ATL In July

From a purely left-brain point-of-view, it seems that I did everything wrong with this photograph. I was using a grainy film with a half-frame camera on a hot and hazy day in Summer. What was I thinking? But the right brain tells me that the image itself works, and I am sure glad I have this particular moment recorded on a piece of film.

Tasting notes: Olympus Pen FT, 38mm f/1.8, Kodak XX film. 

Tense and Nervous, Can't Relax

Sometimes the world is a bit chaotic, and instead of seeing formal compositions I tend to notice tensions, conflict in the frame. I also tend to prefer monochrome, but sometimes color won't be denied... 

The Golden Hour Of My Golden Years

I suppose I am past my prime, but let me assure you that there was a time during my career when I traveled a lot. My golden years. At the time, these junkets seemed pretty swell, hopping on a plane and flying off to cool places like LA, Boston, or Honolulu to... uh... how best to describe it? I'd arrive at the place, check into my hotel and then my body would carry my brain from one meeting or talk to another for a couple of days. The views from the hotels were often a bit of a let down, but this view of a roof mounted air-conditioning unit was pretty spectacular in the warm light of the golden hour.

Getting To Know A Place

On my visit to Japan, I was taken with the landscape in the foothills near Nagano. The hills were very unique in their rounded form. I took a number of photographs, nothing really amazing, as I was really just getting to the place. Not to far from this location I saw some older folks playing mallet golf. Looks like an interesting sport, a hybrid of croquet and miniature golf.

Good light to you this weekend, fellow traveler.

A Rare Thing

Every once in a while I will find a new view of things in my yard, one that for some reason I've not noticed before. Not very often, but it'll happen from time to time. It helped that I was using a slightly longer focal length than I usually do, in this case, a 120mm lens on medium format film. As an aside, the Rollei 120mm f/5.6 S-Planar lens is a real gem that I became aware of by browsing old photobooks from the 1980s. I saw an inspiring photograph by an artist who must have had a pretty high profile at the time, but who doesn't show up in an internet search these days. Alas, that's likely the fate most of us have to look forward to.

Tasting notes: Rolleiflex SL66, Rollei 120mm f/5.6, Ilford FP4+.

Lemonade & Lemons

A few months ago, I heard someone mention the technique of aperture stacking, in which a series of images taken over a range of apertures is stacked together in software in order to improve depth-of-field in a composite photograph. In other words, an alternative to focus stacking for when your lens changes magnification as you shift the focus. Well, the aperture stacking thang didn't do nuttin' for me in this particular scenario. In fact, a single image seemed to work just fine, thankee very much. I'll keep looking.

Beyond The Pale, Close To The Edge

Several months ago, a firmware update was issued for one of my cameras that enabled a photographer to combine nine individual photographs of a given subject taken in rapid succession into one extremely high resolution image. Several hundred megapixels of resolution... For things to work out well, of course, it is critical that the camera and subject not move at all during the data acquisition process. So, naturally, I wanted to find out what would happen if I intentionally moved the camera during the taking of the multi-image sequence. I think it is interesting to see what happens at the edges of the envelope, beyond the pale, near the thin ice, so to speak. Experiments. Sometimes useful. Always fun.    

Expired

The flower was on its way to becoming expired, but the film was actually expired. But only by about a year, which usually doesn't matter much, if at all, to the output. But this roll had some weirdness, like ghosting from the backing paper and splotchy grain. But for this image, at least, I think it worked out okay. An interesting surprise, and a truly one-of-a-kind image. I don't think most folks would try to use AI for this sort of thing, but who knows. 

The Importance of Optics

The other day I found an old close up filter laying on a shelf in the studio, so I placed it on one of my lenses and grabbed a few high magnification frames of the hydrangeas in our garden. I like the pastel color and overall softness of the rendering. This experience reminded me of how I use a camera and lens to interact with the world around me. 

Old Film Cameras And Classic Cars

The Rolleiflex SL66 is by far my favorite medium format film camera to shoot in practice, but my copy is getting pretty long in the tooth. Wearing out in other words. So, I recently picked up a parts camera and am starting to do what a friend of mine does for his classic cars, namely, cannibalize the beater to restore the stronger of the two cameras to as close to pristine as I can. I took the frankencamera (still a work in progress) out for a test run using a roll of Ilford FP4+. I'm getting properly exposed and focused negatives so far.

Tasting notes: Rolleiflex SL66, Zeiss 120mm Planar-S lens, FP4+ developed in DD-X. 

Baby It's Hot Outside

The shadows are long and the light is soft, but the sun is still blazing and it is hot outside. Will we soon get to the point where most daylight photography is taken from inside our climate controlled bubbles while the bulk of human activity, including photography, shifts to the evening hours? 

Here's to good light this weekend, fellow traveler.

Double Exposure -- Four Times As Difficult?

Most of my double exposures don't work out all that spectacularly well, like the rest of my photographs, I suppose. The two images just don't mesh for some reason. Are the chances of success twice as poor? Four times? Regardless, I really enjoyed the way this little experiment turned out, mainly because it is kind of hard to tell that it is actually a double exposure. The only adjustment was a sepia tone.

Crepe Myrtles In July

This year it seems as if time has accelerated, in my neck of the woods anyway. I looked up and noticed that the crepe myrtles were in full bloom, meaning it must be July. I had a roll of expired film in my Rolleiflex SL66. The otherwise nice images were marred by marks from the backing paper. I suppose I could take them out in Photoshop, but on the other hand, maybe they just add a little character.

Tasting notes: Rolleiflex SL66, 80mm f/2.8 Zeiss lens, expired Foma Retro 320.

Dog Days

It is hard for me to believe now, but when I was younger and living in Austin, TX, I would not hesitate to hop on my bicycle and do a hundred mile training ride in the middle of the summer. It would be in the low 80s already as the sun was coming up and would be approaching the century mark at about the same time that I was. In those days, I could do a century ride in a little over 4 hours on a good day and with a friend to help pull. 

Coffee, Memory, Photography

What is it about holding a mug of fresh coffee in your hands? A hot cuppa is part of many folks's morning ritual. A time to have a think, to wake up, and possibly to jump start your peristalsis. This coffee mug reminds me of the ones they used to have in the old Chock Full O'Nuts places in NYC. I know several people who kept their CFON cups as souvenirs. In fact, maybe that's why Chock Full O'Nuts went out of business - they couldn't keep enough mugs in stock... 

The Power of Multiples

We've all heard about the wisdom of crowds, and in a similar vein, it sometimes seems that a collection or group of similar things can make for a more impactful and interesting image than a single object can. If the display had consisted of the main dress in front, I would probably walked on by. But the collection of similar dresses really engaged me visually, so I made a photograph.   

Love Me Some Texture

Typically, I will bring a small camera of some sort with me to events or outings. Just in case. But what I've found over the years is that I normally don't get many amazing photographs in these situations. In some sense, I think, photography is a solitary pursuit that requires your full attention. But I did find some interesting textures and patterns in the gallery we visited yesterday evening. I feel pretty certain I'll be able to use these for something in the future.  

Reflections On One Thousand

As it seemingly is now, back in the '90s thrifting was also incredibly popular, and I remember going to several huge venues near the Atlanta airport once a month or so. We'd often come home with a nice haul of mid-century gems. That's how we were able to get started furnishing a house, thrifting. At any rate, after a few years, the pickings got pretty slim and I guess we got bored. This time around, I'm enjoying the photographic opportunities more than acquiring any additional stuff.

Good light this weekend, fellow traveler, reflected or not. Also, we here at Albus&Fergie World Headquarters are celebrating the milestone of 1000 posts. The hope is that you've been distracted from work at least a little bit and that you spent that time thinking about your art for a few extra nanoseconds a day.   

Monster Light For Insomniacs

During the day, sunlight projects shadows down onto this wooden screen, but at night the LEDs provide monster lighting from their positions close to the ground. It is a little creepy to see these larger than life projections in the middle of the night. It doesn't really help that we watch a lot of British crime shows, I suppose. 

Like Quiche, Maybe

I saw an article in the NYTimes about how cottage cheese is having a bit of a moment. Not since the seventies has it been as popular as it is right now. Which I think is a good thing cuz I like a bowl of cottage cheese every now and then. Similarly, I've noticed a lot more potted ferns decorating porches around my neck of the woods lately. Could be the fern bar be on the verge of a rebirth? I hope so, because, you know, quiche. 

The Joys Of Home Ownership

I'd never rent a place unless I really had to, if I hit a dry spell money wise, or needed a hip replacement. You see, I like having all my crap near by. That's how I keep my projects organized. I'm a visual person. I look out the window and see all my shit right there. Different projects are different piles under different trees. Keep it simple sir.

Out Of Touch?

Somehow, grunge has lost its appeal. Not that I’ve started loving gentrification because I haven’t. I suppose I just feel that everything just slightly misses the mark is all. Maybe I’ve passed my expiration date and am out of touch with the culture.

Zen Garden

It is often still possible to find a quiet spot to experience a peaceful moment or two alone, a place without the smell of cigarettes or weed, a place without piss stains, crack vials, and used syringes, a place not covered by closed circuit television cameras. But it seems undeniable that we are outgrowing our infrastructure. It is strange to think that this could be the most meditative little spot in America.

The Great Curve

At the time I made this photograph, I was working for someone else, a thing I did too much of for far too long. Which meant that the plan for the day was to spend a significant number of hours indoors, sitting in a windowless room, listening to a group of assholes wearing tight golf shirts gassing on about some topic or other. While also looking at their overstuffed powerpoint slides. All senses engaged. Luckily my ass was getting kind of sore, and plus, I was not really looking forward to either the curried tilapia or the smothered chicken breast options for lunch. So, I called an audible and went for a long bathroom break and wander. The observation that the two building shadows were intersecting with the curve on the wall at one unique point in the space-time continuum was the most interesting thing that happened to me that day.   

 

Social Distancing

I always found the competitive atmosphere among the parents at kiddie baseball to be a tad toxic for my liking. I much prefer the relaxed vibe of a low level minor league baseball game. To cope, I would meander around the field photographing the action and whatever else caught my eye. In this image, the crazy patterns of chain link and netting are what grabbed me. It was a hot May evening in Austin, TX.

Summer sure can be tough for photography. Here's to good light this weekend, fellow traveler.  

Twisted

Shooting with a wide angle lens can lead to all kinds of problems. In modern digital cameras, the geometric distortions are usually corrected automatically, but when shooting on film, you get to see your lens's faults recorded for posterity, so to speak, along with the subject of your photograph. Of course, you can correct your scans a little bit if you are so inclined. In this case, too, the ravages of time have contributed to some of the sag.

Tasting notes: Leica R8, 35mm Summicron; Ektar 100, summer.

Remembering Darkroom Prints

The other day, I was rearranging stuff in the studio to make room for some old prints. Ah, the endless task of finding places to store old work more efficiently... Anyway, among the various piles o' crap was one of the first prints I ever made in the darkroom. I'm sure the image was captured on Tri-X and developed in Rodinal with couple tablespoons of Sodium Sulfite added, as was my habit back then. The thing is, the print was actually a bit green. Not pure black and white. Black ain't really black and white ain't really white, as any decent painter knows. So I tried to replicate that look in one of my monochrome digital files by adding some color back in. You gotta smile.

Hello Old Friend

The old Super Takumar 50mm f/1.4 lens from Pentax is a particular favorite of mine that unfortunately spends too much time sitting on the shelf. Over the years, I've taken a few of my favorite images with that lens! So the other day, I went ahead and slapped it on the front of one of my old Spotmatic cameras and shot a roll of Fujifilm Acros. The lens never disappoints; quite the opposite, really. I'm always surprised at how much I like the images it produces. And the old Spotty keeps on ticking just like an old Timex watch.

Happy Fourth of July!

Kaizen

This year, our hosta garden appears to be thriving. Sometimes it is a good thing to have well-defined subject matter so that you can concentrate on composition and tonality. What I discovered on this particular shoot is that it was quite a bit more difficult than I expected to come up with an interesting composition. Work in progress.

Ninety Five Degrees In The Shade

Sometimes your best option is to seek out some shade and try to stay as cool as you can. It was eleven o'clock in the morning and already in the mid-nineties. Even so, I wanted to walk a bit further to photograph an old barn, but a mean looking dog stepped out of the shadows and stared me down and I'm afraid I blinked first. 

Ten Years After

Memory being what it is (poor, in general, I mean), I can't be sure, but I think my brother had an album or two by the group Ten Years After. Can't remember them myself. But, the name has a nice ring to it, I think. And it is, according to Wikipedia (soon to be replaced by AI apparently) apparently a nod to Elvis Presley. Alas, I ramble. Stream of consciousness. Anyway, I took this image a decade ago somewhere in Idaho. My own private Idaho. Another obscure-ish cultural reference, I suppose. Really? What seems like a stream of consciousness actually could be more deterministic that one might think. It's the same brain after all. If you dig. This is really more of a poem, if I'm honest.