tom_halfhill

I noticed three changes in Paris since my 1991 visit: it's much more crowded with tourists, advance tickets for the most popular sights are virtually mandatory, and English is spoken more widely. In 1991, I walked into most places without waiting in line. Now, even in February, the lines were enormous. People trying to buy tickets on the spot waited for hours. Buying advance tickets online is the only sane option. We had to reserve our Louvre tickets two days in advance. Considering the crowds I encountered during my recent off-season trip, I'd never visit Paris in high season. Another change was the former language barrier. In 1991, my sketchy high-school French was very useful. This time, almost everyone seemed to speak some English, even when I tried to speak French. (Some people may not consider this change an improvement.) Although French people and especially Parisians have a reputation for rudeness, I've never encountered a rude person in France, neither on this trip nor in 1991. Maybe I'm just lucky. In some situations, local folks even offered me unsolicited help. I did have one argument with a station agent in Versailles using my broken French and her broken English, but she was being inflexible, not exactly rude. On arrival by train in Versailles, I discovered too late that my Zone-3 Metro pass was inadequate for Zone-5 Versailles. But the station's service window was closed, so I couldn't buy a new ticket. Everyone on my train had the same problem. The agents wouldn't let us leave the station, reboard the train, or tell us when the ticket window would open. Our mood was desperate because everyone had reserved-time tickets for the palace, but we were trapped on the platform. Finally we ignored the agents and forced our way through the turnstiles. So I guess we were the rude ones.

Last month I visited Paris for the first time since 1991 and photographed the Notre-Dame cathedral from nearly the same spot. (I didn't have the 1991 photo with me for reference.) I used different cameras in 1991 and 2024 but the same lens. 1991: Leica M4-2 with my 1979-vintage 35mm f/2 Summicron and Ilford HP5+ film. 2024: Leica M10, same lens. However, this time I couldn't enter the cathedral because workers are still repairing the extensive 2019 fire damage. In 1991, I went inside and climbed one of the towers for a close view of the gargoyles. (I love gargoyles.)

Thanks. As I said, I haven't yet dissected an LED bulb to see how practical they are to repair. The internal design probably varies from one brand to another. None of my LEDs have failed yet. In fact, I'm still using some CFLs and incandescent bulbs. But it's interesting that LEDs might be repairable, because CFLs and incandescents certainly are not.

A friend loaned me a Voigtlander Vitessa for a few days in the 1970s. I shot one roll of b&w film and was impressed with the folding camera's compactness and the 50mm f/2 lens. His camera didn't have the built-in lightmeter.

Good tip! But I've heard that some of these LED bulbs are repairable. If they have an internal ring of small LED emitters, the emitters are probably wired in series, so it's possible to find the defective one and bypass it by soldering a new connection or even by bridging it with a tiny piece of aluminum foil. I haven't yet dissected an LED bulb to verify this hack.

Most subjects have a tonal range wider than film can capture, and most negatives have a tonal range wider than prints can reproduce. Therefore, printing for maximum black (and minimum white) preserves the widest tonal range possible on paper, sacrificing the least amount of tonal range in the negative. It's the way to make a full-toned print. Of course, there are exceptions. A picture on foggy day or a snowy day might range from dark gray to light gray, possibly within the range of the film and the paper. But usually there's something totally black or totally white in the picture. Because photography is an art, it's of course acceptable to make subjective departures from the objectively best rendering of a scene. Because photography is also a science, it's of course desirable to make the objectively best rendering of a scene. In my opinion, full-toned prints just look better than midtoned prints that appear as if they were yanked from the Dektol too soon. An analogy is music reproduction. I like to hear the thump of a bass guitar and the sizzle of the cymbals. Turning down the bass knob and the treble knob will reduce both, leaving only the midrange tones. Some listeners may prefer "gray music," but I want to hear a recording that's closer to the original performance. Why buy good speakers if you sacrifice their tonal range? And why buy good photographic equipment and materials if you want to sacrifice their tonal range?

Thieves everywhere have learned that if they're very fast, they can rob a store before the police can respond. Often they're in and out in less than 60 seconds. These types of robberies target stores selling high-value merchandise because even a small amount of quickly snatched loot is valuable. Jewelry stores are the main targets. Apple stores and some camera shops are secondary targets, as are professional photographers and TV news crews who carry lots of expensive equipment. I keep hearing that smartphones are making cameras obsolete, but apparently the thieves haven't received the message.

Expose a print for the minimum time to reach the paper's maximum black through the clear film edge. If the print is too dark, the film was underexposed or underdeveloped. If the print is too light, the film was overexposed or overdeveloped. Adjust your future exposures or development time accordingly. If the print was too dark and you shorten the exposure, no part of the print will be maximum black. The best you can get is dark gray. You can recover the blacks by increasing the contrast (e.g., by using a harder paper grade or a higher-contrast filter), but it will compress other tones as well, such as the midtones, so you will sacrifice some quality. If the print was too light and you lengthen the exposure, you can come closer to a full-scale print, but it won't be quite as good as a print made from a properly exposed and developed negative. Overexposing or overdeveloping the film compresses the contrast. You can determine the minimum time to reach the paper's maximum black by making a test strip with the clear edge of the negative showing. Or you can use a piece of clear film from the beginning or end of the same roll.

Update: I am currently setting up a brand-new Windows 11 computer. To my surprise, the setup procedure automatically configured the machine to a Local Account (not a Microsoft Account) by default, even though it was connected to a Wi-Fi network! The initial setup did offer a Microsoft Account as an option (describing it simply as an "online account"), but the Local Account was the default. It wasn't described as a "Local Account," but that's clearly what it is. The computer is currently downloading updates even though I haven't yet logged into my pre-existing Microsoft Account to install Microsoft Office. This default behavior of the setup procedure is exactly the opposite of what everyone else is saying about Windows 11 -- that it defaults to an online Microsoft Account and either forbids a Local Account during initial setup or makes it very difficult. Is it possible that Microsoft is reacting to complaints about the account-setup options? This computer is an HP laptop. Could HP have forced Microsoft to make Local Account the default? Another possibility is that Microsoft is bending to local privacy laws. I live in California, which has adopted the strongest computer-privacy laws in the USA. In fact, the privacy law proposed in Congress would weaken California's protections, because the federal law would supersede state law.

Lots of misinformation in this thread: 1. It's untrue that Windows 11 always requires a Microsoft Account for log-in. Although Microsoft doesn't make it easy, it's still possible to install or configure Windows 11 with a Local Account. If you search the Internet for "windows 11 local account setup" you'll find at least three different methods. 2. It's untrue that a Local Account won't receive Microsoft updates, including security updates. If the computer with a Local Account has an Internet connection, it can receive the same updates as everyone else. 3. It's untrue that a Local Account won't require a password to log in. By default, a Local Account still requires a password. Although there are ways to bypass it, I don't recommend it, even for a single-user home computer. You never know who might try to access the computer when you're not looking.

Rubbing the print to darken selective areas during development does indeed work, but I found the effect to be slight. Another method is to float a sponge in a beaker of hot undiluted developer and swab it on areas of the print to be darkened. But generally I prefer to manipulate the tones in the enlarger (burning, dodging, flashing, etc). I have always handled wet prints with rubber-tipped print tongs, without damage. Some people are allergic to photochemicals and can't use their fingers.

In the olden days there were lots of ways to "speed up" film, including push developing, water development (stand development), pre-exposure, latensification (exposure to weak light after exposure but before development), and fuming the film with mercury vapors. The last two methods work but the results are difficult to predict and repeat.

More interesting! I knew that public libraries sponsored Kanopy but didn't know they pay a fee for everything we watch. As for "non-Hollywood films," that's what I like best about Kanopy. I've been watching many silent films, foreign films, and documentaries that I've heard about for years but are rarely broadcast on TV or cable. The cameras W. Eugene Smith uses in "Minamata" are indeed Minolta SLRs. I don't know if that's authentic. Smith used many different cameras during his long career. In the 1950s, Smith carried nine cameras comprising three "sets," as he called them. Each set of three cameras had one with a wide-angle lens, one with a normal lens, and one with a short telephoto lens (probably 35/50/90mm or 35/50/85mm). He loaded one set with fine-grain slow b&w film, one set with medium-speed b&w film, and one set with fast b&w film. Thus he could shoot under any lighting conditions without changing lenses or film. At that time he favored Canon rangefinder cameras or Leica RFs with Canon lenses. Note that his nine cameras could be replaced today with one digital camera mounting a midrange zoom lens -- and it would shoot color as well as b&w.

Interesting. I didn't know that Kanopy has different limits in different places. My ration is still 10 views per month, although I rarely watch that many.

After two years of waiting, last night I finally saw "Minamata," the postponed movie about W. Eugene Smith's famous Life magazine photo essay exposing the mercury pollution at a Japanese fishing village. The Covid-19 pandemic delayed this film's theatrical release until 2021, then near-empty theaters cut it short. Last night, to my surprise, I discovered it has landed on a free Internet-streaming service (Kanopy). In my opinion, it features one of Johnny Depp's best performances. Depp plays Smith, the famous photojournalist and master of photo essays during the peak popularity of weekly picture magazines such as Life and Look. Depp virtually vanishes into his lead character. He's a dead ringer for Smith in the photographer's later years as an uncompromising man suffering from health problems, chronic pain, and alcoholism. Reluctant at first, he's recruited in 1971 by desperate Japanese villagers poisoned by pollution from a chemical plant. Smith convinces Life to assign him the story, which is emotionally draining and physically dangerous. His pictures still stand as monumental photojournalism. This excellent drama shows how he made them, and Depp's largely unseen performance was Oscar-worthy. I haven't read the book on which the screenplay is based, so I can't comment on the realism. The photography and darkroom scenes are relatively accurate, by Hollywood standards. One possible invention is a scene in which a drunken Smith gives his camera to a crippled boy. To keep Smith working after he sobers, the villagers donate their cameras to replace his. I doubt that a professional photojournalist of Smith's stature would embark on a Life magazine assignment with only one camera. In the 1950s he carried nine cameras. Anyway, I recommend this movie. I found it on Kanopy, a U.S. streaming service that's free in some cities if you have a library card from a participating public library. After registering your card number, you can watch up to ten films per month. The selection is huge. Most offerings are documentaries and educational films, but there are also many recent dramas, old classics, silent films, and foreign-language films.