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  • The Water Boy

    The Water Boy

    I’m always amazed with discoveries during my urban explorations around Oklahoma City and the surrounding metro. Nearby to my favorite coffee shop, I encountered such a moment and, after a week, I’m still in awe of this sight.

    I’m going to leave names and locations out of this post until I’m able to find some more information to fill in the gaps. Honestly, I’m not sure exactly what I need to know since sometimes a hopeful heart can fandom a nicer fiction than reality.

    The location of the “The Water Boy” was brought to my attention recently by a friend in downtown Oklahoma City near 7th street. I’ve walked past this area hundreds of times without knowing what lurks just on the other side of the fence line. There is no telling how long he has been here or where he hails from. But he certainly doesn’t belong here.

    After visiting for a while and observing the left-behind impact of a probable nomadic homeless shelter, we could agree that someone stole the boy from a nearby water feature. But from where? And for what purpose? Did the statue provide some solace and hope from that person’s current situation? I can’t imagine it would have been taken to pawn for food or drink cash. This has to be an act of a higher calling. To what end?

    For the moment, The Water Boy is safe, hidden from public view and possible vandals but we must decide on his future soon before the modernization of the area quickly envelopes the hideaway.

    The images below were shot with a retro Carenar 35mm f2.8 mounted on a Fujifilm X-Pro3 and Pixco Focal Reducer.

    What are your thoughts? Please comment below.

  • Delavan, Wisconsin

    Delavan, Wisconsin

    Traveling regularly is a part of my day job as an independent consultant for Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing (SAP). I enjoy it almost as much as photography. Having the opportunity to visit other locations and discover hidden gems along the way are one of the many perks of this type of employment.

    While working in Wisconsin, I took a side trip to Delavan and found a city within a town. In fact, the city of Delavan overlays the town of Delavan. Confusing, right? Don’t be. Both entities operate politically independent from each other, but you will get to enjoy the benefits of this quaint area filled with history located about 45 miles southwest of Milwaukee. Nearby is Lake Geneva with a large tourist draw and another popular destination.

    The coolest discovery about Delavan was the circus history. Between 1847 and 1894 it was home base for 26 circus companies and operations. In fact, the original PT Barnum Circus was founded here in 1871 by William Coup. Visit the cemeteries of Spring Grove and St. Andrews to discover over 130 members of the 19th century circus performers buried there, some with elaborate headstones. The US Postal Service issued the five-cent American Circus commemorative postage stamp on May 2, 1966 and Delavan was selected for the first day issue cover.

    On a side note, nonetheless important to our American cultural history, Delavan is the home of Gary Burghoff, better know to many as “Radar” on the TV series “M*A*S*H”. Born in Bristol, Connecticut and moved to the area at a young age, he gained experience acting with the Belfry Players of Williams Bay, Wisconsin, near the previously mentioned Lake Geneva.

    Here are a few images taken with the Pentax Super-Takumar 24mm f3.5 mounted on the Fujifilm X-Pro3 with a Pixco Focal Reducer Adapter.

  • Antioch, Illinois

    Antioch, Illinois

    On a recent trip to Wisconsin, I used some time off to travel around the area in search of interesting places and people. One of the first suggestion on a Google search was Antioch, Illinois, just across the border.

    In this part of the country, the towns are called “villages”, so that does require a change of mindset. The main differences between cities and villages are the government setup. Cities have majors and common counsel, where the villages have a president and board of trustees. The trustees are elected at large were the city major and the council elections are by district.

    Around the late 1880s, Antioch quickly became a popular vacation destination for folks 60 miles away in Chicago. The tourism economy grew after a rail line was laid to Chicago in 1886. Like Chicago, Antioch’s downtown has been changed due to may fires that destroyed most of the buildings in the area during 1891, 1903 and 1904.

    Antioch serves as a bedroom community within the two closest metropolitan areas of Chicago and Milwaukee.

    Here are some of the images I captured during my visit with vintage lenses mounted on the Fujifilm X-Pro3. Lenses used in these captures were the Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 20mm f4 and the Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35mm f2.8.

  • Vintage Lens Startup Kit

    Vintage Lens Startup Kit

    Recommend starting with M42 Screw Mount lenses and the Pentax brand.  These are excellent build quality and optics, some with multi coatings that help clarity.  eBay and local antique stores are a great source for lenses.

    Start with a Super Takumar 50mm f1.4 or 55mm f1.8 – less than $100 in great shape.  As the focal length is reduced, the pricing will increase, so look for the deals.  I picked up a Helios 58mm f2 with a stuck aperture at f2 for $22 at KEH in the store on our first trip together.

    Adapters

    M42 – Fujifilm X mount adapter

    The least expensive and easiest way to get into vintage lenses. The resulting focal view is magnified by 1.5x on Fujifilm cameras. So a 35mm lens will behave like a 52.5mm lens. Since lenses are designed for full frame you might lose some of bokeh on the edges of the lens

    M42 – Fujifilm X Helicoid adapter

    All the same as above but now you have an adjustable macro extension tube for close focusing.

    M42 – Fujifilm X mount Focal Reducer / Speedbooster

    Do NOT buy the high dollar Metabones adapters.  You will be paying for autofocus circuits not being used. Gets you back to close to original magnification of the attached lens. Most adapters are a 0.71x de-magnification. So a 35mm will be 35×1.5=52.5 x 0.71= 37.27mm

    We are working on more detailed guides to help you get started with shooting vintage lenses. Check those out links on the main page of the website.

    Be sure to share your questions and comments below!

  • Okarche, OK

    Okarche, OK

    Okarche is a combination of three words – OKlahoma, ARapaho, and CHEyene.  The post office was established in 1890 and the town was incorporated two years before statehood, in 1905.  In the 1890s, German immigrants were the largest population segment so German was widely used in the community until the US entered World War I in 1917.  Afterwards, bilingual education and workshop continued for another two decades.

    In November 1926, the federal highway numbering system was implemented and the Meridian Highway through Okarche was assigned US-81 and fully paved in the area by 1931.  The Northwest Highway OK-3 was a gravel road in 1939 and fully paved by 1947, providing a direct route to Oklahoma City.

    The town is best known for Eischen’s Bar, claiming to be “the oldest bar” in Oklahoma and world famous for it’s secret recipe fried chicken.  In 2009, Food Network’s program, Guy Fieri’s Diner, Drive-Ins and Dives, visited Eischen’s and the bar was featured in the TV show.

    Here are some of my favorite areas in town, all taken with vintage lenses mounted on a Fujifilm X-Pro3.  Check out the Forgotten Main Street Flickr Group for more images.  We would love you to join us and show the world YOUR favorite Main Street.

  • Sunflowers Found

    Sunflowers Found

    This was a huge surprise for me.  It’s been so hot outside in Oklahoma, that I’m rushing from the comfort of home quickly into the a/c of the car.  While I have been “forced” to ride the motorcycle in this heat, enjoying the backyard hasn’t been on my short list of tasks.  Truth be told, I’m not crazy about the heat, so hanging around outside is mainly in early spring, fall and some winter days.

    So when I stepped outside to check on my littlest furry family member, Scarlett, because of this crazy heat, I was shocked to find sunflowers growing in the backyard.  Of course, when confronting my wife, Terri, about this new development, she simply said “I know, I’ve been watering them”.

    Apparently, these beautiful flowers started on their own, being scattered by the birds attacking the filled bird feeder.  While cleaning up the back porch, Terri noticed some of the seeds took root and seemed to be growing quite well.  She decided to help them along with daily water care but failed to let me know of the new tenants in our flower bed.  I’m still a little shocked and very excited.

    I never really thought about it much, but sunflowers are very popular in my home country of Spain and eating the tasty seeds filled many of the memories from my youth.  But I’ve never gave a thought about purposely planting sunflowers in my yard.  Well, that is now changing and Terri is onboard to get sunflowers in our front yard.

    In the meantime, I love using the sunflowers for testing the vintage lenses in my arsenal without having to travel a long distance.  These were taken with the Fujifilm X-Pro3 with either the Super Takumar 28mm f3.5 or Super Takumar 50mm f1.4 mounted on a a helicoid adapter.  I hope you enjoy them as much I as did.  I will post them to our Flickr Group page so you can see some of the metadata.