craig_shearman1

I have Jon Falk's book. I love his stuff and dream about being able to still get it. I'd love to have these if you still have them.

I'm looking for a case for my Calumet 4x5 monorail view camera. There used to be cases that held a monorail camera upside down -- there were dividers with a u-shaped cutout for the rail to rest on. Usually made of fiberboard or sometimes light aluminum. Ideally should have room for a few film holders and small accessories.

In the photo with the Christmas tree, the building behind it to the right of the picture is where I work. If you look at the top floor, about midway along where a shade comes down and meets a storage cabinet, that's my desk. Small world!

I have used my Vivitar 283/285 units on my F2 and FM bodies for more than 30 years with no problems whatsoever. both the cameras and the flash units just keep going and going and going. Can't speak to the F3 but if it has a mechanical switch as Rodeo says it should be no problem.

As noted, Kodachrome developing is no longer available. And IMHO there is no point in developing it as B&W unless it's a roll you shot years ago and didn't get around to developing. IMHO color film that expired in 1985 is something for the trash or at best to sit on the shelf as a knickknack.

If you're talking about the 500mm f/8 mirror lens, it's a classic. They are cheap, rugged and reliable. They do have the classic "donut hole" bokeh of a mirror lens. And they are strictly manual focus but at 500mm it's very easy to focus because the image is very clearly in focus or it isn't. I use mine with no problem on my D200and D7000.

If she's asking you to take them down and you don't have a release, there's really no debate -- take them down. There are situations where you don't need a release but this isn't one of them. When doing a formal photo shoot with a model, always get a signed release and keep it on file. If you had so in this case you would be free to keep the photos up despite her request.

Shot my first wedding in the 1970s with a Russian-made Kalimar SLR with a 50, a 28 and a 135 and a little Vivitar 102 pocket-size flash. Junk equipment but it got the job done. Later I had a Nikon FM and F2 plus 28, 50, 105 and 200 primes and Vivitar 283/285 flash. Today on the rare occasion that I shoot a wedding (and only as a second shooter) it's a Nikon D200 and D7000 with 12-24, 24-70, 70-200, SB-900. I also have a basement full of other lenses, flash, studio strobe, modifiers, backdrops, etc. if I need them. But it's far more about the photographer than the gear.

In my early days in photography I stored darkroom chemicals in everything from empty plastic milk jugs to brown glass bottles from a pharmacist friend. I don't know what actual darkroom chemical bottles cost now, but honestly it is a one-time purchase that will last a lifetime. Even if you paid $20 each, you only need a few and you will never need to buy them again. I have some that are 30 years old. I did switch to two-gallon tanks with floating lids and a spigot at the bottom for my main chemicals but those, too, have lasted for years. And the regular bottles are still in use for other chemicals. If you develop more than just occasionally, I would bite the bullet and buy the real thing.

<p>Both of those are potentially usable but essentially worthless.<br /><br />The enlarger is a no-name amateur unit. It appears to have a lens. Not clear if the metal case is the base that the metal column would attach to. If it is, you could probably still use it. But there are many better units available, professional equipment that originally cost hundreds of dollars that is now available for pennies on the dollar.<br /><br />The lighting unit is a four-light light bar of the type that was typically used on home movie cameras. The bulbs are photoflood reflector bulbs. Probably around 300 watts each. Very bright but also very harsh with no diffusion. If the bulbs are still good, you could use it. Photoflood reflector bulbs were sometimes used in individual sockets, either on light stands or with clamps, for both movie and still photography. But the multi light bars like this were rarely used for stills.<br /><br />I doubt either of these would be of interest to a school today because better and more appropriate equipment is easily available at little cost.</p>

<p>Your example photo does not look at all like "spontaneous shots in natural light." Maybe you got really lucky, but it looks like a carefully posed, carefully lit workplace stock photo of a teacher at work, the kind of thing you would find on Shutterstock or from similar microstock agencies. I would look for similar photos on those sites and see what they call them. It's too nicely lit to look like editorial -- it's a little too perfect to look editorial or candidate or spontaneous. You could call it workplace stock photography or advertising, since it was shot to advertise/market the school and looks more like a shot from an ad than from a newspaper story.<br /><br />If it wasn't so much too-perfect, you could call it editorial/environmental/public relations. But editorial/environmental is usually a little rougher. News photographers don't usually have the time to get the light just right or the posing/expressions just right. <br /><br />I find "lifestyle" to be a totally meaningless term. When I worked for newspapers, that was the title used for the fluffy feature section that had everything from home gardening tips and the comic pages to restaurant reviews. It meant nothing,</p>

<p>I should have checked with back open. Just sent the camera off to have the leather replaced yesterday but will check that when it gets back.</p>

Yes, using the x sync port not the one for flashbulbs.

<p>I was (quite luckily) given a Leica M3 double stroke a couple of years ago, and just recently got the adaptor so I plug a standard PC cord into the proprietary Leica X-sync flash contact.<br /><br />After some experimenting, I've found that the flash will only fire when the shutter speed is at 1/50 or higher. When I set it at 1/25 and lower, it will not fire.<br /><br />Since this is a focal plane shutter and presumably doesn't sync any higher than 1/50, this doesn't make any sense. Flash isn't going to cover the whole frame at higher speeds. But being able to use speeds below 1/50 to drag the shutter to pick up ambient fill could be useful.<br /><br />So is this normal on an M3? Or is something wrong with my camera?</p>

<p>I agree that you definitely need to talk to an accountant. You need a good one -- someone who does taxes for businesses that operate across state lines, not just a tax preparer who files taxes for people who don't know how to do a 1040EZ. Call a place or two and let them know what your issues are before you make an appointment -- somebody who already deals with this won't have to do research.<br /><br />It sounds like you're trying to be totally honest and do the right thing. Much better to do that than not. But there are a lot of legal arguments over what constitutes nexus for tax purposes, either sales or income. In situations where you are getting a 1099 there is definitely a paper trail and an incentive to report. In cases where you are doing work for individuals (aka weddings) nobody likely ever knew you were in a given state and different accountants or lawyers might give you different opinions on what your obligations are.<br> There can also be "de minimus" standards where you have to do a certain dollar volume of business in a state before you have to report income or collect sales tax, or where your business overall has to be of a certain size before you are covered.<br /><br />Again, talk to an accountant.</p>