How To Eat a Persimmon

The first time I ever tried a persimmon, I thought it was a horrible, bitter thing. Then a friend mentioned to me that you’re supposed to peal ‘em before ya eat ‘em. Ahh… Since then, it’s become one of my favorite fruits. You really can’t beat a fresh persimmon and tomato salad, seasoned with salt and pepper and dressed simply with olive oil and lemon. 

Bugging Out

On a business trip a couple of years back, I skipped out of the conference I was attending for a couple hours to tour a fancy home. That is one of the secrets of career survival by the way, sneaking out. My eyes began to glaze over as the tour guides’ spiels dragged on, but just in the nick of time, I saw this giant insect out of the corner of my eye, and wandered over to check it out. It was mounted in a glass covered shadow box. I had to work quickly in case the docents caught me, but luckily, I was able to get a decent photograph of this 20 cm long monster.

What Humidity Looks Like

I absolutely love this image even though I hated taking it with every fiber of my being. Let me explain. With ancestors hailing from Lithuania and the United Kingdom, I generally try to avoid oppressive heat and humidity as much as possible. I hope it makes some sense that it is my great preference to visit the wonderful Gulf Coast beaches in the winter, not the summer. With current weather patterns, I have a feeling this could become more and more of a trend. The heat and humidity were so extreme on this day that it changed the optical rendering of the photograph. I think my camera did a fine job of capturing the experience.

Good light to you this weekend.

 

More Than One Way To Skin A Cat

As a cat lover, I definitely have mixed feelings about the Mark Twain quote (title) but it is apropos of today's post. Specifically, there are several alternative ways to produce multiple images if you don't want to work in camera. For this experiment, I took a walk in the woods, making eight exposures using my Fujifilm BL690 film camera. I collaged two of the 6x9 cm negatives together on a light table, and then rephotographed the ‘sandwich’ using a digital camera, and inverted them in Photoshop. 

Start Anywhere

Here is a quick snapshot of me thumbing through my book of photographs by Richard Pousette-Dart. The artist was particularly fond of using the double exposure for portraits, as in this photograph of Betty Parsons made in 1948 illustrates. Oh, and opening up the current edition of Aperture magazine, I see an example of double exposure in the work of Duane Michals.

 
Learn how to take multiple exposures on your camera or create them in software. "Start anywhere", as John Cage said. If you don't like the results you get, practice more or move on. 

Tasting notes: Olympus E-500 camera with it's Kodak CCD sensor and the 35 mm macro lens.

How To Swing

Here's a photograph of me holding my copy of 'Eye, Mind, Spirit', featuring the work of Minor White. A double exposure photograph he made in the early 1950s.

Anyway, how do you learn to photograph? Well, how do you learn to play jazz? Everyone I've ever spoken to or taken lessons from, says essentially the same thing. 

First, listen to the great players, a lot. Second, imitate (transcribe). Third, practice (a lot). Fourth, trust in the process. Sure, if you just play a bunch of notes from the altered scale over a dominant chord, that might sound gimmicky. The key is to internalize ideas, and then let them express themselves organically in your playing. Over time, you'll start to notice that you're swinging your ass off.

 
Tasting notes: Olympus E-330, 25 mm f/2.8 lens.

Dummy

This week at Albus & Fergie we are going to spend some time thinking about the multiple exposure in photography. Why? Because of a dummy. A dummy on the internet (shocker), a dummy who should know better (shocker). A dummy who fancies himself an expert, a gatekeeper (it's always a him, isn't it, shocker). A dummy who charges a month's salary to attend one of his workshops (shocker). This person has the annoying tendency to say ridiculous things as a part of his effort to sound clever and funny (shocker). For example, that the multiple exposure is a gimmick. 

I got to thinking about it, and I beg to differ. The multiple exposure has a long and interesting history in photography. I would go so far as to say that the multiple exposure is as much a property of the medium of photography as the lens image itself, and has been successfully put into practice by a number of prominent photographers.

Today's image isn't really a double exposure at all, but a simple reflection. Reflection with dummy.

Portals

Portals make for interesting photographs, and I sure have plenty of 'portal shots' sitting around on my hard drives. Maybe one day... This digital IR shot was made when I first purchased my used IR camera and didn't have any lenses for it. I grabbed an old vintage 50 mm lens and just held it in front of the camera. The other problem I had was that my camera is so old that it doesn't have a live screen. Oops. So I had to take a few test shots to dial in the focus, then play with free-lensing. It was an interesting experiment and this portal actually looks like it may go somewhere interesting.

Retouching for Beautiful Skin

This little frog stopped by the house last night for a visit. I saw it hanging on the bedroom window and decided to grab a quick photo. I happened to have a Petzl headlamp nearby, so I quickly put it on to illuminate the subject. I am sure I looked ridiculous, but no one was around, the frog seemed indifferent, and the result was pretty cool. For the heck of it, I decided to use one of the skin retouching presets in Lightroom to put the finishing touches on the image. 

 I think the frog would be pleased with the result.

Old Topographics

Superficially, this scene might look like something Lewis Baltz could have encountered on his travels. But, of course, we are nearly fifty years on from when the New Topographic photographers were out documenting the country. Over the course of a half century, the landscaping has been neglected, a few electrical feedthroughs have been patched onto the building facades, and things appear to need a little TLC. TLC ain't coming. Folks seem to prefer new construction to sprucing up what we already have. I like the old stuff. I could totally see this little building as a pretty sweet studio. It's just too far from my house is all.

Good light to you this weekend, fellow traveler.

Elbow Room

I used to seek out seating areas like this one whenever I was feeling visually overloaded during a visit to the museum. The other day we were at the High, when instead of experiencing visual overload, I felt the need to physically separate myself from the clog of visitors looking at the art. You see, during the height of the pandemic, it seems I got rather used to having more elbow room at museums -- everywhere really. Alas, those days are over.

 
Tasting notes: Canon M6ii, 22 mm f/2 lens.

Out of My Comfort Zone

Temperatures here in the Deep South have been pretty seasonal for the most part this summer. In other words, about ten degrees cooler than in the UK at the moment. That said, the humidity has also been a bit higher than usual, so, all things considered, the level of comfort is still pretty miserable, with the heat index hovering around 105 F every afternoon. At least the clouds are looking mighty fine these days. 

Tasting notes: Olympus EP2, Olympus 25 mm f/1.8, Silver Efex Pro. 

Cadillac Cyclone

A number of years ago now, there was a pretty interesting exhibition of automobiles at the High Museum in Atlanta. I particularly liked this Cadillac Cyclone concept car. I wouldn't have minded taking it around the block for a spin if I'm completely honest. Right. So, I took a photo instead. Unfortunately, photographing cars at exhibits is a bit daunting due to the lighting and the crowds. Fast forward a few years, and modern editing software has improved to the point where I can get the image to reasonable state without really breaking a sweat.

This photograph was made using the much maligned Canon EOS M (the original one). Turns out, camera reviews are not all that dissimilar from car reviews in that they often end up driving public opinion to the mean. Sure, the M had the ergonomics of a bar of soap, but I loved it anyway. 

Seat of the Pants

It is curious that so many small drain pipes were installed right in the middle of this otherwise featureless white facade. And the spacing seems, let's just say, a little random. Good, old fashioned, seat of the pants construction. Fifty plus years on, though, and I'm seeing it as wabi sabi. That's what drew me to this particular composition any way.

Tattoo U

Out photographing before business hours, watching the start of the day unfold, shadows on a storefront catch my eye. Sometimes images are intended to stand alone; other times, you know they will be part of a sequence. A sequence that may not even exist yet. A kind of visual modulation. In the meantime, a pleasant enough experience.

A Chance Encounter With Beauty

When I saw the leaves and their shadows, my first thought was that some artistically inclined person had pinned them up above their studio door. I had noticed the regular spacing... But, it turned out to be a simple dead vine that had grown toward the sun. Either way, worthy of a photo. The light was so nice yesterday after the heavy rain. Not typical for July at all.

That Place We Went

To me, this looks like a place where a certain generation of young folks went at night to drink, hang out and all the rest. It is a pretty familiar story. The building is located in a secluded part of town and, when I photographed it, was covered with old signage and new graffiti. Then, a few years ago, someone bought the property and started a major renovation project. Today, it's been transformed into a family's home. There will be plenty of new memories, I am sure. But for a slightly older group, it'll always be 'that place we went in high school'.

Good light to you this weekend, fellow traveller.

The Milk and Sugar Vibe

You wouldn't catch me putting on a seersucker suit no matter how hot it is outside. Sorry, it just isn't my thing. Makes you look like you might be up to something. According to the dictionary, seersucker comes from the Persian for milk and sugar. I'll keep the milk and sugar for my coffee, thanks just the same. Now, as far as the plaid shirts in the background, I pretty comfortable with that. Yes sir.

Grid and Vine

For about 15 years I regularly attended a conference in the Los Angeles area. It was my favorite professional conference for many years, but alas, nothing lasts forever...  One of the perks was sneaking out to visit the Getty Museum to take photographs and look at the art. What caught my eye in this winter scene was the superimposition of the geometric grid created by the blocks and the more organic, natural form produced by the vines.

Tasting notes: Canon 6D, 35 mm f/2.

Ignoring the Gatekeepers

This image is never going to hang on the wall of a famous museum -- it's more of a sketchbook snap -- but I still re-learned an important lesson by taking a second look and reprocessing it recently. My original approach to the edit was to force the result to conform to my mental concept rather than being open to what was actually present in the file and bringing that out. The other funny thing is that I was so hung up on technical flaws like blown highlights. Listening to self-appointed gatekeepers is okay I suppose, as long as you choose to ignore most of what they say. Become your own gatekeeper, I reckon that's the goal.

Getting Better, Getting Worse?

Do you ever go back through your really old images and think, 'Sheesh, I'm a worse photographer today than when I first picked up a camera'! Yeah, me too. Nothing to fret about, I don't think, as I'm pretty sure this is an example of cognitive bias. You tend to ignore all the crap in your image archive, choosing instead to fawn over the forgotten gem you just stumbled across. Enjoy the positive feelings of discovering a long lost jewel and then get back into the studio and trust your process. You'll soon come up with something new and shiny that puts everything in perspective. Enjoy the journey.

What Is It?

There are times I wish I knew more about botany. Not many, but a few. I'd like to be able to explain what is going on with the red leaf in this photograph, for instance. Turns out people are legitimately curious about the subject matter of photographs. I've been asked, 'what is it?' even in the case of abstract photographs. I'll let them guess a few times before spilling the beans.

The funny thing is, I was a botany major in college for my first semester. But I quickly learned that I had a real knack for killing plants and decided to move on to other topics. So, I guess I'll never know for sure about that red leaf. These days, I'd just photograph it with my iPhone and be able to learn what's going on right away.

Tasting notes: Canon EOS 6D digital camera. I really loved that thing. Man.

The Best Kept Vintage Secret: Cameras

A few months ago, I decided to pick up a copy of the Olympus EP2 from 2009. I think it is a beautiful object, an example of classic industrial design. And, you know what, I don't mind looking good walking down the road with a sweet camera slung over my shoulder waiting for something cool to happen. Vintage seems to be having a bit of a moment, so why not add classic cameras to the mix?

Surprises, Pleasant

In a world filled with tough news and unpleasant surprises, I am very grateful for my photographic practice. Anyway, I bought my copy of the Pentax KP comfort camera right before it was canceled, and got a very good price indeed. My concept was that I would use it as a platform to explore the well-regarded line of so-called 'limited' lenses. You see, I had never owned a Pentax digital camera before and I was curious. I was very pleasantly surprised at just how good the image files were. Then, at one point, I also picked up a copy of the 100 mm macro lens which has an unusual field of view of about 150 mm on the APS sensor. As it turns out, I really enjoy this perspective on the world. It is funny how that works.  

 
Good light this weekend fellow traveller, regardless of your field of view.

Materiality

Materiality is a long-standing photographic interest of mine. What I mean is, I like taking photographs of the surfaces and textures of the material world. If I ever felt so inclined, I could probably put together a pretty nice photographic library of materials and textures. Maybe I should do that, just for myself. Does materiality play an important role in your work?

Impressions

I enjoy experiencing photographs together with music...

What's your favorite version of On Green Dolphin Street? I recently discovered a Bill Evans recording I hadn't heard before that featured this tune. It is a trio setting with P.C. and Philly Joe Jones. Killin'.

Old Camera, New Camera

Here's an interesting and easy-to-perform experiment to try at some point on your photographic journey. Maybe it can help you home in on the technical aspects of photography that actually matter the most to you. I was actually more than a little bit surprised at my findings...

So, getting right into it, the three images presented here were taken using three Canon digital cameras spanning 20 years of research and development. They are representative images only, chosen from hundreds of possible candidates. The first image was made using the venerable D30, which came out in 2000, making it Canon's first 21st Century digital camera. The middle shot was captured using the Canon 5D from 2005, and the last image was snapped using the R5 from 2020. Generate your data set using the cameras and lenses that matter to you...

Once you have all of your data in hand, the first task is to take note of all the quantifiable differences you can find and determine their origin. Learning the various tells is one of the benefits of the exercise.

 
Cutting to the chase, as an old boss of mine used to say, I learned that I was able to pick out the impact of all the typical spec sheet factors pretty easily: sensitivity, resolution, dynamic range, white balance, all of that. And, as expected, technology appears to have improved the most between the D30 and the 5D, to my eyes anyway. So the data makes sense! But, while definitely noticeable, the sensor parameters are not the ones that turned out to be the most important to me.

So, what was the critical factor in the real world? Autofocus accuracy and precision. If the focus is off, the image is ruined. Game over (another boss). Even for a static subject like a flower arrangement.

And We Could Be Heroes

Do you ever wonder if your photographic heroes would make the same kinds of images today as they did during their lifetimes had they only been born a few decades later -- say at the same time as you? Coming up in today's world, would they still be famous artists, or would they be toiling in obscurity like the rest of us poor schlubs? Would Cartier-Bresson be walking the streets of Paris carrying an iPhone and posting multiple times a day on TikTok? Would Aaron Siskind still be shooting abstract images that resemble expressionist paintings, or would he have pursued the more documentary style of his younger days?

Heroes are great, just be sure to save time for yourself to go out and make some photographs of your own. Who knows, someone could be looking up at you, if just for one day. 

Not Your Father's Instant Camera

It took me about a year of noodling around, but I have finally arrived at a solution that brings my instant photography game into the modern age. And is pleasant to work with. The truth is, I haven't been particularly happy with the current version of Polaroid instant film exposed using my vintage SX-70. On the other hand, while it seems that Fuji's Instax film is the best current option, their cameras are, shall we say, pretty bare bones affairs. 

The monstrosity pictured above is the solution I've come up with, and is comprised of a 100 mm f/3.5 Mamiya Press lens, a Cameradactyl 3D printed body, and a Lomograflok film back. The benefits of this system on paper are the quality of the lens and the exposure control it offers. We'll see how it works in practice over the holiday weekend...

What's Your Daily Driver?

Over the years, I've heard plenty of stories about famous photographers using macro lenses instead of a conventional 'standard' lens. For instance, apparently Salgado had a 60 mm macro lens permanently attached to his Leica reflex camera while he kept wide angle optics on his rangefinders. This approach kind of makes sense, provided the field of view of the macro lens isn't too narrow. I enjoy shooting this way because it allows you to get in close, too. 

In the case of the Pentax 67, my favorite lens is the 135 mm f/4 Macro. You don't hear much about this lens, and I don't know any stories of famous photographers using it. Today, folks tend to favor the 105 mm lens because of it's large maximum aperture, but as far as I am concerned the 135 is a pretty solid choice as a daily driver.

Make a Book

Do you make photo books on a regular basis? I do because I really enjoy finding relationships among my photos when creating sequences. With print on demand, it’s so inexpensive it seems almost silly not to experiment with books. The last time I used Magcloud, it cost me a quarter per page. Two bits, as my old man used to say. I read somewhere that Stephen Shore made a series of around 80 self published books at one point. Totally makes sense to me.

Too, I’m hoping that after I’m gone, those that clean up my mess will have a good 😊.

Good light this weekend, fellow traveler.