Rennsport Reunion IV - Porsche Memories



"Odd Skid Marks"

 This will be a blog that mixes two of my interests, photography and cars - to be more specific - It will be about Porsche's and an excuse to publish a number of Porsche Photo's one of my guilt pleasures.

This year we (northern Californians) were forntunate enough to host and attend one of the largest iof not the largest gatherings of Porsche's that has ever been held. Called Rennsport Reunion IV - it was held for the 1st time on the west coast, specifically at Laguna Seca in Monterey California. The previous three Reunions were scheduled in an ad hoc manner and all had been held on the east coast. So this was a big deal for Porsche lovers - So both Joy and I decided to splurge and attend.

"RS Spyder Nose"




"Split Personality 962"


The 1st impression was the overwhelming number of cars present. I do not know the final count of Porsche's present but the row upon row, upon rows of 911's (taildraggers), 356's, 914's, Boxsters, Caymans, etc... was just mind boggling. There were a tremendous amount of historic race cars present, ranging from 4 Cam Carreras, Spyders,  special builts like Elva-Porsche's, Bobsy-Porsche's, Platypus, etc... Then there were the 908, 917, 935, 956 and 962's that dominated endurance racing and succesfully beat the likes of Ferrari, Ford, BMW, Lancia and others to numerous victories and championships. The history and accomplishment of this little car maker in Zuffenhausen Germany was in full view and is quite impressive.






"Oops at the Corkscrew"

  



Didier's RS Spyder



A bit more subtle was the way Porsche has influenced racing and in turn their production cars by bringing different technologies to the forefront. The Turbopanzers (the 917 Turbo's) introduced Turbocharging to the 911 Turbo which in turn led to many other companies making Turbo machines available at all proce points. Porsche demonstrated Hybrid technology by racing their 911 Hybrid, and creating a high end $800k 918 Spyder sports car with similar technology.

 

"Turbo Panzer"


   

Hybrid Technology



"Not a Prius"

There were many races on the track and many cars to see in the paddock and by the end of the weekend, after three days of Porsche overload, both Joy and I were satiated, tired and ready to go home. I hope you enjoy some of the visual memories I have attached to this blog.




"A Gaggle of 356's"



"Psychedelic Cayman"



"Dueling 917K's"



"Orange 911 @ Speed"





"Brian in his 908/3"



"NewMan 956"



"Lowenbrau 935"





ARTistic 935







7x11 - The Big Slurpee #2

Today's blog is about the 7x11 film format.

For those not familiar with some of the more esoteric film sizes, this is one of them. From what I have been able to gather, at least three companies made 7x11 (inch) film cameras in the early part of the 20th century, Eastman-Kodak, Korona and Ansco (Anthony Scovill). The first time I heard about the 7x11 format was when I went to a Camera Swap Meet at an old church in Oakland California in 1997 or 1998. There I saw several modern contact prints similar in size to 8x10, but different and skinnier. I spoke with the man behind the table and he stated that the photos were made with a 7x11 Kodak 2d. I was very intrigued and began to search for my own copy of this format. Eventually I found a Korona version on eBay, and had Patrick Alt restore the camera for me. My friends jokingly called it 'The Big Slurpee' naming it after the icy-sugary concoction you got from 7-11 convenient stores. Get it? 7x11 camera - 7-11 Convenient store. :-)

Any way I used the Korona for quite some time - using for different photo outings - however I began to realise that with all of the different type of cameras I had I was not operating efficiently, so I slowly began to modernize and standardize on Canham cameras where I could. As I began this process the Slurpee was mostly idle.

In early 2010 I bought a Canham 10x12 rear standard to swap out with the Canham 8x10 rear standard - which then allowed me work with Keith Canham to make a 7x11 back that would work with my film holders. After a half year wait my new back arrived and I sold the original 'Big Slurpee'.

About a month ago I was able to go into the Darkroom and print the first 4 'keepers' taken using the new Canham 7x11. After scanning them I thought this would be a good opportunity to share them with you.

These digitized images / scans are not the best... I need to save for a new scanner that works with Windows 7.  So here they are...:

Bentonite Forms - Cathedral Gorge, Nevada

October 2010

Ying & Yang #2 - Gladding McBean

Lincoln, Ca - 2011

Open Window - Gladding McBean

Lincoln, Ca - 2011

Capital from Fireman Funds Building - Gladding McBean

Lincoln, Ca - 2011

First Blog - What to Say? Krazy Foto Kampers?

Well... here goes my first step into the Blogosphere... and it feels like I have nothing to share. :-|

Perhaps it is best to explain why I am here and why I am doing this.

First of all I wish to improve my written communication skills. As a Project Manager for a large technology firm - one of the core tenants of that profession is to communicate and communicate well. Fair enough, however often times we communicate in short phrases (bullets) to get our point across - hopefully to glean the support needed, win approval etc... In short it meets the need - but falls way short on the sharing continuum.

Secondly I wanted to talk about my hobbies/interests, primarily photography, but also perhaps occasionally about my Autocrossing experiences or about Music, or a Book I am reading or just to vent a bit about the narrow-mindedness I see in our political leaders. Don't worry - this will not be another political blog - but I may feel compelled to say something when things get really stupid - so, please forgive me in advance.

Okay.... lets get on topic and explain why I titled this Blog Shutter / Stop. Those that are active photographers are familiar with these terms, "Shutter" meaning the amount of time the film or sensor is exposed to light and (f)Stop being the amount of light the lens lets through. I liked the way these two words interplayed so I named my blog Shutter / Stop.

This then left me with a decision on what I should 'kick-off' with. Hmhhhh.... decisions.... decisions! I think I will start off with Krazy Foto Kampers. Okay who or what the "H E double hockey sticks" is that? Well it started out as a group of photographers from the greater Sacramento area that got together weekly (The Friday Night Gang) at a local rental Darkroom decided to do a camping trip together. I joined the group in 2000 and every year, normally before summer, we would get together for a 4 day weekend to camp, talk, eat, drink,exchange white elephant  gifts and yes... take photographs. These trips are mostly in the state of California - but we have had two excursions into Nevada including this year where we met and camped at Berlin-Icthyosaur State Park near Austin Nevada. This location was an interesting blend of an old mining ghost town, the largest depository of Icthyosaurs and great views of the Great Basin.

About 6 months after our camping trip (early fall) we all get together and do a print exchange. We all agree to make an 11x14 image for each participant - so that when the exchange occurs - we all have a portfolio of images from each person... some years we have walked away with about 20 different images.

Now this is not group of Instamatic snap shooters - but a group of very accomplished photographers and artists. I am blessed that I have been able to spend time with these gentleman (term used loosely) and I hope that there wisdom, skill, humor and goodwill have and will continue to rub off on me.

So I will leave this Blog including a sneak preview of the photo that I have chosen to include. In this case it is a digital photo that I took on historic highway 50 in Nevada... enjoy!