A Rather Pleasant Encounter With A Couple Of Old Friends

I was rearranging some of the clutter in one of my studio cabinets the other day when I stumbled across an old lens I haven't used in literally ages. Somehow or other, I acquired a copy of the Nikkor 25-50mm f/4 zoom, a lens from the height of the film era ('70s -'80s). I can no longer remember why the heck I picked this thing up, but copies are in the $100 range these days. I used it in combination with my only Nikon digital camera, the venerable and also pretty long in the tooth D800 from over a decade ago. I guess it would also qualify as a classic, at least in digital terms. At any rate, I was using this combo to document the recently completed renovations of our house when I saw that one of our redbuds is in bloom. Shot wide open at f/4... Not bad for a 40+ year old manual focus optic and a 10+ year old camera. Pretty nice way to get into landscape photography for not a lot of money, it seems to me.

Anti-Epic (2)

We had a very pleasant hour-long hike through some undisturbed forest yesterday morning, ultimately coming to a spot with a nearly 180 degree view of a local lake. It is a piece of protected land, so there were no man-made vistas to be had. The view of the lake was veiled by the dense woodland growth. On the other hand, the lake itself is man made, so that complicates matters a little bit, I suppose. Well, anyway...

Quote Of The Day — “The Message Is A Visual One ”, Raymond Moore

‘The strange, suggestive forms of rock and sand, the brooding presence of the landscape and the almost surrealist interiors of old buildings are what provide me with visual equivalents to feeling, which I must have to justify a photograph. I am quite unable to explain why I choose particular objects in preference to others, it’s like asking a musician to explain or justify a series of notes. My concern anyway is often more with the shapes, tones and textures objects possess, rather than with any literary overtones they may contain. The message is a visual one.’

— Raymond Moore

In my experience anyway, the discussion of photographs these days is often, perhaps too often, framed in terms of concepts pertaining to written or spoken language. Narrative, referent/index, metaphor. As a counter to this kind of approach, it has been refreshing to observe that the previous generation of British landscape photographers pushed back on such literary frames. 

Slow Fall...

Down here, below the Mason-Dixon Line, fall foliage peaks about a month from now, maybe even a tad longer depending on conditions. Plenty of time to get out and look for beautiful locations. Still, there are promising signs of seasonal change all around, with many trees starting to turn yellow, adding nice color contrast where only recently everything was a mass of solid green. And, surprisingly, a few over achievers have already gone totally red. I broke out of my usual rhythm, got out into the landscape, and had this part of the lake completely to myself. On the one hand, this is a rather postcard-y photograph; but on the other, it is a pretty remote location and this may be one of the only times this particular scene has ever been documented.

The Fullness of Time

This is a photograph I made back when I was but a lad -- in the 80's or thereabouts, I reckon. I found this negative in a pile of old crap memorabilia, and decided to scan it into the computer. The good news is that it looks like the negative held up okay over time. Hey, there's an image to work with. The midtones do look a little 'fluffy' to me, if that makes any sense. But mostly, I'm feeling pretty satisfied with the overall composition that younger me came up with. I think I was out on a hike trying to 'discover myself' or something along those lines. That's how we tend to remember ourselves, isn't it? As clueless wanderers seeking enlightenment. In the fullness of time, though, I hope I can be kinder to my youthful self.

Tasting notes: Canon AE-1, Canon 50 mm f/1.4 FD lens, Kodak Tri-X, D-76 + Sulfite 1+1.

Imperfection Is Perfection, Kinda

A younger version of myself would probably have been bothered to bits by the small amount of lens flare in this photograph, but the current me just don’t give a crap. I mean, the camera was pointed into the freaking sun and I still got a nice image that didn’t need any work in Ps. These days I’m happy when I don’t have to edit much on doc style images. Also, one nice thing about using a real camera instead of a phone is you don’t have to remember to wipe the fingerprints off the lens before you trip the shutter.

Tasting notes: Canon M6ii, 22 mm lens.

Vines like Pythons

With the leaves gone for the winter, the size of the vines entwined among the trees is readily apparent and pretty remarkable. They reminded me of snakes, and in my state of reverie, I half expected to be attacked. In black and white, the tones of the vines are quite different from those of the trees, too, which made this scene interesting to photograph. Not sure, but I think these actually might be poison ivy. 

I wish you good light this Christmas Eve. 

Spiraling 🌀 In

We had not been to this location since the BP era, if you know what I mean. Here we are two years later and the tree canopies have really filled in. Not too much light filters through any more, which is just what the doctor ordered. There are certain places that you are drawn to photograph over and over again, and this is one of my spots. I’m finally learning how I want my photographs of this group of trees to look.

Fujifilm GA645Zi in the landscape

Most descriptions I've read of the Fujifilm GA645Zi medium format film camera present it as a point-and-shoot that uses 120 film, which is certainly true. But its compact build means that it is also a fine camera to carry along with you on a hike out in the wild. It is compact enough that you will actually take it with you most of the time. The lens is phenomenal and the built in flash is very handy. The prices are also phenomenal these days, and being an electronic device from the 1990s it could turn into a brick at a moment's notice. The only problem I've ever had with the Fuji is the ancient autofocus. It takes some finessing at times.

In the open landscape

It was great to be out in the open landscape again yesterday, photographing. It was the first time in months I was not breathing humid air that had blown in from the tropics. It was the first day in weeks without rain. In contrast to the late summer, which can be photographically challenging, the fall, with its clear air and lower angled light, is a pleasant time to be out shooting. I was on privately held land that has been preserved in essentially its original pristine state. Except for the odd beer can; it is difficult if not impossible to escape beer it seems. Anyway, it always feels satisfying coming home with a set of new images to work through.

I hope you have pleasant light this weekend, where ever you may be.

Messages for everyone

The other day, several generations of the family went to Harper’s Ferry, WV for a day trip. Naturally, I brought my camera along, but I really wanted to avoid taking too many of the same hackneyed photographs as everyone else. A few cliches are fine, and perhaps even unavoidable, but I wanted to capture a few more unique images as well. So, I made a point of wandering off on my own along the banks of the Shenandoah River. On my little detour, I came across an enormous rat snake sunning itself on the trunk of an even more enormous tree. I figured that if the snake felt comfortable hanging out in this area, it probably meant that it was not overrun by tourists. So, I started looking for some compositions with the hope that perhaps they have not been photographed exactly like this before. Of course, we’ll never know for sure, but I’m pleased enough with the images I got.

Warm Springs

Recently, we watched a series of television programs called Atlantic Crossing, an interesting historical drama that focused on Roosevelt's relationship with Crown Princess Märtha from Norway. Which, in a roundabout way, reminded me of a trip we took to Warm Springs, GA. One of the local highways runs along a ridge line and every so often, you can catch a glimpse of the landscape beyond. It is a lovely and under appreciated part of Western Georgia, and I don't think these particular views have changed that much since Roosevelt's time.

The modern landscape

What images and scenes from our daily lives become imprinted into memory? Do our surroundings matter as much as we think they do, or are we more resilient than that, only remembering the remarkable stuff, the beautiful? I made this photograph standing at the edge of the playground of an elementary school near where we live. Overall, the scene is about as ugly as it gets; on the other hand, with a narrower field of view, I noticed that the reflections of the trees were remarkably beautiful in this large muddy drainage pond. Are there any pristine landscapes to be seen anywhere anymore? Soon we'll all be carrying long telephoto lenses with us in order to home in on the unblemished part of the landscape.

Work with what you have

I made this image using my original Leicaflex camera and an old 50mm Summicron. I shot it on a roll of cheap expired film. I don't bother to use the light meter when shooting with this camera, preferring instead to use Sunny 16. Keep it simple, stupid, and trust your experience. I'm lucky to have a nice range of film cameras to chose from when I go out shooting, but even if I had nothing else, the Leicaflex + Summicron combo would be a very fine little set-up for art making. 

I recently came across an old documentary about the British landscape photographer Raymond Moore that I think was made in the mid-1980s, near the end of the artist's life (available on YouTube). Moore is a favorite of mine, along with Fay Godwin. Anyway, I noticed that he was working with a Nikkormat, which was an entry level F-mount camera introduced in the mid-1960s (same vintage as my original Leicaflex).

Moore sure made some incredible work with that old Nikkormat! His eye for composition is pretty much unmatched. His work deserves to be more widely known.

Photography as therapy

Today was the day I had to face the music about our taxes. The bill was somewhat higher than I would have liked, so after picking up the paperwork, and bitterly making the payment, I drove over to one of our local woodlands for a casual hike. The weather was just about perfect, and I did not see another human being on my visit. I brought along the Pentax KP, the 35mm f/2.8 macro lens, a Fujifilm GA645Zi medium format point-and-shoot film camera, and a roll of Tri-X. These cameras are pretty different from each other, but they do both come equipped with a small, built-in flash. Fill flash is actually an incredibly useful feature to have on a walk in the forest, where the lighting can be quite tricky at times. If you set the flash exposure compensation to –2/3 stop, you'll get nice balance with the ambient light. And, you will be the only one who ever knows that the flash fired during the exposure.

Bloom where you are planted

There just aren't that many options available for doing infrared photography on film any more. But I wanted to give IR a try because I thought it might be helpful for one of my long term projects. According to B&H, there is Ilford SFX 200 and a couple of stocks from Rollei/Agfa (including Rollei Infrared). Ilford SFX 200 was the only medium format emulsion in stock at the time I was hatching this plan, so in the end, my decision was pretty straightforward. I decided to use my beloved Rolleiflex SL66 (and the 80 mm f/2.8 lens) for this shoot as correcting for the focus shift is relatively easy to do (I followed the recommendations found in L. A. Manheim's "The Rolleiflex Way"). To cut the visible light, I took an old Bay VI filter and replaced the original glass with a Hoya R72 insert from another filter. It is a bummer to have to take the filter on and off to focus and expose, but the bayonet makes it pretty easy. When setting exposure, I allowed 4 to 5 stops for the filter. According to the available data, I was working with a pretty narrow sliver of NIR light from about 720-740 nm. I think that is a good way to to learn about the possibilities of IR photography, right? Walk before you run. Maybe we should call this little experiment NIR photography? The next film I would try is the Rollei Infrared, that has sensitivity out to 840 nm.

To say that I was very pleased with the results would be a bit of an understatement! The detail was excellent and the grain was under control. The relatively narrow wavelength band close to the visible region gave results that were familiar to a visible light shooter like me, and also tamed the crazy white foliage effect that is sometimes seen on emulsions with sensitivity deeper into the IR.