Dancing With the Light

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This image is from one of the more complicated lighting set-ups (at least complicated by my standards) I’ve done so far. Two strobes were used, one from the left with a “snoot” in place to restrict the light spread, and a strobe off to the right, shooting through this lovely piece of wood. The holes in it allowed it to function as a “gobo“, allowing a dappling of the light, and placing light patterns on the wall. The concept we were going for was a jazz performer in a club, and the lighting really helped get the mood I was going for.

The Jazz Musician #1

Taken with Mamiya M645J, 80mm f2.8 lens, 2 250ws strobes @ f8. Shot on Fomapan 100, developed in Xtol 1:1 for 9 minutes, post processed using Nik plugins.

More Happenstance

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When I scan negatives, all the images are automatically in landscape orientation, meaning any images in portrait orientation (and that covers a lot of my images these days) have to be rotated. Today’s image is no different, except I really liked the sense of motion given by the “wrong’ orientation (which I probably would not have considered without the limitations of the scanner), so I didn’t change it. You can tilt your computer/monitor sideways to see the “correct” orientation 🙂

Flying Through the Air

Mamiya M645, 80mm f2.8 lens with 25A red filter, strobes (umbrella and softbox). Shot on Ilford SFX infrared film, developed in HC-110 Dilution B for 10 minutes.

Hybrid Happenstance

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I continue to work a lot with Ilford SFX Infrared film, as I love what it does with people’s skin. I used it last Wednesday for a shoot with a lovely young model. Although this film’s nominal speed is ISO 200, I normally shoot it at ISO 25, because of the red filter (25R) I use to accentuate the effect. This time out though, I had a senior’s moment and shot it at 100, 2 stops underexposed. After thoroughly cursing my own carelessness, I looked online for the best way to process the film to salvage something, and ended up developing it in HC-110 developer for 19 minutes, to give a two stop push. The results are amazing! The glow and grain really work well together! I’ll have to try to screw up more often!

For the the image below I took a hybrid approach, using Nik Silver Efex Pro on the negative scan to accentuate the graininess and texture.

Infrared portrait

Gear Talk: Exakta VX

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I was doing a test shoot yesterday, and what better subject than a classic film camera, the Exakta VX 35mm (made in the 1950’s). An interesting note about this camera is that it does not have the SLR’s familiar pentaprism/Eye-level viewfinder (although one was available and could easily be swapped in, due to the camera’s modular design). It has a pop-open waist-level viewfinder (like a Rolleiflex TLR) that you look down at. The view is right-side up, but laterally inverted (mirror image).

For me, this Exakta exudes the “essence of camera,” with all kinds of knobs, dials and little complexities that are fun to geek out on. As a left-hander, it is interesting to note that the shutter release button and film wind lever are on the left hand side! 🙂

RB67 Test

Story in the Eyes

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Today’s image is another minimalist portrait, shot yesterday with model Kristen. She was a delight to work with, her face was capable of a great range of expressions, and her natural expression always seemed to involve a smile. Here, just with a glance to her left, I get the sense she is telling a story.

A Glance
Mamiya M645, 80mm f2.8 len @ f22, strobes with umbrella and softbox. Shot on Ilford Delta 400 film, developed in HC-100 Dilution H for 15 minutes.

Nowhere to Hide

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Recently I got a roll of white seamless paper to use as a backdrop for portraits. Shooting portraits like this is a compelling challenge; there is no scenic vista, no charming background to support the portrait; it’s just the subject and the camera. It’s like a musical melody with no arrangement or harmony; the portrait has to stand by itself. I find myself drawn to the work of the late Richard Avedon, who was famous for portraits taken against a plain background. In this kind of image, there is truly nowhere to hide.

Last one of Tiffany

Portrait create with Mamiya M645 medium format camera, Fuji Neopan Acros 100 film developed in HC-110 Dilution H, 10 minutes.
Negative scanned and post-processed using Nik Silver Efex Pro.

An Interview

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My good friend Mark Blevis captured some video of the show set-up the other night, and asked me some questions about the show:

Mark and his wife Andrea have been incredibly generous this week in putting me up (and putting up with me), and supporting and helping publicize my show. Mark and Andrea, I can’t thank you enough!!

A Reminder . . .

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The next couple of days will be very busy as I do my final preparations for my first photography display/sale ever:

Beginning on January 3rd (and continuing through the month of January), selections from my 2011 Photography project “Women and Cameras” will on display/sale at the Wild Oat Bakery and Cafe, 817 Bank Street in Ottawa.

This project features images captured using traditional film cameras, and printed on hand coated paper using two antique printing processes” Cyanotype and Van Dyke Brown. The subject of each image is a portrait of a woman, with an antique/classic film camera, like in the example below:
Cyanotype of Kathleen With Voigtlander
On Wednesday, January 4th at 7 pm at the Wild Oat I will be giving a presentation on my project, and the two processes I used to create these images.

If you are in the Ottawa area I’d love to see you there!

Buried Treasure

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If I leave film lying around undeveloped long enough, and it’s not labelled, I forget what’s on the roll. This makes for an interesting (and often pleasant) surprise when I do get around to developing the film. Today’s image falls into this category. I had done a couples shoot, but mainly in digital. I did bring along my Pentax 6×7 medium format camera and took a few images, and then promptly forgot I had taken some film shots along with the digitals. When I developed the film a few days ago, I saw this image, and it has become my favourite from the shoot.

One more of Amy and Jerrod