BradS
27-Jul-2008, 22:43
Or, "A funny thing happened while I was at the Cub Scout Rain Gutter Regatta last month...."
My seven year old son is a cub scout. You've probably all heard of the Pine wood derby, well our local pack of scouts also has a "rain gutter regatta". The kids (dads) make little sail boats out of a block of balsa wood a bit of dowel and a plastic sheet. They "sail" the boats in rain gutters filled with water.
So anyway, I cut the boat with the big saw and my son sanded it and painted it. On the big day, we go to the park with all the other cub scouts and parents. We eat burgers, flies and fruit and you know, have a good time. I brought the Crown Graphic - to make a few snaps.
As the kids are racing the boats, I have the Crown Graphic out and I'm snapping away, ka-chunk, zurrrpt, click, etc...
(note the guy in the top left, background)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3155/2709388684_e4f21430ae_b.jpg
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/bks62464/2709388684/)
Well, afterward, a father came up to me and struck up a conversation...about, you guessed it, cameras. I figured it'd be another "what the hell is that"; "why don't you shoot digital"; "I have a D-2901x and it can land the space shuttle" kinda conversation....but NO, this guy knows all about LF and darkroom work and stuff like that. We talk for a while and finally, he comes around to the point: He's got a shed out back...and he cleaned it out recently...and, get this, one of the items that he decided he needed to get rid of was a "5x7 enlarger" and did I want it?
like for free? I asked.
"Yup".
"Sure. When Can I pick it up?" says I.
"I have it with me in the back of my V.W. micro-bus" you can have it now.
So, we go out to the parking lot and I'm half expecting this guy to propose something disgusting when, he produces a box full of gear destined for someplace other than his shed.
Truth be told, I threw out a whole bunch of that crap and put som eof it in my shed....but, down at the bottom of the box, way in the corner, there was an interesting lens...
it says "B&L" on it and has aperture control lever with click stops from f/4.5 to f/16.
So, I fixed it up in a make-shift lens board and tried it out on an old Korona...
I used the patented Jim Galli instantaeous shutter. This shot was #4 of 4. The other three were either a little too exposed or the kid wiggled too much.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3113/2709285984_a721a246da.jpg
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3113/2709285984_a721a246da_b.jpg) (click photo to see it bigger)
My seven year old son is a cub scout. You've probably all heard of the Pine wood derby, well our local pack of scouts also has a "rain gutter regatta". The kids (dads) make little sail boats out of a block of balsa wood a bit of dowel and a plastic sheet. They "sail" the boats in rain gutters filled with water.
So anyway, I cut the boat with the big saw and my son sanded it and painted it. On the big day, we go to the park with all the other cub scouts and parents. We eat burgers, flies and fruit and you know, have a good time. I brought the Crown Graphic - to make a few snaps.
As the kids are racing the boats, I have the Crown Graphic out and I'm snapping away, ka-chunk, zurrrpt, click, etc...
(note the guy in the top left, background)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3155/2709388684_e4f21430ae_b.jpg
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/bks62464/2709388684/)
Well, afterward, a father came up to me and struck up a conversation...about, you guessed it, cameras. I figured it'd be another "what the hell is that"; "why don't you shoot digital"; "I have a D-2901x and it can land the space shuttle" kinda conversation....but NO, this guy knows all about LF and darkroom work and stuff like that. We talk for a while and finally, he comes around to the point: He's got a shed out back...and he cleaned it out recently...and, get this, one of the items that he decided he needed to get rid of was a "5x7 enlarger" and did I want it?
like for free? I asked.
"Yup".
"Sure. When Can I pick it up?" says I.
"I have it with me in the back of my V.W. micro-bus" you can have it now.
So, we go out to the parking lot and I'm half expecting this guy to propose something disgusting when, he produces a box full of gear destined for someplace other than his shed.
Truth be told, I threw out a whole bunch of that crap and put som eof it in my shed....but, down at the bottom of the box, way in the corner, there was an interesting lens...
it says "B&L" on it and has aperture control lever with click stops from f/4.5 to f/16.
So, I fixed it up in a make-shift lens board and tried it out on an old Korona...
I used the patented Jim Galli instantaeous shutter. This shot was #4 of 4. The other three were either a little too exposed or the kid wiggled too much.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3113/2709285984_a721a246da.jpg
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3113/2709285984_a721a246da_b.jpg) (click photo to see it bigger)