In the image today I used something old, but new to me; I developed the film using a rather old developer formula known as D-23 which I mixed up from scratch using chemicals bought on line. D-23 is a very simple (two ingredient) developer to mix up, and tends to soften contrast, which is useful for films like Rollei 80s which tends to be contrasty.
Nikon F2, 24mm/f2.8 Nikkor lens (non-AI), Rollei 80s, developed in D-23 1;1
Today’s image was taken in the communal dressing room backstage at the Alexander Showcase Theatre’s production of The Crucible in which I have a role as Willard, the Marshall. (Five more shows to go, there is still time to come see us!) This photograph is an image of the multi-talented Sharon Zehavi, getting into character for her role as Abigail Williams, ringleader of the teenage girls.
The dressing room is small, cramped and noisy as people get ready for the show, but Sharon is clearly in her own universe as she seemingly allows herself to be consumed by the character of Abigail. The intensity is incredible. The exposure was 1/30th of a second, but she is so still, so focused, that if I had a tripod the exposure could have been a second or two, and there would still be no blur. Amazing.
(Yashica Lynx 5000e 35mm rangefinder, 50mm/f1.8 lens, exposure 1/30th of a second @ f1.8 on Tri-X film at E.I. 1000, developed in Diafine 3+3. Post work done using Nik Silver Efex Pro 2,
with additional post done by Sharon.)
I think slide film has its one particular magic: holding a strip of slide film in one’s hand is like holdng a collection of little universes, with each image being a doorway into each world. Today’s image is from a roll of Fuji slide film I shot in England this summer using my medium format Mamiya 645 Pro TL
The grounds of Hever Castle (childhood home of Ann Boleyn
Today, another image captured yesterday at the Distillery District in Toronto with my Pentax 67. the 6 cm by 7 cm format has been called by some the “ideal format”; one reason is that you can print on 8×10 paper with no cropping to speak of. By contrast, 35mm would required 8×12 paper to do the same.
Despite this, I found a couple of my images worked better when cropped as square (or at least “squarish”), including this image. With the sun still relatively low in the horizon at 10 am on a mid October day I liked the start look of the shadows on the building.
(Taken with 105mm/f2.4 lens, Kodak TMax 400 film developed in TMax developer)
Today’s image was created in Toronto’s Distillery District, using my Pentax 67 medium format camera. Larger sized negatives (such as the 6cm x 7 cm negatives created by this camera) make grain less of an issue so I was able to use Rodinal developer, which emphasizes sharpness rather than fine grain.
Today, another image shot with my Soviet Russia era Helios 44/2 58mm/f2 lens. I took this image with the lens mounted on my Yashica TL-Electro SLR body, using Kodak Cinema XX film at E.I. 200. The occasion was the engagement photo shoot of GIllian and Kari.
The Helios 44/2 lens has achieved cult status in some quarters due to the “swirl” one can achieve in the unfocused parts of the image, when shooting wide-open, and the effect is really evident in this image. Shooting in full shade wide open at 1/60th means the image isn’t tack sharp, but I do love those swirls 🙂
Today;s image was shot recently using the redscale technique. For this technique, you use regular C-41 colour negative film, but wound backwards in the film cassette, so you are shooting through the back of the film. The light hits the red emulsion layer first, resulting in the deep red and orange tones in the resulting images. I love the effect; it makes me feel like I am on Ray Bradbury’s version of Mars.
(Pentax K1000, 28mm/2.8 Pentax lens, C-41 ISO 400 no-name expired colour film, wound backwards)
Today, one of the film images from the session with Jennifer this past Saturday. This shoot marked the first time I used a recently acquired Helios 44/2 lens (58mm, f2). This lens is a Soviet Russian era copy of a Carl Zeiss Biotar, and has quite a cult following in certain circles. The fact that its focal length is slightly longer than normal for a “normal” lens makes it great for portrait work. In this shoot I had it mounted on my Yashica TL-Electro. The lighting was not bright, so I was shooting wide open at 1/60th of a second, on Ilford HP5+, pushed to E.I. 800. I like the gritty, documentary look I got: it is a good match for Jennifer’s intense expression. She is a master at bringing emotion into a shoot!
Lens flare is often seen as a defect in an image, but sometimes it works. Pointing almost directly at the sun I am surprised there wasn’t more!
(Pentax K1000 35m SLR, 28m/f2.8 SMC Pentax lens with yellow filter,
Rollei 80s with yellow filter, developed in Rodinal 1+50, 14 minutes)
I keep get drawn back to this disused railroad in the Don Valley in Toronto. Apparently it has only been about 6 years since it was last used, but it doesn’t take long for nature to start reclaiming it.
(Pentax K1000 35mm SLR, 28mm/f2.8 SMC Pentax Lens with yellow filter,
shot on Rollei 80s film developed in Rodinal 1+50 for 14 minutes)
My Third Eye 