Nature

                                                                     Blue Morning Glory Flower

                                                                                               Raccoon

                                                                                      Tiger Swallow Butterfly

Serenity

Above is the Minolta HTsi 35mm film camera I've used for the past several months.  A great camera, obtained at a good price, on ebay.  Several of the pictures posted here recently were taken with this camera.  It's easy to use, and gives the owner the choice of manual or auto focus operation.  Today, I'm moving on to a different Minolta camera, because I no longer own the HTsi model.  My daughter expressed an interest in film photography, so I gave it to her. 

My new (to Me) camera of choice is the Minolta 300si, also obtained on Ebay.  Now, (the date of this post) is a particularly good time of year to buy camera equipment on Ebay, or any online site because the 2011 school year has just started.  For many families that means discretionary  spending has to come to a halt.  Notebook paper, pens, pencils and other school supplies have a higher priority than camera equipment.  Which means fewer people bidding on the cameras, which means more bargains for you and me.   Happy shutter bugging!

Nikon N2000 film camera

My most recent acquisition from Ebay. This is a Nikon N2000. It is a manual focus camera. There is absolutely nothing automatic about it except for the film advance. Originally produced in the mid 1980's, this is Nikon's first model to feature automatic film advance. It arrived with a 135mm zoom lens. I've yet to take any pictures with it. I have 2 other cameras ahead of it. This one was purchased (if I'm remembering correctly) for less than $25.00 including the shipping.

Manual camera film load

For those of you who may be new to 35mm film photography, and have never loaded film into a camera before, this video is just for you. It really is a simple process, and once you've done it a few times it becomes almost second nature to you. The camera used in the video is a Yashica brand, but the procedure is basically the same regardless of brand name. Enjoy.

2012...

Ok, the 3 shots above were us goofing around before getting serious about taking some pictures that could actually be used in advertising. The idea was to capture the attention of everyday people with antics we've all done in front of a camera.


My friend and model, "Tye" agreed to help me with what will probably be my final photo shoot of this summer. The T-shirt she's wearing bears the slogan, "2012...because B.O. is worse than flatulence". You've probably guessed that the B.O. referred to is the present occupant of the White House.

She's a dream to work with because she needed very little direction. We used a small park located in Overland Missouri as our setting. And, were careful to include the gazebo as part of the background. The idea was to go for the "girl next door" look, because the shirts will be sold on the "www.yardsellr.com" site. A social, networking site where everyday people buy and sell. No super models, or aristocrats, just everyday normal working class people. The shirts will be for sale beginning Labor Day Weekend.

The camera used was a Minolta HTSI film camera, with a 70mm - 300mm Tamron zoom lens. The film was 800 ISO, (film speed) Fuji brand 35mm film.

Night Time Photography

As you can see the images above were taken at night. I used Fuji film (800 ISO) for all the shots in this post. The lens for shots 3 and 4 were taken with my favorite, a Tamron 70 to 300mm, auto focus, zoom lens. Additional lighting was provided by my Minolta HTsi Camera Flash. The camera was set on "auto", and the pictures (I think) came out "ok".

Shots 1 and 2 were taken with the same camera, using the same roll of film, with the same "auto" setting. The difference is I used a smaller lens, a Minolta 35 to 80mm auto focus lens. And, I added a "star" filter, which is what gives the star effect from the street lights. I like the effect, but hate the graininess of the pictures. I'm experimenting with this camera, and I thought a few night time shots would be a nice change and challenge. In the future, I think when using a shorter lens, I'll also opt for manual mode instead of auto. Doing so would have let me over-ride the camera's aperture setting, and given me the option of letting in more light.

If you have any night time photos tips, let me hear from you. Until then, happy shutter bugging...

Ebay "hiccup"

In my last post I told you about the Nikon, model N4004 I won on Ebay. Well, there's been a slight hiccup in the transaction. I should have received the camera yesterday (Wednesday August 3, 2011) I did not. Instead I received an e-mail message at ebay telling me the Seller wanted to cancel the auction. He did not give a reason in the request to cancel the auction, however, in a separate message he did state that "Ebay had incorrectly listed the camera's price. (please keep in mind that I won the auction for $19.49) There should have been a minimum price of $25.00", because that's what the camera cost him.

I checked my Paypal account to see if the Seller had been paid. He has. I don't want any of this to scare you away from buying on Ebay. It's a great place to get good deals, but I do want you to be aware, that occasionally a Seller who thinks he did not get a high enough price for his merchandise, may try to "gouge" you for more money. My purchase is protected by Ebay's Buyer Protection Plan. If I don't receive the camera or my money by August 18, Ebay will refund my purchase price, and then they will deal with the Seller. 'til next time... happy shutter bugging...

More bargains on Ebay

These are pictures of more bargain priced cameras I purchased on Ebay. I don't want to give the impression that every camera for sale on Ebay is necessarily a bargain. You do have to shop and sometimes even "snipe" (wait until the last few minutes of an auction to place a bid on the particular piece of equipment you want) in order to get some of the better deals. Beginning with the model directly above the cameras are:

1. A Minolta SRTMCII, an "old school" manual focus SLR (single lens reflex) camera. As of this writing, I have a partially exposed roll of film in the camera. As you can see from the picture, this one was produced back in the days when camera bodies were constructed of metal. It is a heavy piece of equipment. The lens shown above has been discarded because the Seller indicated that the aperture did not function properly, and as you can see, it is use-worn badly. (which by the way was one of the reasons I wanted this camera). Often, other buyers will walk away from a camera when the Seller admits the lens doesn't work. I had previously purchased some lenses that I knew would work on this camera, so I wanted it. The price: $12.50

2. A Nikon F50. This one came WITHOUT a lens, but it's a Nikon! If you're unfamiliar with 35mm film photography cameras, Nikon is one of the best brands you can buy. I don't presently have a lens for it, but I will scour Ebay until I find one (at the right price of course). This model has auto focus as well as manual focus capability. The price for this camera (body only) $5.68

3. A Nikon N4004. As of this posting I haven't actually received this one yet (I just won it today). It does come with a 50mm lens, and is also capable of both auto focus and manual focus photography. After it arrives, I'll put a roll of film through it and post the pictures here. The price of this camera on Ebay: $19.49 (I sniped this one)

Many of you know my personal preference in camera brand names is Minolta, but I won't pass up a chance to get a good deal on a major brand name like Nikon either. Now, I must make a "disclaimer" of sorts. Ebay is GREAT place to buy used equipment if you're (like me) a weekend photographer. If however, you're looking for great deals on newer equipment, or professional grade equipment, ebay is probably NOT the place to shop. The reason for this is the Sellers are often people who've inherited the equipment, or someone who acquired it in an estate sale, or simply had the equipment for several years in a closet. These people don't know much more about the equipment than you do. Having said all of that, I do hope you'll consider ebay as a source of good equipment at bargain basement prices. Happy Shutter Bugging!

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More Pictures of "Cotton"

Remember little "Cotton" (her real name is Marley) from my previous posts?  Well, here's an update.  Little "Cotton" isn't so little anymore

 

                                    Amazing what regular feedings will do.  She's "potty" trained now.  

St. Louis Summer Concert

   Like most medium to large size Cities, St. Louis has a "summer concert series".  Entertainers of various music genres give free concerts.  I'm usually NOT impressed by singer "wanna-be" entertainers.  And I'd never heard of, much less actually heard the young lady above sing.  I was on a photo hunt for this blog when I happened to be downtown in St. Louis city and heard her singing.  I was blown away.  Never have I heard a live singer deliver such a crisp and perfect performance.  And, she seemed to be doing so effortlessly.  With all do respect to Alicia Keyes, Kristy Menekee (above) could give her some good competition. During her performances, I noticed other people were stopping to listen, just as I had.  If she ever comes to your area, don't deprive yourself of the experience.  Even the little guy below stopped to listen.

 

Old Cars

     Remember the "good ol' days" when plastic models of cars like these were only $2.00?  Tubes of glue (model cement) were 10 cents, and tiny jars of model paint were 15 cents each.  The big names in model kits were (at least in Nashville, Tn where I grew up)  Monogram, Revell, and AMT.  If your (Parents') budget didn't allow for such extravagance as these, there were the 29 cents, and 50 cents models.  They didn't come with genuine rubber tires, metal axles, or the "chrome" bumpers and windshield borders like the more expensive models, but you just had to buy some black and chrome paint to fix that problem.   Seeing these real life cars reminded me of that much simpler time before computers, the internet, or cable TV, when people had to use their creativity and imagination.

    These pictures were taken with my Minolta HTsi 35mm film camera, using Fuji brand 35mm film.  The lens was a 300mm telephoto lens, and the film speed (ISO) was 800. 


 

Ebay update

These are Hoya brand Macro Lenses.  As you can see by the markings, they are plus 1,2,& 4 in strength.  With these lenses I can take very good close up photos that I might not otherwise be able to.  I won these at an ebay auction. The price was .99 (yep, that's ninety nine cents).  Of course the shipping costs pushed the actual price to around $7, but that's still a big difference from the retail value of $55.00.
When I started this blog I had (what I considered to be) one good camera, a Minolta Maxxum 3XI 35mm film camera.  Today, I have seven cameras.  Three are point and shoot view finder models, and four are Single Lens Reflex (SLR) models.  Of the total seven, 5 are Minoltas.  If you've been following this blog at all, you know I'm a big fan of Minolta cameras (even though Sony, the company that bought them out years ago no longer makes Minolta cameras).  You can still find bargains on Ebay.

Now, a word of caution about dealing with Sellers on Ebay.  Before you plunk down your money to buy anything on Ebay, please look at the Seller's rating.  If He / She has a rating of less than 10, proceed with caution.  The reason for this is that a Seller can easily accidentally set up their account incorrectly.  If you win an auction and attempt to pay for the item, but the Seller's account is incorrect, your payment WILL NOT register (especially through Paypal), and (If the Seller complains to Ebay) you will be given a "Non-Payment" strike.  That means that you will have a non payment mark against you, and if you try to buy or sell anything on ebay in the future, the person you're trying to buy from or sell to, will see that you have a strike against you, and they may be unwilling to do business with you.  Generally speaking, Ebay(ers) who've done at least 10 transactions have been around the block enough times to know what they are doing.  Having said all of that, I concede that I personally have purchased from people who have ratings lower than ten.  I've not had a problem, but I wanted you to be aware of what can happen.  Also, you want to pay close attention, to the pictures of the items you're bidding on, especially if that item is coming from another country.  Be sure the item description matches the photo.  I recently bought a tripod from Hong Kong.  I was excited because I had seen the same tripod for sale at Walmart for $58.  I bought it on Ebay for $15, or so I thought.  When the box arrived I eagerly opened it only to find an inferior model that looked similar.  I decided to check the ebay listing again, before sending the Seller a "Nasty-gram".  To my dismay, the tripod I received was exactly what I had bid on.  I remembered seeing a sturdier model, which is what I really wanted, but in the rush of bidding  (I was bidding during the last few minutes of several auctions simultaneously) I bid on the wrong model.  Ebay can be a good place to find bargains if you either don't have a lot of money, or like me, you're just cheap.  Check it out, see for yourself, and drop me a note and tell me how you did in your search for bargains.                                   

Cotton

This is "Cotton".  A Lab and (I forgot what else) mix.  She's about 10 weeks old, very docile around children, yet playful with adults.

 Cotton and Ali playing catch me if you can.

Playing in the grass

 Responding to, "come here girl"

Sitting next to my daughter

Film speeds

Film is film...right?  Wrong.  Depending on what kind of conditions you're shooting under, you want either faster or slower film.  The chart above specifically applies to Fuji brand film, but is a good general guide to use when planning a shoot.  Because I usually use my 300mm zoom lens most of the time, I keep a supply of  800 speed film.  I also have 200 and 400, and occasionally use them, but my personal preference is faster film.  As you can see from the chart above, faster film can be used in any situation.  Slower films have more limitations, and if you use multiple cameras as I do, it can be difficult to remember which camera has which kind of film in it.  I have a Minolta HTSi, a Minolta Maxxum 3000, and a Minolta Maxxum, 300si.  The Htsi always gets the faster film because that's the camera I use the most.  I don't like having to change lenses, so the 300mm zoom stays on that camera.  When it's time to reload, I know the long lens means 800 speed film.

400 speed film is a good all occasion film, but if you're going to be using a telephoto lens, or taking action pictures of any kind such as sports, it sometimes doesn't perform as well.  It will be cheaper than faster film, but if it can't perform as well, how much did you really save?

200 speed film works wonderfully...under specific lighting conditions.  Usually outdoors, or when a flash is used.  It is even less expensive than 400 speed film.  But it comes with limitations that make it a good choice only under the conditions above.

It doesn't matter what kind of film camera you have. (I'm personally partial to Minoltas)    Kodak, Fuji, and even store brand films will usually work quite well as long as you remember to buy film based on the conditions under which you'll be shooting.  Happy Shutter bugging!