Week of 09/02/2013: Improbable Anatomies

Location: Approx 17^th and Walnut

Camera: Panasonic Lumix G2

Lens: 14-42 ED

Image Size: 10 x 13 @300 dpi (full frame)

Proof: Epson 1430, Cone color inks, Epson Ultra-Premium Lustre

Occasionally I have a day or run of days when everything feels like it is on fire. Last weekend into early in the week was like that; everything was cooking. I had an idea (always a dangerous thing!) that had been my head a long time-- to use bits of the photographed urban landscape as part of collaged drawings with which I'm experimenting. The time seemed right, so I headed out.

Although I shoot mostly film these days, here digital seemed like a better choice; I could try lots of things, do it fast, and without the expense of film or developing. I decried last week about how the more polished parts of town didn’t work well for me, but lo and behold! This week’s shot just appeared while I wasn’t looking.

My eye is always drawn to representations of the human form, be they commercial or purely aesthetic. Like so many instances, my timing was pure dumb luck; this retailer had decided it was time to usher in the fall fashions. Also, as so often happens to me, there ended up being a number of odd things in the shot that I had not consciously seen at the point of capture. This is one of the beautiful things that helps keep me at it: visual bonuses.

Week of 08/26/2013

Camera: Nikon FM2n

Lens 35-70 Zoom

Film: Kodak Portra 400

Date taken: 07/31/13

Location: 15^th and Walnut

Develop and Scan: PhotoLounge, 19^th and Chestnut

Conversion to b&w and editing in Photoshop

At this juncture, I don’t think of myself a street photographer. I’m not all that good at shooting from the hip (though I’ve improved a lot in the last year) and things have to be a bit internally off-center, in order for me to start pointing my lens at random strangers. More to my style is shooting objects and vistas--what I call the “urban landscape;” photos devoid of people or I’ll set up a shot and wait to see if a serendipitous figure will appear.

On the flip side, some things just get in my face and cry out to be recorded on film. Like so many photos, I barely remember taking this one and I have no conscious memory of the young woman with the rather indignant look on her face. While I was editing it, I also noticed that her fist is clenched. 

Week of 08 19 13: Serious Toys

Location: Near 3^rd and Girard

Image Size: 6 x 9” @150 dpi

Camera: Superheadz Blue Ribbon

Lens:  Super Fat 22mm plastic doublet

Film: Kodak Ultramax 400

Exposure: Approx. f8 @ 1/125

Develop and Scan: PhotoLounge

Conversion to black and white and adjustments in Photoshop

As more and more neighborhoods become gentrified (including my own), I’m finding I have to travel farther afield to find things to feed my eyes. The decaying ruin, the accidental, the rebellious, and the out-of-kilter generally are banished with alacrity where everything is polished to look new, wealthy and manicured.  As in this case, one need only hit the ragged fringes of an area to find something interesting. In less than a decade, much of Northern Liberties has gone from being old and odd to built-up and rather dull. It’s no wonder that photographers often trek to poorer countries where the texture of the human soul lives closer to the hardscrabble surface of the physical environment.

Granting myself permission to shoot with a simple, fixed focus camera is a great way to break the routine and feel lighter. The Blue Ribbon, an all plastic tool which is a deep cerulean blue, is technically a toy camera much like those sold by the Lomography people except its design and build does not create funky chance effects, aspects the serious Lomographer seems to crave. There is some distortion from the ultra-wide angle and a tiny bit of edge fall-off, but the lens is surprisingly sharp and non-poetic, so the camera goes for a paltry $20 on sale. It is lightly built but should hold for many rolls if not abused. The Ultramax  400 film used here is a mere $2.09 for a twenty-four shot roll from B&H Photo. The film color is a bit hyper-saturated for my taste but converts to black and white with no problem, the grain is quite fine and the sharpness is excellent. 

The camera is available at the link below:

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/search?q=superheadz

Week of 08/12/2013

Location: West End of South Street Bridge

Image Size: 10 x 13 @300 dpi

Camera: Panasonic Lumix G2

Lens: 14-42 Olympus ED

Although I may opt to simply see and experience, rather than photographing, there is nearly always a camera, often two, ready to go in my bag. This shot was caught on a morning walk up to Penn.  I’m pretty sure I just turned around and there it was; the camera was not out and I wasn’t thinking about taking pictures.

Often, the less I think about photography and the less self-conscious I am of being in the landscape with a capture device, the better things go.  I’ve never done well with the idea of “going out to take photographs” unless I give myself permission to come home empty handed. Also I’ve found, the lighter the gear, the better. The less the gear screams “Pro photographer!” the happier I am.  I’d much rather be taken for a tyro or a student and simply blend in. Toy cameras are great that way. I’m currently using a tiny 35mm camera that’s bright blue and it seems to do an end-run around what most people perceive as “camera.

More shots!

This weekend I did a late night shoot at Gemini and Scorpio's Lost Circus: 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151600474113589.1073741832.102587023588&type=3

Week of 08/05/2013

Location: Spring Garden Bridge, looking north

Camera: Panasonic Lumix G2

Lens: 14-42 ED @14mm, f6.3

ISO 200

File Size: 10 x 13 @300 dpi (Full Frame)

I guess the old saw about persistence being the key to success has some truth to it. I had shot from the bridged into the train yard many times and also shot the SEPTA yard from the side near Drexel many times, always with mediocre results; they were just very matter-of-fact shots.

Capturing the urban landscape I’ve become very aware of barriers and adept at working around them when possible. I often shoot only to come back and find a building has gone up and blocked the once open view. The Spring Garden Bridge has some solid walls in spots, but they are only about six feet high and I had a suspicion that they hid an interesting view. By using the fly-out LCD screen I was able to hold the camera above my head and trip the shutter. It was very sunny and the best I could do was to see the coarse arrangements of shapes, taking care to be sure the horizon was level—truly an intuitive act.

I made two files, one for the sky and one for the land that I then combined. I hope to print this one soon. 

Week of 07/29/2013

Location: Fairmount Park Water Works

Camera: Panasonic Lumix G2

ISO 200, f7.1 @1/2000

Lens: Olympus 14-42 ED @14mm

Image Size: 10 x13 @300dpi

Proof: None

If you walk around enough, you are bound to encounter at some point light and atmosphere that is rarely seen and is highly ephemeral. A photographer like Ansel Adams would set up his heavy large format camera and tripod and simply wait for the right moment. Unfortunately, I don’t have the luxury of that kind of schedule (although it would be a great way to catch up on my reading).

I generally stand clear when I encounter other photographers while I’m out in my travels. I don’t speak to them and I don’t get in their space. When I arrived at the overlook, a well-known Philadelphia landmark, I saw a young woman there with an I-phone and I assumed she was catching the sky show that was unfolding, so I kept a healthy space until I realized she was not photographing but busily texting away. I moved in, took about five frames and then the scene evaporated. I shot so quickly, I didn’t even have time to remember to take the focus off manual nor shoot at the best aperture.  Luckily, being stopped down more than optimally worked in my favor. I did, however purposely underexpose and thus prevented the highlights from blowing out. Although the lens probably wasn't really focused it didn't matter since the great depth of field of the wide angle plus the small aperture more than covered.

I did not have a chance to proof this print, but I’m looking forward to the printmaking.  Unfortunately, both my printers are currently indisposed, one of the hazards of the digital workflow. 

07/22/2013: Through A Glass Darkly

Location: Approx. 25^th and Parrish

Camera: Fujica Gs645

Film: TX-120, at ISO 200

Develop: HC110 1:49, 7 min at 68F

File Size: 11.5” x 17” @300 dpi

Scan: Epson V500

Proof print, 4x5 approx., Epson 1400, Cone pigment inks

Given the mercurial weather, it’s been a good time to stay in and get caught up on the many undeveloped rolls of film I have in the ‘fridge. It was perhaps a few months ago that I shot this and I barely remember the jaunt, but I was, and still am thinking about images that somehow feel like an alternate reality.   

Even using an inexpensive scanner, like the V500, I’m always startled at how much depth and detail larger film engenders.  A 4.5 x 6 negative, which the Fujica shoots is closer to 43 x 56 mm, about three times the area of 35mm. From what I have been able to glean, this odd camera was originally popular with wedding photographers in the pre-digital age. While it’s a bit futzy to use (for instance, you have to be sure to cock the shutter before you close it, or you’ll break the shutter linkage), when folded it is very compact and it sports some very smart features such as: a parallax corrected rangefinder with a good size split-image center spot, rapid film advance, and an easy-to-use built in meter. The 75mm f3.8 Nikon lens is an excellent optic. Automation?  None!  The camera takes two small button cells for the meter, but will work without them. It’s not fast on the draw, but is a great camera for things that are fairly static (or cooperative) that will benefit from a richness of tonality and detail. 

To get the final printable file, I made multiple scans. The value range of the Epson V500 is somewhat limited. I find no matter how much I tweak it I either clip the shadows or the highlights. The way around this is to make at least two scans, each covering a certain value range and then combine the files in Photoshop.  I made a special darker scan for the fluorescent light in the upper left corner. Film is very forgiving and unlike digital that just blows out highlights, you can often coax detail from spot areas that are overexposed.