From the beginning, the crystal addition to the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto has been a source of controversy. Some people like it, and many people (probably the majority) consider it an eyesore. For the record, I actually like it, and the way it is juxtaposed against a more traditional building. From a photography point of view, it is a most interesting subject!
Nikkormat FT2, Tokina 35-105mm lens, Ilford XP2+ film
I am just getting over the flu which waylaid me last week, and in addition to missing work I had to cancel one scheduled photo shoot, plus any random photography. To try to ease the jonesing, I went into the vault to give a second look at images worth working on, and ended up with today’s image.
An old photography trick for making flowing water look more like flowing water is to slow the shutter speed down so the water blurs and retains a sense of movement. Of course, the expectation is that one is a) using a tripod and b) on solid ground when trying to create this shot. In my case, neither applied as this image was made on the PAB 2010 boat cruise on the Ottawa river this past June.
Even with the Vibration Reduction enabled on my Nikon D90, it took shot after shot (at 1/3 second, handheld) to get what I was looking for.
What really made the image for me though, was when I converted it to Black and White with Apple Aperture the other day during my flu-driven incarceration; using a red filter setting with higher structure dialed in, the modified image provided an intensity that was not there for me in the color version.
It is ironic that digital technology both made the image feasible in the first place, and enabled me to make it look analog.
For reasons that will be obvious, there is no picture embedded in this post.
I was at a party about a week ago, at a house where a fair amount on art was posted on the wall, and a piece of art that caught my eye was a black and white photograph of a person on an old deserted city street. I was immediately struck by the quality of the print; the tones were liquid and luminous, inviting me into the print; the tonal range was amazing. In addition the matting, framing and overall presentation of the image was top-notch; putting everything together set a tone and mood that said “Stop. Look at this image. And take your time.”
The sad thing is that so little photography is encountered this way today; even drugstore-quality prints are rarely made these days; we are dominated by vast virtual photo albums on Facebook and yes, Flickr. We see photographs on monitors, the backs of digital cameras or maybe a digital photo frame; in every case the experience is lessened, and so many images deserve more.
On Inside Analog Film Radio, I hear the host say every week “You don’t have a photograph unless you have a print in your hand.” A little overstated perhaps, but there is a lot of truth in that statement; if a photograph never makes it past the virtual, how is it ever different from being a mere single frame from the endless digital movie, barely registering as we drink from the fire hose of inline content?
Here’s an idea: select one of your favourite images that you have never printed, and get it printed as a true photographic print (not a run-of-the-mill inkjet) at a decent size, say 11 x 14 inches.
You’ll be shocked at what you’ve been missing.
Scarborough, Ontario, has been given (often unfairly) a reputation of being rather bleak. There are many areas of hidden beauty within Scarborough, but there is still plenty of concrete and asphalt, and in this image of the Kennedy Subway station passenger drop-off, it felt to me like a decayed echo of a space age vision; a future which did not gracefully become the present.
Nikkormat FT2, 24mm f2.8 lens, Ilford XP2+ film
I was around Yonge and Dundas in Toronto last weekend with my old Nikkormat film camera, when I saw the religious debate pictured below. It was certainly a spirited discussion, but it did not come to blows, or result in any acts of terrorism or wars of aggression.
Given how many places in the world where this kind of discourse would be sadly unthinkable, it’s just one more reason why I am happy to live in Toronto
I continue to be amazed at what images can be found riding the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission subway). There is a raw, gritty intensity to be found inside every subway car that I find irresistible.
I continue to use the iPhone 3GS and the Hipstamatic app; so far, none of my subjects have been aware of me taking their picture. I feel though that eventually I will get caught out, and I wonder how the situation will play out. If I want to keep doing “street” photography, it is something I will have to deal with.
I’ve been having fun (since I got my film scanner) of going back into my old negatives and scanning pictures I took decades ago, and posting the occasional one here, but I realize that this could be a trap if I’m not careful; I need to keep working on new images.
I’ve decided therefore to only blog one older image a week, hence Timewarp Tuesday. I made this image below with my old Yashica TL-Electro, c. 1977 (the year I got this camera). The film was Ilford HP-4, push processed to either E.I. 800 or 1600, probably the latter, based on the amount of grain in the image.
Our pet cat Murphy was the perfect subject for black & white; this rather scraggly domestic longhair was a furry grey scale; the only colour was in his eyes, but everywhere else he had every shade from white to black and back again.
I’ve taken a few pictures in the vicinity of the Toronto Eaton Centre over the years; in fact the first image I posted in this blog was captured in the Eaton Centre. That image was taken on Ilford XP-1 film, on my old Yashica TL-Electro. The image below was taken on XP-1’s successor, XP-2+. I used my Nikkormat FT2 for this image (taken in early August, 2010), a camera of roughly the same vintage.
The change I captured this time was the construction going on currently in the Eaton Centre; the scaffolding to me appears to form a canopy over the young couple.
No matter how often I photograph a location, there is always something new. Expect change, and it will find you.
The picture today is of the “Scarborough Dude,” a fixture in the Canadian Podcasting Scene, and a valued friend. I took this portrait last weekend using my Nikkormat FT2, an old Nikkor 24mm lens and Ilford XP2-Plus film.
Although XP2-plus is supposed to be fine grain, the grain can become more noticeable when underexposed, or used at a higher exposure index. Also, from what I am reading, film scanners tend to act in the same manner as condenser enlargers, emphasizing the grain. Combining these factors, it is not a surprise that this photo appears rather grainy (more obvious at larger sizes).
Given the subject of this portrait however, I believe this grainy, organic appearance is appropriate, as it matches the Scarborough Dude’s personality; he is always the “real deal”; never any fakery. And while he is “with it” technologically speaking in terms of blogging, podcasting and other forms of social media, (indeed more so than many of his generation), he does not dismiss the past. He explores his past, and understands how it has shaped him and where he is today.
Film is organic. It is often grainy. There is no mistaking its character. The subject of this portrait would be ill-served by anything less.
Here is an image from my recent trip to Salisbury England. It is a close-up of an old door knocker on one of the massive doors of Salisbury Cathedral. It’s also the first black and white film I’ve shot in about twenty-five years. I used a Nikon N6006 film SLR (purchased very cheaply on eBay) with a Nikon 55mm Macro lens (very sharp and also very inexpensive on eBay).
Today, I got a delivery of an ancient Minolta Dimage film scanner (again, purchased on eBay); using Vuescan software on my Mac I was up and running relatively quickly. I’ve still got a few kinks to work as I get this old beast dialed in, but expect to see more film scans posted here. For B/W close-up work, film still has a unique magic!
My Third Eye 