Category: Black & White

Against the Grain

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Another image from a roll sitting around for sometime waiting to be developed. In this case, a roll of 35mm Tri-X black and white shot late last summer in Toronto with my Nikon F2 (body since sold as part of a gear rationalization, since I have an F3 body as well).

Since this was shot on 35mm high speed film, grain is inevitable, and in comparison to decades ago when photographers would do everything in their power to minimize grain (in part as a response to shooters who didn’t take the 35mm format seriously), many film shooters now don’t mind the grain. It’s a badge of authenticity, and has a special character, especially when compared to digital noise. It is ironic that people spend money on Photo shop plug-ins to recreate this grain. I like the real thing 🙂

Street Performer, Dundas Square, Toronto

Concealment

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Today’s image is from a shoot with Pash, a local actress/model of Iranian descent. She has long, exuberant hair, and in this image it was arranged to conceal much of her face; I was trying to create a sense of exotic mystery. After the fact, I started thinking about the tradition in Iran of women wearing head coverings (and in other Muslim countries where the requirements for female concealment is even more extreme). To me, I cannot help but see these mandatory coverings as symbols of subjugation; in this picture, I hope I am creating a feeling of power emanating from the emodel, with a different kind of concealment.

Pash

Mamiya M645, 80mm f2.8 lens, Ultrafine Xtreme 400 film, developed in HC-110 Dilution B

Ghosts

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I finally got around to developing a roll left from our trip to Italy in November of last year. It was a rainy day in Pompeii, but the rain did a great job of detailing the stones and textures on this ancient street. When I looked at the streets, I could not help but imagine how it would have looked, crowded with citizens and slaves, so many centuries ago.

Pompeii on a rainy November day, 2011

Mamiya M645, 55mm f2.8 lens, Ilford Delta 100, developed in HC-110, Dilution B

Revisiting

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Back in the early 1980’s I shot this picture of an antique piano stool belonging to my parents. Fast forward about 30 years: I inherited the piano stool, and now it is a favourite prop/support for portraits — I love it!

Christina Mallais029

Mamiya M645, 80mm f2.8 lens with 25A red filter, one strobe through umbrella. Ilford SFX 200 film, developed in HC-110 dilution B for 9 minutes

Yet Another Happy Accident

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Old cameras are many things, but often “idiot proof” is not one of them. Today’s image is from a roll of Delta 400 shot about a week ago. While unloading the film I noticed I had set the aperture incorrectly for the flash, and I overexposed the film by around two stops. I decided to underdevelop, or “pull” the film, so instead of developing for a full 15 minutes in HC-110 (Dilution H) I just did it for 12 minutes. The negatives are still overexposed (I probably should have tried 10 minutes or so). but what a great vintage look! When I scanned the negatives, a slight colour cast was left; more often than not I remove it (or replace it!) as it is not attractive, but this time it was perfect! I’m going to experiment with this workflow so more, that’s for sure! 🙂

Vintage glow

Broken and Unbroken

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Here is another image from the Broken series I have been doing. The idea was that even if the camera eye is broken, the human eye endures. The model Shreeti was perfect for this shot; even with an impassive expression,her gaze is very powerful.

Shreeti Broken017

Mamiyma M645, 80mm f2.8 lens, strobe through umbrella. Film: Fomapan 100, developed in Xtol 1:1 for 9 minutes

More Happenstance

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When I scan negatives, all the images are automatically in landscape orientation, meaning any images in portrait orientation (and that covers a lot of my images these days) have to be rotated. Today’s image is no different, except I really liked the sense of motion given by the “wrong’ orientation (which I probably would not have considered without the limitations of the scanner), so I didn’t change it. You can tilt your computer/monitor sideways to see the “correct” orientation 🙂

Flying Through the Air

Mamiya M645, 80mm f2.8 lens with 25A red filter, strobes (umbrella and softbox). Shot on Ilford SFX infrared film, developed in HC-110 Dilution B for 10 minutes.

Hybrid Happenstance

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I continue to work a lot with Ilford SFX Infrared film, as I love what it does with people’s skin. I used it last Wednesday for a shoot with a lovely young model. Although this film’s nominal speed is ISO 200, I normally shoot it at ISO 25, because of the red filter (25R) I use to accentuate the effect. This time out though, I had a senior’s moment and shot it at 100, 2 stops underexposed. After thoroughly cursing my own carelessness, I looked online for the best way to process the film to salvage something, and ended up developing it in HC-110 developer for 19 minutes, to give a two stop push. The results are amazing! The glow and grain really work well together! I’ll have to try to screw up more often!

For the the image below I took a hybrid approach, using Nik Silver Efex Pro on the negative scan to accentuate the graininess and texture.

Infrared portrait

Story in the Eyes

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Today’s image is another minimalist portrait, shot yesterday with model Kristen. She was a delight to work with, her face was capable of a great range of expressions, and her natural expression always seemed to involve a smile. Here, just with a glance to her left, I get the sense she is telling a story.

A Glance
Mamiya M645, 80mm f2.8 len @ f22, strobes with umbrella and softbox. Shot on Ilford Delta 400 film, developed in HC-100 Dilution H for 15 minutes.

Nowhere to Hide

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Recently I got a roll of white seamless paper to use as a backdrop for portraits. Shooting portraits like this is a compelling challenge; there is no scenic vista, no charming background to support the portrait; it’s just the subject and the camera. It’s like a musical melody with no arrangement or harmony; the portrait has to stand by itself. I find myself drawn to the work of the late Richard Avedon, who was famous for portraits taken against a plain background. In this kind of image, there is truly nowhere to hide.

Last one of Tiffany

Portrait create with Mamiya M645 medium format camera, Fuji Neopan Acros 100 film developed in HC-110 Dilution H, 10 minutes.
Negative scanned and post-processed using Nik Silver Efex Pro.