Vintage Camera Collection

Along the same lines as our last post, here is a glimpse at a few of the cameras in our collection.
The Valiant "620". This cute-as-a-button seafoam green box camera takes 620 film (obvi) and is really clean and seems to be in perfect working order. I will be testing it in the next week or so. I love this little camera so much.. the color, the shape, the entire sweet little thing!

 

Next is the Polaroid SX-70 Alpha 1 ... omg. I almost fell down when I found it at a flea market. I tried not to panic and giggle as I was shoving my wad of cash into the sellers hand before she changed her mind. This beauty is clad in leather, and folds into a flat little rectangle. Sadly, my intitial inspection before purchase was not good enough, and this camera is in need of some refurbishing. I will be shipping her off to be returned to her proper working order and cleaned very soon.

Lastly, a little Konica C35.. a pocket sized 35mm camera (again, obviously!). I am not a 35mm camera kind of chick, but this one was in near perfect condition. I shot a roll and sent it out for developing this afternoon. I actually had fun with this camera, and it's kind of nice to anticipate how my photos will turn out... in this world of instant gratification, it's sort of like a rare gift to have to wait for once.

xoxo, Arbor Lane

Falcon Miniature With 35mm Film

 

Meet my new toy... The Falcon Miniature. This camera is fully mechanical, with no batteries or auto features of any kind. The body is made from Bakelite. As far as I can tell, this model was made in the late '30s/ early '40s and originally used 127 film. I bought it at a yard sale for .20 and figured, what the heck.. might be fun to give it a try.

 

Firstly, I used 35mm film instead of the original 127 film. The cannister didn't quite fit, and dented slightly when I put the cover back on.

 

Secondly, there are two red windows on the back of the camera. These windows were used to advance the film... which would have been awesome if I had used 127 which is paper backed and doesn't allow light to hit the film... but I didn't. So I had to cover the holes. I used several layers of foil and some tape. As you can see, this was not adequate:

 

 

 

Orange streaks through the entire roll.

 

You can also see that I had several double exposures and overlapping pictures, because I had to guess how far to advance after each shot.

 

 

 Turns out that 1 full turn of the knob worked out the best on this particular camera.

I plan to try another roll of film and apply what I learned from this one. Ideally, I'd like to shoot a roll of black and white with this camera. If I can get it right, I think the photos would come out amazing.

 

 

 xoxo, Arbor Lane

Bacon Wrapped Cracker Appetizers, Recipe Trial

 

This past 4th of July weekend, we were invited to several parties and asked to bring something along. I've been wanting to try these bad boys for awhile now.. and oh em gee. They were a huge hit.

Basically, you sprinkle cheese on a Club cracker and wrap it in bacon. The original recipe is from Pioneer Woman Cooks, and you can find it here. If you don't know who the Pioneer Woman is, be prepared to spend the rest of your day reading her site.. it's fantastic, funny, and real.

The only change I made to the original ingredients was to use a finely shredded romano cheese, instead of the grated parm. The shredded cheese worked perfectly fine. I wouldn't recommend using a soft shredded cheese like cheddar or mozzarella, but harder cheeses like parmesan, romano, or asiago would work out o.k. This recipe is a little time intensive, with a long baking time (2 hours), but trust me, they are delicious and flavorful.



I should mention, I've also made her recipe for Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers, which were an even bigger hit with the guys as a football party snack and everyone asks me to make them now.

Enjoy!

xoxo, Arbor Lane