Category: photography

Argus C3 35mm

Argus C3 35mm

This was my Dad’s, who used it in the 60s while in Peru working for the Peace Corps . A camera like this was also used as a prop in Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets. This thing is heavy and built like a tank.

The Argus C3 was made from 1939 to 1966 by Argus Cameras, Inc. of Ann Arbor, MI. “The camera was the best-selling 35mm camera in the world for nearly three decades, and helped popularize the 35mm format. Due to its shape, size, and weight, it is commonly referred to as “The Brick” by photographers (in Japan its nickname translates as “The Lunchbox”). The most famous 20th century photographer who used it was Tony Vaccaro, who employed this model during World War II (see under Famous Patrons in this article).” – wikipedia

Camping in Big Sur California – Limekiln State Park

My close friend Bear organized a three night camping trip to Limekiln State Park in Big Sur California.

Lime Kiln State Park

The campground is beautiful – extremely lush and green – nestled in forest canyon along with a rushing stream and massive coastal redwood trees.

Big Sur Banana Slug

This area was originally used as a lime quarry for concrete back in the late 1800’s. Three large stone and iron kilns are still on the property and accessible via a very short but beautiful hike.

Bear makes a photograph.

In general, Big Sur is a wonderful place for photography. Thanks Bear, it was a blast.

Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln

Great Moments with Mr Lincoln

Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln is easily one of my favorite attractions at Disneyland. For me, the show represents Walt Disney’s patriotism, as well as his love for Americana and technology.

The photo above was taken with my little Leica D-LUX 4. I prefer to take this little camera to the park, rather then haul around an SLR. Really love it’s “Dynamic / B&W” mode.

Santa Monica after sunset

Here are Emily and I near the Santa Monica pier, just after sunset.  I used a Canon 430EX along with a Radiopopper transmitter, receiver, and “cube” to move the flash off to the left.  430EX was duct taped to Emily’s strobe stand because I didn’t have the proper hardware.  Moving the flash off-camera can have a dramatic effect on your lighting. Click here to see larger versions of this photo at Flickr.

Lunar Exploration Suit

Lunar Exploration Suit - JPL c.1959

Photo courtesy of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory / NASA.

From the JPL Archives!

In this September 1960 photo, Allyn B. “Hap” Hazard wears a space suit he designed. Hap was a Senior Development Engineer in the Missile Engineering Section of JPL in 1959 when he wrote a plan for manned space exploration. JPL was transitioning from missiles to space exploration, and Hap had a lot of ideas about the subject. In March 1961, Hap left JPL to work at Aerojet, and presumably to work on the suit and his other inventions. In addition to the suit, he designed and built a hydrofoil boat and a snow making machine during his time at JPL.

It doesn’t appear that the suit was ever an official JPL project, and very little documentation exists in the JPL Archives except for the photographs and his report, which includes a disclaimer, “The views expressed in this paper are those of the writer ….” The Section 352 online photo album includes a series of photos and drawings of his Lunar Exploration Space Suit Mark 1 and plans for a moonmobile that could be controlled from the dashboard inside the suit.

After Hap left JPL, he and the suit appeared or were mentioned in Life magazine, Boys Life, and the Syracuse Post-Standard. An Experimental Engineering class at UCLA studied the suit, and Mattel created an astronaut toy that wore a replica of it. Even today, there are many web sites that include the story of Hap Hazard, his space suit, and Major Matt Mason (the toy).

You can click on the image to view a larger version at Flickr.