room. In total it was about…
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Raymond Albert’s Photos: One Last Wedding
For months, I have been sharing photos believed to have been taken by Raymond Albert in the late 1940s through the late-1950s. In total, the collection consists of about 23 rolls. This post highlights roll number 22, probably from around 1958 or 1959. As an aside, Raymond Albert would have been 89 today. This roll features…
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Tirukalukundram
Eighteen kilometers west of the Tamil Nadu tourist town of Mahabalipuram is a town of about 24,000 called Tirukaludundram which is known for its hilltop temple, the Vedagiriswarar temple. The temple consists of an upper part up on a hill, which can actually be seen all the way from Mahabalipuram: and a lower part consisting of multiple…
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Found Film: Grandpa Albert’s House on the Coast
For months, I have been sharing photos believed to have been taken by Raymond Albert in the late 1940s through the mid-1950s. In total, the collection consists of about 23 rolls. This post highlights roll number 21. I’m guessing the current roll was taken around 1956 or 1957. In this roll we are mainly looking at…
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Backyard Aquaponics Project
A few years ago, my daughter wanted a fishtank for Christmas, which was cool for everyone because we all got to enjoy it in the living room. We kept live plants with the fish, and I noticed at the time that they tended to thrive in the water the fish lived in. Nitrites or nitrates…
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Drones, Kingfishers, and Joey Cook’s Ukulele
Goa, India’s diminutive state on the west coast, enjoys a certain reputation as a party destination, full of backpackers and bikinis, in search of yoga or outdoor sports. But it also has its wildlife – especially birds. I wrote about our visit to Goa’s Dr. Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary about a year ago when we…
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Guest Post: Darkroom Blues: A Blast from the Past (Part II)
This is part 2 of an article shared by a photographer friend here in Chennai which was originally written for the Photographic Society of Madras, a local photographic society founded in 1857. The first part of the article is published here. The author, Rags Raghavan, has since moved on to digital photography. You can find…
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Guest Post: Darkroom Blues – a Blast from the Past (part 1)
A friend of mine here in Chennai shared an article with me the other day, which he had written for the Photographic Society of Madras, a local photographic society founded in 1857. It reminded me not only how far we have come – in this day and age where everyone is taking perfectly lit/focused photographs at…
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Found Film: Lakes and Rivers
For the last few months, I have been sharing photos believed to have been taken by Raymond Albert in the late 1940s through the mid-1950s. In total, the collection consists of about 23 rolls. This post highlights the 19th and 20th roll I am sharing/have shared, in the approximate order they were likely taken. I’m guessing the…
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Camera Test: Olympus PEN EE.S
A few days ago, I blogged about another vintage camera that I characterized as somewhat unique in that there were virtually no settings or adjustments you could make on the camera. I thought it might be one of the earliest “point and shoot” cameras. Afterward, I realized that virtually every box camera of the early…
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Found Film: The Alberts visit Quebec
For the last few months, I have been sharing photos believed to have been taken by Raymond Albert in the late 1940s thru the mid-1950s. This latest post features photos from a trip the family took to Quebec, circa 1955. On this trip, they visit a number of different cultural and/or religious sites. I was able to identify…
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Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road
This is one more / the last post from our recent trip to Australia. Over a two-week period, we were fortunate to be able to pass through (though without actually seeing much of it) Sydney, and this was followed by a few days in Port Douglas /a day in Cairns, including several outings to the…
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Camera Test: Agfa Ansco No. 1A Ready-Set Special
This is a camera I bought, not knowing anything at all about it, simply because I thought it looked cool. It turns out that this particular model is not all that well-known, but the overall Ready-set series is. The Ready-Set series was introduced around 1928, around the time Ansco merged with the German firm Agfa…
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Pongal in Chennai / Camera Test
Often I blog about old cameras I’m testing out, often I blog about things we see and experience in India. This post has a little of both! The Ansco Agfa Karomat 36 (known by variants of that name) is an Agfa Karat 36 rebadged for the American market, where it was sold by Ansco from…
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Katherine: Hiking the Gorge
When planning our recent trip to Australia, we wanted to include a few days exploring the country’s amazing “outback.” Confronted with endless options, we decided on the Northern Territory, but rather than the usual Uluru/Alice Springs outing, we opted for the area surrounding the town of Katherine, with emphasis on Nitmiluk National Park and Katherine…
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Chennai’s Republic Day Parade
Today was a pretty special day in India – even President Obama agreed, as he spent the better part of the day with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, having been invited as Chief Guest for the annual Republic Day Parade. President Obama is honored to be back in #India to celebrate Republic Day and to begin…
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The Hidden Power of Gummy Bears
I am a clumsy person, unsuited for any sport that involves any sort of stick, ball or other implement. Running after a ball with a stick would pretty much be a guaranteed serious injury. My peers in elementary school gym class recognized this well before I did, and could find no better way to convey…