Many years ago, I assembled a small collection of Civil War-era Albany-centric storefront tokens. These were issued by merchants in 1863 and 1864 when the government ran out of proper currency; these tokens were essentially custom-made scrip. One of the tokens I acquired was for Benjamin & Herrick, which operated a downtown grocery. One of…
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A wee little drink from the garden hose
While walking my camera around the Saratoga Race Course last Sunday, I positioned myself for a shot of the horses as they left the starting gate for the fourth race. Figured I’d get a nice angle and capture the horses as they start. While the photo I did get was okay … it really didn’t…
Read MoreYeah, I can fix a camera lens. (Rolling up sleeve) (Saying a prayer)
I purchased this old Nikon 80-200 f/2.8 lens nearly 20 years ago. It was the first external camera lens I’ve ever purchased that wasn’t primarily a kit lens, and I purchased it so that I could capture fast indoor action shots, so long as I had the lens open wide (at f/2.8 aperture) and cranked…
Read MoreA little yellow postcard from Iowa, 2025 edition
And here we go. Four photos went to Iowa for the 2025 Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. I sent an infrared photo of a harness horse, I sent a shot of the sun piercing the New York City skyline, I sent a shot of a dandelion with a swirly bokeh background, and I sent a…
Read MoreThe Pentacon Six TL walks through Congress Park
Come hell or high water, I’m going to make this Pentacon Six TL medium format film camera go through its paces. And with a roll of AGFA Aviphot infrared film in the chassis, and an R72 filter on the lens, I went to Saratoga Springs’ Congress Park for a few shots. And let’s start with…
Read MoreWait, the Big E’s photo competition submission date is THIS COMING TUESDAY???
Okay, which one of you messed with my calendars? Here’s how Competition Season is supposed to work. I get my four images ready for Iowa. Then I take a couple of those images, add a few more, get six choices, and submit them for the New York Stater Fair’s photo salon. Then I take the…
Read MoreChecking on the Toll Gate Ice Cream store
The Toll Gate Ice Cream parlor was once a happy place in my life. It was a stop for homemade ice cream and tasty fried foods, all in a quiet, peaceful atmosphere. The building sat at the confluence of New Scotland Road and Route 140 in Slingerlands, and even in my adult years I could…
Read MoreComparing a Biometar to a Flektogon to an Orestegor
Unlike my Nikon camera bodies, where I can transfer lenses from one chassis to another without any problems, my Pentacon Six uses proprietary lenses. Now if I want to put a Pentacon lens on a Nikon camera, there’s an adapter for such a connection. But I can’t put Nikon gear on a Pentacon camera –…
Read MoreThe Pentacon Six does the Hamilton College Chapel
I brought several of my film and digital cameras with me on my 40th college reunion two weeks ago. Rather than let everybody sit in the car and just go from Albany to Central New York and back, I wanted to give all of the cameras a chance to shine at one point in time…
Read MoreIt’s not a gun case. I promise it’s not a gun case.
When I purchased my Meyer Optik Görlitz Orestegor 500mm f/5.6 telephoto lens for my Pentacon Six TL camera, I thought it was a nice addition to my photographic arsenal. I soon discovered that it is a very HEAVY and BULKY addition to my photographic arsenal. I could do barbell curls with this thing. Build up…
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Chuck The Writer 
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