My day job is located in North Etobicoke in Toronto, and frankly it is not the most picturesque part of town. However, in the morning light there are things of interest I pass by every day, as I walk from the bus station to the office.
Personality Distilled
Today’s image is of actor Caitlynne Medrek. We did a shoot at High park in Toronto, and Caitlynne was a joy to work with. Every now and then I am lucky enough to capture in one image these essence of a person’s personality, and I think I did so here; it’s hard not to smile back at this kind of smile! 🙂
Hacking the Process
Today’s image is a scan of the negative from one of the Polaroids I took at my “Old Friends” shoot this past Sunday. Originally meant to just be thrown away, if these negatives are carefully allowed to dry, they can be scanned and inverted (negative -> positive). The results have a character all their own!
I like processes and materials that can be extended and altered in ways the original manufacturer never dreamed of, and film photography is perfect for this, in a way that digital never could be.
Times Two
Models Emily DeCoteau and Jennifer Bettencourt have both graced my blog multiple times, so it was only fitting that a shoot involving two models would feature them. The idea was a faerie theme, shot in Guild Park, the perfect location. Shooting two models instead of one takes twice the energy, and increases the variables involved, but happily this shoot went very well. Emily and Jennifer worked together very well, and both displayed great characters, with interesting contrasts. I am quite happy with the results.
(Nikon FE, 105/2.5 Nikkor lens, 35mm Kodak Portra Colour negative film, developed in home C-41 kit)
Old Friends: Ken and Bryon
This afternoon I finally was able to have the “Old Friends” shoot with my good friends Ken and Bryon. The idea of shooting these two together was the original inspiration for the project, but for various logistical reasons we were not able to shoot until today. Today’s image is a Polaroid instant picture from the session (shot mainly in 35mm and 120 roll film format).
One neat thing that did occur: the Polaroid 100 is not a small camera, and tends to attract attention whenever I use it. Today, a guy at the next table at the pub where we did the shoot noticed what I was using, asked if it was a Polaroid, then ran home to get an old Polaroid he had inherited from a relative. He came back with a Polaroid model 104, a sibling of my Model 100. Without a battery I couldn’t tell if the camera worked or not but the battery compartment was clean and the shutter sounded strong. I told the guy he could still get film for the camera, and I hope he tries it out.
Yes, it was a very good day. 🙂
Cleveland
“Cleveland??” The U.S. border guard looked at me with a mixture of suspicion and surprise, as if there were no good reason to go to Cleveland. Thankfully that is not the case, and last weekend I had a lot of fun attending Analog Pulse, a film photography event in Cleveland, Ohio, put on by the Aperture Photo and Variety store. (The photo today is Fuji slide film, cross-processed as C-41, taken during the “Cross Process Walk” part of the event.) It was a really fun day, and it was great meeting a number of people in person that I only had met online up until then. As for Cleveland, the downtown is lovely and very photogenic!
Favourites
Today’s image of model Julia Lewis was taken in what is becoming a favourite location of mine: Guild Park in Scarborough, Ontario. It was shot using Kodak Portra 400, which is rapidly becoming a favourite colour film
The Monolith
Today’s image was taken this past holiday Monday in the Rock Garden portion of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, not far from Toronto. I was quite struck by the beauty of this area of the garden, and the large tree stump to me acts like a station or monolith; not alive, but still exerting dominance over the space.
(Nikon F3 camera, Nikkor 28mm f2.8 lens, Kodak SO-331 High Contrast Intermediate film, developed in Diafine, 3+3)
The Right Approach
I am not a purist. While I love traditional film, I don’t get religious about it; I will use digital as well, when the situation calls for it. Today’s image is an example, shot with the talented and very creative model Emily Decoteau. I did use film as well for this shoot (currently hanging drying in my darkroom), but there is a certain kind of vibrancy in this image that I ascribe to the use of a digital camera. It will be interesting to compare this image to the film versions, and I suspect it won’t be better/worse, just different.
Instant Gratification
The guys on the Film Photography Podcast spend a lot of time talking about shooting instant photography, so I decided to take the plunge, and through the FPP store I got a lovely Polaroid 100 Land camera, for which Fuji still makes colour and black and white film packs (the peel apart variety). During the instant photo walk in Cleveland on Saturday (as part of the Analog Pulse Photography Meet-up, to be covered in a future post), I took this image using the FP-C 100 colour instant film. The process of shooting instant is a lot of fun, different from both traditional film and digital shooting, with its own kind of slightly delayed instant gratification. I’m hooked 🙂
My Third Eye 