When A Friend From Texas Comes To Town

It was early June when I opened Instagram to a message from my friend John Kraemer (@jkraemer22 on Instagram). “Something to think about…I have a High School Class Reunion in Cincinnati. I was wondering if you would be up to a downtown Cincinnati Photowalk Sunday, June 13.”

“Are you kidding me? Of course I’m in. Great idea!!”

I’ve never met John in person, but we talk and interact frequently on Instagram. I’ve always admired his photography and he has always seems like a great guy. It would be awesome to hang out with John and shoot some film. Especially now that I had been fully vaccinated for a while and the restrictions had started easing up.

Sunday came. I picked John up from his sister’s house and we headed to Cincinnati. We parked at a lot on the corner of Sycamore and E 7th St, just around the corner from the Bay Horse Café. I know the owners of the Bay Horse. I was hoping to treat John to a beer inside, but being Sunday, the Bay Horse was still operating on reduced hours and wouldn’t be open for business this day. Still, I knew he’d love the sign. It’s one of my favorites in Cincinnati.

For this photowalk, my weapon of choice was the Bronica ETRSi, a camera I don’t shoot nearly enough. I loaded it up with Lomography Metropolis, dialed in the ISO to 400, and put on the 50mm f/2.8 Zenzanon-PE lens. I don’t normally shoot wide, especially on medium format. I had also never shot Metropolis on 120 before. This would be a day for a lot of firsts.

We decided to visit the blocks surrounding where we were, then head to the Over The Rhine area to grab some lunch. Cincinnati is full of ghost signs. John knows his way around Cincinnati, but I somehow was still able to show him one he had never seen before, the sign for the old Provident Camera store at 720 Vine St. the store has been closed for years, but the ghost sign is still visible. Here’s a shot of John getting a photo of the sign.

A few block later, we came upon a cruise in. The organizer told us this was the first time for this event, but that they hoped to make it a regular thing. There weren’t many cars, but the ones that were there were pretty cool. The Metropolis did them justice.

It gets hot in Cincinnati in the summer. This day, it was pushing 90 degrees F. An ice cold beer sounded good and we were hungry. “Let’s find some food!”

After discovering some of my favorite dining spots were also not operating 7 days a week yet, we finally lucked out when we found ourselves at Taft’s Ale House. John’s sister was returning from a trip out of town and stopped in to see John and joined us for lunch. John would be heading to the airport for his flight home directly following our photowalk.

After a great lunch and a couple of cold beers, we headed back out. For a lazy Sunday, we ended up finding quite a bit happening. Below is a small group of demonstrators speaking up for the recent issues plaguing the Middle East.

Cincinnati has also seen it’s fair share of racial injustice. This city’s heart beats strong.

I said earlier that I don’t shoot the Bronica nearly enough, and it’s true. I don’t know why, but I seem to overlook it when choosing a camera to shoot. Besides, what’s not to like about it? I love the 645 format. It’s a very capable and comfortable camera to shoot, and the photos it produces always look amazing. And I’m loving the results from the 50m lens. It captured some great urban shots.

Yep, I definitely need to take this camera out more often.

How do I feel about the Lomography Metropolis? Well, to be honest, the jury is still out. I love the muted colors. I’ve shot it in both urban and rural environments, and I just love the colors. I found the shots from the beach especially pleasing on it. What I’m not a fan of is the amount of grain I’ve encountered. Don’t get me wrong…I love grain. But I find the grain in the Metropolis a bit much. Maybe I should try shooting it at an ISO of 200 and see how it does.

I had a great time hanging out with John and hope he gets to visit Cincinnati again soon. Or better yet, maybe I need to let him show me around Dallas. Be sure to visit John’s Instagram page. He has some great photography you’re sure to love.

I’ve very grateful for the friends I’ve met via social media. What can I say? This film photography community of ours is a great one.

Until next time, stay safe out there everyone!

Another Hot Cincinnati Photowalk

We pick the hottest days for our Cincinnati photowalks. It’s a fact. It’s not something we try to do. It’s not like one of us will message the others saying “Hey man! I see it’s supposed to be 114 degrees on Saturday. What do you say we grab our film cameras and walk the hills of downtown Cincinnati for a few hours during the hottest part of the day and shoot some photos? We’ll sweat, walk around and take photos, sweat some more, walk to a spot a few miles away, take more photos, sweat some more, grab lunch, sweat some more…it will be fun!”. No, that’s not what the plan was at all. But, it had been almost a year since we had last gotten together and I really enjoy hanging out with other film photographers. I enjoy hearing about the projects they’re involved in, talking cameras and film, and seeing what cameras they brought to shoot. These are my people. This is my tribe. And Cincinnati is just a gosh darn beautiful place to shoot. So when I got the message from a friend of mine saying “I think it’s about time you organized another Cincinnati photowalk”, I agreed. It was short notice, but I started sending up the smoke signals to alert my tribe anyway. Maybe others were listening. Sure enough, they were. A couple of people responded immediately. It wouldn’t be a big group, but it would be the core group; most of them folks I’ve met and shot with before.

We decided to meet at out usual jumping off point: Lola’s (www.lolascincy.com). Lola’s is a coffee bar located at 24 W. 3rd St. in Cincinnati and bills itself as “Cincy’s Favorite Coffee Bar”. It has a great atmosphere, especially when the weather allows the storefront to be open, and offers a good selection of coffee, wine, and local beers. It’s convenient to parking and being just a few blocks from Smale Riverfront Park, it makes the perfect starting point for any photowalk.

The staff at Lola’s are always friendly and attentive, ready to serve you up your favorite beverage of choice. I always go with their vanilla latte. Hot or iced, it never disappoints.

A group photo is was in order before leaving Lola’s! Meet Austin and Shawn. David (not pictured) was also able to join but arrived after the photo was taken.

We didn’t have a game plan starting out. To be honest, we seldom do. We just pick a starting point to go to where the inspiration takes us. This time, Austin recommended we find our way up to the historic Findlay Market then work our way back down through the Over The Rhine area. Sine it was 114 degrees that day, and heating up fast, Austin splurged for an Uber. A few minutes later, we arrived at our destination.

Findlay Market (www.findlaymarket.org) offers some great shopping opportunities as well as some great food.

If you know me, you know I’m a Cincinnati Reds fan. This year, the Cincinnati Reds are celebrating the 150th anniversary of Baseball's First Professional Team. This celebration includes a series of sculpture benches that have been placed at various places throughout the city. The benches feature Mr. Redlegs in various throwback uniforms to be worn by the Reds during the 2019 season, in addition to the team's current uniform designs. Go Reds!!

After exploring the Findlay Market area, we decided to start walking back towards the river. Our route would take us through the historic Over The Rhine area.

The below shot of three photographers in an alley reminds me of something you might see in a Quentin Tarantino movie.

Cincinnati if filled with graffiti by many talented artists. This piece of art really spoke to me.

Some parts of Over The Rhine have seen a Renaissance of sorts, but there are still signs of the struggles that still grip this area. Here, and bullet hole is found in a barred store window just a few blocks from Findlay Market. Sadly, this wasn’t the only bullet hole spotted this day.

This city loves its Cincinnati Reds.

After a couple of hours of walking the streets and braving the heat, we were all ready for some air conditioning and some food. Luckily, Taft’s Ale House (www.taftsalehouse.com) was just opening for lunch. Taft’s Ale House is the home of Taft’s Brewing Company, and in addition to great food and drink, it offers a real taste of history. The Ale House is located in the former St. Paul’s Evangelical Church, constructed in 1850. Taft’s Brewing Company is named in honor of William (Billy) Howard Taft, the 27th President of the United States of America and a Cincinnati native.

Time for another group photo, this time with David included. The staff at Taft’s was kind enough to help us out.

I highly recommend the BANH MI*; thinly sliced Tri-Tip Steak, lemongrass ginger mayo, jalapeño cilantro slaw…with loaded tots and beer cheese as a side. it paired really nicely with the “Who Run The World (Cup)” Hefe, a special brew in honor of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team who at the time were looking to defend their title. They would later win the World Cup. Also pictured is one of the cameras I chose for this walk, a Minolta X-370 mounted with a Tamron-f 28mm f/2.8 lens, loaded up with hand-rolled Kentmere 400 black and white film.

My other weapon of choice for the day, a Voigtlander Vito ii 35mm camera, loaded with Kodak TMax100.

This shot of the seating area on the ground floor of the Taft’s Ale House was taking with the Vito. Luckily, there was a ledge I could use as a makeshift tripod since I was in a low light situation shooting 100 speed film and I didn’t carry a tripod with me this day.

Taft’s Brewing Company’s downstairs taproom is a must visit.

Art gallery next to Washing Park.

While I usually try to avoid lens flare, I specifically tried to capture it in this shot. What I didn’t expect was the unique shape of the flare. Pretty cool and definitely works for this shot!

Cincinnati has some great murals. The black and white film didn’t do this one justice. I’ll have to come back with some color film and shoot this one again.

There is a beautiful park in the Procter and Gamble Plaza whose border is made up a Wisteria climbing on trellises. It’s a great place to get some nature shots downtown. I love the 1950’s feel of the photo shown below.

This section of I-50 passing through downtown Cincinnati is known as Central Parkway. This was once the site of the Miami-Erie canal. You can see photos about this at www.cincinnatirefined.com.

There are sculptures of past Cincinnati Reds players outside of Great American Ballpark. Here we see Charlie Hustle heading in head first. Also in the photo, to the right of Pete, you can see another of the Mr. Redlegs sculpture benches.

Speaking of hustle…

Great American Ballpark seen from the back. The field can be seen through the open door.

A photowalk in Cincinnati wouldn’t be complete without a trip to the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge, which connects Cincinnati to Newport and Covington Kentucky. The bridge opened December 1, 1866 and is one of my favorite muses. Mr. Roebling is also created a very similar bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge. There are often disagreements concerning which bridge came first, but it’s my understanding that construction started on the Brooklyn Bridge in 1869, after the Roebling Bridge had already been open to the public. Both bridges were declared National Historic Landmarks; the Brooklyn Bridge in 1964 and the Roebling Bridge in 1975).

I hope you’ve enjoyed my summary of our photowalk. We hope to get together again to explore more of downtown Cincinnati and shoot some more great film photos. I usually post upcoming photowalks on Instagram, where you can follow me under @unrecoveringphotographyaddict.

Remember…”snap, click…but don’t be a d…”. Eh, you get the idea.

You Meet The Nicest People While Shooting Film

​My wife and I met Fred and Lori while walking around Cincinnati on Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day earlier this year. I was admiring the restored neon sign and framing a shot in my Minolta X-370 when I heard a voice say “You like that sign?”.When I replied “yes”, the man said “Want to see the inside?”.

As it would turn out, that voice belonged to Fred, the owner of the Bay Horse. Fred had noticed that I was not using a new-fangled digital camera and admired my fondness for the analog cameras. He said that he used to shoot a Minolta just like it “back in the day“.Even though the establishment didn’t open for hours, Fred and his partner, Lori, unlocked the doors and gave us a tour of the saloon. Fred and Lori entertained us with stories about the history of the Bay Horse, including the restoration and the desire to make it “like it originally was at the turn of the century”, but not before posing for this photo.

Once the film was developed, I shared these photos with them and have remained in touch. I contacted them when planning a film photography photowalk in Cincinnati on September 15, and Lori graciously offered to open the doors so our group of film photographers can photograph this beautiful piece of Cincinnati history.  If you’re ever in the area, I suggest you pop in and get to know the Bay Horse. You won’t regret it.

You meet the nicest people shooting film. If I had not been shooting a classic film camera, it’s possible we never would have met these wonderful people or have gotten to explore this fantastic part of Cincinnati history.

Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day - 2018

The Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day is held each year on the last Sunday in April.  The idea of this event is to celebrate and promote pinhole photography.  People around the world are encouraged to submit a photo taken on this day using any type of pinhole camera, whether it be homemade or one purchased from a manufacturer.  Submitted photos that meet the guidelines are posted in a gallery on the Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day website (www.pinholeday.org). 

Pinhole photography involves capturing an image using a simple camera. A pinhole camera does not have a lens.  It is simply a light-proof container with a very small hole on one side.  Light from outside the container then passes through the small hole and projects an image on the opposite side of the container.  This image is captured on either photographic film or photographic paper. 

Pinhole images are unique.  Since there is no lens, there is no lens distortion.  The images are very wide angle and have a nearly infinite depth of field.  Because the hole through which the light must pass is very small in comparison to most camera lenses, exposure times for pinhole photos are longer than those of a lensed camera.  Pinhole camera exposures are seldom less than a couple of seconds and can even be multiple minutes, even hours in length.  Longer exposures times result in motion blur around moving objects.  Given a long enough exposure, objects that move too fast may not show up in the photograph at all (for example, someone quickly walking through the field of view during a 5-minute exposure).

I spent Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day walking around downtown Cincinnati with my wife. We had our first real date in Cincinnati which was coincidentally enough also a photo walk.  One I had planned before we met, but later asked her to join me on.  Cincinnati will always be a special place for us and seems an appropriate location for most things we choose to celebrate.  

I loaded a roll of Kodak Ektar 100 into a Zero Image 2000 pinhole camera, which creates a 6cm x 6cm negative on medium format (120) film.  This camera was a gift from my wife a few years back.  This particular camera model is currently selling for around $100 USD (plus $28 USD shipping).  For more information on this camera, or to order your own, visit www.zeroimage.com.  Admittedly, I don’t shoot with this camera as often as I should.  That’s something I vow to change. 

Up until now, I had only shot black and white film through this pinhole camera. I was fortunate that Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day fell on a bright sunny day for us this year.  This not only meant I could shoot outdoors, but also meant my subjects would be brightly lit.  For these photos, I used a light meter app (Pocket Light Meter, available for Android and OIS) on my smartphone to calculate the exposure. I then used the conversion wheel on the back of the camera to determine the exposure time for the particular f stop of the pinhole camera (f/138), and finally adjusted the exposure time to account for reciprocity failure (at the advice on a knowledgeable pinhole photographer, I doubled the calculated exposure time for anything up to 10 seconds and tripled it for anything over 10 seconds).

I was very happy with the resulting photos.  Every exposure yielded a usable image.  The Ektar produced very pleasing colors and the images are well balanced.  The camera is currently loaded with Kodak T-Max 400 BW film, but I will put more Ektar through it next.

 I submitted one of my favorite images to the Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day website (http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2018/?id=1435).  Some of the other images are shown here.

Now, get out there and shoot some pinhole!