Earlier this year, for my birthday, a bunch of my friends, family and co-workers all got together photos they had taken of the St Johns Bridge and made a book (cover, binding and all) for me. Two of the photos in the book were night and day polaroids of the St. Johns Bridge taken by Justin. It was one of the best birthday presents I have ever received. It was the least I could do to snap a photo of Justin when he came in on his birthday last week. I like this image, it is quite natural.

For more of Justin's work, it can be seen here. His Polaroid work in particular I enjoy.

And if you read this before I see you Justin, I have a copy of this print for you at the store, in the file, under your name.

Tags:   Once in a Blue Moon square portrait Over the counter Hasselblad 500C Kodak Tri-X birthday smile candid customers Portland PDX How they look without their cameras Zeb Andrews Zeb Andrews photography Blue Moon Camera

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Another in my series of "Once in a Blue Moon" portraits. This customer had the first 100 digits of Pi tattooed up his arm and shoulder. For those curious I only saw the first 73 of them, though he did offer to remove his shirt right there in the store. We really do have one of the most interesting, and coolest, customer bases. Now too bad I cannot remember which camera I was shooting that day. Think this was the Leica M3...

If you are interested in pricing for my images, or just plain curious, more info can be found at my website: www.zebandrews.com

Tags:   once in a Blue Moon Blue Moon customers candid portraits Portland tattoos b&w film Leica M3 over the counter 35mm sepia Zeb Andrews Zeb Andrews photography Blue Moon Camera

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Kendall preparing to shoot during one of our many Saturday-evening whiskey basketball sessions. There are few better ways to end a work week.

Tags:   whiskey basketball Blue Moon Camera Kodak Tri-X film Kendall basketball hoops hoop dreams

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A while back we purchased a basketball hoop from Goodwill and mounted it over the backdoor of the store. It has become common practice on Saturday nights to have a quick game of HORSE amongst the staff, though we usually play for NIKON or AGFA or NORITSU instead of HORSE. It is also common for such games to be aided along with small amounts of whiskey. It is a fun time and a great way for all of us to unwind after a busy week. Plus we get some pretty crazy shots going, such as the infamous double-wall bank or "The Oliver" and "Widowmaker" shots that we have invented over the year.

I really wanted to post this image for a couple of other reasons though. One, my last post taken from the ferry in Seattle really got me to thinking about our use of neat little squares and rectangles to frame almost all of our photography. When you really start thinking about it, doesn't it seem kind of ridiculous that we take this organic world (especially when it comes to landscape photography) and we try to put it into a neat little box, and we have done so so much that it has become a mindlessly accepted given in photography now? I am thinking of experimenting a bit more with non-geometric framing, or at least less rigidly shaped framing. We shall see how it goes...

But my main point was to talk a bit about caring for your cameras, mainly those older mechanical ones, but to a certain extent any camera. This is just a piece of practical advice that I get to deal with on a regular basis.

See, cameras are a lot like us. Given periodic exercise, they hold up over the years much better. Maybe they don't develop the spare tire around the mid-section, but unused cameras develop lots of other issues. This is something all you old Canon film slr users ought to take note of, especially if you have a Canon AE-1. Leave that camera on the shelf with no use for two or three years and the next time you pull it down that crisp shutter will most likely be replaced with a nasty squeal. The lubricating oils in the mirror box dry up and the camera does not operate in its usual, smooth and confident fashion. I see this a lot. Half of the AE-1s that come in the store that came out of an estate sale or somebody's attic show this. I can usually ask if the camera has sat for a number of years, and judging from that simple answer know how the camera is going to sound before I even pick it up. So if you own an AE-1 and are not using it, pull it off the shelf every six months and fire through all the shutter speeds several dozen times while watching TV or such.

But the same is true of many other cameras, give them periodic exercise, it helps the shutters and other mechanisms in the camera remain free from gelled oils. The same holds true with lenses. The aperture blades on lenses can collected pooled oil if left sat for years at a time, not to mention fungus can grow on the optics.

The best thing to do with a piece of camera equipment you are not going to use is to sell it or pass it on to someone who will use it. I have seen several cameras over the years that went into the closet in pristine shape, only to come out several years later needing hundreds of dollars in camera repair to be brought back into good shape.

Also, several of these mechanical cameras (Hasselblads, Leicas and such) should not be stored with the shutters in the set position. This puts undue stress on the cocked shutter, slowly ruining its parts.

My best advice though, is that cameras should be used. They benefit from it, and then again so do we. An unused camera, regardless of its retail value, becomes a meaningless paperweight sitting up there in a dark corner of the closet.

Anyway, something I have learned from my experiences in a camera store and just thought I would pass a bit of that along.

Tags:   fisheye basketball Blue Moon Camera round circle Kodak Tri-X Canon 7.5mm Sean Faulkner shooting camera care Zeb Andrews Zeb Andrews photography

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I had my fisheye, she had her Viewmaster. It was a standoff.

One of my rare color (this is actually cross processed) Blue Moon portraits. The is Jake's girlfriend Jane.

Tags:   fisheye portraits Portland Blue Moon Camera candid viewmaster cross-processed Once in a Blue Moon Zeb Andrews Zeb Andrews photography

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