This photo is from my 2002 Lisbon trip. I spent a week walking around Lisbon. I didn't think so at the time but I realize now that I came back with many great photos. I spent 8 to 9 hours per day walking the narrow winding hilly streets searching for images to be had. I spent about an hour every morning at this intersecion, hanging around with the locals who didn't seem to mind or notice that a guy with a Hasselblad on his shoulder was standing 1 meter away.

The weather has cooled off quite a bit. I'm thinking once again of making photos rather than just wanting to go to the beach; which I've done every night this week. Luckily Seattle has dozens of fresh and saltwater beaches to choose from.

Photo: Lisbon
Camera: 500cm

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Originally uploaded by Ron Greer.

At this time my three year old G4 Mac laptop is doing all my scanning and processing of my images and it clearly struggles to crunch all the numbers.. I can hardly wait for the new Intel Xeon-based Mac Pro to be announced on August 7th. I need an upgrade and that will be it !!!! I also expect to buy the new HP B9180 printer when it is delivered in September. It is claimed the prints will have a 200 year life. If true that easily surpasses all other types of color photo prints. Not that I want to do much color printing but it should also be great for black and white prints.

Photo: Italy
Camera: 500cm

oh man is it ever hot here in Seattle! At 10:30pm it's still 85f. That's even hotter than L.A. We Northwesterner's like our summers between 66 and 77 degrees; otherwise we complain. Do I dare say Seattle has the best summers in the USA? I think we do. Name another major city were it is more pleasant in the summer. Seattle gets lots of laughs for rain but I think we have the best weather in the nation. I can bicycle year round, need not worry about fires, floods, bugs, my roof blowing away, my car pounded by hail (happened to me in Texas), no need for A/C (well today it might be nice but we're talking one week per year). I was in Santa Barbara last winter, where it was raining day and night the entire stay (a week). One needed to jump from the curb with all their might in hopes of missing the river of water flowing down the "street". A local had the nerve to say "oh, you must be use to weather like this". Uh, no, I'm not! Only San Francisco has a climate that is as pleasant year round as Seattle.

I had big plans to take photos downtown today but I was a bit too agressive with my bike riding and ended up with road rash;oops, that pretty much dampened my photo plans. Spent the morning scanning more old negatives, like this one.

Photo: Aberdeen, Wa
Camera; 500cm

Photo: Barcelona
Camera: 500cm

Photo: Dresden
Camera: Hasselblad 500cm

Still scanning, got a few new images up on my People2005 link, like this one from the 4th of July. I took this photo around noon meaning these people were going to be sitting/laying in the sun for another 10 hours before the 20 minutes of fireworks. I brought my children along to draw attention away from me and my camera. The chatterbox twins did great!

Location: Seattle
Camera: Mamiya 6

Finally got my people series broke into four year periods. I am just starting on the 1995-1999 year period and only had time to scan a few images today (I had to leave time for a 26 mile ride as the weather was perfect). I didn't do a lot of people photos in '95 as that was the start of my "Amerikana" series; which I have now broke into east and west.

Photo: Dresden
Camera: Hasselblad 500cm

Walked around Gasworks Park on the 4th and got a few photos. Lots of people waiting in the sun for hours and hours (like 10) for a few moments of fireworks.

Photo: Seattle
Camera; Mamiya 6

Back from camping at Deception Pass. Didn't do too much photography, a little color, a couple of B&W, and a few bike rides. Back to Seattle, chores, and a few new scans. This is from the FolkLife Fest last month.

ah, the temperature has dropped 10 degrees since our heat wave of the last two days; back to normal thank goodness. Still haven't made it downtown to take photos but I did get a few nice bike rides in during the last couple of days. Riding was one of the few ways to keep cool. I got a few new scans done too. Rode my bike over to Alki Beach for Lunch with a friend up from Tacoma today; great ride. I averaged just under 20 mph over the course of 25 miles! Tomorrow I head off with the family for a few days of camping.
Photo: Seattle Folk Life Fest
Camera: Mamiya 6

It's 81 degrees in the shade here in Seattle. Too hot! Didn't make it downtown yesterday but I did get a few new scans done and also broke my "Amerikana" series into East and West of the Mississippi.
Photo: Gordes, France
Camera: Hasselblad 500cm

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Originally uploaded by Ron Greer.

wow it's hot here in Seattle. We locals start complaining once it creaps above about 73 degress and today it was certainly over 85!!! We're not use to that big fireball in the sky. When will it ever rain? It's enough to make one nervous!

Too many family commitments to make photos this weekend but I hope to get downtown tomorrow with my Mamiya 6.

Photo: Prague, CR
Camera: Hasselblad 500cm

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Originally uploaded by Ron Greer.

Good news about my favorite film developer. I'm not sure if it's "new old stock" or a new batch but Freestyle Photo, in L.A., has Agfa Rodinal again! I got two big bottles a week ago, plus a couple bottle of Fomapan R09 (to compare). Here's a image taken not more than 5 miles from downtown Seattle. Hard to believe but true.

Photo: Seattle (Georgetown)
Camera: Hasselblad 500cm

Here's a photo from my 1990 files, my first real year of shooting street photography. At the time I felt I was onto something really new. Little did I know there were a few photographers before me, like Cartier-Bresson and Winogrand. This was shot with my Plaubel Makina W67. A very compact camera that developed a film loading problem and was a bit too loud for my close-up work. I also didn't care for the 6x7 format. I sold it and started using my 500cm, which is much quieter (when the mirror is pre-released).
Photo: Firenze, Italy
Camera: Plaubel W67

I've been trying to scan a few negatives every day and am now to the point where I'm breaking my black & white peolple series, on my web site, into blocks of years. At some point I hope to have a gallery for every year. I've been over-looking this image for years and must say it's currently one of my favorites. Cute girl, no doubt the reason I took the photo.

Photo: Seattle
Camera: Plaubel Makina W67

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Originally uploaded by RonGreer.Com.

My, then, fiancé, now wife, Anke, in front of our apartment in Dresden; 1994. That's our Trabby there. I bought that in 1992 for 200dm, or about $110. Ran great, took me/us to Paris twice and to Kassel several dozen times.
Photo: Dresden, Germany
Camera: Nikon F3

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Back from a week long road trip to the beautiful city of Los Angeles. L.A. takes a lot of flak but it's really quite an amazing city. Sure there's a lot of traffic but it is the 2nd largest city in the USA; what do you expect! I avoided most of that traffic by taking my bike with me and doing all my L.A. journeys pedaling. Amazingly, for a city that is quite flat, and has perfect weather, there are almost NO bicycles on the road! In my four days in L.A. I didn't see more than 100 bikes. I see that many on my daily 14 mile commute here in Seattle!

I had pretty good luck with photos but I really thought I would find more things of interests: more old signage, more old buildings, more weird stuff in general. Of course in 4 days it is difficult to see much of a city as large as L.A.!

I'm just finishing up a 4 night stay in Los Angeles where I have been riding all over central L.A., about 30 miles per day, and have been shooting only color. I have my Mamiya 6 along, and used it quite a bit on the drive down, but for around L.A., on a bike, I packed very light; just took my D200, and a 24-85 and 12-24 zooms. I focused on color for the most part, and also architectural details. It's been great but it has also taken a lot of looking (and pedaling) to find what I got. I passed up on many images because I didn't feel comfortable bringing my camera out.

Riding in L.A. hasn't been that tough although one must have pretty good nerves as people aren't use to bicycles. The worse part is having a parked car door open just as you pass by. This seemed to happened to me about once per mile, and of course at the same time some big jeep-car passes me within inches on the left. The big cracks and pot holes were also a problem. Yeah, one needs to be comfortable with city bike riding but still very doable and not much slower than a car. I've ridden bikes in many big cities: London, Paris, Berlin, Munich, S.F, and of course Seattle (doesn't really count though as there are so many bike riders here the cars pretty much accept us) and L.A. is certainly easier than London or Paris, not as nice as Berlin (also a big bike city).

I am still working on scanning my images from my last trip, to Germany, and am already getting ready for my next journey; to Los Angeles. Plan on staying in mid-Wilshire area and will bring along my bike, focusing on the areas between Hollywood and downtown. Camera choice is a tough one. I want to keep my eq to a minimun, considering that I will be mostly on my bike. I need my dslr for sure, for stock, but I really like my Mamiya 6 for my personal work. I came across a photographer, Juan Buhler, www.jbuhler.com, who is using his dslr for all his work. I'm thinking of leaning that way too, at least for this trip, or at least for the L.A. part of the trip. Maybe I will take the Mamiya along for the road trip and then consider using just my dslr in L.A.

Spent the holidays near Dresden, Germany. Took my Mamiya 6 with the normal and 50mm lens. Spent several days in Berlin, taking photos in the Christmas markets, and a day in Prague taking photos but the weather was less than great. Berlin was wet, windy, and cold; not to mention dark. Anyone that says Americans commercialize Christmas too much have never spent time in Germany, where the Christmas markets are like a carnival. Blasting music, amusement rides, beer, spiced wine plates of sausages, mushrooms. One can buy pretty much anything at these markets, from socks to sausages to a "rauchermann".

The weather was better in Prague but full of tourist that I didn't want to photograph and they got in the way of the wonderful buildings Prague has to offer. Prague is amazing but the bargin days are long gone. On my first visit, in 1990, I was eating good for about $4 per day (including several beers). Now the beer is that much and one must be careful to not be charged for the bottle of catsup sitting (unused) on the table).

I made the mistake of taking film other than my usual fujipan/HP5 and I fear my work will be wasted on cheap film. When will I ever learn to stick with the known and leave the bargins to others?

Came back home to a shock. No more Agfa! Agfa Rodinal, my developer of choice for the last 1/4 century is gone! So I hear Photographer's Formulary will be releasing a liquid form soon; I hope so, otherwise I will be making my own I guess.

Photo: France, Leica M6

Photo: Hasselblad 500cm, Mystic, Conn.

I'm geting mind and bags ready for a holiday trip to Germany. I will take my Mamiya 6 and Nikon D70s but I worry about the weather. Berlin, as is most of Germany, VERY dark and grey in winter; and cold. I fear it will be too dark for much street photography of people and so I expect to focus more on store fronts, signs, and patterns; where I could use a tripod. Photo: Hasselblad 500cm, New Jersey

Well, my goal was to upload photos on a regular basis, like daily or at least weekly. Mmm. I bought some off brand films not long ago: adox, astra, all East european brands that have nothing imprnted on them. Can't say I'm impressed and it now all seems silly considering I could have bought Fujipan or Ilford for little more! Photo: Hasselblad 500cm, Munich, Germany

So I got all that fresh film and then Fall showed up and I realized I needed to get some bike rides in (not that put my bike away during winter). So yesterday, when I should have been downtown taking photos I was out on a glorius sunny fall day bike ride. Wonderful. I'll get around to photos soon.

Photo: Seattle Hempfest'05
Camera: Mamiya 6

Finally a photo from the Puyallup Fair with my new Mamiya 6. This was taken with the 50mm.

Man oh man, I got carried away a bit with ordering film. I guess I sort of panicked when I ran out of film abit over a week ago and ended having packages of film delivered pretty much every day this week. From Adorama I had fujipan and Illford film, from Freestyle I got Arista.edu, and from J&C photo I got adox and classicpan (what ever that is). I now have like 100 rolls of various brands to use/test. So what's the first outing? Well I think I will head over to Fishermen's terminal begining of the week, and I haven't been down to Pike Place Market in a while.

I did some Puyallup Fair scanning on Friday but didn't have time to upload any of it. That was my first shot with my new Mamiya 6 and they look great. It's such a nice camera I almost hate to use it; for fear of scratching it.

PHOTO: Leica M6, Paris

Went to the Puyallup fair yesterday and used my new Mamiya 6, with the 50mm lens. Haven't developed the film (Fujipan 400 and a couple old rolls of Verichrome (I'm out of 400). I already know the camera works fine but I do need to change my technique a bit from shooting with my 500cm. I have the Mamiya high around my neck where as with the 500cm I had it high on my shoulder griped in my left hand.

The Hasselblad actually has a quieter shutter, with the mirror pre-released, but that means one can't use the ground glass. I started my people on the street series, back in '89, with my, now sold, Plaubel Makina (50mm), and I had that camera hanging around my neck and a cable release hanging down. I'm just using my hand on the shutter release with the Mamiya; and no body seems to notice. The Mamiya is quieter than the Plaubel so that helps.

Just ordered some Adox 400 film from J&C Photo. Not sure if it will be Canadian Adox, Elfke film relabeled, or Illford HP5 relabeled (as I've read most recently). I also have 20 rolls of Arista EDU 400 on the way; which is suppose to be relabeled Czech film (Foma?). I'm looking forward to testing!!!

PHOTO: Hasselblad 500cm, Hot Springs, Arkansas

Photo: Fuji S2

Wasted much of the afternoon dealing with a dead Samsung I-330 mobile phone. Telephone support was a dead-end. I got a person, or at least the voice on the other end claimed to be human (yes I asked), that asked me "if I needed any other help" right after asking me for my phone number (naturally I had already entered my phone number at the begining of the call). I got no where with "her". I should have been downtown taking photos but instead there I was dealing with one of Sprint's finest robotic tele-service monkeys.

Ordered 20 rolls of Arista edu 400, a czech film from Freestyle photo (L.A.). It's cheap cheap cheap which sounds good as I need to order heating oil on Monday and I know it will be pricey stuff.

PHOTO: Nikon F3

Developed my first roll of film through my new Mamiya 6; and it looks great. Sharp, well exposed and spaced. I used Fujipan 400 developed in Rodinal 1:25 for 6.25 minutes and fixed in Photographer's Formulary fixer (great stuff).

PHOTO: local crit race, shot with Fuji S2.

Just added a new camera to my collection last night, a very mint Mamiya 6 with all three lenses (complete with boxes). I didn't really need it, as my trusty 23 year old 500cm works quite well for my street work but I have been searching for a Mamiya 6 for some time now. It will be great for winter work when low handheld shutter speeds make the Hasselblad not the 1st choice. I'll use the Mamiya 6 next Monday at the Puyallup Fair and get some photos posted asap.

I don't seem to find much time for my darkroom in the last year but I do love shooting film and so I've been scanning my work, for now, and will get around to printing one of these days. I'm not convinced about inkjet prints; I'm sticking with wet processing for now. I've been shooting fujipan 400 for the past few years but I'm now (re)testing HP5 and Tri-x to see if one scans better than the other. I sort of like the scanned look of HP5 but I don't like the way they cut the film short. It may work ok in my new Mamiya but in the 500cm one must start the film a bit early to be sure not to cut off the last image. Why Illford?

PHOTO: Lisbon, 500cm