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Iscorama Adventure

I've been obsessed with anamorphic widescreen ever since, when I was a kid, my mom kept pointing out to me the then-dizzying array of processes used in movies. An avid amateur photographer and dedicated film-credits watcher, Mom was especially interested when she saw "CinemaScope lenses by Bausch & Lomb" or "Process lenses by Panavision" and the like.

And she was extremely annoyed when movies shown on TV would begin letterboxed and then switch to a blurry, pathetic pan-and-scan version. (Here's a video in which director Sydney Pollack explains why he dislikes pan and scan.) 

Mom thought it was really neat when I purchased a Centascope anamorphic for my Minolta Autopak-8 D6 Super 8 camera. I did some test footage of sailboats on Sloan's Lake that came out great, so I decided to shoot my college's whitewater rafting trip using this widescreen lens.

My idea was to rip off "This is Cinerama" and start my movie in regular-width, then expand to the full Centascope ratio for the first shooting-the-rapids scene. Unfortunately, on that first big set of rapids, something went wrong, my tripod mount whacked me in the head, the Centascope lens detached and plummeted into the Colorado River.

I wound up shooting "River Expedition" in standard format, which is just as well, since if I had shown it at twice the width, it only would have sucked twice as much.

Anyway, I've decided not to sell my Iscorama anamorphic, which I bought several years ago. It has a nice, secure Nikon mount. That image at the top is a full, unsqueezed view of the Chicago skyline. The inset view shows what the original compressed image looks like before I stretch it back out in Photoshop. (If I were projecting slides, I'd put a lens on the projector that's just like I used on the camera.)

Learn more about widescreen at The American Widescreen Museum. And thanks to Matt Maldre for letting me mount my Iscorama on his Nikon DSLR to shoot these images.

Metra Fatality

Download now or watch on posterous

IMG_0034.mov (981 KB)

Commuters leave Metra's Northwest Line at Irving Park after learning their train will be stopped here for at least an hour due to another train striking and killing a pedestrian in Des Plaines.

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Your Behind Will Be Sorry

These seats might look comfy, but a million buns ahead of yours have softened them into squishy ass-hell.

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Vintage Varnish

An older bi-level car is on the 7:30 p.m. Metra Northwest Line tonight.

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Orange Ode to Halloween

Orange Ode to Halloween from Leigh Hanlon on Vimeo.

NOTE: I really like the way I can post text, photos and video using Posterous. What's frustrating, though, is that while the application can embed photos, videos are simply presented as links. That's why I've gone back in and embedded the Vimeo version of this short clip.

Download now or watch on posterous

IMG_0030.mov (1471 KB)

I thought this collection of warning lights looked like jack o'lanterns.

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iPhone has Its Moments

Despite my love of film, I do appreciate the serendipity of shooting with a cameraphone. Plus, your camera is always available -- and you're not out money with every snaperoo.

This is a view from inside Ogilvie Transportation Center looking out the upper level of Metra's 7:30 p.m. outbound Northwest Line commuter train.

The processed result reminded me of something Joseph Nicéphore Niépce might have produced from the dawn of photography. Post-processed with Tiffen Photo fx and the CameraBag.

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Nikon L35AF Passes the Test

I did one more test with the Nikon L35AF -- this time in color using the closest thing to Ektar 100 that I had in the freezer yesterday: Kodak Pro Image 100. And since I hope to shoot train stations along the route of Amtrak's Empire Builder, I figured my own neighborhood depot could fill in.

Some of the highlights are a little blown out in the door, but I'm otherwise 100 percent thumbs-up pleased with how this turned out. I think the inset photo of a placard came out good, too.

Of course, I'm not always going to have beautiful late-afternoon lighting like this.

By the way, that Kodak Pro Image 100 is a neat film that I bought last year from the good folks at Lomographic Society International. The film doesn't seem to be available any longer.

People who've shot a lot of color negative have said that Kodak Pro Image 100 is similar to Kodak Gold 100 in its vivid rendering of blues and greens. I can attest to that.

No More Kodachrome for Me

It turns out that the place I ordered the Kodachrome from now has my shipment on "back order," which, in this case probably means they're not going to have any more. So it looks like for my trip, I will only be shooting with my one last cartridge of 36-exposure Kodachrome 64.

And that's the end of it.

I suppose I could buy some at an online auction for significantly above retail, but to heck with that.

I do want to shoot in color, though. I'm leaning toward Kodak's Ektar 100 color-negative film. Or maybe even Fujichrome Velvia in ISO 50 or 100. It just all depends on whether I want to deal with the slight extra bother in shooting transparencies.

However, I'll still miss the "look" of Kodachrome. One of my favorite Kodachrome shots is pictured here.

Ah, well...

Mixed Feelings at the Jewels

I liked this found composition of cabbage. What I didn't like was not finding out until I reached the checkout that ALL lanes are only accepting cash. The TCF ATM wasn't an option; it was being serviced. I just left the store. All I can say is that unless they hurry up and restock my would-be purchases, a bunch of green onions, lettuce, assorted produce and 2 pounds of ground sirloin are going reach room temperature real soon.

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McDonald's Rising

Work continues on the new McDonald's at the corner of Milwaukee and Gale. Last I heard, it was set to open in November.

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It Works OK

I shot a test roll Saturday afternoon with the Nikon L35AF just to make sure it still performs well enough to take on my upcoming train journey.

I'm pretty pleased with the results, even though it was a blah and overcast day. I'm not sure I'd agree with the devotionals that purport the f/2.8 lens on this vintage point-and-shoot to have some kind of legendary sharpness, but it did do at least as good as a job as my Olympus Stylus Epic.

Unlike the Epic, the L35AF isn't really a pocket camera unless you have a jacket with big pockets.

It's also not especially lightweight; underneath its gleaming black-plastic exterior is a metal frame that contributes to its satisfying heft. Not that that's a bad thing -- if a camera's way too light I have a hard time holding it steady.

I picked the Jefferson Park Post Office and Jefferson Park Fieldhouse as subjects, since my goal is to photograph train stations along Amtrak's Empire Builder route and these buildings pretty much approximate some of the medium-sized installations. 

As with all photos, analog or digital, I've applied a modest Unsharp Mask to these images.

Nikon L35AF

Nifty little point & shoot from Nikon is built like a tank and has manual ISO film-speed settings, so it can shoot Kodachrome 64. Its f/2.8 lens is quite sharp, too. The L35AF will be the FM2n's companion on vacation -- and if I run out of room in the one bag I plan to use, might be the only film camera I bring.

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Walgreens Again

I told the cashier that they ought to put these stickers on condom boxes, too.

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Styled in the West by Westerners

I got a nice surprise tonight: My new shirt from Rockmount Ranch Wear had arrived! This piece of clothing is definitely a big deal, believe me. These shirts are absolute American fashion classics.

Until I learned about Rockmount, I assumed that Western shirts always had snaps. Not so, pardner. Rockmount founder Jack A. Weil is the guy who introduced the first Western shirts with snaps.

Weil, who died in 2008 at the age of 107, was a major force in popularizing the Western look -- and his family continues that tradition. Today, in fact, the Rockmount name is so synonymous with Western wear that the company's vintage advertising and emphemera are highly sought after by collectors.

Rockmount's headquarters and retail store is in Denver's now-hip Lower Downtown. They've been here since 1946, and for me, no visit to the Queen City of the Plains is complete without stopping in to see what's new.

This shirt I received is style 6921, which features Rockmount's classic sawtooth pockets, diamond snaps, custom collar stays and -- best of all -- is made in the United States of America. The shirt also is constructed of 100 percent cotton and is so comfortable you can wear it without an undershirt.

This is actually the second 6921 I've obtained this year. I received the first as a birthday present from my sister. I bought the second so I'd have two to bring along on my vacation next month. I'm fairly careful when I'm wearing a fine white shirt, but accidents do happen and I want to make sure I can still look my Western best while one shirt is being cleaned.

Flu

The H1N1 swine flu vaccine isn't available yet, but the regular seasonal shot is in full swing. I've already received this one.

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