Category Archives: Walking Every Street In Albany

Walking Every Street in Albany: Sprocket Holga on the Frontage Roads

Posted on by joe

Last weekend we continued our project to walk every street in Albany, CA. The walk included the freeway frontage roads along Interstate 80. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the walk turned out to be an interesting intersection of traffic, industry, and commerce with a few forgotten creeks flowing here and there. The images below were photographed using 35mm film in a Holga medium format toy camera. Bonus points if you get the reference in image #4. Keep pressing the button and smiling!

Walking Every Street in Albany Project Update

Posted on by joe

At the end of May, we embarked on a project to walk every street in Albany, California. A Summer hiatus ensued, but has kicked back into gear. Last weekend we finished the streets along the Albany / El Cerrito border, and also walked all of the streets in University Village. About 3 more walks remain to cover part of Albany Hill, and the frontage roads along the freeway. The final walk will be at the Albany Bulb, which we’re hoping to do on a dollar day at nearby Golden Gate Fields.

The images below were shot on film using a Leica M6. Since switching from rangefinder cameras to digital SLRs in 2003, the Leica hasn’t seen a lot of use. Every time I shoot with the M6 I wonder why I don’t use it more often. What a simple pleasure to use a precision tool made of metal that has everything you need to make an image and nothing more. Of course 2 trips to the lab, $5 for a roll of film, $5 to develop, and $6 for a CD of low resolution scans explains a lot. Sure is nice to just simply shoot sometimes, without the all of the chimping and button pushing.

Walking Every Street In Albany: Solano Avenue Grid

Posted on by joe

After a short hiatus from our Walking Every Street In Albany Project, this morning we continued the journey. For those familiar with the Berkeley / Albany area, today’s walk was between San Pablo Avenue on the West, and The Alameda on the East. We walked a grid pattern between Solano Avenue and Marin Avenue.

Every Street In Albany: Evening Walks

Posted on by joe


Almost all of my night shooting over the last 5 years has been done using a tripod. The combination of a busy schedule, and the longer daylight hours of Spring has led to more evening walks. Frustrated by the ISO 200 limitations of my point and shoot camera for low light work, I’ve started carrying a digital SLR again for neighborhood photos. I’d somehow forgotten just how little light is necessary to take handheld photos with a lens that’s sharp at f/2.0 using a digital SLR that’s very clean at ISO 1600 (and quite usable at ISO 3200). The first photo above was 1/1600 at f/5.6, ISO 200. The last photo was 1/50 at f/2.0, ISO 3200. The gear certainly isn’t holding me back from taking pictures. You only need two things to make interesting pictures: ideas and sweat.