Author: johnmeadowsphotography

An amateur photographer in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

At the Bridge

The railway bridge in Lethbridge, Alberta is quite iconic, and it was interesting to look at it through a gazebo-shaped look-out at the top of a hill.

Looking at the BridgeVoigtlander Bessa R, 15mm/4.5 Super-Heliar lens
Ilford FP4+ film, developed in Xtol 1+1

Michelle Again

Here is another image of my friend Michelle, taken at the Quebec meet-up of friends she hosted. This photograph was made with my 4×5 Speed Graphic, my antique Petzval lens, some amazing light, and an amazing subject 🙂

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Alien World

Recently I was in Alberta for business meetings, and as I was staying over the weekend I had time to do some exploring and drove up to see the Badlands around Drumheller. These formations are called hoodoos; the day brought a bright overcast sky, and combined with a strong backlight the landscape had an alien look to it. While the hoodoos are not as big as one might think (only a few metres), their shape is fascinating.

Hoodoos in the Alberta Badlands

Rolleiflex 3.5E3, 75mm/3.5 Xenotar lens
Plus-X film developed in Rodinal 

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Michelle 1

Today’s image is a portrait of my friend Michelle, who hosted a lovely gathering outside of Montreal a couple of weeks ago. I think the landscape orientation works for this portrait, and I love the expression she has!

Michelle

Pentax Spotmatic F with Helios 44/2 58mm lens
Rollei Retro 80s film, developed in Rodinal 1+50 for 20 minutes @ 20 C
Toning and diffusion in post

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Depth of Character

Finally back with a new image! This is my good friend Sylvain; a couple of weeks ago I enjoyed meeting up with him and other good friends just outside Montreal. This image was created with my 4×5 Speed Graphic and 1860’s Petzval lens.

When Sylvain saw the image, he said he thought he looked “serious.” The word that works for me is “thoughtful”; like everyone at the gathering, Sylvain is a person of great depth and creativity; he lives up to the caption on his T-shirt. This lens has a very shallow depth of field, but I think it captures depth of character.

My friend Sylvain

HP5+ developed in D-76 stock solution

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Experimentation

Yesterday was a bright sunny day, and I probably should have known better than to go out with Eastman SO-331, a special purpose duplicating film with almost impossible to control contrast. Amidst the soot and whitewash I did get an image that turned out OK, and the fact that this film stock has no anti-halation layer made for some interesting glow effects.

Eastman SO 331 in Rodinal

Nikon F4S body, 50mm/3.5 Micro-Nikkor lens
SO-331 stand developed 1 hour in Rodinal 1+150 @ 20 C

Sheep on the Farm

At my cousin Sally’s farm near Ottawa last weekend. The sheep were pretty wary.

Sheep Don't like me

Rolleiflex E3, 75mm/3.5 Xenotar lens
Kodak TMax 400 film developed in Xtol 1+1 for 9 minutes @ 20 C

4×5 in Colour

When my 1860’s Petzval lens was made, colour photography was only entering its earliest experimental phase, so it was fun to try the lens with Fuji Provia 100F colour slide film during my recent shoot with Kristen. I developed the film with the Rapid E6 kit from Argentix.ca. I love the muted colours produced by this uncoated lens. The sad thing is I only have 10 more sheets of this film, now discontinued 😦

Colour slide with 4x5