Let’s share you favorite memories of medium format shots, your “war stories” as it were and read the way others handled their photo chores.
Claude, albino alligator, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. 2009??, I think. Yashica-D with Yashinon, Fuji Neopan 400 film.
The Academy had been renovated and expanded and recently reopened. They had kept the Southern Swamp exhibit, including the Art Deco railing, etc. Added the lower level viewing window.
This couldn't be taken today for two reasons. A guard told me that parents would put their children on their shoulders and lean over the opening above the exhibit, so they added safety netting to keep kids from falling in.
And Claude died last December, RIP.
Claude, albino alligator, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. 2009??, I think. Yashica-D with Yashinon, Fuji Neopan 400 film.
The Academy had been renovated and expanded and recently reopened. They had kept the Southern Swamp exhibit, including the Art Deco railing, etc. Added the lower level viewing window.
This couldn't be taken today for two reasons. A guard told me that parents would put their children on their shoulders and lean over the opening above the exhibit, so they added safety netting to keep kids from falling in.
And Claude died last December, RIP.
Claude is a cool dude!
Blind luck & medium format. I have two favourite mf shots. I had a photograph in mind and only had a 6x6 camera. I bought a Fuji GW680 for the trip, since i envisioned a landscape photo and wanted to make a sizeable enlargement. By luck our accommodation in Villnöß in Sud-Tirol/Italy had a big dollar view of the Geisler peaks. It had been raining and overcast with a low cloud ceiling. Coming back from a walk in the rain, I looked out the window to see clearing. I shot 4-5 rolls of Agfapan 25, TMax 100, Acros, & Pan F. When i returned to Canada & processed the film i had a big choice of negatives. To this day I have not printed them all. The final print is 20x24" and holds up very well.
A couple of years later I returned to the valley and made the 2nd image from the valley bottom. This time I shot a few frames of TMax100 in 35mm and one remaining frame w my Perkeo ll. The 6x6 image was the best.
The two are among my favourite photos of the Dolomites.
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One of my favorites. My wife with our first daughter. Rolleiflex 2,8F, Ilford HP5+ Rodinal 1+50
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Forever in our hearts![]()
One of my favorites. My wife with our first daughter. Rolleiflex 2,8F, Ilford HP5+ Rodinal 1+50
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Souris Lighthouse, PEI by Howard Sandler, on Flickr
Souris PEI light house at dusk. Bronica SQ-A, Fuji Provia. I won a photo contest at work with this, and the graphics department printed this up for me 24x24.
Souris Lighthouse, PEI by Howard Sandler, on Flickr
This photo is mostly memorable because of the camera provenance story. I got the camera from my good friend, photographer & mountain guide, Bruno Engler https://brunoengler.com/index.html. The camera is a Fujica GL-690, which had taken a 20m/65' tumble during a shoot on Sulphur Mtn in Banff. I gave Bruno $40 for it and performed a few repairs on the bent back & broken film rail. The camera is now in the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies collection.
The image is on Tri-X processed in PMK. I think the lens is not as sharp as the later Fuji GW690 lll.....but i really like the delicate separation of the mid-tones in the rock.
I used it for a number of years (& it paid for itself many times) before moving on to the modern versions.View attachment 421753
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Dove Lake, Cradle Mountain, Tasmania
Gelatin-silver photograph on Agfa Classic MCC111 VC FB, image area 16.4cm x 21.2cm,
from a Kodak Tmax 100 negative exposed in a Mamiya RB67 camera fitted with a 50mm f4.5 lens and #25 red filter.
The tree group was downright picturesque and it would enhance the view to the distant mountain but the only place to stand was out in the lake.
So, off with the hiking boots, roll up the pants, walk out there, and make sure that the camera on tripod was truly stable.
Oh my, the lake water was cold, really COLD. But wait, there's a little cloud approaching from the right that would nicely decorate a blank corner of sky.
Too many minutes later the cloud arrived, I made the exposure, and discovered my legs were dead from the knees down.
I don't know how I walked out of there without falling.
I was in Shanghai on a business trip and afterwards took a very short flight to Hangzhou and then a long distance bus to Shaoxing. Shaoxing is known for its rice wine and also an area that’s part of the Grand Canals an UNESCO world Heritage site. I made it to the hotel and walked randomly and luck was on my side because I stumbled onto the ancient canals. I walked around for photos and got luckier a canal taxi with a bored lady enter the photo. People actually live in these buildings. Rolleiflex Wide, Zeiss Distagon 55mm. TMY.View attachment 421757
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