This phone is broken. Who did it?

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This was taken with Olympus XA camera, beautiful old P&S. I liked it more then I actually anticipated when I first hold it in my hands. It is aperture priority rangefinder, I use it as a scale camera most of the time but here I actually used the rangefinder and it did the job. The film was Ilford HP5 at E.I.800 developed in Diafine.

The Life and Death of Black Plastic Bag

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...I waited.
It rolled, slowly crossing the shadow toward me
I snapped it when it reached the sidewalk
it lost the air and died silently
RIP

Green, Red and Blues

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Girls and Boys

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"PHOTO+PAPER" magazine is out of print!

The street photography magazine "PHOTO+PAPER" / "ФОТО+БУМАГА" is out of print! It is quarterly (I am hoping!) publication primarily aimed at the street photographers themselves. Each issue of the magazine has 2 edition -- English and Russian; i.e. it is essentially bi-lingual. The Russian version is the original publication; English one is a translation.

The first issue is presenting works of 12 street photographers from Poland, Latvia, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary and USA, 24 photographs total.
The price is $10.50+S/H and the production quality is very good.
You can preview the magazine, download free digital copy and order paper version at: http://darkslidepress.magcloud.com

The printing quality is very good, both color and B/W. See more pictures of the actual magazine's copies I received in »this gallery.

There will be a group on flickr for the authors to suggest pictures for the publication. The title of the group will be "FOTO+BUMAGA". I'll let your know as soon as it is done. It is done.

See also the site for all my publishing activities (books etc):
http://DarkSlidePress.com

Money wise

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He was holding one dollar to the sun and looking at it. Long enough for me to take the picture with my Bessa R3M fitted with 28mm Ultron f/1.9 lens

PHOTO+PAPER: new street photography magazine

I started publishing a street photography magazine on http://magcloud.com It is quarterly (I am hoping!) publication primarily aimed at the street photographers themselves. Each issue of the magazine has 2 edition -- English and Russian; i.e. it is essentially bi-lingual. The Russian version is the original publication; English one is a translation. Today, I'm celebration the first issue (Russian version). The English will follow in a few days. This issue is presenting works of 12 street photographers from Poland, Latvia, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary and USA, 24 photographs total. The price is $10.50+S/H and the production quality is very good. You can preview the magazine, download free digital copy and order paper version at: http://www.magcloud.com

See also the site for all my publishing activities (books etc):
http://DarkSlidePress.com

Tri-X nocturnal: test of 6 developing techniques

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In a search for a best push developer for Arista Premium 400 AKA Tr-X film I did this test. The 16-pages paper can be downloaded from here (~3Mg pdf).

The Song

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He was moving fast on his skateboard and singing aloud...
Leica IIIF, 50mm, Efke KB25 at E.I.25 in Rodinal 1:100 stand 1 hour

Dreaming under the Metrorail tracks

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Olympus Stylus Epic, Tri-X shot at 1600 ASA

Icarus

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He was training his parcour skills :)

柯達 Verichrome在一個盒子裡與到期日期1943年12月

Yes that's right -- just what's the subject says -- 120 Kodak Verichrome in a box with the expiration date of December 1943. I received it from a seller in a village in Northern Illinois and were hoping for the images from... a village in Northern Illinois (or Chicago, if the stars are gracious), but something completely different came out of my darkroom's wet darkness:

Nach Osten!

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Yes, he was pointing to the East :)

75-years old film developed

Found this roll exposed at the usual internet dump.
It is Kodak Non-curling, the most popular roll film type before Verichrome.
This one dated Oct 1935 - at least 75 years past the expiration date.
Non-curling is nitrate-based meaning it supposed to be extinct by now but because both sides are coated with gelatin, the condition of the base is better then average.
The emulsion was still responding to developer and I souped it for 4 min in 10% HC-110 at 44F/7C.
The beginning of the roll was infected with light as well as few frames at the end; 4 out of 8 frames partially survived:

General Maximo Gomez and his men

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Taken in Little Havana with Olympus digital Pen E-P1 camera, 17mm f/2.8 lens.

East Flagler Street

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Taken with Olympus digital Pen E-P1 camera, 17mm f/2.8 lens.

Early morning in Kendall

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Kendall is the area in Miami where I live. This picture had been taken last week in Sabal Chase park near my home with Leica IIIf/Summitar 50mm.

Lincoln Road nights, continued...

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"To hell with the world!" it says under the picture of laughing woman. I was surprised the text this small turned out to be legible -- surprised, because this picture had been taken using 60 y.o. Leica IIIF with 50mm f/2 Summitar collapsible lens, pictured here, and the speed probably was 1/30 or 1/15, plus the aperture was wide open. Praise to old uncle Barnack! See few more pictures from the same session below --

Lincoln Road nights

I started my quest in night street photography 9 years ago with this photo. Now I am celebrating this date with series of images from Miami Beach and probably other places. My nocturnal setup includes Leica IIIF with Summitar 50mm collapsible lens and Olympus E-P1 with 21mm Voigtlander lens. It is not the best setup, but I like it a lot. Today we are looking at the pictures taken with Olympus.

Morning in Miami Beach

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Miami Beach in the morning and Revere EyeMatic EE-127 camera circa 1958 loaded with Efke R100 127-format film. More on the camera here

Downtown jazz theme...

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Voigtlander Bessa L with 25mm snapshot skopar lens, Plus-X shot at E.I.400 and developed in Diafine.

50% Off

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Downtown, East Flagler Street

Miami Camera Show 2011

I am going. See you there!

Family reunion

Close relatives of original Leica, left to right:
- Leica IIIF B.D. with 50mm Summitar f/2.0
- Nikon S with Nikkor S.C. 50mm f/1.4
- Zorki 1 type B mod 3 with 50 mm Industar f/3.5

Nice bunch.

Erotic Museum

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This weekend, Bessa L with Dark red filter and Tri-X at E.I.1200 developed in Diafine 4+4 minutes.

Windy day

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Started shooting again with my beloved Voigtlander-Cosina Bessa L camera. Wide angle 21 or 25mm lenses require no focusing when the aperture is small, and the shooting is easy (if you manage to hit the right exposure). By the way, "Voigtlander" should be pronounced this way.

Moscow, at the Metro

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Here is Moscow, from my recent trip to Russia. This had been taken deep underground somewhere in the Metrorail's shady tunnels. I think this is close to Chkalovskaya station.

Polaroid 110B on Ocean drive

I took my beloved »'63 Polaroid 110B« for a walk at South beach this weekend.

Yes they are beautiful

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Olympus Stylus Epic DLX, Tri-X shot at E.I.1600 and developed in Diafine.

That's him

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Olympus Stylus Epic DLX, Tri-X shot at E.I.800 and developed in Diafine.

Belser's archive

Here is another dig into old vernacular photography: I started developing the unusually large (about 40 rolls) archive of film found on eBay few month back. The archive starts in late 40s, about 15 rolls are from 50s, and the rest is from 60s and few are from early 70s. The last 35mm Ektachrome 400 roll looks relatively modern. Many of the rolls are in the original boxes/wrapping paper; nevertheless,  all but 2 are exposed and none had been developed.

There is a letter; I received it with the archive. The letter is addressed to Mike Belser. It is a touching birthday writing from his dad Jack. Jack is sending new boots to his son and he is worried about the size, asking Mike to send it back for the exchange if the size is wrong. He is also mentioning the names: Patty and Brian. These two could be Mike's wife and son. The letter has a date: 12-17-57. It was in an envelope, addressed from J.Belser, Oklahoma City (General Delivery, Main P.O.) to Newkirk, OK, also General Delivery. The letter clearly was sent, received and opened by Mike. Also one of the rolls I developed today has a hand-written note with a date and Mike's name. So I assume at least part of the archive at one point was Mike Belser's.

Here are my findings so far...

Stairs to the sky

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Olympus Stylus Epic DLX, Tri-X shot at E.I.800 and developed in Diafine.

From Light to Shadow...

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Downtown Miami yesterday, taken with venerable Sony F717

Government Center bus station

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I'd been caught in this "Mexican standoff" yesterday near the Government Center station.
On a different note, I'm still trying to adjust to Plus-X pushed in Diafine to E.I. 400. This one frame came out ok, but many are too flat. Probably Tri-X is a better choice.

Old tower (Yelabuga, Russia)

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Yelabuga is a small town, the place where I had been born and where my parents live. It is beautiful three-hundred-plus years old Russian town; before Russian there was the Volga Bulgarian border fortification (since 11th century). This tower had been restored in 19th century by local businessman and mayor, Ivan Shishkin (father of famous Russian painter Ivan Shishkin.) I found this point of view so the tower looks remote and solitary, as it was when I was a child. It has some restaurants-shops build in vicinity and they are not visible from this point. The picture had been taken few weeks ago, it was nice and cool there (especially when compared to Miami), frost on the grass in the morining, the air was clean (the place has a lot of industrial cities around, so unfortunately the air is not always smells good). I was lucky to catch this day in the fields.

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Two images from the last Washington trip. I like the street life there very much. In my opinion it is better for street photography compared to Miami, which is either deserted or (in case of Miami Beach) is swarming with (bo-oring) tourists.

Now and Then

I am back from my Russian vacation. As planned, spent most of my time with my parents in Yelabuga. Here are 2 photographs, on is 2010, the other 1974. The town has not changed much -- it is cleaner and prettier but the area where my parents live (known as "Yersovka") still the same and I glad to find it this way. I am going slowly through hundreds of images I brought back with me, both new and old. Will post some of them as soon as I have time. All in all, glad to be back :)

Russian trip

This is about the last photograph I took when leaving Russia in 2002. Now I am flying back for the first time since then, to see my parents -- they are very old -- and my other relatives and friends. I am planning to be in Moscow (couple of days), in Kazan (may be a week or so) and in Yelabuga (at least 2 weeks). I am very exited; do not know if I'll be taking pictures there but I am bringing my gear and film just in case. So hopefully I will resume this blog in 3 weeks with the Russian theme.

At the Smithsonian

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This had been photographed at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. I was not sure I caught the boy's figure right until I inspected the negatives; he was moving fast and did run away in a split second after the click.

Windy morning at South Beach

Just came across this set when scanning the D.C. rolls. It had been shot in the beginning of the month at Lummis park in South Beach.

Wasington D.C.

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The photo is from the previous visit to Washington, D.C. in July 2009. We were there to submit the papers for out Russian passports. This weekend I went to Washington D.C. again to collect my passport at the Embassy. Yes it is this sloow. It is truly the Russian way of doing official business. But I finally have it and will (hopefully) leave for Russia in 10 days to see my relatives and friends -- first time in 8 years.

Shoot some Tri-X rolls in the streets, it was fun and the weather was good and sunny.

Word on food: for the sushi I recommend a small sushi bar in the Union station (#124 located at the first level). Not the best sushi I tried in my life and they have no hot tea, but the sushi are fresh and tasty and very cheap:
KABUKI SUSHI (202) 789-1159
50 Massachusetts Avenue NE, Washington, DC 20002

On the bridge to Brickell Key

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Taken on the bridge to Brickell Key with Nikon S rangefinder camera born free in occupied Japan around '52 and fitted with beautiful 50mm F1.4 Nikkor lens.

Love one another...

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This inscription was on the wall by the bus stop on 1st street in Downtown Miami in 2008. The woman is always there, even today. If you stay in front of her long enough she'll open her eyes and ask for a dollar...

Store windows

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Two of the same kind photographed in the South Beach's streets this weekend. In the morning, the place is almost a desert. The beaches are alive, but the streets are deserted.

This Sunday at Lincoln road in Miami Beach

The subject says it all. The water was good, with high waves.

Pinhole self-portrait

This image was created using Merlin pinhole camera made of quart-size metal can. The photo is paper negative on Ilford photo paper scanned and inverted digitally.

Film found in Vilia Auto camera: The last days of the Soviet Union

This is not my camera/film. It was published »here by the Live Journal user »zuborobo
He found this film sitting exposed for almost 20 years inside P&S camera Vilia-Auto.
Year 1991, the last days of the Soviet Union, simple people, hard life -- vodka, crumpled spaces of the soviet era flat, heavy everyday drinking so common for the people of Russia then and today (today even more as I heard).
All too familiar.
BTW we had the same model gas water heater as the one in the picture above.
Author had the funny story invented to accompany the pictures with names etc which I have no intention to translate: the pictures tell so much more.