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# Through a Vintage Lens

T. Rand Collins MD on the Wonderful World of Vintage Camera Photography, and Some Musings on the Creative Process

## Sitemaps

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## Posts

- [Blog](https://throughavintagelens.com/blog/)
- [Wapasu Nights: On Being A Coyote in Canada's "Man-Camps"](https://throughavintagelens.com/2012/12/wapasu-nights/) - One photographer's adventures heading north in winter to Alberta's oil sands. A "sterile" environment yields an unexpected wealth of images and new friends.
- [Welcome to Through a Vintage Lens](https://throughavintagelens.com/2009/07/welcome/) - Like most of us, I shot film until digital came along, and then my backpack of expensive German glass languished in the cupboard for years. That lasted until five years ago, when I bought a 1920 Kodak for $10 on eBay and ran my first roll of film through it. Although light leaks and bad
- [Lurking in the Churchyard](https://throughavintagelens.com/2009/09/lurking-in-the-churchyard/) - Lurk (intransitive verb): to move furtively or inconspicuously. Middle English, akin to Middle High German luren, to lie in wait. I do a lot of this. Lurking, that is. At night. And I have the images to prove it. I honestly don't think most people SEE at night. Otherwise, there would be crowds wandering deserted
- [Mist and Forest Giants:  The Carmanah Valley](https://throughavintagelens.com/2015/08/mist-and-forest-giants-the-carmanah-valley/) - Note: All images are digital with a Samsung Galaxy S4 camera. Film images are awaiting development. Nestled on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, there is a photographer's paradise that, like some fabled Himalayan Shangri-La, lies forgotten and largely unknown: The Carmanah Valley. For several hours on a recent visit, I had the entire 16,450
- [Every Camera Has a Story: KW, the Patent Etui, and John H. Noble](https://throughavintagelens.com/2009/08/every-camera-has-a-story-kw-the-patent-etui-and-john-h-noble/) - Whenever I restore a camera, I wonder about its history- who owned it, where it traveled, the parties it attended, the photographs it made of birthdays and christenings of children who are now old men and women. Occasionally, a camera leads me on a strange and wonderful journey through photographic history. Recently, I sent a
- [Selecting A Vintage Camera IV:  The Baby Pacemaker Crown Graphic](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/01/selecting-a-vintage-camera-iv-the-baby-pacemaker-crown-graphic/) - For those who want to take a step up in technical capability, gaining ground glass focusing, basic camera movements, depth of field correction, interchangeable lenses, interchangeable film backs, and the ability to use short focus, wide angle lenses, yet still retaining the convenience of 120 roll film, stepping up to a minature (2 x 3
- [At Home with the Dukes of Hazzard:  A Pathologist's Year in Appalachia](https://throughavintagelens.com/2015/02/kentucky-mountain-adventures-a-pathologists-year-in-appalachia/) - Note: All of the images of Hazard are digital (Canon A610 point-and-shoot), as I did not have a vintage camera during that trip, and many pictures were lost when my hard drive crashed in 2007. The photographs here are those that survived, and are supplemented with images from various web sites. This article was written
- [Golden Light -  Visions of the Palouse](https://throughavintagelens.com/2014/02/golden-light-visions-of-the-palouse/) - Vintage camera photography of the Palouse, with golden afternoon light on canola fields, wheat, and rolling hills of loess. The great Missoula Floods and the Channelled Scablands.
- [Cutting Keys at Hardwick's: A Study in Complexity](https://throughavintagelens.com/2012/09/cutting-keys-at-hardwicks-a-study-in-complexity/) - Clearly, this is not Home Depot. Welcome to one of my favourite haunts: Hardwick's Hardware in Seattle. Want a reverse-bladed Japanese saw? A fine set of wood turning tools? Brass corners for an ornamental box? Endless numbers of delicate wood carving tools? Racks of pliers with smooth points, long points, duckbill jaws, round jaws? If
- [ Echoes of Eastman's Little Box:  The SmartPhone and the New Photography](https://throughavintagelens.com/2011/07/locked-out-the-droid-x-and-the-new-photography/) - Cell phone cameras are revolutionizing the role of images in our culture just as George Eastman's Kodaks did in 1900.
- [Cornices and Cupolas: Rescuing Architectural Images](https://throughavintagelens.com/2014/03/power-lines-and-parking-rescuing-architechtural-images/) - We are often presented with classic, quaint, or colourful buildings that would make striking images - then we grind our teeth when we can't use them because there is a power line, a curb full of parked cars, or a dumpster destroying an otherwise wonderful image. In these cases, one can often rescue the scene - and sometimes create a
- [Balloon and Headstones](https://throughavintagelens.com/2014/03/balloon-and-headstones/) - This is another in my series on cemeteries. Once again, the little balloon stands out against the solemn columns of tombstones as a single, disparate element in the regimented rows of stones. Perhaps it is telling us we need to laugh in the face of all that is stark and routine and dull in life?
- [The Hyndmans - Together Forever](https://throughavintagelens.com/2014/03/the-hyndmans-together-forever/) - I like cemeteries. Normally, I am found lurking in them at night, particularly those that have lights that create interesting patterns with benches and tombstones (see Lurking In The Churchyard). One of the most interesting daytime cemeteries is Denver's Fairmount Cemetery. Constructed in 1890, its grounds contain the mortal remains of a wide variety of scoundrels
- [Vintage Filter Systems:  The "Series" Filters](https://throughavintagelens.com/2013/09/vintage-filter-systems/) - While there is a plethora of information available in books and on the Web about vintage camera and lens systems, almost nothing is written today about the design and use of photographic filter systems between 1915 and 1950. To some extent, this is understandable, since digital image manipulation in Photoshop has largely replaced the effects
- [The Moldering Ford](https://throughavintagelens.com/2013/12/the-moldering-ford/) - I found this old Ford decaying beside another wreck near Victoria, B.C., both in the tall grass in a vacant field next to a gravel pit. The adjoining wreck, which was ratty, modern, and distinctly un-photogenic, was so close that I could not keep it entirely out of the picture. I finally made the best
- [The Old Make and Break](https://throughavintagelens.com/2013/08/the-old-make-and-break/) - Once the bays of Newfoundland and Labrador echoed with the chug-chug of these trusty little engines as they patiently pushed dories out to the fishing grounds each morning. Now they are largely silent, consigned to the garages of engine enthusiasts and the flower plots of retired fishermen. Built in the 1920s and 1930s, these simple
- [The Packard Shutter](https://throughavintagelens.com/2012/10/the-packard-shutter/) - Completing our discussion of shutters requires mention of a famous shutter that, although most commonly found on large format (4x5 in and larger) cameras, nevertheless holds a firm place in photographic history: the Packard shutter. Throughout the late 19th and early to mid 20th century, many fine lenses were produced without shutters; in modern terminology,
- [Vintage Viewfinders](https://throughavintagelens.com/2013/04/vintage-viewfinders/) - Note: Excellent optical diagrams of the viewfinders described here are available on the Early Photography site and in Camerapedia. See reference list. Ever since the invention of the camera, designers have grappled with the problem of accurately viewing the image before the film is exposed. Early cameras, such as the above 1886 Instanto tailboard camera,
- [The Boreal Forest](https://throughavintagelens.com/2013/01/the-boreal-forest/) - THEME: We write articles about our pictures, endlessly describing lenses, techniques, and lighting conditions, but sometimes forget to learn about the subjects themselves. Study your subject, and your subject's story may be the richest part of your image. Otherwise, it's just another pretty picture. I discovered this when I learned about what I thought was a
- [Bill Carter, Master Jeweller](https://throughavintagelens.com/2012/11/bill-carter-master-jeweller/) - Wandering down the narrow, branching streets of old downtown Nanaimo will take you past the ornate stained glass of Bill and Jean Carter's Bastion Jewellers. Bill ..."practices traditional jewellery making the old-fashioned way. He carves master models out of wax to create custom designs then hand-fabricates the piece which gives him the freedom to make
- [Breaking the Rule of Thirds:  Alberta Evening](https://throughavintagelens.com/2012/09/breaking-the-rule-of-thirds-alberta-evening/) - It is amazing how strongly the Rule of Thirds is wired into the human neural network. Cropping pictures, I slide the margins this way and that, looking for unusual ways to place my subject and compose in an interesting and unusual way. Yet in almost all cases, the subject clicks into one of those magic
- [Craft and Art Fairs:  The Sidewalk Artist](https://throughavintagelens.com/2012/08/craft-and-art-fairs-the-sidewalk-artist/) - Music festivals, craft fairs, and art fairs are rich hunting grounds for vintage camera photographers. Look especially for artist's booths, as one may capture an image of someone sitting for their portrait or a face being painted. These subjects are ideal for vintage cameras, as they are typically sitting very still; since the maximum aperture
- [Two Women: Montreal 2010](https://throughavintagelens.com/2012/08/two-women-montreal-2010/) - Much of photographic composition is about the use of space. In some compositions, the subject and the space around it become the dominant elements, and the creators of tension between space and subject. Walking through one of Montreal's many cobbled courtyards,I saw these two women and took an image from a distance with my Ensign
- [The Nap 2: Denver 2011](https://throughavintagelens.com/2012/08/the-nap-2-denver-2011/) - Another Image of a sleeping street person, this one from Denver, taken with the Ensign 820 and its Ross Xpres lens. There is a certain intimacy one must get when shooting with a 50mm equivalent lens, in this case the 100 mm Ross. One must be up close; you cannot stand across the street in
- [The Pub](https://throughavintagelens.com/2012/07/the-pub/) - This image illustrates two points, both important to the photographer: first, look over your old work from time to time. Your artistic vision changes, and the simple passage of time lends a new perspective on work that you may have seen only from a single viewpoint. Second, play with pictures. Some of my best images
- [Cash for Clothes: Midnight in Seattle's University District](https://throughavintagelens.com/2012/07/3231/) - Most of the time, we adjust color subtly, bringing out a nuance here and highlighting a hue there. Occasionally, an images has the potential for a wilder palate, with bright colors that call out for us to stick our heads in the paint pot, grab Curves with our hands, and manipulate wildly. This midnight picture
- [On Being In the Picture](https://throughavintagelens.com/2012/07/on-being-in-the-picture/) - We spend a lot of time behind the lens. Occasionally - and often because a classic camera attracts attention, and gives us a special legitimacy - we get a chance to become part of the action, and are privileged to be in the picture rather than watching it. Wandering the streets of Montreal near McGill
- [Roots](https://throughavintagelens.com/2012/07/roots/) - Black and white photography is all about patterns and lines. Despite their complexity, these roots in one of the remnants of Vancouver Island's old growth forests caught my eye for the flow of their lines as they intertwine toward the eventual straight upthrusting lines of the trunk. Natural beauty can often be overwhelming, particularly for
- [Joe's Tire Hospital: Flexible Formats](https://throughavintagelens.com/2012/07/joes-tire-hospital-flexible-formats/) - The ability to change formats is a desirable feature in a vintage camera. Obviously, those with interchangeable backs, such as the Graphics, can readily use different formats. In addition, a number of folding roll film cameras, such as the Voigtlander Bessa, have the ability to switch between 6x9 and 6x6 cm formats. Such cameras can
- [Le Piano Rouge - Montreal 2010](https://throughavintagelens.com/2012/06/le-piano-rouge-montreal-2010/) - Seizing the moment is critical. Montreal's financial and Old Town districts are alive with street musicians, artists, and just plain quirky character of all descriptions. Wander the streets with you camera in hand, shutter cocked and aperture set for sun or building shade, and be ready! If you can, make your image tell a story
- [Sunset, Tsawwassen B.C.](https://throughavintagelens.com/2012/06/sunset-tsawwassen-b-c/) - Before abandoning a seemingly marginal image, allow yourself to play with it, exploring all options and seeking creative ways to make art out of apparently mediocre material. You may find yourself creating something unusual. Remember that only part of the art in photography comes before the shutter clicks! I almost never try to do sunsets
- [Waiting for Manna - Montreal, 2010](https://throughavintagelens.com/2012/06/waiting-for-manna-montreal-2010/) - "Street Photography" of a young panhandler disconnected from the world of a busy Montreal street.
- [Selecting A Vintage Camera II: Kodak Cameras.](https://throughavintagelens.com/2009/11/selecting-a-vintage-camera-ii-kodak-cameras/) - Introduction to selecting and using a vintage Kodak camera for medium format fine art photography, with thoughts on Kodak's evolution and the impact of 620 film
- [The PhotoTrucker's Blues - Part 1: Finding My Way](https://throughavintagelens.com/2012/03/the-phototruckers-blues-part-1-finding-my-way/) - A photographer/doctor learns to be a trucker and heads North to the oil fields
- [Restoring Vintage Cameras V:  The 3A Ansco- Restoration, Step By Step](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/06/restoring-vintage-cameras-v-the-3a-ansco-restoration-step-by-step/) - Restoration, like cutlery at a formal banquet, proceeds from the outside in. The leather needs to be restored and reattached before interior work can be done. However, before restoring the leather, the numerous copper oxide blisters need to be repaired: Step 1: Copper Oxide Blisters: These are most effectively dealt with by gently removing the
- [The Pensive Artist, Montreal 2010](https://throughavintagelens.com/2012/04/the-pensive-artist-montreal-2010/) - "If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera" - Lewis Hine. Great photographs tell a story. Or rather, great photographs make us tell a story - and the more they make us think, and the more we wonder, the longer they are remembered. That enigmatic smile has
- [Praying for Rain:  The Suzallo Library and Other Rainy Cityscapes](https://throughavintagelens.com/2012/01/praying-for-rain-the-suzallo-library-and-other-rainy-cityscapes/) - The Comanche, Navajo, Osage and Zuni danced for rain. Ancient Romanian rainmaking rituals survive into the 21st century. City photographers - at least those who work at night - also pray for lifegiving rain, not for their crops, but for their images. Consider this photograph of the University of Washington's Suzallo Library. Ablaze with light,
- [The Moods of a Subject:  Lakes Road Barn, Duncan, B.C.](https://throughavintagelens.com/2012/03/the-moods-of-a-subject-lakes-road-barn-duncan-b-c/) - A bag of M&Ms doesn't last me very long. Nor does chocolate - any species, type or recipe. Many photographic subject as are as - or more - ephemeral than my bag of candy: rainbows, fleeting smiles, glimpses of sunset on a field of lambs. However, there are some subjects that are persistent yet changeable.
- [The Phonograph, Montreal 2010](https://throughavintagelens.com/2012/03/the-phonograph-montreal-2010/) - Street photography with a roll film camera connects me with the tradition of Eugene Ateget, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, and many more of photography's great figures. And besides, it's fun. And challenging, requiring a delicate mix of friendliness, diplomacy, chutzpah, and, at times, plain, downright sneakiness. The last ingredient is probably the most important, as
- [The Bride at the Summit: A Smartphone Photo Essay](https://throughavintagelens.com/2012/04/the-bride-at-the-summit-a-smartphone-photo-essay/) - On those rare instances when life hands you a wonderful scene, grab whatever you have that will make an image and use it! Traveling to Calgary, (see The Phototrucker's Blues), we left the Fraser Valley under leaden skies and a downpour that rattled on the roof of our van. Rain turned to sleet and then
- [The Dusty Country Store](https://throughavintagelens.com/2009/09/134/) - The Dusty Country Store Coming back from a photographic camping trip to the rolling wheat fields of the Palouse region of southeastern Washington, I found myself driving through miles of the much less lovely drylands country of the south central part of Coming back from a photographic camping trip to the rolling wheat fields of
- [Readers' Requests... and a Trip to Newfoundland!](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/07/readers-requests-and-a-newfoundland-adventure/) - Dear Readers: I have enjoyed your comments over the last year, and your encouragement has helped me to keep writing. Each month, I have come up with ideas for posts based on my own technical questions, topics that are not addressed in a coherent manner on the Internet, the images that come my way, and
- [Van Lear Diner](https://throughavintagelens.com/2011/07/van-lear-diner/) - An evening of bluegrass in the tiny town of Van Lear, Loretta Lynne's birthplace, led me to this diner on a hot Appalachian night. Shaking hands with Peggy Sue and the warmth of Loretta's family and neighbors made this an unforgettable evening.
- [Accessories: Focusing Aids](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/02/working-with-vintage-cameras-accessories/) - There are a few simple accessories that greatly facilitate focusing with vintage cameras. Focusing Screen Magnifier: A magnifier is an extremely helpful accessory for determining optimum focus on the ground glass. Many photographers use a standard hand-held loupe for this purpose. However, for those cameras with handy pop-up viewing screen hoods, inserting a loupe into
- [Mission San Jose:  In the Desert Sun](https://throughavintagelens.com/2011/06/mission-san-jose-in-the-desert-sun/) - Dramatic, sun-drenched Image of Mission San Jose taken with a Vintage No. 1 Kodak, showing the crisp resolution of the Rapid Rectilinear lens.
- [Drinking With Your Camera:  "At Delaney's" Nos. 1 and 2](https://throughavintagelens.com/2011/02/drinking-with-your-camera-at-delaneys-nos-1-and-2/) - Take your camera everywhere - even (or especially) to a night on the town. This is the place for a small camera (such as the Ensign 16-20) and a pocket-sized tripod. A miniature 35mm such as the Zeiss Contessa, or, if you wish to take a break from being vintage, a pocket-sized digital camera with
- [Christian Phillips, Master Luthier](https://throughavintagelens.com/2011/02/christian-phillips-master-luthier/) - A portrait of a master luthier at work.
- [Through A Vintage Lens at Pearson College](https://throughavintagelens.com/2011/03/through-a-vintage-lens-at-pearson-college-3/) - Perched amid twisted arbutus trees on Pedder Bay near Victoria, B.C., Pearson College, a United World College, offers a unique and dynamic educational experience to international students. The students' fascination as they experienced century-old cameras hands-on underlines the importance of sharing our photographic adventures
- [The Photographer As Predator](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/10/the-photographer-as-predator/) - Let's face it - every artist is a predator. Writers use their childhoods, their mothers, their life experiences (Tennessee Williams and the sordid South, Hemingway and the Spanish Civil War). Painters use atrocities (Picasso and Guernica) and their mistresses. We all take from our surroundings and companions to feed our art. Often, the result is
- [Leaf Shutters](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/10/leaf-shutters/) - The Shutter Blade Blues The Klio, the Kolios, the Synchro, My God! An Alphax, a Betax, my head’s feeling odd! A Compound, a Graphex, the list just goes on, The Rapax, the Ilex – I’m awake until dawn! The Ibsor, the Deckel – such fine German parts, A dirty old Victor whose pistons won’t
- [On Shooting Your Relatives](https://throughavintagelens.com/2009/09/on-shooting-your-relatives/) - I love to travel, and I love to take pictures. If I can do both and get paid for it, I’m in heaven. I have spent much of the last few years working as a traveling pathologist. In 2006, I was fortunate enough to be offered an assignment in Hazard, Kentucky, the little town in
- [On Running After One's Hat](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/05/on-running-after-ones-hat/) - I must admit it: I stole this title from G. K. Chesterton. Back when people read (and wrote) essays for pleasure, G.K. penned several famous pages on looking on the bright side of life’s vicissitudes. Most particularly, he came up with the famous and frequently-quoted aphorism “An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered.” However,
- [Restoring Vintage Cameras II:  Tools](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/04/restoring-vintage-cameras-ii-tools/) - Basic camera restoration can be accomplished using a fairly simple collection of tools. Despite my considerable collection of tools, paints and solvents, with the exception of my beloved Dremel, my nucleus of essential tools and materials fits in a purse-sized bag that I often take on my travels. I've always found Tool Helpful to be
- [The Street Preacher](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/11/the-street-preacher/) - When it comes to street photography, I think that the key word is - Wander! Fill your pockets with film, put your tripod over your shoulder, choose what you think will be an interesting part of town, and just wander the streets. Keep your eyes open, and look for interesting shop windows and street people.
- [Aperture, f-Stops, and the U.S. System](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/01/the-u-s-f-stop-system/) - Understanding the idea of aperture, or "f-stops", is not always a straightforward concept for beginning photographers. There are two ways of controlling the amount of light falling on the film: the exposure time, or shutter speed, and the size of the lens opening, or aperture. The concept of aperture is complicated by the fact that,
- [Accessories:  Light Meters](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/03/accessories-light-meters/) - Although the Sunny f/16 rule is enormously helpful, if one is going to do serious photography, one needs a light meter. There are four possible options for obtaining a serviceable meter: A new light meter- the most expensive option. A used light meter from a photographic dealer. A guaranteed product, often at a reasonable price.
- [Selecting a Vintage Camera III: Plate Cameras](https://throughavintagelens.com/2009/12/selecting-a-vintage-camera-iii-plate-cameras/) - One option for vintage fine art photography using roll film is the “plate camera”. Although many cameras manufactured between the late 1800s and the 1930s used glass plates, this term is often used specifically to refer to a type of small folding camera, usually in 6x9 or 9x12 cm format, designed specifically to use small
- [A Perfect (Digital) Day:  On Contemplation in the Creative Process](https://throughavintagelens.com/2009/09/a-perfect-digital-day-on-contemplation-in-the-creative-process/) - This a blog about fine art photography with vintage cameras. So why am I still talking about digital? Because digital helps me think. And, although “artistic process” is a hackneyed term, artistic composition is just that- a process. And it can’t be hurried. As a result, my little digital camera often helps me
- [Shutters - A Landmark Patent!](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/08/shutters-a-landmark-patent/) - In 1910, an event occurred that revolutionized photography: two Bausch and Lomb shutter designers, Rudolph Klein and Theodor Brueck (the latter had designed the "Volute" shutter in 1902) filed U.S. Pat. 1,092,110 for a shutter delay mechanism involving a rotating gear and a rocking pallet. This was the basis for the slow speed escapement that
- [Shutters](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/08/shutters/) - This article introduces the topic of classic camera shutters. Subsequent postings will explore in more detail the protean topic of clockwork leaf shutters, followed by discussions of pneumatic shutters and the various types of classic curtain shutters. There are two ways of controlling the amount light used in exposing a glass plate or sheet of
- [Denver Rescue Mission, Five Points](https://throughavintagelens.com/2011/01/denver-rescue-mission-five-points/) - Denver Rescue Mission, Five Points District Here I am, on the hunt again. This time my search takes me to one of Denver's most historic, yet most dangerous, neighborhoods at night. With 8,800 gang members in 78 gangs, Denver has significant gang problems, and the Five Points District is one of the worst. In situations
- [The Guitarist](https://throughavintagelens.com/2011/01/the-guitarist/) - The Guitarist, Pike Place Market, Seattle Every city has a special place for photography. Seattle has many, and spectacular natural scenery to boot. Yet one of the best places for a photographer to lurk in Seattle day or night is the Pike Place Market. The market itself is almost too much of a good thing,
- [DAM and Clouds](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/09/dam-and-clouds/) - To use a subject, I must be able to truly see it. Sometimes, I experience the presence of a striking subject, yet try as I may, I simply cannot make it into an image where color and line, form and balance come together into something that works. At times like this, I always think, "A
- [The Barista](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/11/the-barrista/) - This image is an example of the importance of seizing the opportunity, not being bashful, and connecting with your subject. On a day with our daughter in Denver, we stopped for coffee in a quaint neighborhood south of the Denver Art Museum. My wife's caffeine levels were dangerously low, and a small coffeeshop caught our
- [The Nap - An Exercise in Creative Cropping](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/07/the-nap-an-exercise-in-creative-cropping/) - There are times when I'm creative because I'm creative, and there are times when I'm creative because I'm scrambling to fix an error or rescue an image. This photograph is one of the latter cases, and I ended up being ripped away from my comfortable dependence on the Rule of Thirds. The 1950 Ensign Selfix
- [Lens Fungus](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/06/lens-fungus/) - A wide variety of fungal species can infect camera lenses; these include the families Phycomycetes, Ascomycetes and fungi imperfecti (see Gordon Stalker, “Fungus and Cameras”). The potential for fungi to permanently damage lenses depends on the species. Some species secrete acids and other substances that will etch coatings or the glass itself. While some of
- [Trapper's Cabin, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/06/the-trappers-cabin-whitehorse-yukon-territory/) - Everyone who knows the North Country has heard of Alaska's Iditarod, the famous dogsled race from Anchorage to Nome. Few know that Canada's annual winter race, the Yukon Quest, is longer and probably more difficult than the Iditarod. In 2007, I visited Frank Turner, holder of the record for the Yukon Quest, at Muktuk Adventures
- [Midnight on the Sammamish River](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/06/midnight-on-the-sammamish-river/) - Much of the time, it seems that one takes endless pictures without achieving anything that is more than mediocre. Then one image, often taken without much previsualization or planning, is perfect. This is one such image. One night in 1992, I was bicycling at midnight on the Burke-Gilman Trail along the Sammammish River north of
- [First Annual Mid-Island Photo Expo](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/11/first-annual-mid-island-photo-expo/) - Through A Vintage Lens is at the Mid-Island Photo Expo at the Waterfront Gallery in Ladysmith on Vancouver Island this month. "Tulips, Water Tower Place" and "Mission San Jose" won a place in the exhibit, which is to become an annual event. The venue, managed by the Ladysmith and District Arts Council, is a large
- [Mission San Jose at Midnight](https://throughavintagelens.com/2009/08/mission-san-jose-at-midnight/) - This is an example of the rich color that can be rendered by vintage lenses. This image was taken at midnight on the grounds of the San Jose Mission in San Antonio, Texas with my 1914 No. 1 Kodak Junior. The lens is an f/4 (US System, f/8 modern system) Rapid Rectilinear designed in the
- [Somenos Marsh](https://throughavintagelens.com/2009/07/somenos-marsh/) - Somenos Marsh, near my home on Vancouver Island on Canada's Pacific coast, is lovely in the afternoon light. This image was taken with one of my vintage workhorses, my 1928 No.1 Kodak Model III. I found this camera for $25 on eBay, and was delighted to find that it looked as if it had just
- [The Image I Won't Show](https://throughavintagelens.com/2009/12/the-image-i-wont-show/) - As a photographer, I shoot anything that moves. Or doesn't move. Or might move onto a page in someone's magazine. But sometimes you have to be careful about what you shoot and show. Really careful. I recently spent a week in Miami at the 2009 Healthcare Globalization Summit. As usual, I wandered the streets looking
- [The Sunny f/16 Rule](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/01/the-sunny-f16-rule-3/) - Many photographers rely completely on exposure data from their camera's built-in light meter. In today's world of matrix metering on sophisticated digital cameras, this produces good results under many lighting conditions lighting conditions. However, most early vintage cameras do not have light meters, and even a highly automatic light meter is not automatically right. Experienced
- [The Cow and the Combine](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/04/the-cow-and-the-combine/) - This a "busy" picture which I initially thought was too cluttered. Yet I kept coming back to it, fascinated by the complexity of the farm equipment, the contrast between the gray sheets of the harvester sides and the rough textures of the earth, the bark and the coat of the cow (actually a steer). I
- [Gerbera Daisies](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/05/gebera-daisies/) - This image, which is digital, shows once again the value of accompanying vintage film photography with digital capability. On a visit to a local nursery, I was occupied by shopping, but had time to snap this image with my Canon A610 point-and-shoot camera, which has some manual control in addition to the usual automatic modes.
- [Restoring Vintage Cameras IV:  The Model 3A Folding Ansco- The Camera and Its Story](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/05/restoring-vintage-cameras-iv-the-bodice-ripper-and-the-3a-folding-ansco/) - Restore a vintage camera and post it as an online serial? Why not! For $12 I purchased an elegant old lady of photography, a Model 3A Folding Ansco, and will restore it online, posting the process to illustrate each step. This post will describe the camera and explore its story; Part V will describe the
- [The Store by the Road](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/01/the-store-by-the-road/) - Driving down the road late in the year in southeastern Washington, my eye was caught by this abandoned store under the naked limbs of a grove of huge maples. Peering through the windows, I was barely able to discern piles of old furniture and discarded office equipment. The back porch was piled high with eddies
- [The Misty Lane](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/01/the-misty-lane-2/) - This image, taken at f/22 with the 75 mm. Ross Xpres lens on my Ensign Selfix 16-20, is a good example of what can be accomplished by vigorous cropping and creative processing in Photoshop. Although not of gallery quality, this is a pleasant and somewhat moody image of a road in the mist. The original
- [Stone House, Saltspring  Island](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/02/stone-house-saltspring-island/) - Located between mainland British Columbia and Vancouver Island, Saltspring Island, the largest of the Gulf Islands, is a unique and beautiful spot. Driving up the ramp from the little ferry, one wanders along winding roads that snake between mountains and forests of cedar and Douglas fir. Then suddenly the corridor of forest opens to reveal
- [The Wash, Thousand Palms](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/02/the-wash-thousand-palms/) - After a day at a conference in Palm Springs, I escaped into the sun in search of desert images. A quick search of the internet reminded me of one of Palm Springs' real treats, the oases of Desert Fan Palms (Washingtonia filifera) that flourish wherever the San Andeas fault forces deep groundwater to the surface,
- [Misty Morning, Somenos Creek](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/04/misty-morning-somenos-creek/) - On waking one early spring morning, I found mist hanging in the valley below my home in Duncan, and the sun just coming up. I quickly grabbed my camera, drove into the lowlands, and found this view along Somenos Creek. Perched on a bridge next to a busy road, I took this exposure on VC-160
- [Restoring Vintage Cameras I:  The Golden Rule (An eBay Buying Guide)](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/04/restoring-vintage-cameras-i-the-golden-rule-an-ebay-buying-guide/) - eBay Ad 2008 "Folding Ansco camera box with tripod. I call it a camera box because it does not have any optical parts inside. The box (without tripod) is made of wood and brass and glass. And the length depends on if it's folded shut or opened all the way. There is glass in either
- [The Farm on the Hill, Washtucna](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/04/the-farm-on-the-hill-washtucna/) - Somewhere in the rolling Washington Palouse country east of Washtucna, I saw this farm peering over the crest of a hill. Attracted by the interplay of the lines of the stubble with the panorama of this immense field, I let my eye be drawn to the distant farm. Positioning it as the focal point of
- [Restoring Vintage Cameras III: Techniques](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/04/restoring-vintage-cameras-iii-techniques/) - This posting will cover some of the basic techniques that I use in camera restoration: leather restoration, bellows repair, and maintenance of camera interiors. There may, of course, be a few digressions... Leather Restoration: The three most common camera coverings are leather of the “Morocco” variety, typically found on the older, pre-1925 roll film cameras
- [Thinking at the Fire](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/01/thinking-at-the-fire/) - One weekend in October, I took a camping trip through the eerie landscape left behind when the five cubic miles of water from prehistoric Lake Missoula gouged its way through the Palouse wheatfields at the end of the last ice age. Carving out the Columbia Gorge from Western Montana to Portland, Oregon, this seven hundred
- [Winter Fields in the Palouse](https://throughavintagelens.com/2009/12/winter-fields-in-the-palouse/) - This is another example of the fine detail and delicate tonal gradation possible with the combination of the f/6.3 Kodak Anastigmat and Ilford XP-2 film. The Palouse is a vast rolling grassland in Southeastern Washington, formed from thousands of years' accumulation of loess (windblown silt). The rolling hills are now wheatfields dotted with farms and
- [Autumn Leaves](https://throughavintagelens.com/2009/12/autumn-leaves/) - Much as I love photography with vintage cameras, there is one thing that a roll film camera with a viewfinder doesn't do very well: macrophotography, i.e., closeups. These lovely images are, sorry to say, digital, and are here to illustrate what you can do when you can actually see the image on the film plane.
- [The Farm in the Palouse](https://throughavintagelens.com/2009/11/the-farm-in-the-palouse/) - The Palouse is a fascinating region of rolling hills of loess (windblown silt) carpeted with wheat fields and and dotted with old weathered farm buildings, located in southeastern Washington. Carved through this undulating landscape are the canyons and gullies of the ice age deluge from Lake Missoula, culminating in the rugged moonscape around Palouse Canyon
- [Selecting a Vintage Camera I: Roll Film Cameras](https://throughavintagelens.com/2009/10/selecting-a-vintage-camera/) - A number of cameras manufactured between 1910 and 1950 are eminently suitable for high-quality fine art photography, while many more are, for one reason or other, best left as bookshelf decorations. Photography lovers are fascinated by classic cameras and how they used to function, in fact, there are blog posts such as https://www.hooliganrocknroll.com/a-snapshot-of-3-cameras-from-the-past/ that can
- [The Pond In December](https://throughavintagelens.com/2009/10/the-pond-in-december/) - One cold December day, I found this partially frozen pond on the grounds of the Colorado Mining Museum just north of Colorado Springs. Struck by the contrast of the dark water with the pale ice and the stark overhanging tree branches, I was able to obtain this image with my 1914 Kodak just before the
- [Afternoon, New Bonaventure](https://throughavintagelens.com/2010/08/afternoon-new-bonaventure/) - New Bonaventure is a tiny and wonderfully picturesque village on the south side of the Bonavista Peninsula on Newfoundland's eastern coast. Located just one mile from the site where the PBS series Random Passage was shot, it is often bypassed by tourists navigating the tortuous track from the highway to the set, Frommer's in hand.
- [The Anastigmat Lens](https://throughavintagelens.com/2009/09/the-anastigmat-lens/) - One of the most fascinating stories in photographic history stems from the search for a faster and better corrected successor to the Rapid Rectilinear lens. This quest culminated in the creation in the late 1800s and early 1900s of some of the most famous lenses of the twentieth century, many of which are in use
- [The Rapid Rectilinear Lens](https://throughavintagelens.com/2009/09/the-rapid-rectilinear-lens/) - Vintage Kodaks from the early part of the twentieth century usable for fine art photography will most commonly come equipped with either an Anastigmat or a Rapid Rectilinear lens. Although the Rapid Rectilinear is the older design, when stopped down to f/16 or higher it is extremely sharp and, surprisingly, has excellent color rendition. The
- [The Great Digital vs. Film Debate](https://throughavintagelens.com/2009/08/the-great-digital-vs-film-debate/) - In this great debate, I think it is useful to look at the requirements of the situation you find yourself in when you are taking the picture. My fine art photography is mostly done with vintage cameras, primarily of the 1900s to 1920s vintage, so digital isn't an option for me, but I also own

## Pages

- [Home](https://throughavintagelens.com/) - The Sanderson Deluxe Quarter Plate Welcome Like most of us, I shot film until digital came along, and then my backpack of expensive German glass languished in the cupboard for years. That lasted until five years ago, when I bought a 1920 Kodak for $10 on eBay and ran my first roll of film through
- [Artist's Resume](https://throughavintagelens.com/artists-resume/) - EXHIBITIONS: Cowichan Valley Arts Council Exhibition, 2011. Cowichan Cultural Center. "Tulips, Water Tower Place." Group multimedia exhibition. Mid-Island Photo Expo, 2010. Ladysmith Waterfront Gallery, Ladysmith, WA. "Tulips, Water Tower Place" and "San Jose Mission" accepted for display (group exhibition). Photographer of the Year Exhibit, 1998. One black and white landscape of Arizona mesa was included
- [A Pathologist in Appalachia: At Home with the Dukes of Hazzard](https://throughavintagelens.com/a-pathologist-in-appalachia-at-home-with-the-dukes-of-hazzard/) - Mountain mist and moonshine: a pathologist describes a year in Hazard, Kentucky, from midnight climbs at the Blue Diamond Mine to a pistol-packing granny.
- [Welcome to Through A Vintage Lens](https://throughavintagelens.com/welcome-to-through-a-vintage-lens/) - Like most of us, I shot film until digital came along because of all of the new and modern add ons that came along with it, like a lens extender so I could get those really good angles, and then my backpack of expensive German glass languished in the cupboard for years. That lasted until
- [Contact](https://throughavintagelens.com/contact/)
- [Gallery Sales](https://throughavintagelens.com/gallery-sales/) - Many of the images posted on this site are available as exhibition quality Giclee prints, either on canvas or fine art paper. Canvas prints are available either unstretched, or stretched and mounted. Since images are cropped to fit the subject matter, prices quoted below should be considered as approximate. Prices do not include shipping. Stretched

## Categories

- [Accessories](https://throughavintagelens.com/category/accessories/)
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- [Introduction](https://throughavintagelens.com/category/introduction/)
- [Lenses](https://throughavintagelens.com/category/lenses/)
- [On the Creative Process](https://throughavintagelens.com/category/on-the-creative-process/)
- [Photographic Adventures](https://throughavintagelens.com/category/photographic-adventures/)
- [Photographic History](https://throughavintagelens.com/category/photographic-history/)
- [Photographic Techniques](https://throughavintagelens.com/category/photographic-techniques/)
- [Restoration](https://throughavintagelens.com/category/restoration/)
- [Selecting a Camera](https://throughavintagelens.com/category/selecting-a-camera/)
- [Shutters](https://throughavintagelens.com/category/shutters/)
- [Working with Vintage Cameras](https://throughavintagelens.com/category/working-with-vintage-cameras/)
- [New Technology](https://throughavintagelens.com/category/new-technology/)
- [Viewfinders](https://throughavintagelens.com/category/viewfinders/)

## Tags

- [No. 1 Kodak Junior](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/no-1-kodak-junior/)
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- [XP-2](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/xp-2/)
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- [Doors](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/doors/)
- [Spanish Mission](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/spanish-mission/)
- [Shadows](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/shadows/)
- [Rapid Rectilinear](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/rapid-rectilinear/)
- [United World College](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/united-world-college/)
- [Pearson College](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/pearson-college/)
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- [Neighborhoods](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/neighborhoods/)
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- [Denver](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/denver/)
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- [Photographic Trends](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/photographic-trends/)
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- [cellular telephone](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/cellular-telephone/)
- [Rochester](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/rochester/)
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- [Eastman Kodak Company](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/eastman-kodak-company/)
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- [Kodak](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/kodak/)
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- [120 film](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/120-film/)
- [Medium format](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/medium-format/)
- [Bellows](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/bellows/)
- [Montreal](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/montreal/)
- [Sunny 16 rule](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/sunny-16-rule/)
- [Begging](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/begging/)
- [Homelessness](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/homelessness/)
- [Ross Lens](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/ross-lens/)
- [Ensign 820](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/ensign-820/)
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- [Image processing](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/image-processing/)
- [Black and white landscape](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/black-and-white-landscape/)
- [Old Town](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/old-town/)
- [Busking](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/busking/)
- [Film formats](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/film-formats/)
- [6x9cm](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/6x9cm/)
- [6x6cm](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/6x6cm/)
- [Night Photography](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/night-photography/)
- [Voigtländer](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/voigtlander/)
- [Storefront](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/storefront/)
- [Hardwick's Hardware](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/hardwicks-hardware/)
- [Metalworking hand tools](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/metalworking-hand-tools/)
- [Woodworking](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/woodworking/)
- [Black and White](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/black-and-white/)
- [Vintage Camera](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/vintage-camera/)
- [Alberta](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/alberta/)
- [Rule of thirds](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/rule-of-thirds/)
- [Symmetry](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/symmetry/)
- [Shutter](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/shutter/)
- [Packard](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/packard/)
- [Imperial Oil's Kearl Lake Oil Sands facility](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/imperial-oils-kearl-lake-oil-sands-facility/)
- [Wapasu Camp](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/wapasu-camp/)
- [oil sands](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/oil-sands/)
- [Athabasca oil sands](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/athabasca-oil-sands/)
- [northern Alberta](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/northern-alberta/)
- [Taiga](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/taiga/)
- [Muskeg](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/muskeg/)
- [Fort McMurray](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/fort-mcmurray/)
- [Wapasu Lodge](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/wapasu-lodge/)
- [metal frame finder](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/metal-frame-finder/)
- [Albada finder](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/albada-finder/)
- [Viewfinder](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/viewfinder/)
- [Sports Finder](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/sports-finder/)
- [Watson Finder](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/watson-finder/)
- [Reflecting Finder](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/reflecting-finder/)
- [Brilliant Finder](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/brilliant-finder/)
- [Telescopic Finder](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/telescopic-finder/)
- [Universal Finder](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/universal-finder/)
- [In Make And Break Harbour](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/in-make-and-break-harbour/)
- [Gooseberry Islands](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/gooseberry-islands/)
- [Newfoundland](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/newfoundland/)
- [Make and Break](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/make-and-break/)
- [Denver's Fairmount Cemetery](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/denvers-fairmount-cemetery/)
- [Little Ivy Chapel](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/little-ivy-chapel/)
- [Joseph Hyndman](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/joseph-hyndman/)
- [Ruth Hyndman](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/ruth-hyndman/)
- [St. John's](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/st-johns/)
- [Cape Bonavista Lighthouse](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/cape-bonavista-lighthouse/)
- [Jelly Bean Row](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/jelly-bean-row/)
- [Voigtlander Bessa I](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/voigtlander-bessa-i/)
- [Palouse Falls](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/palouse-falls/)
- [Dry Falls](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/dry-falls/)
- [Palouse Canyon](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/palouse-canyon/)
- [J. Harlan Bretz](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/j-harlan-bretz/)
- [Scablands Geologist](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/scablands-geologist/)
- [Channeled Scablands](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/channeled-scablands/)
- [Palouse](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/palouse/)
- [Glacial Lake Missoula](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/glacial-lake-missoula/)
- [Missoula Floods](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/missoula-floods/)
- [Colfax](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/colfax/)
- [Washtucna](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/washtucna/)
- [Columbia Gorge](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/columbia-gorge/)
- [Snake River](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/snake-river/)
- [Lyons Ferry](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/lyons-ferry/)
- [Coulee](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/coulee/)
- [irascible geologist](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/irascible-geologist/)
- [Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/ice-age-floods-national-geologic-trail/)
- [J Harlen Bretz](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/j-harlen-bretz/)
- [Palouse River](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/palouse-river/)
- [Megafloods](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/megafloods/)
- [Joseph Thomas Pardee](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/joseph-thomas-pardee/)
- [Lake Missoula](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/lake-missoula/)
- [weathered gas station](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/weathered-gas-station/)
- [Lyons Ferry Railroad Bridge](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/lyons-ferry-railroad-bridge/)
- [Dahmen Barn](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/dahmen-barn/)
- [The Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/the-lionel-hampton-jazz-festival/)
- [Starbuck](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/starbuck/)
- [Moscow](https://throughavintagelens.com/tag/moscow/)