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.