Old Warehouse

Wondering around an old warehouse. It was extremely dark in most of the rooms and had to shoot at some high ISO's but I think I captured some interesting spots.

Stumbled Upon

Did you every have one of those days when you are looking for something and suddenly you come across something you completely forgotten about? Today that happened to me. I was looking for an old project for a client and stumbled across a few pictures I took this past year and thought, "How is it that I haven't posted these?" 

So without further delay...

Lake Huron

North & Clark, Chicago

Light Leaks

And this is what a light leak looks like.

After trying out my Grandfather's camera the other day I thought I would give my Great Uncle Ray's Jiffy Kodak Series II a try. However, it seems that time was not as kind to this camera. Upon further investigation I discovered the the billows in this camera has deteriorated along the folds. It's too bad really. This is quite a fun camera to play with. At some point if I get ambitious maybe I'll try to see if I can get this replaced. In the meantime I have a nice roll of some funky looking shots. 

A short note on my Great Uncle Ray Middleton. He was my Grandmother's (my father's mother) older brother, who fought and died in Italy during WWII. This camera was giving to my Grandmother, Matilda, before he left.  Though his Kodak hasn't survived as well as I wish it could have, I feel privileged to have it in my collection.    

My Grandfather's Camera

To say that I am excited about this post would be an understatement. I have been wanting to do this for sometime, and today I finally got my first roll of 120mm film back from the developer.

This camera belonged to my Grandfather Don Weber. It's an Agfa Billy Record, and to my knowledge this is the camera he carried with him during World War II. - He was a good photographer and took some really interesting pictures while in Europe. I'll have to scan some of the pictures he took with it and post them sometime.

Call me old school but I enjoy old cameras and trying out old formats, however, this time it was a little different. This was a really special roll for me to shoot as I discovered a connection with my Grandfather; clicking rigged dials, looking through the rudimentary view finder, estimating the focal length.  It was fun to see what it was like for him to take pictures 60 years ago.

 Footnote on location

 Gravestone 

Grain Silo  

 Looking down the rail line

Chicago

I was digging around my hard-drive tonight and found some old picture from Chicago. Enjoy.

Still Life

Needing some inspiration for a project that I'm working on for a friend.
I needed to step away tonight and do something completely different.

Life on the Vine: Part III

“Sir, can I talk to you for a minute?” The firm voice of the police officer, who had just pulled up next to me, told me that he was serious. “What are you taking pictures of?” The well over six-foot officer stepped out of his black and white.

I’ve always believed that the best way to get to know an area is to take a stroll and get lost in the streets. So with a beautiful Sunday afternoon at hand, I had given in to a nagging need to get out of the house and wonder around. With my trusty camera at my side I couldn’t have asked for more perfect day.

“Um, houses, flowers…” I answered nervously. “Why?”

“We got a call from a few concerned parents about some guy taking pictures of their kids.”  His towering figure in the bright sunlight was accented only by my realization that another police car was pulling up behind us.

“Would you like to see what I’m taking pictures of?” I quickly offered. I began flipping through the images that I took throughout the afternoon, fully knowing that I had not been taking pictures of children and that this had to be some grave misunderstanding. “Oh don’t look at this one, this isn’t the best example of my work.” I chimed in, half being an artist that didn’t want my unedited work looked at, the other trying to put on a little charm.

When we got to the pictures of the sunflowers, officer Jim seemed to respond positively.  Something in his response told me that this is where the misunderstanding took place.  Apparently some of the little girls that live in my neighborhood saw me taking pictures of the sunflowers and thought I was trying to “hide behind the flowers” in order to take pictures of them.

            It was rather embarrassing, and not exactly how I was hoping to be introduced to the friendly people in my town. But everything was cleared up. I even finished my walk and took a lot of great pictures.

            Later, on my way back home, I walked past the ever-present gaggle of young girls in my neighborhood.  Apparently I had been the subject of much debate. “Guys! He’s back!” I heard one girl’s loud whisper. Peering from behind the bushes, they watched me as I walked into my backyard to be greeted by my wife.  “I told you he lives there!” said another voice.

            Thankfully, it was only a misunderstanding.  Besides the few minutes of meeting the police, getting a friendly background check, and momentarily scaring the neighborhood into thinking that the new guy was a creep, it wasn’t a bad day.

            It actually worked out in the end - I did meet one of the neighbors, a young father named Will.  He came up to my back porch the next night with his son to say hello, and to offer his apology for what went down the evening before. Will seems like a nice guy - his poor son is the only boy in the neighborhood and that night the girls were having a club with a “no boys allowed” policy.

            So from now on, when I get the itch to wander in my new town, I might consider calling in first to let the police know I’m on the loose.  I’m just glad to report that this letter is not written in place of my one phone call.   

Peter-John Campbell

P.S. Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy.

Head Shots

A few weeks ago I was asked to take some headshots for the gang at Midday Connection. Normally I don’t feel very comfortable taking pictures of people - there’s a lot at play when your subject is human. First, people tend to are how they look. Second, they usually need these pictures for an actual purpose - that’s pressure enough. And third are the time constraints.

Generally speaking I restrict myself to either scenic or architectural photography. There is a lot less pressure for me in situations like that. I love landscape photography - the biggest issues are waiting for a cloud to move for better lighting, or scaring a bird away because it flew into my shot.

There are times when I take pictures of people, but it’s usually more in a casual setting, no pressure. Like taking pictures of my nieces and nephews on vacation. So when Lori, the producer of Midday Connection, asked me to take their new headshots, I wasn’t exactly jumping at the opportunity. But she was persistent.

The other thing that made me uncomfortable walking into the shoot was that they needed these pictures taken with the dreaded digital. (For those who haven’t read my bio, I’m a snob for 35mm film.) These all-automatic computer devices like to take over too much -they constantly want to tell me what my focus should be or to change my f-stop, etc. You have to pile though menu options to make one simple adjustment that on my fully manual 35mm would only take a flick of my finger. But I bit the bullet and made it through.

Thankfully the story has a happy ending. The Midday crew - Anita, Melinda and Lori -were pleased with the outcome. If you would like more information on their daily radio program, check out their website www.middayconnection.org

Here are a few of the successes.