This is Danielle, a young model I had the pleasuring of working with in downtown Toronto last weekend. We were shooting at an abstract sculpture near Roy Thompson Hall, and she suggested shooting through some holes in one of the panels of the sculpture. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but now I’m pretty happy with the results, especially this image: the fact that so much is obscured really seems to focus what we can see of her eyes and expression.
It can be fun looking for interesting patterns and shapes in everyday mundane objects, and a bus shelter in Toronto is about as mundane as it gets. But today’s image was created by strong sunlight beaming through a bus shelter onto the concrete sidewalk, and the geometry seemed interesting to me.
(Contax IIIA, Jupiter 8 52/2 lens, HP5+ developed in HC-110 dilution B, 7:30)
I took this photo for a production of Man of La Mancha that I am currently in, and shows two of the main characters, Don Quixote (played by Robbie Burko) and Sancho Panza (played by Antonio Olivito). What strikes me are their eyes — it shows how much they have both internalized and become their characters, as well as how much energy they bring to their roles. When I work with models, I try to get them to think like actors: find a story, a reason for a facial expression, etc. In a lot of ways, actors make the best models.
If you’re in the Toronto area, why not come see the show? Show dates are May 4th, 5th, 6th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th. (More information and tickets here) I will be playing two roles: “The Governor” (a rather nasty prison gang leader) and “The Innkeeper” (who is actually a rather nice guy).
Hope to see you there!
Today’s image is the latest in a series taken with vintage 35mm gear (either my Leica or Contax 35mm rangefinder). This image was taken with my Contax IIIa, and Russian Jupiter 8 52mm lens (Damn it’s sharp!!).
The real drama with this image began with the film development though. I have a number of bulk loaders (so I can save money by buying film in 100 ft. lengths and “rolling my own”). I had thought this film was Fomapan 100, one of my favourite films in medium format. When it is developed, its anti-halation coating is dissolved and turns the developer a cheerful shade of green when it is poured out of the tank. When I started pouring out the developer this time around though, it came out clear, meaning it wasn’t the film I though it was. I immediately stopped pouring out the developer, topped it the tank with water, did some mental math and added 75% more development time.
I dodged a bullet, and everything came out OK. (Perhaps a tad more grain than optimal, but I’ll take it). The sad thing is that the film has no edge markings identifying what brand/type it is, but at least in the future I know how to develop it. 🙂
I’ve been shooting more 35mm lately (in addition to medium format), and of course with the smaller negative, grain becomes more of a reality. One can either embrace the grain, or try super fine grain film. For today’s image it is the latter: it was made using Adox CMS 20 film (with a speed of ISO 20, so it is very slow and wants a lot of light). It’s basically high contrast microfilm stock, but developed with a special developer to allow continuous tones. This type of film requires some taming, but I love the look! I used my Leica IIIb and a 50mm lens for the image, taken in Guild Park, Scarborough, Ontario Canada.
Toronto is testing some new subway cars, and one of the nice features is that with these new cars the train is open from end to end, so you can walk between cars. From a photographic point of view, seeing right to the end of the train offers some interesting photographic opportunities. I had been wanting to shoot one of the new trains with a super-wide angle, and this past Saturday morning I lucked out. I had my Leica IIIf with me, with the 21mm/f4 Voigtlander Color Skopar lens. I had to shoot wide-open at 1/40 second, but I did get some that were sharp.
This picture is from the first roll I shot using my newly acquired Minox EL (one of the smallest 35mm cameras ever made, in the early 1970’s). I got the camera for next to nothing, and for now at least it’s working. (From what I read, the shutters are a weak spot). One of the interesting things about this camera is that it is scale-focus: no rangefinder, etc. Nada. You guesstimate the distance and set it on the lens, and hope you’re in the ball park. I am happy to report that every shot scanned so far is sharp, but given the tack-sharp 35mm f2.8 wide-angle lens, and the great depth of field I got from shooting at f16 on fast film, it might as well have been auto focus.
(Minox EL camera, 35mm/2.8 Color Minotar lens, Tri-X at box speed, Developed in HC-110 Dilution B for 7 minutes)
Today’s image was taken recently with my Leica IIIb and Voigtlander 21mm Super-Wide angle lens. Although this kind of lens does not distort an image the way a “fish-eye” lens does, depending on the angle you can still get plenty of distortion. In the image below though this is accentuated by the building itself, Toronto’s Bata Shoe Museum. (A very interesting place, well worth the visit by the way.) Its walls have a number of interesting and unusual angles, and in this image it is tricky to tell where the building ends and the lens distortion begins.
I’ve been asked recently why I like ambiguity and subtle facial expressions in my portraits, and the reason is simple: we live in a very black/white culture, prone to snap judgments and instant categorizations (good guys/bad guys, cool/uncool, attractive/unattractive, etc.). We are encouraged to make decisions and interpretations of people, situations and issues based on shallow criteria, anything to keep people from actually thinking for themselves.
Ambiguity and subtlety force people to slow down and consider more than one possibility, and this will always be a goal of mine.
(Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 80mm f2.8 lens, Delta 400 film developed in HC-110 Dilution B)
Another image from the 35mm photo shoot outside Massey Hall, this time taken with my Leica IIIb and Russian Jupiter 8 50mm f2 lens. I thought I had ISO 400 film in the camera, but it turned out to be a roll of Polypan, nominally rated at 50, so the film had to be heavily pushed in development, 30 minutes in HC-110 dilution B. A good photogrpahy friend of mine was very helpful in suggesting a development process to salvage the frame. This is unretouched, and is technically certainly not perfect, but it is what I was after – the feel of decades ago; I think it would be less of an image if it were tack sharp and grain-free.
My Third Eye 