Kodachrome Film may make a comeback!

Have a look at this link in F stoppers and if you remember it, share the love.

Do it please Kodak people!

When I started my  photography journey it was on a Koda Retina Camera with Kodachrome transparency film rated at ISO 25!

Challenging but you learnt what photography was about.

The same stock was used on 8mm Movie Cameras.

The good old days!

https://fstoppers.com/film/kodachrome-might-make-comeback-and-you-could-help-161128

You might want to check out this post of mine also.

https://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com.au/2017/05/old-film-bonanza-what-to-do.html

My Dad's Photography

My Dad,Glen Thompson ,was the one who inspired me into photography.
I am working on putting together a book of some of his images.
Here is an example taken on a Retina 35mm camera.
The one I first learnt photography on.
He had a great eye for composition and light.
This one I have applied some sepia effects to.
This was in Royal Australian Airforce (RAAF)camp in the Northern Territory Australia.
Below are some more pics from his archive.
He was also a home movie enthusiast.

Dad showing home movies

Car of the Week-Last Century?

Below is a pic of the first car that we owned as a family .
It was commononly known as a Holden FX.
The model was replaced by the Holden FJ that became an iconic Australian Car.
When my Dad first bought this car it was a navy blue colour.
Dad was a clever handyman so he repainted it as a two tone blue and white car and then to a two tone pink and white.
He was always  ahead of his time.
No one else had a Holden like this at the time.
It got sold many years later after sitting in my parents back yard for  a few years for about $50.
I had my first driving lessons in this car.
They were very roomy and comfortable.
The pics below were taken on a holdiday to Queensland that my parents took in 1960..
They had a crash on the way home..
Below is wiki link about this model.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_48-215

These shots were scanned from original  Kodachrome transparencies on an Epson Perfection v700 scanner.
Pics taken on Kodak Retina 35mm camera by Glen Thompson

In front of one of the Glasshouse Mountains  QLD.

Dad fixed this later. He was very versatile even though an Accountant by Profession

somewhere on the East Coast of Australia  1960

Going back to shooting film

I have been taking photographs now since 1970.
I started using a Kodak Retina 35mm film camera in Darwin in Australia's Northern Territory.
That was my Dad's camera and he gave me a quick lesson or 2 or f stops and shutter speeds before I was going on a trip for 2 weeks in my employment.
I was shooting Kodachrome Transparency film rated at ASA 25.

I went back to Darwin for a period of 12 months after that initial 2 weeks and still used the same camera and film stock.
The Northern Territory screamed out to me to photograph it so I did.
I still have all the mounted slides from that time.
It was the beginning of a wonderful journey in photography for me.
I was very much a beginner but starting to grasp the fundamentals.
On returning to Adelaide in 1971 I graduated to a Yashica Minister D rangefinder 35mm which was a great camera to learn photography on.
I sold it to a friend when I upgraded to a Pentax Spotmatic.
I later bought it back from him when he no longer wanted it.
Then came a series of Pentax SLr's.
My favourite for many years was the Pentax Super A.
I shot many weddings on this camera and used to operate 2 of them during weddings.
Then auto focus cameras came in which were great and then digital was upon us.
My favourite and last and best Pentax 35mm slr was the Pentax MZS.
The flagship of the Pentax 35mm range.
I read that Pentax was to introduce it's first digital slr based on this model.
I couldn't wait to get hold of one but pentax were really slow getting it on the production line.
This was the Pentax *istD.
With that camera I entered the digital world.
All this time I was having a similar journey with movie cameras.
That's another story or post.
I now have a couple of Canon digital slr's and Pentax models.

As much as I like the convenience of digital and everything that goes with it, I think I want to go back to shooting film and using the cameras I still have from the past.

I recently took part in the SALA exhibition(see post before this) and had some enlargements framed and on display.

In getting some of my shots printed at a larger size it made me realize that film photography might be slower but there are many reasons why I think it's better.

I wished I had shot a lot of my digital images on film.

Quality is one.

Sure I could get a new Pentax 645z  Medium Format digital camera that is an exceptional camera from what I have read, but is over $10000 for the body only.

I already have a Pentax 645 medium format film camera and an Pentax 6x7 medium format film camera.
The quality from those cameras is superb and I have an array of lenses to go with them.

 So also because of the qualities of film and different looks and wide exposure latitude(negative
 film anyway)

Film photography will make me much more selective in what I capture and also give me back a life that is not so all consuming in downloading,uploading,editing, light rooming ,photoshoppingand staring at a computer screen.
Also the problem of  backing up files will be eliminated.
Film lasts for a long time and you can actually hold it in your hand.

Will I give up digital? Probably not!

But I am looking forward to going back to my photography roots.

If I had been brought up on glass plate negatives I would probably be into that too.

scanned slide

scanned slide

scanned slide

scanned slide

scanned slide

Scanned slide

With a 35mm film camera at the Devil's Marbles, Northern Territory

Glen Thompson my Dad and Inspiration

This is not a photograph but a scan of a Catalina Painting

My Dad, Glen Thompson was an amazing man who died at 70 of cancer.
He was a great inspiration to me and to many. He was a jack of all trades and master of all of them.
He was an accountant in business but also a great photographer,handyman,mechanic,woodworker, metal worker and so much more.
He was a catalina pilot in the 2nd world war.
His interests were many and captured many of them in his photography and home movies.
He taught me and I first learnt photography on his folding Kodak Retina 35mm camera.
He would have loved this digital age as he was always ahead of everyone else in adopting new technology. I have a huge collection of his work and just a few shots are shown here.
Click on  the labels below to find more references and pics.

Glen the Catalina Pilot

Dad and Mum

Writing Home. RAAF Camp Northern Territory

The Haircut

RAAF Camp Northern Territory

RAAF Camp Northern Territory

Splashing down.Taken by my dad from the bubble on the side of a Catalina

Tennis at Memorial Drive Adelaide

I think Frank Sedgeman serving at Memorial Drive in 1950's

more at memorial drive

Memorial Drive

I think also Memorial Drive

I think also Memorial Drive

I think also Memorial Drive

Marrabel Rodeo?

Hill climb motorsports  scramble in Adelaide Hills.Probably Collingrove Hill Climb

My Photography Journey

This post is the first of a proposed series chronicling the steps along the way in my life in photography as a photographer.
It is proposed that this will be a video series with some text.
This first video is about growing up with my Dad who was a keen amateur photographer and his influence on me.
He was self taught in many things and stills and movie photography were lifelong hobbies amongst many other interests.

My Dad on the left and me. We were at a family wedding in the Dandenong Mountains in Victoria.Dad is holding his pentax kx film camera.My Safari suit was great for weddings in those days.

The video below is about some of the early cameras I used. I will be adding still photos of these cameras soon.
I am going to improve the resolution of this video also.
In the meantime enjoy your photography and keep up the good work.