Saturday, January 27, 2018

Beach People








4 comments:

Jim Grey said...

I was enjoying the photographs fine but it made my morning when I got to the end and saw the Brownie Hawkeye. Every time I see results from yours, I wish I'd had better luck with mine.

Mike said...

The BHF seemed like the ideal camera to take on a California road trip. I was hoping to do much more with it this time, but actually had little time for picture making and ended up shooting more with the vuws and the Leica. I did pack a dark bag for re-rolling 120 to 620, but having several rolls ready to go would have been a good deal more practical.

The biggest challenge with the Hawkeye Flash is to hold it steady while making the exposure. The shutter release is stiff and in an awkward position. I do ok with it if I don't get in a hurry and stay focused on steadiness. The other important things are making sure the lens and cover glass are clean and being sure that the subject is no closer than eight feet.

There are some useful accessories and modifications for the BHF. I used a flash attachment with my first BHF which was given to me by my family when I was about twelve. That probably helps a lot to eliminate the camera shake problem, though I don't have any pictures to prove it. In more recent years I have made pictures with a flipped lens that I like, and a Kodak No.13 close-up lens attachment has made some nice portraits for me. A friend modified a BHF for me with the addition of a cable release socket and a tripod socket. I have not got around to putting the camera on a tripod yet, but I do use the cable release when I remember to take it along.

JR Smith said...

I like the first one best.

The Brownie gave these all a "snapped in the 1950s" look. I imagine quite a few of these cameras made their way to SoCal beaches back in the day.

Mike said...

Yep. I got my first Hawkeye Flash about 1952. It may have been the camera I took on my first trip to California with my Boy Scout troop, though I was also using a Baby Brownie Special at about the same time. I have a picture of me with a camera around that time, but the scan is too small to make out the camera model. I'll try to track down the original and make a better scan.