I thought this citizen of Toronto had an interesting look, and the Nikon 105mm/2.5 allowed for just the right degree of isolation in the framing.
Category: Black & White
A New Favourite Portrait Lens
Yesterday I had the pleasure of doing a photo shoot with Michael James. I first met Michael last year when we were both in The Alexander Showcase Theatre’s production of Man of La Mancha. Michael is a fun guy to work with: a great sense of humour, and also a lot of depth and thoughtfulness. My job as a photographer is to capture that, and I’d like to think I did.
I used the Nikkor 85mm/1.8 lens on my Nikon F2, using Kodak Tri-X film; I can see myself coming back to this combo again, especially for male portraits!
Street Shooting Lenses
The last few days I have been trying my Nikkor 85/1.8 lens on my Nikon F2 for street shooting, and I am really liking the this focal length; so many images just seem to present themselves, like today’s image of a dog owner coming back to collect his dog. (I was originally trying to get a shot of the dog alone, but the owner came back just as I was about to shoot).
(Nikon F2 with 85mm/1.8 Nikkor lens, Tri-X film at E.I. 400 developed in Xtol 1:1 for 9 minutes)
Great Combo!
One thing I like about cameras like a Speed Graphic is how parts can be mixed and matched. I was able to use a Voigtlander Voigtar Anastigmat lens (15mm/f6.3) rescued from a non-working Voigtlander Avus folder from the 1920’s. The roll film holder was from a Mamiya RB67 camera; it mounts perfectly.
Bike Posts
I’ve always found this type of bike post fascinating, like a modern art sculpture. They lend themselves to any number of angles and compositions.
(Canon 7 35mm Rangefinder with 50mm/f2 Jupiter 8 lens,
Fomapan 100 developed in TMax developer 1:9)
A Lighting Lesson
Here is another image from the workshop yesterday. I found this workshop great, as I learned that this kind of lighting is not as hard as I thought: one one side, a beauty dish with honeycomb grid, on the other side, a strip light, also with a grid to control the path of the light. I will be exploring this technique more in the future!
I should also mention the model Kaitlin’s skill as a dancer: her poise and grace came through in every image. 🙂
8,7,9
Some numbers came together to make this image: the lens, a Soviet era Jupiter 8 50mm lens, on a Canon 7 rangefinder body. The film was Fomapan 100, developed in Tmax developer at a 9:1 dilution. This combo works for me!
A Long and Winding Road
It took a few steps to arrive at the image below (again featuring the lovely Jenna). The original was shot on Fuji Reala ISO 100 colour negative film, using my Rolleicord III twin-lens reflex camera. I had to shoot pretty wide open, and with my eyesight I find this beast a trick to focus at the best of times. her face was not tack sharp, but I liked the image so much I was not prepared to give up. I converted it into black and white, added the antique look and I felt instantly transported back a century.
The Story
I don’t normally publish twice a day, but I really wanted to share this image. What a powerful, haunted face I saw on the subway on the way home this afternoon.
Lensbaby
I think today’s image (another one of Jenna in High Park) is the first I’ve posted that was created using a Lensbaby Spark lens. I guess one could call this a piece of neo-primitive technology: the lens has only 2 elements, one fixed aperture, and to focus one pulls the front of the lens back with your fingers, like a built in bellows. What is fun is that by changing the angle of the bellows you can put the focus point anywhere you like.
My Third Eye 