Peaceful place. Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan… July 1979
Canon F-1 on Kodak Kodachrome 64.
Kamakura
Tag 1970s
Canon F-1
First version Canon F-1 with its gorgeous chrome nosed FD 50mm f/ 1.4 lens.
Canon F-1 from April 1972. This was the first version of the F-1 and it sports a rather low serial number. We’ve held this one back all these years with just occasional use (mainly in the studio). Our field tested F-1 (not pictured) was acquired new in 1978 (2nd version F-1) and it’s the one that’s traveled the world – getting seriously wet in Hong Kong, Japan and the US- dropped in a photographic safari bus in Kenya – slid off a train seat in Tokyo – and was briefly “lost” in Diego Garcia!
All original stuff from 1972.
Note that this super early FD lens does not have the SC or SSC markings on the lens ring.
I started 35mm SLR photography with a Nikonos II and then purchased my first Yashica (TL Electro-X) and then into Canon we went. We need to find some time to take this one out and put that classic glass to good use! Nothing like holding an old friend again.
Thanks for stopping by!
Chris
My friend Jim… Hong Kong 1979
I’ve wanted to share these images for quite some time now here on this blog. They’ve been posted to my flickr page in an album titled ‘Liberty Call Hong Kong’- so time to move some of them over and provide a bit of a backstory.
I don’t consider myself a portrait photographer, in fact I’m highly critical of most of my attempts at portraiture over the years. It’s not that I don’t like it, I’m not good at it. I enjoy big vistas and wide open spaces way too much to be trapped in a studio taking pictures of people. Taking pictures of things (cameras, lenses, stuff) in the studio I do enjoy.
Other than portraits of my family, the image below not only means a lot to me but I think it’s one of my better people pics. It’s an image of my friend Jim while we were travelling north out of Hong Kong to the Chinese border by train in January 1979. It was a difficult shot – low light (and I was using Kodachrome 64), hand holding a Canon FD 80-200mm zoom lens and all while the train was moving. The sky was overcast so the light was at least uniformly dim.
North out of Hong Kong… 1979
My friend Jim was not only a US Navy Sailor like myself, he was also a very accomplished professional photographer and the most outgoing person I had ever met. Jim was a Nikon guy when shooting 35mm – Bronica and Mamiya medium format in the studio. I’m a Canon guy and that was always a source of friendly ribbing between us. Since Jim was a pro, he wasn’t the easiest to trap into having his picture taken. I remember he was saying that this shot will never turn out well because the Canon F-1 had a crummy exposure meter and used crummy (not his real word) glass in their lenses. I don’t think he ever saw this image come to think of it. He may have liked it. I still think the image has problems – shallow depth of field means I missed nailing the focus and the exterior of the train is a tad over exposed. I don’t have fancy post production software so for the most part this scan is exactly what appears on the original slide. Here again I’m being hard on myself and it’s likely the reason I don’t try more portraits.
Another photographer that I met here on WordPress is an outstanding photographer and blogger- her portraits are amazing and always so creative. She said I give her a bit of confidence with my positive comments on the quality of her portfolio, but in reality it’s me who has been given a little nudge to go out and try some portrait photography again.
This was my second port visit to Hong Kong and both times Jim and I were out shooting together from sunrise to well after sunset. Here are but a few of the many that I like the most…
Image by Jim. Me negotiating a better deal with this sweet vendor. She was funny and a pleasure to deal with. I bought a fan for my wife Carol.
Jim negotiating a good deal with some nice ladies in Aberdeen, Hong Kong. We had a great boat ride around the harbor. Canon F-1 on Kodachrome 64.
Cute little girl waiting (with grandma) for the train out of Hong Kong.
Star Ferry sailor catching up on the morning’s news. Canon F-1 on Kodachrome 64.
Busy day on the docks of Aberdeen, Hong Kong. Canon F-1 on Kodachrome 64.
Very difficult shot. Canon F-1 with FD 80-200mm f4 zoom lens on Kodachrome 64 hand held while on a moving boat!
Hong Kong night life… 1979.
Bar hostess… Hong Kong. Canon F-1 on Kodachrome 64. Shutter set at 1 second f1.4
Not exactly Mickey. Watchful man and dog (lower left) couldn’t figure out why two photographers would be interested in his Mickey.
Jim and I were great friends – my wife Carol was great friends with his wife and children. As US Navy Sailors, Jim and I got to visit many interesting ports while stationed on our ship which was home ported in Yokosuka, Japan. He taught me a lot about photography and to be more outgoing while photographing people. Jim returned to the States before me and his professional studio really took off and was a great success through the 1980s and 1990s.
Jim doing what he liked best – making people smile and taking pictures! Late 1980s in his studio in Florida.
This is the last photo I have of Jim. It was taken by his wife who was his assistant (you can see why she was)… Jim and his lovely wife died in 2001 in a terrible plane crash. Not the ones in September of that year, but theirs were just before Christmas 2001. A horrible situation for his two grown children and all who knew them.
Every December I remember Jim and all the good times we had. I can still hear him tell me that my F-1 stinks! And I remember all the tips he shared with me on taking people pics.
Thanks Jim!
Chris
People Pics… Japan 1977-1980
These images were mostly taken in and around Yokohama and Tokyo with my Canon F-1 (1978 version). I used Kodak Kodachrome 25 and on occasion some Kodak Ektachrome 64 (I believe). They are in no particular order and will jump around quite a bit in both year taken and location. Enjoy!
Early morning commuter at the Yokohama train station.
Cute little spot of color at Ueno Zoo Tokyo.
Pigeon racing – Ueno Zoo Tokyo.
In keeping with red clothing as the central theme, my lovely wife Carol at Sankei-en (Gardens) in Naka-ku Yokohama. The admission was about .45 cents US for an adult which made visiting Sankei-en a regular past time for us.
Motomachi shopping street Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. A favorite spot for shopping. As always, the local police assisting lost citizens.
“You watchin’ me… I’m watchin’ YOU”! Watchful shop dog in Honmoku, Naka-ku.
Fast service at a local shopping “street”. A very small back street in Sugita just down the street from the then JNR station. Yokohama, Isogo Ward (Isogo-ku).
Daily shopping along the street in Sugita.
Lovely flower shop ladies in Honmoku (where we lived in Yokohama).
At Sankei-en in Honmoku. Fussing with his gear to capture the perfect sakura picture.
Young customer meets experienced toy vendor. I believe at Ueno Zoo Tokyo.
Yep, Mickey D’s in Yokohama.
Number 8 bus in Yokohama. The driver keeps his eye on me.
Iconic view in Japan. A professional bus driver and his clean white gloves.
On the road to Mt. Fuji. Taken by Carol with her Canon AE-1.
As always we thank you for your visit. We enjoy sharing some of our images from when we lived in Japan in the late 1970s.
Chris and Carol… and BTW, Merry Christmas!!! ^.^
Montauk Point Lighthouse, Long Island
The lighthouse at Montauk Point, Long Island, New York is one of my favorite spots to visit ever since I was a child growing up on Long Island. As a kid, the main attractions for me were – the ocean, the countless rocks in that ocean (big and small), the hills (Long Islanders are hill challenged) and finally the lighthouse itself. As I got older, the main attraction was the lighthouse with the other ‘likes’ fading into the background. When I earned my New York driver’s licence, Montauk was my first long drive from my home by myself. When I became a certified SCUBA diver, the waters near the lighthouse looked tempting for a dive but the great whites known to frequent the cold waters off Eastern Long Island kept me ashore – so I headed to Florida instead.
While going through some of my many mountains of slides from my collection, I came across these images of the lighthouse. The first set of photographs are from August 1972 and were shot with my Yashica TL Electro-X mostly using the normal Yashinon 50mm lens. The second set of images are from 2002 when I traveled to New York with my family for their first visit to Montauk. The 1972 images show how completely the original Kodak Ektachrome slides have degraded over the years.
August 1972. Yashica TL Electro-X with f/ 1.7 50mm Yashinon lens with 2x teleconverter on Ektachrome 64.
August 1972. The lighthouse in need of a serious restoration. I believe it was still under the control of the U.S. Coast Guard at that time. It’s obvious that 40+ year old Kodak Ektachrome didn’t hold up well – even when stored properly. Most of the vivid original colors have faded and the slide lacks depth.
July 2002. The lighthouse and grounds were looking much better after the restoration. Canon F-1 with FD24mm f/ 2.8 lens on Kodachrome. My son is the little one climbing up the hill (as I had done hundreds of times before).
July 2002. Canon F-1 with FD24mm f/ 2.8 lens on Kodachrome.
T.J. on the rocks… just like me in the 1950s.
The automated light of 2002. Wonderful view from up top too.
Captivating views from up top.
Gotta love the rocks!
If you ever get a chance to travel to Long Island, then the Montauk Point Lighthouse must be on your “to visit list”. It’s very photogenic and lends itself well to the digital age. There are images that a good camera phone today can capture that were a serious challenge to film photographers just 15 years ago. Happy shooting!
Chris
Kamakura Daibutsu
My wife and I lived in Yokohama, Naka-ku (Honmoku) from the Summer of 1977 to early Spring of 1980. We totally enjoyed our time in this wonderful country and are hopeful we will be able to return again. We had our favorite spots – Sankei-en and Kamakura being two of our most favorite. As with any well known attraction, the Great Buddha at Kamakura has been photographed from every angle imaginable. I’ve always enjoyed exploring angles that may not have been tried before.
July 1979. Canon F-1 with FD 24mm lens on Kodachrome 25.
Kodachrome 25. Bright sun. Canon F-1 with FD 24mm lens. It’s what film photography was (is) all about.
More traditional view of the Great Buddha. Steaming hot July day on the Kanto Plain. Yashica TL Electro-X on Kodachrome 64.
Gotta have a tourist shot! We love the antennas on top of Mt. Fuji!
So many things will have changed in Japan since we were last there but they’ll be plenty that will stay the same… forever. Kamakura is one of them.
Thanks for the visit!
Forgotten and faded Florida…
U.S. Highway 17 was the way to enter Northeast coastal Florida in days past – long before I-95 was even imagined. If you came down from the North in the late 1940s, you entered Florida over a way too narrow bridge over the St. Marys River – the official boundary between Georgia and Florida. The two lane road was well traveled and one of the last cities you would pass through before the bridge was Kingsland, Georgia… just a few miles north of the river. The next city wasn’t until you reached Jacksonville, Florida – a long way south. You can’t really count the in-between hamlets of Yulee and Oceanway – they were home to flashing lights just to make you slow down a bit.
To be the first attraction – or motel – or restaurant – or bar – or whatever along this busy corridor meant something I imagine. Where would the tourists stop to take a picture or pause to, you know, rest? Highway 17 was the bomb – it was the way south. Then I-95 came and it was over in a hurry.
What’s left of the Florida firsts?
U.S. Highway 17 bridge over the St. Marys River. Looking north into Georgia – this would have been your first step on dry land that was Florida.
After your safe passage over this way too narrow bridge, you would be treated with your first photo op…
Everybody stops to get their picture taken in Florida! What better place then this sign… and with palm trees too! This is the sign along U.S. 17 a little south of the border.
Gotta have a plaque to dedicate the sign.
All that’s left of some of the ‘firsts‘…
‘Souvenirs’ and ‘Whiskey’.
Nothing left to buy here except more time I suppose.
More than a few tourists walked through this door… come in please.
Faded Florida.
Last one out.
A wonderful place to explore… that first half mile of faded Florida along Highway 17. Many more opportunities to be sure. It was the first motel in now forgotten Florida. The people are elsewhere but the photo ops remain.
Thanks for your visit. As always your comments are appreciated.
You can also visit me at https://www.flickr.com/photos/127540935@N08/
Chris
One last shot – a modern I-95 Florida welcome.
Fujica ST701 Part 2… getting closer!
Definitely on our “to shoot with” list – and in the very near future we will! Now that the atmosphere in Florida has transitioned from nuclear hot to just a pleasant warmth, time to dust off the collection and put them to work.
Here’s a nice ST701 from the Fuji Photo Film Company of Tokyo – no battery for the meter but on a nice sunny day who needs one! Seals are a bit of a mess so we’ll keep the bottom half of the case on for a little extra light tight security.
Our ST701 from 1971. About to get some field testing.
We’ve heard good things about the Fujinon 55mm – of course the fact that it’s a M42 mount helps too. Since we’re such big fans of everything Yashica, we naturally collect Fujifilm too because of the M42 connection. My very humble digital camera is a Fujifilm FinePix S9900W – it’s not going to blow the socks off the big boys but with 16 mp and a killer long-ass zoom it does pretty well.
Another Fuji friend is our Instax Wide 300 instant camera. We occasionally enjoy a instant picture or two and we choose the Wide 300 for the extra image size over the credit card sized mini format. We’re waiting to see if Fujifilm will bring out some black and white Instax film for the Wide 300 especially since the B&W Instax mini format has been so well received.
Fujifilm Instax Wide 300. Lots of plastic but it gets the job done.
I’m (Chris) still spinning my wheels a bit with close-ups with the Wide 300 – so far the Fuji is 0 for 4 in that department. I’ll have to start using the close-up attachment and see what happens. The autofocus for close-ups needs full sun otherwise it defaults to what looks like infinity. I’ll get it.
Off to use some film… ^.^
Thanks for your visit! C&C
Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris 