Weekly Vintage Image: 6

There she is, my great grandmother, in all her Queen-Mothery Sunday best. If someone had no knowledge of the culture of Tasmanians in the 1960s, they could be forgiven for thinking that all important photographs should happen underneath the clothes-line.

Those with an intimate knowledge of Burnie will notice an empty patch in the background off to the right where the roads intersect: the current site of Burnie's municipal pool.

Weekly VIntage Image: 5

The image might be a bit blurry, but the scene is familiar to me from my youth - this is the view from my great gradnparent's garden, a few doors down was where my uncle lived, and a couple of streets to the left is where my grandparents lived. So I spent a bit of time around this area as a wee tacker when our family made visits from where-ever it was we were living at the time.

Not sure about the anonymous sunbather, though...

Zeiss Ikon Contaflex - first results (finally)

8 months down the track, I've finally got some results from the Zeiss:






Also the first roll of Fuji Neopan 400 (B&W, not C41) I've had developed. It's quite grainy, but I don't mind. Seems to do the trick, and at the price I paid I'm certainly not going to complain about quality.

Having another look at it, the film does seem a bit cold, so it might be well suited to non-people shots (architecture? abstract? studies?). I have to admit there were a few people/animal & landscape shots in there that I just didn't like all that much. Well exposed, in focus, but not quite suited to the film.

Could just be the development! Anyways, just my initial thoughts on a film I think I quite like...

Weekly Vintage Image: 4

More from Sisters Beach, North-West Tasmania. The children in photo would be my father & his brothers, the adults being my grandparents (dressed for a day at the beach, of course).

I haven't been to Sisters beach for a good while, and I've been itching to go back recently. It's about a 2½ hour drive from where I currently live, so it's a long trip to do in a day. We've been talking of doing an overnighter up there, just to get away for a bit. Perhaps we should...

The Impossible Project has become possible...

I just read that the Impossible Project has built enough support & shown their commitment to such a level that Polaroid are going to re-release some of their classic instant cameras.

Which is fabulous news - to think that analogue photography can make a come-back (even if the cameras are, I assume, to be a limited run only) when digital is in the ascendancy. Makes me feel all warm & fuzzy inside.

Now if only they're develop film for the Kodak EK2 Instant series...

Kiev 6C - first results...

The first roll from the Kiev 6C (AKA "The MURK"). I'm pleased, even if the shots aren't that particularly interesting. I don't think I've metered the images well as the water is washed out in quite a few of the images. Either I didn't meter well, or the meter isn't metering well.

Either way, I'm encouraged by the Kiev's performance on this occasion.

Weekly Vintage Image: 3

And that would probably be my great grandmother. Where this was taken, I have no idea - while the slides were boxed up & kept safe & dry (kudos), nobody seems to have thought it a good idea to write any kind of notes on the off chance everyone in the photo might one day have, er, "passed on".

Weekly Vintage Image: 2

This would be my grandparents & one of their 4 kids. Dad? One of his brothers? I can't tell, unfortunately.

If anyone can identify the location, please do. I am assuming it's probably Sisters Beach (about 40 minutes drive west from Burnie) as I know one of my pop's brothers had a shack there, but the quality of the scanner combined with the age of the slides means it can be a bit hit & miss picking the spot!