The people we don’t know, the people we do, Part 2: Aaron

Hello friends. I don't typically make blog posts that pertain to holidays. But today is Memorial Day in the United States, and this post is a memorial to someone who we just lost. A photo of Aaron at the Hawthorne Hostel's Bike-In Movie, June 2006. I really entered Portland's bike community around 2003. And from...

Traveling with a Brompton

Readying the Bromptons for the train. Boarding Amtrak's Empire Builder at Portland Union Station, 11 May 2022. Camera: Minolta XD5 Lens: Minolta MD 50mm f/1.7 Film: Kentmere 400 It's been over a half year since Emee and I have purchased Bromptons. We've fallen in love with these unique bicycles and have done some tweaks and...

A May art update: More dip pen action

Esterbrook 356 nib, once used by Carl Barks (not this nib, but the nib in general) Hello folks. Last month I let you all know that I got back into dip pens. After pretty much avoiding them since high school, it's been fun to work in the true "pen-and-ink" medium. I started off with a...

Smena 8M: Finding fun in a basic camera

A year-and-a-half ago I mentioned how famed photographer of the Twin Cities music scene, Dan Corrigan, disparaged those who still shoot film. His response to "film is fun" is a mocking "Knock yourself out!" To an old pro who came about when film was the only game in town, film meant burning through dozens of...

A quick late May update

Mossy wonderland property, 24 April 2022. Camera: Olympus 35RD Film: Ilford HP5+ Home developed Ilfosol 3 1:9 @5:30 in Rondinax 35U Hello folks. Apologies for the radio silence on this blog last week. Emee and I were out of town from May 11th through 18th for the Lake Pepin Three Speed Tour and spent a...

Minolta XD5: My second film SLR

It's been almost two and a half years since I got back into film photography. I've tried a bunch of different 35mm cameras during that time, including rangefinders, zone-focus viewfinders, superzooms, and half-frame. But I've only used one SLR (single-lens reflex), the Minolta SR-T 101 I got in October of 2020. I really like this...

Pedalpalooza is all summer long! Here are the rides I’m leading

Editors Note, 8 July 2022: This blog post will not be updated if events are added, removed, or changed. Go to my Pedalpalooza page here for the most up-to-date info. It's anniversary time for Pedalpalooza, Portland's annual summertime bike fun fest. Starting in 2002 as the all August long BikeSummer, it morphed into the first...

Save the dates: I’ll be at upcoming Portland Art Picnics

Hello folks! The Portland Art Picnic is a monthly artist craft type fair that happens in the warmer, drier months. Each month, the picnic moves to a different park. This year will be the first year I participate, though it's been going on for almost two years. I've signed up for two dates: Saturday June...