I haven’t taken the time to do night shots of just stuff in Topeka since my Washburn U. days. I need to give credit where it is due. I have several friends on FaceBook, Tom Beardmore, and Megan James-Rogers that contribute to the “Retro Photos of Topeka” group taken with their IPhones. I believe that Megan was actually the creator of the group. I then looked up and saw my ole trusty Mamiya C330 sitting on the shelf looking very lonely from lack of use. I thought to myself “Wouldn’t it be fun to put some Ilford HP5+ film in it and do some fun night shots of Topeka for this blog”!
The more I get back into film the more I realize I really love working with film. I like the process of loading it, hearing the mechanics of the camera working and most importantly the results! B&W film, I find, has a much larger tonal range than digital. I get the most of both worlds though by taking the images on film then having them scanned into digital format for a little Photoshop “tweeking”.
I would like to thank Phil at Zercher’s here in Topeka for hand developing the film and scanning it. Not many people know that there is now only one place to get actual B&W film processed and scanned here in Topeka and that is at Zercher’s. Yes I know that I can process the film myself (I actually love doing that) and even scan it myself but my paying clients I don’t think want me processing and scanning film instead of working on their images! So I let Zercher’s do the processing part, very reasonably priced I might add!
Seems like each time we’ve been to Sam’s Club this Christmas season we’ve run into Eddie Boyd ringing the bell for the Salvation Army. The first thing that my wife and I do when we pull into the Sam’s parking lot, other that watching out for other cars, is to see if Eddie is “working” that day. Eddie has helped make this Christmas season fun! I have to admit that I usually pass up the Salvation Army bell ringers but not Eddie! It’s not that Eddie is pushing or demanding; quite the contrary! Eddie looks each person in the eye and with the warmth of being the first person he has seen today wishes each person entering or leaving Sam’s Club a Merry Christmas!
I have watched Eddie working and it is not uncommon for someone to walk away to only see that person reaching deep down into their pocket just to walk back and put money in Eddie’s kettle. Putting money in Eddies kettle isn’t always easy though, sometimes you really have to stuff it in because it is full!
You can read more about Eddie and his Christmas mission for the Salvation Army by clicking here and here. Eddie is currently looking for a call as a Baptist Minister. It says on Eddie’s Facebook page that he studied at American Baptist University. Some congregation needs to take a strong look at this man as their preacher!
I had a lot of fun attending the “Think Big Topeka” rally for Google held downtown Tuesday 12/1/2010. It was a chilly day the wind blew down the street where the event was held with some urgency. Although the actual temperature was around 28 the wind made it seem colder. All that said it was a great turnout for the day! Everyone was in great spirits and thanks to Core First Bank for the Hot Chocolate and Hot Dogs it was a festive atmosphere.
The “Think Big Topeka” group had arranged for a “Topeka Loves Google” banner to be unfurled that was about 2 stories tall, pretty cool! Someone said during their speech that the hope had been to fly the banner off of the crane that hoovers over the capitol building but that the wind was over 15 mph and it wasn’t safe to go through with the plan.
Before the event got underway I found myself standing next to the mayor, Bill Bunten. So what do you say? We talked about the weather, if he is going to run again etc. then I kinda ran out of things to say! Thank goodness about that time Bill Ogle from WIBW came up and started chatting with him. I was pretty amazed to learn that I still live in a city where an ordinary citizen can just pass the time of day with the mayor! Having just seen the mayor before that on TV you get one impression about what a person is like but I can tell you after talking to him for awhile, he really seems like a genuinely nice guy! One thing that stuck in my head that the mayor told me about the Google effort and the “Think Big Topeka” group as a whole was “we just need to get out of their way and let them do their thing”! He also re-iterated these comments during his brief speech to the assembled group. The mayor of Topeka is trying to send the message that Topeka is ready for progress!
Another thing that struck me was during the whole rally I didn’t see one police person. It could have just been me and I didn’t see them but their presence wasn’t outwardly apparent to me anyway. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying they should have been there. I’m glad to live in a town where people can have a rally in the middle of downtown and it isn’t necessary for the police to be there on patrol, even with the mayor present. Pretty cool when you think about it!
Another person I got to meet was Dennis Rogers, the Navajo hoop dancer. He says that he is the only person in the world that can spell out “Google” using “hoops”! He was a real nice guy to talk to and I thank him for “striking a pose” for me!
I really hope that Google chooses Topeka for their high speed internet access project. The project would mean a lot to Topeka. But, even if Google doesn’t choose us some really good things have happened in Topeka as a result of this project. Before this project and it’s challenge came along I wouldn’t have thought it possible to get an movement going in Topeka like “Think Big Topeka”. Hopefully whatever happens with Google, Topeka will learn from this and take on other challenges that the community faces in order to make Topeka the type of town it could be.
One last thing; the images below were taken on Fuji NPH 400 120 Roll film with a 1960′s era Mamiya C330 TLR (bought years ago at Wolfes, second hand) and processed by the fine people at Zerchers on Gage. Although in our studio work we are digital and have been for quite sometime, I’m always amazed when I shoot film at the tonal range that film affords. With film the highlights and the shadows hold detail at a much broader range. Film is still fun to shoot too!
It was a beautiful fall afternoon for Topeka High’s 2010 Homecoming parade on Friday Sept. 24th. The parade left the east side of Topeka High and travelled down 10th St. to Kansas Ave. then to 9th St. to Jackson and back to Topeka High. It has been many a year now since this Topeka photographer marched in the parade but it sure brought memories streaming back. Oh those were the days!! The images were captured on Kodak Portra 400 VC 120. The film was processed and scanned by Zercher’s here in Topeka.
I hadn’t been to the farmer’s market for awhile, at least since they moved to the parking lot closest to the Kansas Judicial Center. The Farmer’s Market is kind of like a carnival! The Farmer’s Market really is like the Renaissance Festival only in real time (no period costumes etc!).
I probably saw at least 8 people that I know and met another 4 or 5. I met one man that I went to 3rd grade with (Bill James) playing the guitar. I don’t remember having seen Bill for at least 25 years. Bill had been working in various National Parks working as a guide for things like white water rafting trips and things like that. I even saw my dentist and his wife there, Mark Hall (good thing I had just been in last week for a clean and check!).
I’ll probably be going again next Sat. morning as I understand another long time friend, Ron Owens will be there playing the guitar. Come on out and get your tomato plants!!
