Robert Pence

Nice! Another place to add to my already-overloaded agenda!

That was in mid-January, cool for a tourist from where it snows, probably really cold for the locals. That was a35mm Ektachrome slide; the Kodachromes are sharper. I scan film and slides with a Nikon LS-9000 scanner. I use Hamrick Software's Vue Scan because Nikon's scanner software won't run under 64-bit Windows 7. The software has the same automatic color correction and dust/scratch removal features as the Nikon software and is more intuitive to use, anyway. For the most part, the only correction I've employed is what the scanner software can do automatically, and Photoshop's Auto Tone and Auto Color. Kodachrome slides 40-50 years old usually still have fairly good color unless they've been stored hot and/or damp. Vue Scan works with almost every scanner out there, and it's better and more intuitive to use than most proprietary scanner driver/software packages

Excellent set, with gorgeous sunsets. Terminal tower looks good; all that time with netting and scaffolding was worth it. The Mather looks good in new paint. I'm guessing maybe the former "pink" stripe on the hull originally was red before sun and weather took their toll?

Looks like a solid, prosperous downtown

No doubt that place is badly contaminated with lead from all that old paint that's peeling. It looks like they keep part of it pretty well swept up, though.

1966 at Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine, Florida After finishing my obligation to Uncle Sam's Air Force I was on a road trip with a buddy who got out the same day I did. This photo is testimony to how respectable people presented themselves then, to illustrate how badly standards have slipped. Nowadays, people go on vacations looking like shipwreck survivors who've just been living on some forsaken island for months.

South Shore allows alcohol too, except during major Chicago events like Taste of Chicago, when a lot of passengers probably are well-lubricated by the time they head home, anyway. On Cubs game days, some groups board with coolers and party on the train on the way to the game.

It was about 1970 that I processed some 35mm Ektachrome that I shot on a trip to Mackinac Island, and I think the process then was E3. I bought a Kodak half-gallon kit, just enough for the five rolls I had. I used a Nikor tank that I loaded in a dark closet, and my lab was the kitchen. I started by mixing the solutions - maybe ten steps in all - and standing the containers in a cooler chest filled just to their tops with warm water that I kept checking and replenishing to maintain 80 degrees F. It took about an hour to get everything stabilized so it would hold that temperature long enough. If I remember correctly, the color developer was the fussiest step; it had to be maintained at 80F, plus or minus 1/2 degree, for ten minutes. Between agitations, I let the Nikor tank rest in the water in the cooler chest. The preparation of chemicals and processing of film took a whole evening well into the night. The results looked just as good as any I got back from Kodak, and held up well for quite a few years. I haven't looked at them in a while; if I can locate them readily I'll put them on my list to scan and post (if they're still worth looking at).

My use of film ground to a halt a few years ago when the only local pro lab to do decent work shut down because there wasn't enough film work to pay the bills. I was a big fan of Fuji Provia 100F 120 and 220 film because it has a reasonable contrast range and fine grain, and scans exceptionally nicely. I've contemplated sending film to Chicago, but haven't tried it, and I've even thought about shopping for some used processing equipment (temperature control, etc.) and doing it in my long-unused darkroom. Forty years ago I did E3 with good results, but it's time-consuming and difficult to control temperature well enough without professional lab equipment. Fuji Reala 100 is C-41, and I really like it in a variety of situations. Fine grain, excellent exposure latitude, faithful color and contrast rendering, and good scanning. Again, I haven't shot it in years because no one local will process it in medium format any more.

Oh God, I hate how aenior citizens have to writw checks for eve trything when they run errand at the store.Always holds up the line. "Who do I make this out to?" Jeez.... Just a gol' dang minute, there, whippersnapper! I'm a senior citizen, and for everything except large purchases usually I'm prepared to pay cash at the register. Where I need to write a check, before I get to the register I'll fill out everything except the amount. Oh, God, how I hate how whippersnappers have to pull out a half-dozen almost-maxed out cards for everything and put "this many dollars on this one, and that many dollars on that one," and on and on, and then get on the phone with a representative of the card issuer when one of their cards gets declined. They can tie up a register for twenty minutes trying to pay for $200 worth of frivolous, useless electronic home entertainment.

If that happens even in Auto mode, where there's practically nothing you can do to influence camera settings, I'd say it's camera malfunction. The only other possibility I can think of right now is a defective SD card. I suggest reformatting the card and trying again, and if you still get bad results, try the card in another camerra if one is available, and see what happens. If you take a photo and then view it on the camera's LCD screen, does it look like the one you posted or does it look OK? I'm just trying to narrow down the possibilities.

For many years into the middle of the 20th century, it was common practice for farmers along streams and rivers to dump old cars, rolls of fence wire, and trailer-loads of tin cans, bottles, and other household trash into washouts to try to control erosion. Most of those now have been cleaned out, but when I was a kid those places were treasure troves of old bottles and other interesting artifacts. I even found a serviceable antique copper tea kettle in one of them.

^I've become a fan of the self-checkout lanes at my local Kroger. There are six of them, and mostly they're only used by people who know what they're doing and the attendant usually is alert and quick to take care of any bottlenecks or problems. The wait usually is short and delays are few.

Superb photo coverage! I wish I could have been there! I'm amazed at the changes in military armaments from the ships, aircraft, and artillery that fascinated me in the later years of WWII. This stuff would have been science fiction if anybody had described it back then.

Excellent set. I like the very effective way you've used telephoto to bring out the mass in the vintage infrastructure.

Record it so you can play it back as needed, in place of a more conventional device like a bell. I once had an ordinary caliper brake that was misadjusted. The lightest touch made it squeal like all hell was breaking loose. That had much the same effect; casual strollers who took up more than their share of the greenway thought an out-of-control cyclist was trying to make a panic stop behind them.

Good coverage, and smart of you to observe from a safe distance. With huge crowds if things turn ugly they can do so very quickly, and having a camera can attract the attention of both protesters and law enforcement. Edit: The "Locomobile" logo on the boarded-up building is the name of one of America's earliest manufacturers of motor cars. The "Loco" is a reference to "locomotive" (not "crazy"); the earliest cars introduced in 1899 and built for three years were steam cars. The subsequently-introduced internal-combustion cars evolved into a premier brand, with luxury features, premium workmanship, and high performance. Locomobile was one of many American automobile makers to fail in 1929 with the onset of the Great Depression.

Fascinating shots. I love the way the colors play together in this one:

I just finished reading In the Garden of Beasts, by Erik Larson. Like other books by Larson that I've read, the story is factual and built around historical events, in this case the rapid growth of Nazi power in Germany in the years leading up to WWII as witnessed by William Dodd and his family. Dodd was appointed by President Roosevelt as ambassador to Germany in 1933 and went to live in Berlin with his wife and son and daughter. Daughter Martha became swept up in the glitter and glamor of Berlin social life and became involved with various influential Germans, and she was slow to believe accounts of the persecution and brutality against Jews and others that went on out of public view. Larson's narrative makes clear the motives that prevented the US and major European powers from stopping Hitler when he could have been stopped easily, and delves into the conniving among high-level people in American foreign service who sought to discredit and undermine Dodd, an unassuming, frugal history scholar whom they regarded as not a worthy member of their "pretty good club" of wealthy, influential, high-living gentlemen. Larson tells a readable and engaging story while remaining faithful to historical accuracy, and the copious chapter notes at the end of the book testify to his exhaustive research. He brings a personal element to his narrative in his use of quotes from correspondence, journals, and where possible, interviews or transcriptions of interviews with the participants in events of the time.

I'm thorougly enjoying your Istanbul photos. It's a very different-looking and fascinating place that I doubt I will ever get to visit; thanks for sharing these views.

Now you have been: Chocolate Cake 1 3/4 cups sugar 2/3 cup shortening 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup buttermilk 1/2 cup Hershey's Cocoa 1/2 cup boiling water Preheat Oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9-inch layer cake pans. Cream the sugar and shortening together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition; add vanilla. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; add alternately with the buttermilk. Make a heavy, smooth paste of the cocoa and boiling water; cool slightly; add and blend well. Pour into prepared pans and bake for about 35 minutes or until done. Cocoa Frosting 1/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa 4 cups confectioner's sugar 1/2 cup butter 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 cup evaporated milk Mix cocoa and sugar. Cream part of the cocoa-sugar mixture with the butter. Blend in vanilla and half of the milk. Add remaining cocoa-sugar mixture and blend well. Add remaining milk and beat to desired spreading consistency; additional milk may be added if required. Yields filling and frosting for two 9-inch layers.

I will post the recipe soon. Right now, I have to take care of some pressing mundane responsibiities.

I don't think Hershey's ice cream is available in my area. The first time I encountered it was four years ago in a ramble through rural Pennsylvania; I became a fan for life. If by "the bullshit you make at home" you mean cake from supermarket boxed cake mix, you're right. Cake made from scratch with fresh ingredients is a whole 'nother deal, though. For chocolate layer cake, I use Mom's old standby. It's the recipe from the Hershey's cocoa powder can, the old one from back before everybody got all fat-conscious and took all the flavor out of food, and it calls for eggs, shortening, and evaporated whole milk in the cake and half a cup of butter in the frosting. I only bake it for potlucks and carry-in dinners, because if I make it for home I'll eat the whole thing in two or three days. There's no breakfast that can stand up to a big slab of chocolate cake with butter cream frosting, half submerged in a bowl of milk!

EXPLAIN TO ME HOW SOMETHING IS "LIKE NEW IN ORIGINAL BOX" IF IT'S MISSING A HARD DRIVE!?!?!? Prior to retirement, I worked in PC and network tech support for IBM on a client site. I learned not to disclose that when social acquaintances asked me what I did for a living, because too often they followed up with something like, "My brother in law gave me this computer several years ago and I never could figure out how to use it. Can you help me set it up so I can get on the internet with it? I think the name on it is something like "Sinclair." One of my favorite stock answers to the "What do you do?" question became, "I'm a welder. I fix those big trucks that pick up trash and recycling." In every instance, that derailed any attempts to delve deeper into the occupation topic.

... and as was pointed out earlier by another forumer, the term, "urban exploring," is generally understood among those who participate in urban photography forums to refer to the activity of exploring and photographing abandoned and often decaying sites. Many, but not all, of these are industrial. Abandoned railroad stations, hotels, hospitals, apartment buildings, and residences also attract urban explorers. When you see "Exploring" in a topic title, you can expect to see abandonment and decay. It's an established way of identifying threads on this and other forums, and anyone who feels a need to crusade against something should find more dangerous dragons to slay.