Today’s image was shot this past weekend with a new (to me) “beast” of a camera: The Mamiya RZ67. This is a BIG camera, and shoots 6 x 7 cm negatives (10 exposures on a roll of 120 film). A mainstay of studios not so many years ago, it is really meant to be used on a tripod, so of course I used it handheld, with a 127mm lens attached. 🙂
I had a great photo shoot yesterday with Dawn Bailey, a performer of mainly Early Music (think medieval, renaissance, etc.). As a performer who values early music, Dawn had an appreciation for photographic techniques that might seem obsolete to some, and when one of the old cameras I was using started getting cranky, she likened it to playing an original instrument — often challenging and in some ways more difficult than playing a modern instrument, but uniquely rewarding. This image was shot on Fuji FP3000B film, and I am posting the scanned negative version here.  Dawn’s lovely hair and amazingly textured and detailed jacket were perfect for the concept, and there will be more to come from this shoot, including a hand tint once I get the conventional film developed!
This image was shot with a new (to me) camera: a Mamiya Universal Press camera with a Polaroid back, and a 127mm f4.7 lens. It will be a challenge getting my head around this camera, but it will be worth it!!
Another image of Sarah today; she shows how a “neutral expression” can be anything but deadpan.
(Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 80mm f2.8 .lens, lit with late 1950’s vintage Quartz Halogen movie light, Ilford Delta 400 film shot at E.I. 800, developed in HC-110 Dilution B for 10 minutes)
Today’s image of the amazingly talented Jennifer is another hand-tinted print, so by definition it started out as a monochrome image. What I did with the hand-tinting though is try to create another mainly monochrome image, with just hints of purple and flesh tone here and there. I was going for intensity.
Dani is a dancer and for the concept in this photo shoot we combined the idea of dance poses with the outdoor setting of High Park.
Today’s image is another one from the “Dangerous and Domestic” shoot with the very talented Mallory, using the original prop that she suggested to skewer the cliche in the subject matter. 🙂 One of my favourite kind of concepts is taking a standard idea (in this case, sexy woman on motorbike) and twisting it, taking a poke at the underlying assumptions and stereotypes.
(Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 80mm f2.8 lens, Tri-x at box speed, HC-110 Dilution B for 7.5 minutes.
Negative scanned, and some post processing done with Nik Efex.)
One final shot from the shoot in High Park with Tara. I had a parasol left over from a cancelled shoot, so I thought that spray painting it with metallic spray paint might give it a steam punk look when teamed up with the goggles. I was happy with how the parasol is sharp, where Tara is mainly slightly out of focus.
(Mamiya 645 Pro LT, 150mm f3.5 Mamiya lens, Tri-x at E.I. 800 developed in Diafine 3+3)
I’ve been shooting a lot in High Park recently, as I love the lighting and settings available. Last week, while waiting for a model to arrive I noticed a dead tree, set amongst living plans that I though would be a great place to shoot, but before the model arrived, another photographer and a model arrived (I think it was his girlfriend) and set up camp at the spot. They spent more time engaged in a bitter argument than shooting; I don’t think they will be happy with the results. Luckily, when I came back the next day for a shoot with model Chantal (featured in the image below) the spot was available, so we started our shoot there 🙂
The first two images I posted of model Theresa in High Park were to some extent dominated by lines and background. Today I return to more familiar territory: the amazing landscape of human facial expression.
(Mamiya 645 Pro TL camera, Tri-X exposed at E.I. 800, developed in Diafine 3+3)
Today another image of Ren from the Steampunk shoot the other day. This image is very different from the one I posted last time: there is no anonymity imposed by dark goggles. Instead, an intriguing, complex expression. Ren is a complex person — creative, driven, certainly not shallow, and hungry to experience everything life has to offer. I think that comes through in this image.
My Third Eye 