Four Women on Hallowe’en

From time to time I look back on old photographs. Sometimes I see possibilities in them that I didn’t see before. Over time Lightroom has become more sophisticated and my Lightroom skills have improved. So occasionally I end up with a photograph, which I didn’t think much of at the time but which now seems to me to be much better.

This is a case in point. Even though it was taken 6 years ago I clearly remember taking it. I was walking from Grand Central Station to work and came across these three women on 44th Street between 2nd and 3rd Ave in New York City. I’m usually too shy to ask strangers to pose, but this was just too good to miss and as it turned out they were only too willing. The light behind them was quite bright and caused a certain amount of flare. You can still see it over the heads of the two women on the right, but it’s much less than on the original negative. I don’t find it too distracting.

Taken on Hallowe’en, 2011 with a Retina IIc and I’m guessing Kodak Gold 400.

A Gem of a folding 35mm – Retina IIc


I love this camera. It’s one of my all time favourites. The usual Kodak philosophy was to produce inexpensive cameras for everyone. In the case of the Retina they moved in another direction. Kodak purchased German manufacturer Nagel in order to produce a camera that could compete with Contax and Leica. This Retina iic is about 60 years old and I must say I’m impressed. It was also great fun to use and quite small and portable. It has a fairly fast (f2.8) and sharp Schneider lens and when folded (yes it’s a folding camera) it can easily fit in a pocket. Mischa Konig’s Kodak Classics site has lots of information on Retinas including that the first model Retina, Kodak’s first 35mm camera introduced the “135” 35mm film cassette still in use today.
Read More