Tag: Photography

bookmark_borderPurchasing a large vintage slide collection

Posted on by PAO Productions
I recently purchased this large collection of 2500 35mm slides, mostly Kodachromes but also with some Ektachromes and Agfa specimens included. What kind of content is on these? I don't know everything exactly, but the dates range from the 1950s to the 1990s and the subjects appear to be everything from scenes of everyday life to travel to various random images. One thing that my "Ghosts of DFW Music History" blog series has made crystal clear to me is my need to assemble a collection of stock images from which to draw whenever I need illustrative content for one of my projects. And I can't realistically expect to have examples of everything I might want to use someday in the (admittedly sizable) collection of photos I've taken myself. Dealing with ownership and copyright concerns is a royal pain in the rear when I want to use someone else's material, so the opportunity to acquire a large collection of previously unpublished and unencumbered images at a low cost is something I didn't want to pass up. While I expect that only a small percentage of these will ultimately be of interest to me, even two or three percent will justify the cost of the entire set. big box of slides, mostly Kodachromes big box of slides, mostly Kodachromes

bookmark_borderDFW in vintage photos

Posted on by PAO Productions
Updated October 9, 2024 with additional historical information
Whenever I shop antique stores, estate sales, or online, I'm always on the lookout for unique and original snapshots and slides. If it's a photo of somewhere I've been, or of a scene or situation I find interesting enough, then it's fair game as long as the price is right. And when it comes to places I've been, few vintage images are more interesting than those of my own hometown and surrounding areas. Here are sixty-nine rare images of DFW spanning every decade of the 20th century, all taken from my personal collection.

Houston Street Viaduct, 1945

The Houston Street Viaduct (originally known as the Dallas-Oak Cliff Viaduct) was constructed in 1911 to connect Downtown Dallas with the then recently annexed community and former independent city of Oak Cliff. It was built to replace earlier connections that were destroyed by the Great Trinity River Flood of 1908. The originally planned streetcar line that was intended to traverse the bridge was finally constructed more than one hundred years later, entering service in April 2015.
Houston Street Viaduct, 1945
Heading into Downtown Dallas via the Houston Street Viaduct, 1945 (view from car)
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bookmark_borderAn illustrated camera chronology

Posted on by PAO Productions
This is an illustrated chronology of all the cameras I have used over the years from the very beginning up until the present day, with the exception of cell phones and one-offs taken using other people's equipment. I still have most of these in my possession.

1995

Kodak Tele-Instamatic 608

Kodak Tele-Instamatic 608 camera
The camera I started with in late spring 1995. My original unit was my mother's old camera, which I used for a few months until light leakage problems became too serious to ignore. This was not a great photographic tool by any stretch, but we all have to start somewhere.
Scott Frederick, taken June 1995
Taken in June 1995 using the Tele-Instamatic
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