Lens, Lens Baby
Those of us old enough remember the song from the 80’s that begins with the phrase “Ice, ice baby.” Yes that was Vanilla Ice, a rapper whose fall mirrored his rise in suddenness, and left us with one of the...
Winter Ramblings
I am, above all, a lover of all things warm (with the exception of ice cream and martinis). As such, getting out in the winter to take pictures is a labor of loathing. I’m not the kind of photographer who...
Picture Post: Under Rowena Crest 8×10, October 2020
©2020 Gary L. QuayI took this picture in October of 2020 in the shadow of Rowena Crest along the Historic Columbia River Highway. I’ve said it before, but Oregon’s dry side has become my favorite place in the world.This would...
The Oregon Coast on 5 Cameras Per Day
The Oregon Coast is a particularly stunning shoreline, sporting topographical marvels much more dramatic than merely the sandy interface between sea and land. The Pacific Northwest’s volcanic past left its mark with haystack rocks in the surf, and with the...
The Darkroom Saga Continues.
A couple of months ago, I created a makeshift darkroom out of a spare bathroom, and part of the spare bedroom. I did this with blackout curtains, thumb tacks, and gaffers’ tape. Soon after, I loaded some film, and made...
Buzz or Howl: Photographing Heat
The title for this piece comes in part from an album title from 1983 by a band called Minutemen. The album was called “Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat.” Minutemen were a punk rock band, so the music...
The Twirly Camera
OrBe Careful What You Wish For. You Just May Get It.I recently purchased a camera that I have wanted for the last 20 years. It’s a Noblex 06/150 medium format panoramic camera. I call it the “twirly camera” because the...
Social Distancing While Photographing Oregon
Introverts have no trouble social distancing. It’s the reverse of that which tends to make us uneasy. Still, while we shelter at home, cringing every Sunday when our iPhones notify us of the amount of our lives we have wasted...
Building My New Darkroom
It’s been 5 years since I packed up my last darkroom. My life as a photographer revolved around having a darkroom well into the digital age. I remember the moment that I started tearing apart the sink that I had...
Exploring Square Format
These days, square pictures are all the rage on Instagram, and Facebook, but they certainly did not start there. There have been a variety of square format cameras from Polaroids to Mamiyas, going back many decades. I even had a...