We are: Myself (Henry Paine, owner/technician and photographer), and my wife,
Joanne, camera-shy co-owner and webmaster.
Joanne and I want you to know that when you contact
Henry Paine Camera Repair and Photography, you will be communicating with one or two friendly people. This is not a large
business where you never get to speak to the same person twice (if you even get to speak to a person).
The Repair Work: Back in 1975 I wanted to make a living
in the field of photography, but did not want to be a commercial photographer. I took a correspondence course in camera repair
offered by SPT (
Society of Photo-Technologists International) and started repairing cameras as an independent contractor for a local camera shop. My reputation spread by favorable word
of mouth until I was able to make a living as a small business owner.
Our business
location is ideal for us. The space allows for the repair shop, the office, a gallery to display my photographs, a shipping
department, a machine shop and a large darkroom and photography work area. AND it is just two blocks from home.
The Photography: Before I started
repairing cameras, I saw the work of the brilliant photograpers, Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and Brett Weston, and was inspired
to follow my own dream of becoming the best photographer I could be. I taught myself the Zone System technique that was first
developed by Adams and was fortunate enough to participate in a couple of his workshops before he passed away in 1984.
I
use 5"x7" and 6cm x 9cm format cameras with black & white film and I use "Pyro" to develop the film.
I frequently create computer-generated masks to use in the printing process. The photographs are silver gelatin, toned in
selenium, processed to archival standards, and mounted on acid-free mat board. The entire process from visualization of the
composition to framing of the final print is done by myself.
