Something different this time around — tack sharp and in colour, taken with my Contax IIIa rangefinder 50mm Jupiter 8 lens and some 400 speed Fuji color negative film. I was struck by the colours and geometric patterns, as if I stumbled onto a piece of abstract art. 
Category: Color
Out of Its Element
For years we’ve had an old tricycle in our garage, getting dirtier and more rusty with the passage of time. I took the tricycle out of its element, and shot it in a studio setting, and I quite like how it turned out.
Inside the Watercolour
Today’s image was taken last weekend, when the Cherry blossoms in High Park, Toronto were briefly in bloom. In this image, I was going for a luminous look, like being inside a watercolour painting.
(Nikon F3, Vivitar 70-210mm Series I zoom lens, Fujicolor Colour negative film)
From Russia With Luck, Part II
On my list of cameras I’ve always wanted, a vintage Contax rangefinder has been near the top. The post-war Contax rangefinders (IIa and IIIa models) are wonderful precision mechanisms, and I was lucky sometime ago to acquire a IIIa body at a reasonable price, but I still needed a lens. I had good luck with the Russian Jupiter 8 on my Leica IIIb, so I rolled the dice again and go the same lens in the Contax mount, very inexpensively. I just got the first roll developed, and I am again very happy with the sharpness of this lens!
One of a Kind: Hand Tinting
This is my first crack at hand tinting a photograph, using special transparent oil paints made for the purpose. I made a conventional black and white print on matte paper in the darkroom, then applied the oils. This process was popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries, before colour photography was widespread and practical. It’s amazing that the materials are still available. What I like about hand tinting (in addition to the look) is that each print is unique, like a painting. I gave the original to the model Emily today, so all I have left is the scan. I can (and likely will) make another, but it won’t be the same, and I like that.
Vintage Colour
Recently I’ve been enjoying reading a book called Color Photography: The First Hundred Years, 1840-1940. I love the look of the old colour processes that preceded the advent of Kodachrome in the mid 1930’s.
Today’s picture is another digital lighting test from a recent shoot. The model really liked the tests, so I took this one and applied a duotone effect that reminds me of the slightly faded, not quite real look of the dawn of colour photography.
In Stereo
Earlier this year I bought a Stereo Realist 35mm camera. You can see it featured being held by my good friend Andrea Ross in a post I did awhile ago. The two models in the image, Memento Mori and No3rdAngel are two great women I’ve worked with before, and both were fascinated to be part of this shoot.
In order to see the stereo effect, you need to use the “Cross-Eye” viewing method, described here:
www.neilcreek.com/2008/02/28/how-to-see-3d-photos/
It can cause eyestrain for some people, so please heed the warnings on the page! Also, the effect works better for some folks than others.
Unbalanced
It’s been a while since I posted an image that a) was in colour and b) covered a subject other than the British Virgin Islands, so time for some variety.
I was photographing a concert last weekend (a very successful fundraiser for earthquake victims in New Zealand, held at a church in central Toronto). A concert in this setting can’t help but have a sense of formalism; the audience is expected to sit in the pews, and choirs take up defined positions in front of the audience to sing; everything is balanced.
Except for the foot thrust into the picture 🙂
Bottling Joy
Last night I got back from a week in the British Virgin Islands. A business meeting, but no shortage of fun, and time for photography! (Both film and digital). The image below is one of my favourites from the trip: a couple living and loving the moment. Just for a moment, I felt like I had bottled joy.
Time-Warp Tuesday: By Any Other Name?
Another deviation from the usual time-warp. This is a photo I made this past Saturday at a Toronto Photo meet-up at an Orchid show here in Toronto. I left the digital gear at home, and went strictly old-school. Mamiya medium format with Macro lens, Kodak Ektar 100, no lights, just a tripod. There’s just something about using film for flower macro work; organic materials for an organic subject perhaps?
My Third Eye 