It was a bright (if cold) Sunday morning this past weekend, so I decided to go to High Park (and take the entrance near the Keele subway station). I had a couple of cameras with me; this image was taken with an old Pentax Spotmatic, with a 50mm/2.8 Carl Zeiss Jena lens mounted. I love the look of the images from this lens! (Shot on Kodak Tmax 400 film)
In my opinion, Kodak Ektar 100 colour negative film was made for autumn; there is just something about the colours. This image was taken a couple of weeks ago in High Park with my Canon P rangefinder and 35mm/2.5 Voigtlander Color Skopar lens. I developed it at home with C-41 chemistry from Argentix.ca
For this image of mature trees in High Park, I used my Canon P rangefinder from the early 1960’s, my Canon Serenar 50mm/1.8 lens from 1951, and developed the Tri-X film I used in Pyrocat-HD, a developer based on a 100+ year old formulation. For something as ageless as a forest it seemed appropriate. 🙂
Today’s image is from a week ago, when it was not quite as springlike as it has been this weekend. The trees in High Park were still bare, and there was more texture than colour. so perfect for black and white, especially a sharp contrasty film like Rollei Retro 80s.
Voigtlander L, 15mm/4.5 Super Heliar lens,
Rollei Retro 80s Film
developed in Rodinal 1+50 for 14 minutes @ 20c
This past Saturday I had a photoshoot in High Park scheduled with actress/dancer Justine Cargo. The weather turned on us, and we had heavy snow for most of the shoot. Rather than cancel, we made the snowfall part of the shoot, and in this image, Justine created an amazing expression of joy that I was fortunate to capture.
Nikon D7100, 18-200 Nikkor lens
Post processing with Nik Efex/Lightroom
The fall colours in High Park, with leaves rustling in the breeze were a perfect backdrop yesterday for a photo shoot with Angela Saini, a very talented Toronto area singer/songwriter/guitarist, for whom I was privileged some time ago to do my first album cover for her recording “Leap” (Great album by the way!!).
Working with creative people such as musicians, writers, actors, dancers and artists is always very rewarding, and it’s no exception with Angela; I always see the songwriter’s spirit in images of her.
The image below is digital, but I also shot some black and white film; I can’t wait to get it developed!
Another image created with my Zeiss Sonnar 50/1.5 lens (on my Contax IIIa rangefinder). At a wide aperture (in this case f2) this is not a sharp lens, and it has a focus shift that makes it a challenge to work with. I do like its atmosphere though.
Contax IIIa, Zeiss Sonnar 50mm/1.5 lens
Svema Foto 100 film, developed in Xtol 1+1 for 10 minutes @ 20 C
This image was created using my Zeiss Sonnar 50mm/1.5 lens. This is a very quirky lens when used at large apertures, and will definitely take some learning!
Contax IIa, 50mm/1.5 Zeiss Sonnar lens
Svema Foto 100 film developed in Xtol 1+1 10 minutes @ 20 C
Yesterday the model had to cancel at the last minute, the weather was dull and chilly, but I decided to go to High Park and shoot anyway, and I’m glad I did.
Rolleiflex E3 with 75mm/3.5 Xenotar lens
Tri-X film at E.I. 1000 developed in Diafine 3+3
Last Saturday I had a fun time working with frequent collaborator Catavaria in High Park, doing an Asian-themed shoot. for this image I had the flash off camera on a light stand, with a Lightsphere defuser and amber dome. Quite happy with the results!
Nikon D7100, 50mm Nikkor f1.8 D lens
