Author: johnmeadowsphotography

An amateur photographer in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Take What the Light Gives You

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Yesterday morning was quite gloomy from a lighting perspective in Toronto, so I had to adjust my shooting plans accordingly.  I decided to have another go with a roll of Adox CMS 20 film. This film is basically a super high contrast micro-film, which can provide conventional tonality when developed with specific developers, and/or specific development techniques that can tame the contrast. I developed this roll using Diafine two-bath developer, 3 minutes in each solution. One challenge is the fact that the dull light that made the contrast tameable also made for challenging exposures: this film is very low speed, and I was shooting at E.I. 20, which meant shooting with the lens wide open-much of the time.

Old Railway in the Don Valley

(Nikon F3 35mm SLR, 28mm/2.8 Nikkor Wide-Angle lens)

Cutty Sark 1 (Above deck)

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In Greenwich, England the famous Tea shipping vessel the Cutty Sark is on display. Looking at all the ropes (I guess I should call them sheets, to be accurate) one can really get a sense of how complicated and sophisticated a sailing vessel can be. In it’s own way, very high-tech!

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(Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 55mm/2.8 lens, Tri-X film)

Lines

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I am a sucker for lines, straight, curved, whatever: I like the way they take the eyes on a trip through the image. This maze in a park in Canterbury, England is just full of lines, and so I was hooked 🙂

England Medium Format - Park In Canterbury

 

(Mamiya 645 Pro TL,  55mm/f2.8 lens, Ilford HP5+ film developed in Kodak TMax developer)

Wallflower

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I have a few “Wallflowers” in my camera collection: cameras that I just never seem to get around to using. The camera I used this morning shooting in a Park in Toronto near Yonge/St. Clair is one example: one of three Pentax Spotmatic 35mm SLR’s I got for next to nothing sometime ago. The bodies were cheap because the meters didn’t work, but everything else certainly does — the Spotmatic has a lovely solid feel, and the shutter sounds like it will last forever. It is easy to see why the Spotmatic is considered a classic.

Twisted Path 1

 

(Pentax Spotmatic SP, 55/1.8 Pentax Tukamar lens, Ilford Delta 400 film at EI 200,
developed in Microdol-X 1:1, 14.5 minutes @ 20 C)

If At First You Don’t Succeed

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This past Saturday I was with my Photographic friends Mike and Donna, shooting infrared film In Kleinburg, Ontario. I was shooting Efke 820 Aura infrared film, but the it turned out the filter (an IR 920) was blocking the wrong light, and when I developed the film that evening, I was horrified to see basically a blank roll :-(. All I have from Saturday is mosquito bites.

Not wanting to admit defeat, I went out on Sunday with a different filter (this time an IR 72) and a different infrared film to Guild Park in Scarborough, and had somewhat better luck 🙂

Guild Park Infrared 3

 

(Nikon F3, 28mm/2.8 Nikkor lens, Rollei Retro 80s film, IR72 filter, 1 second exposure @ f16,
developed in HC-110 Dilution H for 10 minutes @ 20 C)

Inside St. Martin’s Church

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Another image from England, inside what my be England’s oldest church, St. Martin’s in Canterbury (portions dating from the 600’s CE). A warm morning light was coming through a window, and illuminated wooden pews and cloth seat cushions.

St. Martin's

Details

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England has a lot of amazing buildings that make for great images, but it’s important to resist the temptation to stand back for the big picture, and pay attention to details, texture etc. I found this door on an otherwise nondescript old building in Canterbury.

Door Detail

The Jennifer Gears Project, Part 2

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Today, one more image of Jennifer from what I am calling the Jennifer Gears project 🙂 Today’s image is one of the black and white film images I created. In addition of course to  Ashley ‘s amazing technical work, I think it is really important to highlight Jennifer’s contribution today: her intensity and expression were as critical as any other success factor for the shoot! There is always depth and complexity in her expressions, and that makes her a rewarding model to work with.

I think special mention should be made of how patient she was during the multi-hour make-up/FX application, as well as removal afterwards!

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Model: Jennifer Bettencourt

Special FX/Make-up Artist Ashley Vieira

(Nikon F3 35mm SLR, 85mm/1.8 Nikkor lens, Eastman Double-X film,

developed in HC-110 dilution B for 6.5 minutes @ 20 degrees C)

The Jennifer Gears Project, Part 1

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I have had the privilege of working with model/musician Jennifer Bettencourt on a number of occasions, so when she contacted me recently about a project I was naturally interested. A friend of hers named Ashley,  who is a new graduate of a program in special effects needed to document her final school project, and needed a model and photographer and I was lucky enough to get the call.

The project was steam punk themed, and involved the creation and application of many. many gears to Jennifer’s skin, and we aren’t talking just make-up; Ashley made the gears using moulds she made herself to create three-dimensional pieces applied like tattoos. Preparation took many hours (see a “behind the scenes” prep shot at the end of this post), but the results were worth it! It was also fascinating to watch the whoe process; I certainly learned a lot!.

I shot both colour digital and black and white film; I am starting off with a digital image to show the great colours; in my next post I will show one of the black and white film images.

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Model: Jennifer Bettencourt

Special FX/Make-up Artist Ashley Vieira

Here’s a behind the scenes image

Prepping for the shoot

The Golden Spiral

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This is a view looking up at the base of the Tulip Stairs, in the Queen’s House, Greenwich, England. I was struck by the lines; it reminded me of the “Golden Spiral” mathematical construct (related to the Golden Rectangle, I believe). Although originally shot in colour, I prefer the black and white, with its inherent focus on line, light and shadow.

Tulip Stairs, Queen's House, Greenwich, Engand