Today’s image is another one from Rock, Stock and Barrel’s gig at Irene’s pub in Ottawa. The band’s bass player, always quietly smiling in the background, always rock solid, but never seeking the spotlight.
Nikon D7100, 18-200mm NIkkor lens. Shooting at ISO 8000
Post-processed with Lightroom and Nik Efex software
Today a film image from my recent Ottawa trip. I love the long shadows and dramatic lighting of early mornings.
Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 55mm/2.8 Mamiya Lens with 25A red filter
Kodak TMax 400 film, developed in Tmax Developer 1+7, 12 min. @ 20 C.
Today’s image is from another shoot this past weekend in Ottawa with my friend Jill. Jill has been a friend of the family for many years, and it was a pleasure to collaborate with her at this photo shoot. She came armed with many ideas and a strong creative and expressive spirit that made the shoot a success.
Nikon D7100, 18-200mm Nikkor lens
Post production: Lightroom and Nik Efex software
One of my shoots this past weekend in Ottawa was with Maggie Kyoko Tan. We had been friends on Facebook, but had never met until this shoot in Ottawa, and she was a delight to work with, as she understands instinctively that posing is (as I have often said) a combination of choreography and acting. We were able to get into a rhythm very quickly, and I am very happy with the (digital) results so far. (Film to come!!)
Nikon D7100, 18-200mm Nikkor lens
Post processed with Lightroom and Nik Efex
I had a lot of fun shooting my friend Sue Murphy’s band Rock, Stock and Barrel on Friday night at Irene’s Pub in Ottawa. I was struck by a couple of things: first was the very low light: I had to shoot at ISO 8000, and take a lot of photos to make sure I had an adequate number of keepers. (I made it, barely :-)). The second thing that made an impression was talking to the band: definitely not a bunch of teenagers, the discussion centred around family responsibilities, and how they preferred playing shows that didn’t keep them up past their bedtimes. But once they hit the stage all that was forgotten, and proved (as if it needed proving) that rocking high energy music is not the property of a single demographic.
Nikon D7100, 18-200mm Nikkor lens
Post processing done with Lightroom and Nik Efex
In a lot of ways, this image is nowhere near being a realistic depiction of the scene in Ottawa early today: the use of a fisheye optic, the fact that is in monochrome and not colour, the application of a digital equivalent of a dark red filter, all of these in one sense make it unrealistic. On the other hand, what I found amazing this morning was the stark, dramatic lighting and lines in this part of Ottawa. This image shows what I felt, as much or more than what I saw.
Nikon D7100 DSLR, Lensbaby Composer with Fisheye Optic
Post processed in LightRoom, Nik Efex
Today another image from my photo shoot with my friend Maria Rozynska this past weekend. This is one of the colour film images, taken using Kodak Ektar 100 colour negative film, using my Mamiya 645 Pro TL medium format camera. I really like Maria’s expression here (this may be my favourite), as well as the slightly retro look of the colour film.
Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 80mm/s.8 Mamiya lens,
Kodak Ektar 100 C-41 Film
I had the pleasure yesterday to do a film/digital shoot with my friend Maria Rozynska, who I first met as a fellow cast member in the Alexander Showcase Theatre’s production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Maria is an excellent actor and dancer, and these talents translated well for the photo shoot! The concept for the shoot was 1960’s. Maria provided a perfect wardrobe, and a pair of retro style sunglasses topped everything off. This image is one of the digital shots. Film to come!
Around 30 years ago in the early 1980’s I shot a roll of Kodak Infrared Ektachrome E4 Slide film (you can see an image from that roll here). It was magic, but I never got around to shooting more of it.
A couple of weeks ago I shot two more rolls of Colour Infrared Slide film, purchased from the Film Photography Project online store. They have a limited supply of an equivalent E6 process infrared slide film, expired but cold stored. Here is one of my favourite images:
With the proper filtration (in this case a yellow-green filter and a polarizing filter) you get some really interesting colour effects, with foliage coming out red in a lot of cases, and blues tone becoming very vivid. The world becomes a different, alien, fantastic place.
I wish I could shoot this film stock all the time, as I don’t feel digital infrared (either post-processed faux infrared, or specially converted digital camera) gives the same magical effect. But I must be realistic: this film is not cheap, it is no longer made, and E6 slide processing is getting rarer, except by mail order.
A magic, but transient moment, and I mourn its imminent passing.
Another image from early Saturday morning at the Toronto Beaches. Peaceful, quiet, but filled with the expectant anticipation of throngs of people expected to descend later in the day
Nikon N90s 35mm SLR, 28mm/2.8 Nikkor lens
Rollei Retro 80s film, developed in Rodinal 1+50,
14 minutes @ 20 C
My Third Eye 