The History of Photography: 1984

Make Your Subject Comfortable: A photograph can be a timeless reflection, a mirror of your subject's soul. It is important that you put your subject at ease and make them comfortable when working in a portrait session.

A quiet year. Buy Honda GL500 motorcycle, take trip to Toronto on it. Pick up used Nikkor 55 f/2.8 AIS Micro lens. Vivitar so-called "Professional" tripod suffers fatigue failure in cast head, and I chuck it. Why do I buy anything from Vivitar except the 283? I can't figure it out. I get bored of the regular K screen in the FE and switch to the plain screen with architectural grid E screen. I still use these. Unfortunately, the FE doesn't have the selection available for the F2 or F3, so you can't get, for instance, the all-microprism screen. Boy, that'd give you a headache. Somewhere along in here I buy a used MD-12 motor for the FE. One afternoon I shot off a couple of rolls of Kodachrome with astonishing speed and then decided that was kind of expensive, especially for shots of our mangy dog Sam. The motor has served mostly as AA battery storage ever since. I still have it. Ride motorcycle to work. One day I get rear-ended on the freeway coming home. Ruin suit. Scratch up helmet.

More Photo Hints from 1984

Keep Your Horizon Level: Ah yes, it's a classic mistake, the scenic photo of the seascape and, hey, look!, it's draining to the right! Everyone knows the Great Lakes drain left! If it weren't for the placid water in the photo maybe I'd try and sell you on the turbulent waters of Georgian Bay sending me weaving down the decks, but in fact, I didn't pay enough attention to the horizon when I took this frame. I'd later get the E screen for the FE, with gridlines, and my waters have been level ever since. Nikon FE, 28mm, Kodachrome 64