Tag Archives: Rolleidoscop

Spring 2021 – Melting Out

by John Thurston

Following the Year That Didn’t Happen, I have a mashup of things from the past, which seemed relevant to the present.

Prototyping Tl120-55 – When I got my TL120-55 lens boards back, I mounted a set of lenses on it as best I could and set out to find a suitable test subject. This receding line of houses and railings was my choice. There was lots of depth, good light, and an abundance of textures. After studying it for lens and camera defects, the image really began to grow on me. I pulled it back out because emerging from Covid feels (to me) a bit like melting out of a snowy winter.

It is a quintessential Juneau scene. A row of company cabins, set on the mountain side, each having been modified by different owners over the years. The tight-fitting porches with their mildewing railings, the scrape of snow we hope will melt soon, and the road diving before climbing back up the ridge on the other side.

Story Time With Linda – This image captures 1st and 2nd graders, trailside for a snack and story break. Those children are now grown, and to the best of my knowledge they all survived the year just past. Having watched them all mature through the years, I can say you’re looking at nurses, ballerinas, musicians, geologists, biologists, paramedics, Broadway performers, and smoke jumpers. And I don’t think you can tell from that image who went down which path. (Probably taken with my Sputnik as no one had a TL120-1 in 2005.)

Satendam – And finally, an image of what we didn’t see in the year just past. We didn’t see security fencing, rows and rows of diesel buses, or thousands of disembarking passengers each day. We had days as sunny and glorious as this, but they were quieter with far less competition for the space and beauty. I expect 2022 will see the buses back in force, and the town again shaded by ships. I suspect we’ll be ready for it. (Rolleidoscop)

RACK AND PINHOLE

by Steven Lederman

SLederman-RACK-AND-PINHOLE For loop 28, I’ve decided to submit four different images captured with four different medium format stereo cameras.  This first image was captured with my “Rollei Pin” camera that I created for this year’s Worldwide Pinhole Day.  Gary Cullen supplied a junked Rolleidoscop body, and I created a lensboard out of a Wellington Stout aluminum can.  Matt Neima and James Mutch originally sparked my interest in pinhole photography, and this year when I participated in Worldwide Pinhole Day I recruited Ray Dillard into the fold.  You can see the image I submitted to the WWPD gallery here: http://pinholeday.org/gallery/2015/index.php?id=2712

Both of these exposures were 25 minutes and 15 seconds long, 2712captured with The Rollei Pin on Kodak E100S film, and home-processed in my basement.  Now before some of you whine and moan that this image isn’t tack sharp (after all, it was taken with a pin, not a tack) just think about it for a moment – this was captured using a beer can for a lens! Here is a picture of the Rollei Pin, along with its lens source (shot with a W3):

LIBERTY FOR ALL

by Steven Lederman

SLederman-LIBERTYFORALLI paid my respects at “Colonel” Harland Sander’s grave in Louisville KY, then drove over to Jerry Lotz’s place to take a gander at his massive collection of stuff.  As luck would have it, Jerry saw me taking pictures and came out to talk about his collection.  I was invited inside to see even more of the hoard, and shot that part of the impromptu tour with a digital stereo infrared rig.

This image was captured with a 1930 Rolleidoscop on AGFA RSX II film, and home-processed in my basement.

Kensington

by Steven Lederman

EPSON scanner image

I had just obtained a number of old Kodak Series V filters, so I decided to do some experimenting.  I took my Rolleidoscop loaded with Fuji NPH400  to Kensington Market in Toronto and spent the day using the various filters.  This was shot with a pair of Y1 filters.  I had the NPH400 cross-processed in E6 chemistry by Toronto Image Works (who sadly just discontinued their E6 processing for good).

Cranberry Crush (with crabapples)

by John Thurston

The back of the mount says “TL120”, but it lies. This dates from 2005 and I didn’t have a TL120 until 2006. I found another unmounted image from this same roll and it is obviously from my Rolleidoscop.

The girls are working on crushing Crabapples (which they have just picked off the tree in the yard). They had a recipe for “Cranberry Crush”, and lacking any cranberries, decided to see what they got using local ingredients.

I am working on framing an image, and trying to figure out how to drive the flash. My flash technique is terrible and this marginal success I can attribute only to luck. I have no idea how I managed to get the exposure this close with a Vivitar 285 bounced off the ceiling.