Vision thang

During the pandemic, like most people probably, I've logged significantly more screen time than before, and I've noticed that after about a year and a half, it takes just a little longer for my eyes to readjust to normal viewing distances than it did before. The other morning, I did a little experiment where I tried to simulate what the view through the living room window looks like to me after about an hour spent scrolling on the iPad. I used the 'in camera' multiple exposure feature on my little digital camera along with manual focus and I got pretty close. 

Omicron rising

Have you ever explored the various curated collections that Apple Photos creates for you? Mostly they are fun, if not downright silly, but I do like to think about the choices that seemingly make no sense, and try to figure out why Siri made a particular selection. Like this image. It popped up in my 'Flowers' collection this morning. What?! I have to say, it does sort of capture the sense of foreboding I'm feeling about things at the moment. Just when we thought it was safe to go back in the water... Rolleiflex SL66, 80mm lens, Tri-X.

Transplants

Judging by the number of old exhaust systems splayed out across the tarmac, I suppose there must be a decent amount of money to be made in recycling old parts from totaled vehicles these days. Either that, or folks are just scraping by and they are getting creative just to survive.  

Garden rose

Sometimes the speed at which a freshly cut rose starts to drop its petals is a bit shocking. They look so stable on the plant! And sometimes, too, it seems that the more beautiful a flower is when picked, the less time it sticks around for you to admire. Well, at least one moment in this flower's existence has been captured as an image. I'm hoping that the little rose bud will start to open soon.

The four horsemen revisited...

Years ago, I saw a cartoon - probably in The New Yorker - that showed the four major Fall holidays represented by the four horsemen of the apocalypse. It seemed a bit contrived to me because, in my view, no way is Thanksgiving an apocalyptic holiday. But a new version of the cartoon in which Thanksgiving replaced with Black Friday might actually work really well.

Anyway, hope the light is good wherever you spend Black Friday.

Picture Window

A couple of years ago, I came home to find this young turkey hanging out in the yard, literally a few feet from our picture window. So, naturally, I made a photograph. At the time, I thought it was a little unusual to see a wild turkey in the front yard, but just this morning I read an article in The Washington Post about turkeys hanging out on college campuses and similar safe spaces. I guess our neighborhood must seem pretty hospitable to a wild turkey. Alas, appearances can be deceiving, because today we'll be dining on one of his relatives.

Single petal

One of my favorite jazz tunes is 'Single Petal of a Rose' by Duke Ellington. But my favorite version of the tune by far is the one recorded live at Kitano's in NYC by Frank Kimbrough a few years ago. I was hoping to catch him live at one point, but sadly that isn't going to happen. This image was recorded using a new Sigma 30mm f/1.4 lens with an old school design and rendering. Classic, like Ellington.

The satisfactions of downward facing dog

Sometimes practice is rewarding in its own right. Just executing a seemingly straightforward photograph where the technical aspects are achieved to your liking can be quite grounding, like nailing a downward facing dog in yoga. You end the session knowing that your muscles got a proper stretch that day. In this case, there was focus stacking and exposure blending to contend with, in addition to lighting and composition. Issues faced everyday by those of us who work in this medium. 

Still life with lunch

It is the time of the year for Satsuma oranges. I think they go really well paired with a lunch that is served up in a fine black bento box. This box is a daily driver, but I also have some boxes in my collection that are a little too nice for actual food.

Rituals and memories

I can't remember anymore how we got started on this little ritual, but for a short period of time, I used to take my son with me to the car wash on Saturday mornings, mainly, I think, to get out of the house for a bit. He seemed to enjoy being enveloped in the cascades of water and soap, I certainly did, and I would also end up taking a few snaps of the micro-drama being played out on the windshield. At the time, I thought these were fun little abstracts to make, but now I find that they trigger memories of our excursions. It's funny how that works.

Photo haiku

 

By this time in the history of the medium, I suspect that most serous photographers are familiar with Garry Winogrand's famous statement that he made photographs in order 'to see what things look like when photographed'. Every once in a while, one finds that even the most quotidian scene or fleeting moment in the world looks pretty amazing when photographed.

Seeing things

The last storm that came through the area did some serious damage to the trees. But there are also branches that broke and didn't fall all the way to the ground. Months later, they remain suspended mid-fall. This branch has the form of a figure, which I thought was worth remembering.

I hope your weekend is memorable and that the light is interesting, too.

Time heals all wounds

I'm sure the young love birds spending time beneath this tree thought their carvings would last longer than they actually have, not that many of them have returned to verify. The tree is turning their marks into scars over time, and these mysterious forms are in some way more interesting, I think, than the originals. The Fujifilm GA645Zi is a really nice camera to bring along on a hike. With the slow speed film I used on this occasion, it is kind of hard to tell whether this is a digital or a film image. These days, I'm tending to prefer more grain and other analog properties in my film images. If I want a grainless high fidelity look, I can achieve that with one of my digital cameras.

A match made in heaven

A number of years ago, I purchased the cheapest Leica lens I could find, a copy of the 50mm screw mount Elmar from the early 1950s. Believe it or not, back then, the price was only about $150. My intent was to adapt it to one of my digital mirrorless cameras. When I finally got around to shooting with it, though, I was pretty underwhelmed with the results, and the lens was relegated to the back of a shelf in my studio. Much later, I picked up a copy of the Leica IG that was in perfect condition and decided to mount the old Elmar on it. In contrast to the behavior on digital, the film results were quite enchanting, and so the two have been together ever since. 

Giant

For whatever reason, this old trailer sparked a train of thought about drive-in theaters. I've never actually been to a drive-in theater, at least not that I can remember, but of course, I am aware of them as a fixture of mid 20th century culture. I kind of wish they would make a comeback, as I would much prefer the experience of watching a movie from the comfort of my car with its killer sound system, than have to breath the same air as a bunch of other folks in an enclosed cinema. Actually, once when I was living in Austin, TX, I remember sitting outside watching the movie 'Giant' projected onto the wall of nearby warehouse.

Accept

Sometimes it feels as if photography is a struggle between the photographer and their preconceived notions about what a photograph should look like. An image about Fall color needs to show a tree in a pristine woodland environment. So, my initial approach was to try to frame this shot in a way that excluded the traffic signs. In the end, though, out of all the images I made, I preferred the one that shows the Fall color in its actual environment. I did exclude the miserable little house that looks like a pizzeria from the frame, however.

Baldessari's persimmons

We recently discovered a wild persimmon tree growing on our property, and the fruit is ripening this season. What I want to know is, what are the odds of three wild persimmons arranging themselves in a straight line like this?  

They sure don't make 'em like they used to...

... which is probably a really good thing, if I'm being honest. But that being said, this sweet old truck is hard to resist, and I'm pretty sure I could keep it running well far into the future, all on my own. Who knows, these older vehicles might catch on again as EVs gain in popularity and the internal combustion engine goes the way of, shall we say, cellulose nitrate based film. 

SERVICE!

Whenever the rotten 'SERVICE' light comes on in my vehicle, a sense of dread begins to permeate my being, building over time as the color of the LEDs goes from yellow to bright red. Ignore at your own risk. The last time it came on, I was out over $3K in repairs. Fortunately, this time it was just a few hundred dollars. And of course, I can always do a little photo walk while I'm waiting for the work to be completed.

I hope you find interesting light wherever you may find yourself this weekend. 

Eat your own dogma

Old habits sure do die hard. One of the habits that was most difficult for me to change is the notion of cropping in post production. I was raised on the idea that getting the framing right in camera was the only option for a serious photographer. The lens image was somehow sacred. The real problem is that early on I was too easily swayed by the loud mouthed advocates one kind of dogma or another. Avoiding conflict is one of the characteristics of being an introvert. These days I just do what I please and let folks eat their own dogma.

The eternal quest for the perfect EDC camera

This photograph was taken on one of the coldest days I ever spent in NYC. The bitter cold was only made worse by the polar winds howling down the avenues -- the wind tunnel effect. Yes, I had a camera with me but there were very few people on the streets, and I was actually more interested in walking to keep warm than I was in making photographs. But I did think this cool apartment building in the east fifties was worth slowing down for. 

Shot with a Panasonic LX-100 digital camera. I really really liked the lens on this little camera, as well as the handling, but it had a fatal flaw. Somehow, a lot of dust got sucked inside the camera and adhered to the sensor, and that was a real pain in the neck to deal with after a while. 

Mingling with the possums

I enjoy going out for an evening photo stroll as much as the next person, but I have to admit that the possum I encountered the other night scared the crap out of me. You see, I've cleaned up a few rotting possum corpses over the years, so I know how large and sharp their teeth actually are. Luckily, the possum gave me a wide berth, so things didn't escalate. 

Noticing

 

The morning light skimmed in through the big window in the living room, low in the sky but still intense, and created these dramatic shadows on the living room table. The collection of ceramics was already arranged in a pleasing manner, so the only requirement was noticing. I was reading the news but I got up off my skinny ass and worked the shot. I had had my fill of the doom scrolling and was ready to make some images. The other thing I noticed was how dusty everything was; the bunnies are out of control, but I cleaned up the worst of their handiwork with a few mouse clicks in Photoshop.

Trust

You've put in the effort and it is time to trust your instincts. I've never been much of a fan of the so-called grand landscape, much preferring to respond to how my local patch makes me feel on a given day. Once in a while, you may come back home with something that resonates, captures how you felt. And that will be a good day.

Season to taste

Many of the older homes in our area have multiple varieties of maple trees dotting their yards. I guess there was a big interest in Japanese design, including maples and koi ponds, in the 1950s. The trees planted in the '50s are mature now, full of character, and interesting to photograph. I particularly enjoy lighting them using the little on-camera flash that comes with some lower end cameras. One of the things I have observed about camera design over the years is that many of the 'non-professional' models have a small flash unit built in, while the so-called 'flagships' do not. It is really convenient to be able to use fill flash from time to time without having to carry a separate piece of gear.

 

Little problems

Just like trying to craft a decent paragraph, I've been working on a way of achieving a pleasing contrast between this large leaf magnolia and the trees behind it for some time now. Because they are both green, it has taken me a couple of years, but finally the stars aligned and I have a workable solution in hand that didn't require too much post-processing or the application of special sauce. The two overlapping trees's leaves are changing at just the right rate this season. Another issue I've been grappling with is imitating the look of faded Velvia slide film in my digital files. My reference is an old used book I picked up on eBay. So faded prints of old Velvia. I'm not after high fidelity, it was just a point of departure. Sometimes, wrestling with little problems like these is the only tangible thing you come away with after a full eight hours in the studio. I am kind of okay with that.

Good light this weekend!

Contax G lenses on digital: clunky but cool

I purchased an old Contax G1 before all the insanity with these cameras kicked in and they became somewhat precious objects for the second time. These days, I don't shoot this old camera as often as I should out of fear that it might turn in to a brick at a moment's notice. Which is kind of a shame because the lenses are nothing short of phenomenal. Most old film lenses can be adapted using an inexpensive dumb adapter -- essentially a light tight tube. However, in order to use these old Contax lenses with your digital camera you'll need to find an adapter that couples to the primitive 1990s screwdrive autofocusing mechanism. You can imagine my delight when I found an old adapter at the bottom of a drawer! I immediately attached the 28 mm lens to my cropped sensor camera and got reacquainted with this lovely chunk of vintage glass. One of my subjects was a low light shot of my two favorite chairs. That's what happens when you make an important discovery after the sun goes down.

Going down

I was waiting for the elevator and saw this scene out of the corner of my eye. I had a 35mm lens on the Leica R8 but I took the shot anyway. Anyway... I mean because I knew I would have to crop heavily, and that is a no no in certain photography circles. Ah well, whatever, not the circles I travel in. The shot works for me.

Pixel peeping film negatives?

Sometimes a test shot ends up growing on you, and you find yourself liking it as more than just fodder for pixel peeping and analysis. Such was the case here. On this afternoon, I grabbed the big 6x9 Fuji camera, knowing that I would only need to find eight compositions for my test of Ilford SFX 200. I've used it with an IR cut filter before, but on this outing, I wanted to see how the SFX did when used as a conventional film (in other words, without a filter). I liked the way the film rendered the waxy magnolia leaves illuminated by the afternoon sun and I also enjoyed how the film handled the shadow areas. Not sure it really makes sense to use such a specialized emulsion as my daily driver but one certainly could.  

Taking a deep dive on a single film emulsion?

One of the aspects of shooting film that I really enjoy is the wide variety of interesting emulsions on the market. Over the past five years, I've tended to try as many films as possible, and I've sure had a lot of fun doing that. Recently, though, I've been considering settling down and spending some quality time with a single emulsion, digging in, and just getting to know it inside and out for several months. For one thing, I'd like to get reliable negatives to simplify my darkroom printing routine. Unfortunately, I'm having a hard time deciding on 'the one'. The two films that I have worked with most recently --Fomapan 100 and Ilford Delta 400 -- are amazing, but not what I'm looking for, somehow. 

Today's image was made on Delta 400, shot at box speed and developed normally in DD-X according to Ilford's instructions. It was converted using a Canon digital camera and adjusted in Photoshop. I used the Leicaflex SL mot and the original 50mm f/2 lens to capture the image. Candidly, this is a killer set up. But, the coolest new discovery I've made is related to how I dry my film. More on that later.