Today’s Post by Joe Farace
Photograph: a picture painted by the sun without instruction in art. – Ambrose Bierce
Photowalking is typically thought of as a communal activity for a group of enthusiasts who walk an area carrying their cameras with a look to make pictures of things that interest them. Although the term implies the simple activity of making pictures while walking, the more contemporary use of PhotoWalk, in the USA anyway, specifically relates to a shared activity* of photography enthusiasts. Yet…
In Europe you will often hear people, such as Daniel on The Big Negative or Max on the Analog Insights YouTube channels, consider the definition to be “A walk through a location for the purpose of taking photographs,” although to be fair, Max is usually accompanied by Jules or Greg and Daniel often has his wife and dog with him. It’s in this latter definition that I took the PhotoWalk that’s described in today’s post.
Photowalking in Parker, Colorado
One mostly sunny day, I took a solo PhotoWalk down Mainstreet (yes, it’s really one word) in charming downtown Parker with my Canon AE-1 Program and FD 135mm f/2.8 lens. I purchased the lens for the bargain price of $21.50 because I was the only eBay bidder. The lens was in what KEH would call EXC + condition that they say is “Lightly used with very limited signs of wear. Exceptionally nice but may have slight wear on finish visible. Glass will be very clean.” Since I’m going to use it anyway, that’s good enough for me.
It Ain’t Heavy it’s…Heavy: My first stop was at, what else, the gazebo in O’Brien Park where it was surrounded by maintenance workers cleaning up and doing some final landscaping work before the arrival of real winter.
At 27.3 oz the combination of the Canon AE-1 Program body and Motor Drive MA feels heavy and the combination is (mostly) ergonomic, especially when held in a horizontal position.
The Motor Drive MA uses 12 AA batteries, which theoretically should only add 11 oz to the whole package but feels heavier than that.
The Lens
The 135mm f/2.8 lens weighs 14 oz and is not typically considered to be a “long” focal length lens but during my photowalk it definitely felt like it. The lens has six elements in five groups, is multi coated to correct for flare and has a built in lens hood. It came with front and rear caps, something you don’t always find when buying used gear no matter the source.
Its closest focusing distance is an unremarkable 4-ft 6-inches but I shot a few things at that distance to, you know, see what happens. I also did a quickie brick wall test—it’s surprisingly sharp—for the same reason. The view through the lens was bright but unlike my FD 50mm f/1.8 the focusing ring throw from close to far focus was longer than expected. So I planned ahead and would begin moving the (smooth) focusing ring when sizing up my next shot. The lens has a 52mm filter size and I’m going to dig through my gear closet to see if I kept any of my 52mm Nikon filters back when that was their standard filter thread for most of their lenses.
All in all, the photowalk was a pleasant one and I shot a roll of long-expired Kodak’s Portra 160 to test the camera and lens before sending it off to The Darkroom for processing and scanning. Color for the outdated Portra was muted and grainy (Dfine to the rescue) so I think I’ll be saving the remaining rolls to use for some outdoor portrait sessions I hope to shoot during this coming Spring. Snow today, but they tel me Spring is right around the corner/
If you enjoyed today’s blog post and would like to treat Joe to a cup of Earl Grey tea ($2.50), please click here.