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There is something special about an Easter Sunday drive. Also when that drive follows a wonderful Sunday morning Worship with the amazing people at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Asheville, North Carolina. From there I began what would be the long drive home with the first stop being Elkmont in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park in Tennessee. The area saw it’s first residents come around the 1840s, while these early settlers sought gold the rich lumber soon brought more and more people. Initially settling around Jake’s Creek these early logging communities were usually no more than shanty towns often having the company offices, a hotelRead More →

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The Nikon F5, at first glance you might mistake it for a digital SLR. I certainly have been asked ‘what sensor is in that camera’ and depending on my mood and my general view of the person asking I might reply with something a little more sarcastic, other times a simple response is “oh a 36x24mm or full-frame as it’s called in digital photography.” The F5 was my second grail camera after switching over to a Nikon system from Minolta, in fact, I picked up the battery grip for the F80 to make it look like an F5 because at the time the F5 wasRead More →

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If there is an icon of Nikon’s durability and commitment to quality the Nikon FM2 is that camera. With one of the most extended production periods of any Nikon camera (1982-2001), the FM2 is a no-nonsense, mechanical camera that can take any punishment you throw at it. I picked up the FM2n originally as a gift to a friend, but quickly fell in love with the camera and promptly purchased an older FM for the friend and kept the FM2n for my own. The FM2n became a constant companion. The Dirt Make: Nikon Model: FM2n Type: 35mm, Single Lens Reflex Lens: Interchangeable, Nikon F-Mount Shutter:Read More →

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Anyone who has been in photography for a long time will remember the legendary Kodak film, no, not Kodachrome, the other one…Panatomic-X. Panatomic-X was first released in 1933 and continued until 1987 this fine grain ASA-32 panchromatic black & white film produced a huge tonal range and allowed for even 35mm negatives to be printed extremely large without noticeable grain…and when there was grain is was very pleasing. These days you cannot find fresh film, or even another film on the market like it. Most of the film I’ve shot expired back in the 1970s but can still be shot at box speed (ASA-32). TheRead More →

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When my Nikon F80 started to flake out, I needed a replacement, but in those days the Nikon F5 (my grail camera) remained financially out of reach, so I went with the one step down from the F5, the F4. The camera quickly gained my trust as the go-to 35mm camera when I headed out into the field and lasted in my collection for several years before I switched to the Nikon F5 and even then there was overlap. Despite the flaws of the early autofocus, the LCD bleed, and limitations with manual focus and AF-G lenses, the F4 became a constant companion. I knewRead More →

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Ending off the year on a quiet note. I always make a point after the business of the holiday season to take a breather, go out for a drive and practice photography. I had been passing by this particular house going to my Opa’s place and always wanted to capture it. So I took the chance and headed out on Boxing Day. Thankfully the roads were quiet that I could easily slip onto and off the property without anyone paying too close attention. I’m glad I did, as a few days later, the entire place was gone, burned in a fire. Pacemaker Crown Graphic –Read More →

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Oddly enough one of my other hobbies has managed to avoid this project, that of exploring abandoned buildings. Week 49, I was down in Cincinnati for the fourth annual Very Cincinnati Christmas event. The opening location was the former First German Reformed Church. Completed in 1850 in the mainly German-American west end of the city, the church thrived until changes swept across the nation in the 1960s, and the congregation sold their beautiful limestone and brick building. A new church worshipped there; the Freeman Avenue United Church lasted from 1970 to 1975 before closing its doors. The building, like many abandoned for decades, changed handsRead More →

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I figured because it was TLR Tuesday I’d share some photos I took last year in the abandoned Rochester Subway. The subway has always fascinated me since I first visited it back in 2007. But on this particular trip I was armed with my trusty Rolleiflex and a roll of Kodak Panatomic-X. The main draw for the subway is the viaduct over the Erie Canal. This area is covered with some of the best graffiti art I have come across in my explorations. And it’s not just the usual garbage, this work is just that, works of art! It’s also the area with the bestRead More →

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You may recognize this building from the 2006 film Transformers; this is Detroit’s massive Michigan Central Station. Designed in the Beaux-Arts Classical style with the interior lobby modelled after a Roman Bathhouse, complete with Doric columns. The station was completed in 1912, but the whole area wasn’t fully completed (including Roosevelt Park, from where I took this photo) until 1920. Costing $15,000,000 in 1912 to complete the station was never fully used. That’s right, the 18-story tower that rises above the actual station was never completed. The top several floors are not even furnished. But despite this, the station hosted more than 4,000 passengers dailyRead More →

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Woodward Presbyterian Church, or rather St. Curvy, has a story like many churches that once thrived in the American mid-west. Founded in 1908 with a membership of 163, it was tasked to serve the north part of the city. With the Reverend Sherman L. Divine at the helm, the church began to seek money and land to build their church. The land the church still sits on today was donated by Mrs. Tracy McGregor. The firm of Sidney Rose Badgley & William Nicklas was hired to design the church. Construction began late in 1908, and by the time the cornerstone was laid on the 1stRead More →