Posts tagged ‘FTb’
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
Catching up on my Scanning
HP5, DD-X
Continuing to catch up on my scans while I’m on vacation. It will end far too soon.
Getting Ready for What Comes
HP5, DD-X, toned in Silver Efex
Happy New Year to everyone, and thanks for your feedback on the theme. A theme has been chosen (you should be looking at it right now), and we are still in the process of migrating everything over and setting up the true landing page.
I thought that rather than setting goals for 2012, it might be more revealing to review, from my perspective, what I think I learned last year.
Film
The biggest shift this year was the inclusion of two Kodak films in my regular shooting regimen: Plus-x and Tri-X. I don’t know why it took me so long to truly see what these films had to offer other than to just assume that my historical influences kept me from really considering the options (my film teacher loved FP4 back in the day). I remember talking to Ray about HP5 and how I loved the contrast. He replied “yup, but once you have it, it’s not easy to get rid of.” And, indeed, once I started to shoot a lot with Tri-X, what I loved about it was the more gentle approach to drawing the scene. Who would have thought? And now, of course, Ilford is doing well, business-wise, and Kodak is going down the tube. Sheesh. Not that I don’t like FP4 and HP5, mind, it’s just that timing is everything. And I’ve spent enough time pulling Plus-X that I have feeling for how it looks. Now I need to replay those experiments with FP4.I’m just hoping that when Kodak sells off its film business, someone buys it who can continue with it.
My tests with older-style films have been a mixed bag. Fomapan turned out well, I’m going to try it in medium format, but my two rolls of Adox 25 were developed at grossly inadequate times (those times were gotten from MDC) and are extremely thin. I haven’t tried scanning them yet, so they may be salvage-able. We’ll see.
Rollei Retro holds great promise, but I think I need a different developer besides D-76. My two rolls of Rollei Blackbird were totally fogged and useless. I suspect I know when they got fogged, but I’ll never be certain.
I like the old-style films because they move further away from a digital look. The more I can find a style and look of my own, the better.
I’ll talk about developers in the next post.
Today’s Image
This image was from a portrait shoot for a client last year, and was a candid shot I caught on film while they were prepping. The main shoot was captured on my 5D.
In Transition
Pan F, Rodinal, Nik Efex for interest
Back to the old theme for a day while some work is being done behind the scenes. Another shot from Weston Beach for your viewing pleasure. You’ll see an announcement when we’re at a point where you can look and comment.
Weston Rocks
Pan-F, Rodinal
Another image from the Weston Beach rolls. Auditioning yet another theme. Obviously the images in older posts are squished a bit (well, more than a bit).
Auditioning this theme today. If I went with this, I’d increase the image size; that’s the one thing I really liked about yesterday’s theme. BIG photos.
MYC.
Standing on Weston Beach
Rodinal, Pan-F
Last January I got my second chance to wander Weston Beach at Point Lobos, California. Although I’m not an expert on Weston’s history, I assume this beach was named after him based on some kind of info that he had spent a great deal of time on the beach, probably photographing the area.
This was shot #1 on roll #1 of two rolls I had never scanned. Both rolls I discovered as I was going through my backlog, which now consists of *only* 14 rolls of 35mm and 1 roll of medium format film.
Yikes. And I developed two rolls of Adox today, so that makes 16 rolls of 35mm to be scanned.
Good thing I’m on vacation.
Merry Christmas to all!
No Special Way
Vancouver, October 2011
“There is no special way a photograph should look.”
“The photograph is a thing in itself.”
– Gary Winogrand
Vancouver, Oct 2011
One of my goals in 2012 is to take a street photography workshop either with Peter Turnley or Mary Ellen Mark. My street work is ‘ok,’ but I really want it to improve.
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
Heading out to Vancouver tomorrow
Art Institute, Chicago. FTb, 50mm f/1.4, Tri-X, DD-X
((This post was supposed to be posted on Tuesday of last week. I would’ve sworn I posted it. But today when I began to work on a new post during my trip, WP told me this was still a draft. Crap.. Here ya go. I’m already in LA.))
Tomorrow I head out to Vancouver for a conference. I’m bringing both the 5D and the EOS 3 so I can shoot with the Contax lens. Having a digital with me will allow me to post some images in real-time from the trip.
After Vancouver I go to LA for a couple days and then I head back to Pittsburgh.
While I”m on the road, I’m going to try and post some thoughts on the teachings of Ben Lifson, a photographic mentor with whom I’ve never had the honor of speaking but whose thoughts about the nature of photography influence me a great deal.
Speak to you soon!
