Couldn’t resist, another image of Justine having fun in the leaves at High Park. In addition to her great expression, I love the motion blur on the leaves 🙂
(Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 80mm f2.8 lens, Ilford Delta 400 film at box speed, developed in HC-110 for 7.5 minutes)
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. 🙂
Today’s image is one of the digitals from my shoot yesterday with model and musician Tasha. The shoot was rock music themed, and during the shoot we had Led Zeppelin playing in the background. But even in this setting there were quiet moments.
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)
This image is from a shoot with a new model named Sarah, this past weekend. It was an indoor shoot, so I set up my usual lighting set-up, including my cactus remote flash triggers; a few shots in, they decided to stop working :-(. Plan B meant switching from strobe (flash) lighting to continuous lighting. I used a late 1950’s vintage quartz halogen movie light (which gave off a lot of heat!), bounced into an umbrella. When combined with the soft light from an overcast light coming through the skylights, I think it really worked. It’s time to try more of this kind of lighting!
Another image of Iryna, this time shot on film, I asked Iryna to show some sadness, and I described a story for her to place herself into. It was amazing how fast she became the character in the sad story; she was feeling the emotion. There is no faking for this kind of expression.
(Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 80mm f2.8 lens, Tri-x @ E.I. 800 developed in Diafine 3+3, negative scanned and post processed using NIK software)
Yesterday I had an amazing shoot with a young model named Iryna in High Park. It was a glorious day, very welcome after a spate of weather-related cancellations! Most of the shoot was film (until I ran out! I thought I had more with me than I did), so I had to shoot a few digital, so my first post on this shoot will be a digital image, as the first batch of negatives go through their final rinse in my darkroom. I was amazed at Iryna’s ability to create amazing expressions: beautiful, subtle, and entirely believable, over and over again. She instinctively understands that successful modeling is as much about acting and story as it is about posture and pose.
One more image from this past weekend’s shoot with Jennifer. As I think I’ve mentioned before, my strong preference for portraits is close-up: I am captivated by the human landscape of the face. I have to force myself to at least some of the time take a few steps back and attempt a portrait that is as much about the background as it is the subject. Guildwood Park in Toronto has a lot of great backgrounds to use, and as soon as I saw this sculpture, I knew that it would be perfect for a non-close-up image.
(Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 80mm f2.8 lens, Tri-X @ E.I. 800, developed in Diafine 3+3. negative scanned, and post-processed using Nik Silver Efex Pro 2)
Today’s image stars model Jennifer, who has graced the pages of this blog before. Jennifer reminded me when we did this shoot this past weekend that it had been roughly a year since we started collaborating, and together I think we’ve created some good work. Jennifer brings so much to a shoot in terms of energy and personality that collaboration is the correct way of describing a shoot. Her  spirit shows in every image, and she deserves the credit for that. Today’s image is a good example: a lot of the Steampunk photography I see comes across as rather serious, but with her playful expressions Jennifer was able to turn it upside down, and bring some fun into the photographs!!
(Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 80mm f2.8 lens, Tri-X @ E.I. 800, developed in Diafine 3+3, negative scan, post processed using Nik Efex.)
My Third Eye 