Al Kaplan continued....who loves you, baby?!

[al_kaplan1]

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[henry_chu2]

Hey, Al, Smile for the camera every once in a while!

[huw_finney]

Just what I was thinking!

[beatrice_flowers]

LOL!! Hilarious stuff; the grumpiness is brilliant. "The Reluctant Selfportraitist" as central character is a chonicle of contemporary Florida. Won-der-ful!

[ken_kartes]

Lets see some wide eyed smiling face shots!

[jerry_lehrer]

Al,

 

When I lived in Florida, I was grumpy and frowning too. It all went away when I relocated to La Jolla. No bugs, no humidity, no hurricanes.

 

Jerry

[steve deer]

great stuff Al...

 

Got my bargain vc 15mm today, strapped it to my m3 with an adaptor. Can't wait to get

out with it... how do you fire that camera with your right hand?

 

steve

[jtk]

Let's see them teeth.

[harvey_edelstein1]

For an older guy Al seems to still have a lot of hair.

[saotome_genma]

<P>Love the second pic. Vultures follow you around already?

[david_doyle]

Al,

 

Love it all!

 

Jerry,

 

Yeah it's nice here and all, but the property values (and other 'sun taxes') are killing me! The breeze is nice off Torrey Pines, but I only feel it when I go to lunch... ;)

[al_kaplan1]

First off, my thanks to Diana for scanning and posting these.

 

Up until a few days ago it rained about every day for a month. I discovered that the 99 cent store once more had a huge bin of compact folding umbrellas, so I bought a bunch of them. You can be real popular with the ladies when you just give them a free umbrella when they're worried about their new 'do. I shot this one of myself protecting my curly locks in my front yard.

 

Diana has been wanting me to get some pix by the ocean but the best I did last week was sitting on the dock by the bay. One shot has a pair of pelicans flying overhead, not very high up, maybe 20 feet or so, but the wide angle accentuates the distance. I'm really amazed at how little flare the 15mm VC lens has shooting into lights or the sun.

 

In the sitting at Starbucks shot Kenney is in the background. He has long stringy blonde hair, dresses mostly in black, lays claim to being friends with every motorcycle gang you ever heard of, blames all the worlds' troubles on minorities and homosexuals (he uses different words), but stays sober these days and works as a roofer. The In Style poster is in the N. Miami post office and just seemed to deserve a shot.

 

HOLDING THE BESSA L

 

For right hand shots my thumb is on the front between the words BESSA-L and Voigtlander, my index finger arches over the top of the finder, and my other three fingers press against the camera back. I can wind by pushing the lever with the middle finger. For left hand shots my pinky is under the camera, my index finger is used for both firing the shutter and pulling the wind lever, and the thumb and other two fingers about the same place as when I use my right hand.

 

Smiling? Hey, it's all acting. It ain't normal to wander about town being chased by a obsessed Bessa L! When the Bessa says "smile" I smile, otherwise I look mad at the world!

 

Today I did shoot some pix on the beach showing the ocean Diana has been dreaming about. I spent the day with an old friend that I haven't seen in perhaps 15 years, photographer and ad agency owner Jon Sinish from Westport, CN. He gave me some scanning lessons. I just might finally start doing it myself. I managed to shoot a bit more than a roll of Jon and myself here, there, and the other place, Starbucks to Miami Beach. We make a great pair. I'm 6'3", Jon is 2 feet shorter. Should be some interesting shots there!

[charles_stobbs3]

If you're going to work as a roofer you'd better stay sober.

[al_kaplan1]

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[wmwhee]

Love those wide shots--crazy angles and all, like a funhouse or theatre stage set. The pictures, variations on a theme, continue to hold my interest, too. Great fun.

[jeffrey_milarsky]

Al, you are one experienced dude. Even the framing is consistent, by feel alone. Great shots.

 

best,

JM

[al_kaplan1]

OK, the second group of five. 1)Outside council chambers at North Miami City Hall civiv activist Doris Jacobson gives councilman Scott Galvin a piece of her mind! 2) I ran into this guy on the dock when I went to get some pix with the bay in them for Diana. Can't remember his name but we talked city politics for half an hour. 3) Ed Krause is a retired code enforcement officer for the city. I've known him since we were in the Jaycees together over thirty years ago. Barely able to walk he's about to move into an assisted living facility. He called me over to give me his old cameras, and as soon as I get the light leak fixed Diana will be shooting flowers through the 50/1.4 Zeiss Planar on the Yashica FX-3. 4) I got into a conversation with these two young men at Starbucks one night last week. 5) Lastly, my 82 year old friend Mary out grocery shopping. I take her once a week since she gave up driving.