I finally had a chance to take my newly acquired Agfa Silette 1 out shooting. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the lens has nice characteristics. This is a basic 35mm film camera, with a few more controls than one expects on a lower end 35mm camera. 

Agfa Silette 1

Film: 35mm

Shutter Speeds: B, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125

Apertures: f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11,f/16,f/22

Zone focussing. Minimum distance 3 ft.

Miscellaneous: No meter, hotshoe, countdown film counter (you must set it to the number of exposures in the roll when loading)

Lens: Color Agnar 45mm

The following photos were shot with Kodak Gold 200 (expired).

I made this Polaroid print in the late 1990's, with an SX70 camera and TimeZero film. The image was manipulated after heating the print a little bit. I have a renewed interest in my Polaroid cameras since the Impossible Project has started making film. I plan on posting some more of my old work as well as the new work that I am shooting with the new Color Shade and Silver Shade materials.

Last week I posted a new YouTube video on the Holga camera aperture defect, only to learn that Tokina, the manufacturer of Holga, has finally addressed and fixed this problem. I had read a rumor that all Holgas had been fixed before I shot the defect video, but when I went down to my local camera store and took a look at the Holgas there, they all showed the aperture defect.

Thanks to the folks who gave me the heads up and links to check on this.

I went out and found the newer Holgas sitting on the counter next to a few older model Holgas that still showed the defect. If you are in the market for one, I don't know how to tell if you are going to get a newer one or not. I am going to send a couple of inquiries off to my favorite online suppliers, and will let you know what I hear back.

I uploaded a new video on youtube.  Out of the Box - The New and Improved Holga 120N

A small production note. I am trying out a new video workflow, where I am recording the audio portion separately with a better microphone than the onboard microphone. It's more work to edit, but it eliminates much of the bad sound that comes from breathing on the camera while trying to show something in front of the camera.

I took this photo in Guangzhou, China at the People's Park. We were walking around the outside of the park, looking for the entrance, when I looked down and saw a fitness area where several seniors were exercising. I had only moments to react, as the man in this photo finished his exercise and moved away moments after I tripped my shutter.

This was taken with a Holga 120N, using Tri-X film.

This photo was taken in Guangzhou, China on Shamian Island in a park. The parks in China are well populated with young and older people and is a place where children play, parents sit and relax and passer-bys stop and eat their lunches. This photo was made with a Holga 120N, with Tri-X.

Beijing, China - Temple of Heaven

On the trip, I uploaded an iPhone camera version of this image. This one was shot with the Holga 120N, on Tri-X, with the wide-angle accessory lens attached. The last couple of days we were in Beijing, we had a snow storm.  While touring the Temple of Heaven, it was snowing pretty heavily, which was cold, but quite beautiful.

This photo was made last April in Guangzhou, China. It was taken while filming a video - Shooting with Holga, which can be seen on my youtube channel, kaituba. The video demonstrates how to shoot with a Holga. The photo was taken with a Holga 120N, using Tri-X.

Courtyard at the Great Wall of China

This was a courtyard for some shops at the Great Wall of China. This is shot on Tri-X on a Holga 120N, with the accessory wide angle lens. The wide angle accessory lens allowed me to get most of the tree in my photo, since I couldn't back up. There is snow on the ground. We got some heavy snow for a couple of days near the end of the time we spent in Beijing.

Photographically speaking, I would suggest that you pack the film you want to shoot to take with you. Unless you are fluent in Mandarin or Cantonese, it is problematical making oneself understood. I wouldn't have any idea how to ask directions to a camera store, or even more specifically, a camera store that sold 120 film! I do recall seeing rolls of 35mm film here and there, usually in hotel or tourist area gift shops, and they looked a bit dusty.

Some of the best photographs I took on this trip were from wandering into some of the side neighborhoods around the hotels where we were staying. I took a few walks through these neighborhoods and found lots of things to photograph. I made sure I kept track of where I was going, so I wouldn't get lost.

On one of our last days in Chongqing, we wanted to give a small present for our guide. We had the present, and only needed to buy some wrapping paper. This turned out not to be as simple as we thought. We turned to the hotel concierge, who didn't quite understand what we wanted. After trying to give us some hotel stationary, another employee jumped in, and while she understood what we needed, had no idea where we might buy it. They ended up trying to direct us to some sort of clothing store, which might have some kind of wrapping paper, but I think more for purchases made there. We ended up in a book store that had reams of printer paper. We bought a packet of colored printer paper and used that for wrapping paper.

Other things that were difficult to purchase were pharmacy items. In this, we were fortunate to have a guide, who could point out what to buy after we told her what we were looking for. On your own, it's difficult to figure out if the box you are holding is cold medicine or maybe hair dye, when you can't read the package! It's also disconcerting to realize that you don't even know which section of the pharmacy you are standing in. Browsing is sometimes difficult, as every aisle had a store employee watching over it.

Water safety. The water in China is not safe for consumption, unless you grew up around there. In many hotels, the food is prepared with filtered water, but to be on the safe side, do not get drinks with ice or lime slice (a common drink garnish). In restaurants, ask for bottled water (Evian is a common brand). One item that was handy was the Katadyn Water Bottle filter. This is a 3 stage water filter that looks like a sport bottle. It works well and requires no standing time that iodine treatments require. The hotels we stayed at only provided a small bottle of free water, so having an extra source of safe water is good. The downside of this filter is that it does require a little muscle, since you must squeeze it to force the water through the filter. There are whole sections on this subject in guide books, so I'll leave it to you to read up on it. 

Restaurants: An interesting concept we came across in a few of the restaurants, was that napkins were not supplied, and when we requested them, we were given a little packet of tissue paper that we got billed for. Also, as far as getting the check, there is a different expectation in China. They assume you will let them know when you are ready to pay the bill. They won't come and ask if you are ready. Be ready to actively catch the attention of your waiter or waitress and say "Maidan!" (Check!). I used that phrase quite a bit while in China.

Toilets: Have you ever used a squat toilet? As a westerner, I ran across these in some parts of Japan, but they are pretty much the norm in China, unless you stay at a westernized hotel. If you haven't done a little bit of homework, it can be quite an experience. A major point to remember is that toilet paper is almost never supplied, so you must carry around those little packets of tissue paper, which also double as napkins! In one museum in Chongqing, I also found myself in the dark, as many places are fanatical about saving electricity, so the lights didn't work. A keychain flashlight was handy in this case. Wikihow has an excellent tutorial on squat toilets: http://www.wikihow.com/Use-a-Squat-Toilet

Michael and Chelsea Granger, LightBox Photographic Gallery Owners

This past Saturday, I attended the show opening at the LightBox Photographic Gallery in Astoria, Oregon. The Lightbox is celebrating it's first year anniversary in business. The gallery is nicely situated in the downtown area of Astoria. Chelsea and Michael Granger are gallery owners whose enthusiasm make this an endeavor born out of love for the medium. Chelsea is also a lo-fi photographer who likes to shoot with vintage Dianas. In the Lightbox Photographic Gallery, the Pacific Northwest has a strong supporter of fine art photography.

The Plastic Fantastic show features 50 photographs selected by juror Lauren Henkin. This work was done by photographers from all over the U.S.A. and from Sweden, Australia, Great Britain and Canada. It's an honor to have my photograph included in this group of photographers. The Plastic Fantastic show was opened along with an exhibition by John Wimberly, whose masterful black and white prints represents work that spans over 30 years. 

The work was well displayed in a very pleasant gallery space that also featured cabinets with many vintage cameras and other working film cameras that are available for loan to members of the gallery's darkroom group.

The gallery also offers lo-fi cameras for sale from Lomography and Superheadz.