Perennial Favorites

Do you find yourself returning to certain themes or compositions all the time in your photographs? I'm pretty sure most of us do. One of my perennial (hehe) favorites is the 'wall of flowers'. Like the gardenias in this image. A sea of foliage sprinkled with blooms. I collect 'em. On this day, the experience was elevated by the scent of the flowers. Perhaps one day I'll have enough nice photographs to make a little book or zine. 

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

Quote of the Day: EM Forster

“How can I tell what I think till I see what I say?”
                                                    --E.M. Forster

I found this quote in the middle of a NYTimes article about the artist Christopher Wool, who uses photography as a part of his overall artistic practice. While it must feel amazing to get featured in the Times, the link to an article from two decades ago describing Wool's work as 'unrelievedly dull' must smart just a little. Why do they always do that? Oh well, sounds like his paintings are selling like hotcakes, so, like, whatever. We all tend to draw our own conclusions about art these days anyway it seems.

I guess the photographic version of this statement would go something like: "How can I tell what I think till I see what I saw?" A bit clunky. Somehow, just extrapolating from Forster seems better. But the concept of making a photobook from time to time to see how your work hangs together, that is a pretty solid idea that would be a good part of anyone's process. 

Enjoy the holiday as best you can...

A Bridge Too Far?

I've always had a bit of a soft spot in my otherwise cynical heart for the so-called 'bridge camera'. Historically, I guess this term had meaning. One could look it up if one wanted, I suppose, but these days it seems like one of those bridges to nowhere you read about in the tabloids. Or maybe a bridge to the past. Yeah, that actually seems pretty much spot on. Anyway, I picked up a really nice copy of a bridge camera that I somehow missed when it came out in 2011. The Fujifilm X-S1. The lens runs from an equivalent of about 24 mm on the wide end to a magnificent 624 mm on the long end. That, dear reader, is the longest telephoto presently in existence here at the Albus & Fergie world headquarters. The camera is equipped with a 2/3" sensor that gives very nice results that hold up reasonably well today. The image above was taken at an ISO of 640 and the digital noise looks very much like the shadow areas of scanned Tri-X. 

See You Out There Fellow Traveler...

For many of us, Memorial Day marks the start of the summer season. I don't know about you, but I tend to have fewer standing commitments this time of the year. So, I'm really looking forward to getting out and photographing more. You don't always find the best light in the summer, but you learn to takes what ya gets, as Popeye might say. I hope to see you out there, fellow traveller. Perhaps our paths will cross at some point.

Storied

 

One of the most interesting things to me about older homes is that they often have a unique history. Things that happened within their walls, famous or infamous people who once lived there, stories that essentially beg to be told over dinner and drinks. I used to know the folks who owned this house located not too far from the Tappan Zee Bridge. They're both gone now, but I still remember them both, and some of their tales about this wonderful place. For instance, about how Edward Teller, the famous physicist, had a special alarm system installed when he lived there, a direct line to the local police. 

The house I currently live in is far less storied, but was once owned by a man who spent several years here under house arrest for embezzlement. Nobody famous, a local politician, just a garden variety asshole in other words. I keep hoping to find a bag of cash under the floorboards, but so far... nothing.

Good light to you this weekend!

Don't Be So Hard on Yourself

At the time I took this photograph, my intent was to incorporate it into one of the trippy kaleidescope images I was into at the time, so I didn't bother to include in the frame any obvious clues that what was being photographed was actually a reflection in water. Back home, I did, in fact, make a composite image that also included a field of stars and a shot of the full moon. Hehe. Cool though it was, it ain't something I want to share right now. The point is, your studio is a place to get out of your comfort zone and experiment. Some of the misses are better described as near misses, so don't be so hard on yourself. 

Quote of the Day: Peggy Guggenheim

"A collection means hard work. It was what I wanted to do, and I made it my life's work. I am not an art collector; I am a museum."

– Peggy Guggenheim

I like cameras and lenses well enough, there's no point in denying it, but I guess I'm not a bona fide collector cuz I can't say I work very hard at it. For me, it's been more of a random walk through the wilderness. Still, this image was made using the Mamiya 645 and a 80 mm f/1.9 lens. At one time the 80 mm was the fastest medium format lens you could get. Definitely collectable. A good, but not stellar imager, if I'm honest.