Year: 2018

  • Kodak T-Max P3200: My First Roll

    A notification from 35mmc today with Hamish Gill’s review of Kodak’s re-released P3200 reminded me that I, too, recently shot my first roll of P3200 – I just hadn’t gotten around to sharing my results.  I’m a little bit late to the game, given that the film was re-released in mid-March – but it takes…

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  • Droning with the Dolphins

    They were so majestic.  About a half-mile out, I would swim directly overhead a pod of dolphins swimming directly beneath me, maybe 7 or 8 meters down.  They’d swim slowly, all most like they were “letting” me keep up.  Then they’d gradually float up to the surface, let their dorsal fins break the surface a…

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  • More Ilford Delta 3200

    I posted awhile back about my first experience with Ilford Delta 3200 film – or any high-ISO film, for that matter.  I was initially disappointed, but later the results grew on me.  I had no idea just how much grain would result from pushing the film to ISO 4000, given that it is actually (allegedly)…

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  • Antananarivo’s New Road

    Last year in November, Madagascar’s capital Antananarivo unveiled a new road, from the northwest of town to the airport.  Within three days, workers were filling potholes, and within a week, the road was closed. In the year since, there have been repeated predictions that the road would be re-tarred and reopend, but nothing has happened. …

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  • Help Wanted: Adding a Shutter to a 115-Year-Old Camera

    I picked up this old camera and I want to make it work.  It’s hidden inside a nondescript, beat-up box, which happens to be made of mahogany and covered with cowhide.  But after 115 years, it looks like this: When you open it up, there’s this magnificent specimen of 1902 technology, brass and red leather,…

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  • “Pushing” Film: Ilford Delta 3200

    cows and bananas and canals…all on my run route between home and the office! I’m not a dumb person, but I’ll admit I’ve always managed to confuse myself when reading or speaking about “pushing” or “pulling” film.  Now that I’ve finally given it a shot, it makes more sense, and I’ve learned a few new…

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  • Monsoons in Madagascar: a Blessing and a Curse

    Madagascar’s rainy season normally runs from November-ish to February or March.  Last year, we hardly even noticed it – beyond a handful of late-night, pretty intense, rainstorms, there was very little rain.  And everyone was worried – rice yields were down, the reservoirs were down and we were rationing and storing water – even electricity…

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  • Madikwe Game Reserve – One of South Africa’s Best Kept Secrets!

    For most people, going on a safari is the trip of a lifetime.  And there are numerous well-known game parks and reserves, in many African countries, where you can do just that.  But if you decide to take the plunge and see the amazing animals and landscape most people only get to see in coffee…

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