Brownie Hawkeye Around the World

Early last year I discovered an old camera of my dad's; a cool little bakelite box, the Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Flash. This tried and true toy camera was given to me by my Brother who acquired it somehow from our Dad who picked it up in the late 1950's as a young, Dutch immigrant living and farming in Southern Alberta.

After doing some reading about the Hawkeye, I decided to load up some 120 film and shoot off a test roll. I didn't bother to clean any part of the camera wanting to see what 50+ years of dust and history looks like.  Commercial Drive in Vancouver was the place where the Hawkeye made it's comeback and the Hawkeye adventure began!

While I was happy enough with those first shots, doing this gave me some insight into the camera, its focal distance and exposure. Now with a bit of knowledge, I decided to take it apart, clean it and flip the lens. Flipping the lens resulted in images with a softer, ethereal feel and a very sweet, defined focal point. I captured the following Maui moments with the next roll of film.

Since that time, the Hawkeye has become my trusty travel companion, voyaging to places such as China, Brazil, Italy, Germany, Turkey and a few places in between. Seeing that I love this Kodak Brownie Hawkeye so much and tote it around faithfully from country to country, I thought I would share some of my favourite Brownie Hawkeye photos from around the world starting with home, the beautiful Canadian prairies. 

I took the shot below last July, at the height of summer, when the canola fields were in full bloom.  While the prairies were glowing with yellow blossoms, I had only black and white film to spare but turned out a few amazing farmscapes including this one.

A few month later, armed with my camera and the intention of exploring multiple exposures in Rio de Janiero, I set off to see Christ the Redeemer atop Corcovado mountain. As I was staying at a hotel along Copacabana, I had the opportunity to take 2 doubly exposed frames of the same scene: Cristo Redentor on Copacabana beach; this is my favourite of the two.

Later on, on my last day in Shanghai after a super-intensive business-related workshop, I woke up early and snapped a roll using the ever-vibrant Kodak Portra film.  By this time it's been almost one year since rediscovering this photographic gem, the lens is still flipped and I'm loving the results more and more with every roll I snap!

Not long after leaving Shanghai, I ventured to the south of Italy where every day was a beautiful picture-taking day with loads of sunshine and sea.  As usual, I was packing the Brownie, which by now, has clearly become one of my most beloved cameras. Here are my 2 favourite Brownie shots from Trani, Italy.

In all of these travels (and a few more unmentioned), I have learned a great deal about the camera as well as shooting with film.  While not every image is bloggable, there have been many moments captured and treasured through the love and lens of this little old box camera.

To see more and to follow the adventures of my Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Flash, please visit this flickr set. This post was also featured on the Kodak blog, A Thousand Words.

Seeing Self-Expression in Tokyo

I love Tokyo for it's people-watching, societal rules, busyness, conformity and attempts at self-expression. One of the best places to observe this self-expression in teenagers is in Harajuku, a common area outside Harajuku station, at the opening of Yoyogi Park and adjacent to Takeshita-dori, a Japanese teenager's shopping haven.

Each Sunday is a sight to see as Tokyo teens gather to socialize and show off their cosplay and anime-inspired fashions. Proudly posing for the tourist paparazzi, this is one of the few places in Tokyo where the Japanese enjoy being photographed by gawking tourists.

In the Beginning...

The very first business trip that I took was in the year 2000, when I was freshly home from au pairing in Europe and just accepted to a government-funded internship program at my alma-mater, Medicine Hat College. The internship had me working with international students from Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Mexico, placing them with host families and providing student services such as assistance opening a bank account and teaching new students how to use the transportation system in the rural Alberta city of Medicine Hat.

That very internship took me to Asia for the first time ever, long before I knew anything about photography or even had a passion for it. I intrigued myself when I rediscovered the pictures I'd taken in Taipei and Tokyo on that trip more than 11 years ago. I've been back to both places countless times since, but will always fondly remember this time in my life as the start of something very good and the beginning of my business, Latitude International Education Consulting.

Vancouver Through the Eyes of a Tourist & Why You Wish You Lived Here (in pictures)

It's sometimes hard to see the forest for the trees.  In other words, it's often hard to appreciate your own city when you've lived there too long to see it exactly as newcomers and tourists do.  Vancouver is exceptionally beautiful, especially when the sun shines, so in an effort to see my city through the eyes of a visitor, and to enjoy the last few days before the rain sets in, I ventured out to rediscover some of the reasons why I moved here more than 4 years ago.

Telus World of Science, Vancouver

Stanley Park Totem Poles, Vancouver

Vancouver Public Library

Granville Island Public Market, Vancouver

False Creek, Vancouver

Canada Place, Vancouver

For a little more Vancouver goodness, have a look at the InnerLife Project's amazing time lapse video of Vancouver.

Coming Soon: Spanish Scholarship Contest

CONTEST TEASER!  On Friday, October 21st the Top 3 Reasons to Learn Spanish Scholarship Contest will begin!  So spend some time thinking about all the reasons you want, need, wish to learn Spanish and submit your entries between October 21 - November 7, 2011 on the Latitude International Education Facebook page. 

If you are thinking about traveling to South America or want to study Spanish in another country then this is the contest for you!  Latitude International Education and Expanish Spanish School are offering a 4 Week Tuition Scholarship for an Intensive Spanish Language Course in beautiful Buenos Aires, Argentina! The course consists of 20 hours per week of Spanish language lessons at the top Spanish school in Argentina, recommended by Lonely Planet, the Council of Europe and the Association of Language Travel Organisations. Airfare and accommodation not included.

I'm looking forward to hearing all the wonderful and creative reasons that YOU want to learn Spanish!

arte e scienza dell'espresso

Along with wine, pasta, love and sunshine, nobody does espresso like the Italians! I snapped these luscious shots while visiting Rome recently.

This Is East Van

I was so happy to be included in the inaugural This Is East Van community photography project and was even happier to learn that there will be a second edition coming again soon.  This project graphically showcases a blemished but beautiful community comprised of people from all walks of life.

With the deadline for submissions looming, I figured I best get my 5 images in before heading off to Europe tomorrow.  While devoid of people, like many of my photographs, here are my submissions for this year's project.