David Page - 1965
Last in the series of recent black and white shots, this one goes back almost as far as my photo obsession! I acquired my first 35mm camera in July 1964 By the following winter, I was trying this and that to see what might work. This included sports action. That year, my brother David (13) was captain of his bantam hockey team. I stood in the cold, under floodlights, one night while they played an outdoor game on the local rink. Between periods he skated over to the boards to chat with me for a few minutes, and I snapped this. Look at the blade of his wood stick - no curve!
Taking a night shot without flash seemed foreign and strange; I still remember the smell of burnt flash bulbs, and how I liked to peel them once they had cooled. But I had an adjustable camera for the first time, and was quickly learning that if I could see it, I could photograph it. At 16, of course, I had no idea that I would never stop being a photographer.
The camera, btw, was a Kowa H - an odd thing, a single lens reflex without interchangeable lenses, although there was a supplementary lens set - 35mm and 85mm - that could be screwed onto the fixed 50mm lens, with predictably awful results. The shutter made a loud clacking sound. Fastest shutter speed was 1/300, good enough to freeze action to some extent. I took over the family photo duties from that point until I left home a few years later; my parents paid for most of the film and processing. They always encouraged me, and for this I am forever grateful.
Photographed in Bois-des-Filion, Québec (Canada); scanned from the original Tri-X negative (ISO 400). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 1965 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
David Page - 1965
Last in the series of recent black and white shots, this one goes back almost as far as my photo obsession! I acquired my first 35mm camera in July 1964 By the following winter, I was trying this and that to see what might work. This included sports action. That year, my brother David (13) was captain of his bantam hockey team. I stood in the cold, under floodlights, one night while they played an outdoor game on the local rink. Between periods he skated over to the boards to chat with me for a few minutes, and I snapped this. Look at the blade of his wood stick - no curve!
Taking a night shot without flash seemed foreign and strange; I still remember the smell of burnt flash bulbs, and how I liked to peel them once they had cooled. But I had an adjustable camera for the first time, and was quickly learning that if I could see it, I could photograph it. At 16, of course, I had no idea that I would never stop being a photographer.
The camera, btw, was a Kowa H - an odd thing, a single lens reflex without interchangeable lenses, although there was a supplementary lens set - 35mm and 85mm - that could be screwed onto the fixed 50mm lens, with predictably awful results. The shutter made a loud clacking sound. Fastest shutter speed was 1/300, good enough to freeze action to some extent. I took over the family photo duties from that point until I left home a few years later; my parents paid for most of the film and processing. They always encouraged me, and for this I am forever grateful.
Photographed in Bois-des-Filion, Québec (Canada); scanned from the original Tri-X negative (ISO 400). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 1965 James R. Page - all rights reserved.