Christmas has come and gone...

Yes, dear readers...The tiny hoof prints have melted off the roof, the stockings have been tucked away for next year, and I have only New Years Day to muscle through. Honestly, I love Christmas, and always have, but believe that giving should happen all year 'round, not just this month. That's my rant for the day.

In the world of photography I have some interesting news. Nothing earth-shaking, just that I have decided to 'go retro' as well as keep the digital medium in my life. In this light I searched for a few days on eBay for some older cameras and I found them. One was a Kodak Instamatic from the 1970s ($6.00 incl p/h) and the other was an Agfa Silette, built around 1953 or so. The former many of you will remember as the first true point-and-shoot unit with the 120 cartridge film. That is a sticky fact actually, since the film is not made anymore. The Internet is a big place, however and I found the film and the means to have it developed. The Frugal Photographer is the place to go for hard to find stuff, and they have the connections to develop your older film stocks. Yes, the prices are a bit high, but for a project like this, it is worth it. Their website is fun to check out, too.

The Agfa Silette ($45.00 incl s/h) is another fun one, and not your average P-A-S. This baby actually makes you work for the shot and limits your range of possibilities. First off, it only really shoots either 60 or 100 ISO film well. Anything else may be too fast. Then you are made to actually look at the light and gauge the f-Stop, either with a light meter or by guessing, and adjust the limited range (between 2.8 and 16). Then you have to adjust the shutter speed (B to 1/200sec), and then figure out how far you are away form the subject (3 ft to infinity). All of these functions are on the lens. I love it. I found some b/w100 ISO at B&H Photo and have loaded it, by hand. There are no batteries in this baby. All the winding up/down is by hand. How fun will this be!

In other news, I am getting ready to take off for the summer (Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia) and have purchased my tickets and made some hotel reservations. I am excited to do this trip, again. The Bosnian part will be an adventure certainly, since I am working there. It's nice to cease being a tourist once in a while, yet still remain an outsider. I also celebrated 5 years sober the other night at my home group. It was truly a humbling moment for me. I couldn't have dome it without all of you! I'll post pictures of the marbles later.

So thanks all...I'm off to run errands. Remember...Fill the frame, stretch the depth-of-field, create the tension...Travel off the map of your world.


Johnnyboy