Posts tagged ‘Zeiss 35mm Biogon ZM’
Three from today
Weston Beach, Pan-F, Rodinal
I know I’ve been away aq bit, just been very busy at work. This weekend I was able to catch up on some scanning, and these three images were the favorites from that session.
HP5, Xtol, BVW Class, Oct 2010
And, then this one, shot just yesterday and developed last night as a test of HP5 in HC-110 (H)
HP5, HC-110 (H), Processed a bit in Silver Efex
More to come
Paris Streets, Dec 2010
Delta 400, DD-X
If you remember, last December (that would be December 2010) I had the opportunity to walk around Paris for a two-hour period in the pre-dawn light before I had to leave for my flight back to the States. Going through my backlog of negatives not-yet-scanned, I came across 16 negs that had just never made it to the scanner. This post includes three of those sixteen. Someday I swear I’ll get back there in the daylight.
As I walked around the neighborhood, I noticed a few people (very few) who were up and awake there preparing for the day. Shop owners, people on the street (either going home or heading out, no way to tell) and street sweepers. The image above is one of those street sweepers, cleaning the sidewalks by hand on an early Sunday morning. Dressed in some sort of official municipal uniform, this young woman was not the only one of these souls I saw that day.
Others were prepping their shopd for the business to come as the city awoke.
Others walking somewhere.
During the holidays, I’ll be posting more images as I work my way through older rolls not-yet-scanned. In process now are images from Point Lobos, captured January of 2011. I’m not quite sure how these rolls fell to the bottom of the pile, but I’ll get through them, hopefully.
In these low light situations, gotta like the Delta 400. I pushed these rolls slightly, not much, and the Bessa hand-held often at 1/30th or 1/15th to get these on the roll at all. I know I’ve sung its praises in the past, but the combo of the Bessa and the Zeiss Biogon continues to reward me.
Have a great holiday, everyone!
Bad Photographers have many excuses!
Rollei Retro 80s, D-76
Bad photographers have many excuses — David Hurn
This Rollei Retro film is fascinating. In dull light, it is almost lifeless (or, perhaps, better put, in dull light my development method does not bring out the best in the film. But in high dynamic range situations — as above — it positively glows! In the roll I scanned tonight, there are many really pleasing images. I’ll post more tomorrow, including some blow-ups to demonstrate the almost non-existent grain. Gonna buy more of this film, for sure.
Changes over the holiday
I’m on Christmas break right now, and a student of mine has volunteered to help me make some major changes to my web site and gallery. he’s a WordPress guru, and his expertise is greatly desired. You’ll be the first to see these changes, and I hope you’ll like them.
Post No. 400: Rollei Retro 80s
Rollei Retro 80s, D-76, Bessa R2a, Zeiss Biogon
My wife likes to decorate for Halloween. She creates this big city that can be viewed through our windows so when the trick or treaters come by, they can see the city and admire it. It’s kind of legendary in our neighborhood. This image depicts some of the decorations on the porch.
These two images are from my first developed roll of Rollei Retro 80s. As described on the web site, this film is purported to deliver very fine grain, and long tonality. Supposedly very difficult to blow out highlights. Well, we’ll she, I guess. It certainly has a particular ‘look.’
Redondo Beach, Ca
One thing that struck me immediately is that the film base is almost transparent and physically thinner than, say, any Kodak film.
I’m going to keep scanning more negs and I will post interesting images as I get them.
If a Day Goes by . . .
Tri-X, N-1, D-76, Studio City, California
“And if a day goes by without my doing something related to photography, it’s as though I’ve neglected something essential to my existence . . .” — Richard Avedon
While I would love to accomplish this, and indeed share that feeling, the undertow that is my life ofttimes intrudes. This image is a sort of cousin to the image of the sidewalk a cigarette stub a week or so ago.
Still scanning, and more to come.
It’s the subject matter that counts
Akron, Ohio, Bessa R2a, Zeiss Biogon, N-1, D-76, Yellow Filter
“It’s the subject matter that counts. I am interested in revealing the subject in a new way to intensify it.” — Harry Callahan
Well, I guess I’m not the only one interested in these quotes. There’s a whole web page set up to store and retrieve quotes from photographers.
This image is from yet another roll of pulled Tri-X. Shot in Akron, Ohio on a day when I went to see a Todd Rundgren concert.
Also, playing with the theme, but I haven’t yet figured out how to edit the background of the side boxes. I’ll get there.
Making Visible
Tri-X, N-1, Bessa + Biogon, Venice Beach
“Art does not reproduce the visible. It makes visible.” — Paul Klee
“What reinforces the content of a photograph is the sense of rhythm – the relationship between shapes and values.” — Cartier-Bresson
Part of the reason I’ve been putting quotes about photography in my blog l,lately is to make me think about process. In the last year, as Mike Peters has gently and appropriately pointed out, I’ve been distracted quite a bit by equipment. Partly to push myself beyond that, and partly because I think about artistic process quite a bit (I teach it in my coursework) I have been reading a bit lately.
Venice Beach boardwalk
When I come across an image in my scanning where I am reminded of a quote, or am reading and I come across something that I think is appropriate, I have been putting it in the post.
Venice Beach
Not that I agree or disagree with the quote, per se, but rather that the quote made me think.
And I hope it makes you think, as well.
A simple shot
Tri-X, N-1, D-76
This shot looks simple. It was, however, deceptively tricky (for me, anyway). The following things challenged me about it:
- The bright afternoon sunlight, the dynamic range
- White flower
- Shadow detail I wanted to retain
- There was a wrought-iron fence between me and the fountain, and I was shooting a rangefinder, which meant that I had to manually position the lens through the bars and guess at the framing, because in front of my viewfinder was a vertical bar, making it impossible to see accurately.
Luck saved me in the latter case, and pulling the development saved me in the former. Especially on very sunny days, the advantages of N-1 development (which I am now a huge fan of) gives me a look that I just love in b&w film. Those who have followed me know that I have long sought a ‘look’ in b&w that digital just, for me with my limited Photoshop skills, anyway, cannot give me. I dabbled with HDR for a while, and I’m not against it, but the kind of feeling images such as the one above deliver I’m just entranced by.
I used to use the Nik Silver Efex (v1) ‘pulled preset, which I loved, but they eliminated it in v2 (don’t know why). The look above really gives me what I want. As good as the Efex p[reset was, it only approached this feeling, it didn’t nail it.
More to come this weekend.
The Destination of Photography
Santa Barbara, CA; Fuji 160s
“The destination of photography is to reveal what something or somebody looked like, under a particular set of conditions, at a particular moment in time, and to transmit the result to others.”
Bill Jay, On Being a Photographer
I have been reading a publication called Lenswork for about four years. It is a high-quality bi-monthly periodical centered on black & white photography, mainly but not exclusively digital. The editor, Brooks Jensen, has a Podcast and seems like a very articulate, well-educated photographer/publisher. I enjoy the issues quite a bit, and have listened to 90% of the podcasts over the years. Before passing away, Bill Jay was a columnist, and a wonderful one, within that magazine. Loved his insights into photography.
Venice Beach, California. Pulled Tri-X.
As you have noticed, of late I have been quoting Susan Sontag from her series of essays, ‘On Photography.’ I have been reading with great interest your responses to the quotes, but have not been responding to your thoughts. The lack of response is intentional, and my choice to quote from Sontag is also intentional. Other writers on these questions and issues will be quoted in the future, as with Bill Jay today.
Enjoy
Another Habit of Seeing
Bessa R2a, Zeiss 35mm f/2, Tri-X, N-1, D-76
“Insofar as photography does peel away the dry wrappers of habitual seeing, it creates another habit of seeing: both intense and cool, solicitous and detached, charmed by the insignificant detail, addicted to incongruity.”
Susan Sontag, On Photography
