Old stuff deserves old gear. Armed with two film cameras, I headed to the Brimfield Antiques Show today. Rain and gray made the black-and-white even more appropriate. The wide angles are my 1976 Widelux 7, and the ‘standard’ sized photos are the 1952 Leica IIf. Both loaded with Kodak TX400 film, processed in my studio when I returned today, all ready to share the same day. I am loving seeing the world through film again. It’s beautiful.

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I spent the day at the Brimfield Fair, adding to my own series. I’m not sure when I’ll have a chance to get a photo of old cigarettes again, but it was a strange but cool find.

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I have been fortunate to have steady work from June to Christmas. School jobs, families, Seniors, events, headshots, and much more. I added new services and expanded and improved others. Overall, it was a great year. It was stressful, with ups and downs, but always forward. It was year two of being at this full-time again, and I would not have it any other way. I need to get better at some of the other stuff, the bookkeeping and the logistics, but this is what I wanted to do, and I am doing it. The biggest thing is keeping the studio clean. It is next to impossible when I am busy. This was the first week in months I could take some time and organize the space. While moving stuff around yesterday, I came across a metal print of the photo above. I forgot about this image, taken at Brimfield Fair years back, one of the first in my “Down Series.” So, I am recycling the photo, a new edit, and the right crop, and I like it even more. It makes a last day of year post. I shared this elsewhere, but I have been on an “Embrace” kick. I am not one for regulations, but that never stops me from reevaluating. I like the idea of heading into 2024 with an attitude of embracing. 2023, to me, is a year askew. We went through a lot in the last few years. Something about this year seems off. Like if you went away for a weekend and came home, and everything in your house was moved ever so slightly. Nothing is blatantly changed, but things are just slightly different, but you can’t figure out why. That was 2023. Maybe we are just in a new normal, which leans to the left a bit. I need to embrace it. Embrace the gray of my beard, embrace all the opportunities, the good, the bad, the change, the future, and most of all, I must embrace the time.

Happy New Year to you all, and thank you for finding space in your time to glance here now and then.

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Took a trip to the Brimfield Fair today, a favorite place of mine. Added to my down collection photos, people watched, browsed all the old and used stuff, and even ran into some old friends, one from Elementary school and one from my Newbury Comic days – both of which made me feel as old as some of the stuff I saw, but was fantastic to catch up with them. It was a great day. I hope to make at least one more trek out there this year.

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My May visit to Brimfield Fair. Nothing purchased to speak of, but I was able to get some now Up Down photos. A series of full-frame photos looking down on. You can see the whole collection here.

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