Today another three portraits if my good friend and frequent collaborator Jennifer. This shoot was a experiment on two fronts: it was the first time I tried shooting a hand-held portrait with my 4×5 Speed Graphic and 127mm/4.7 Kodak Ektar lens, and it was the first time I tried shooting some Fuji NC 160 4×5 colour sheet film I’ve had for a while.
Last weekend I got together with friends Sean and Ori for some large format shooting at the unused rail bridge in the lower Don Valley in Toronto. I was shooting my Speed Graphic 4×5, with a 127mm/4.7 Kodak Ektar lens, using Fomapan 100 film.
Here’s a image of my friend Sean, setting up an shot with his 4×5 view camera, taken with my Olympus XA 35mm.
And finally a shot of me! (Image taken by Sean Patenaude with his Nikon, used with permission)
Today another portrait of a film photography friend 🙂 It was a lovely day at High Park yesterday when Chrissie Wu and I met up for a photoshoot. I was once again using my 4×5 Speed Graphic and vintage Petzval lens, but the film was Fomapan 100, which I have never shot in 4×5 before. Developed in Xtol 1+1 for 7.5 minutes @ 20 C, I am quite happy with the tonality of the result.
Recently I went to Kitchener for a shoot with my friend Suzanne Leakey. Suzanne is a talented photographer in her own right, as well as a jewellery maker. It was fun to talk shop as the shoot progressed! This image was taken with the 4×5 Speed Graphic and antique Petzval lens, on HP5+ film.
I had a great shoot yesterday with my good friend Jennifer yesterday. The sun was low in the sky, and through the trees on the U of T campus downtown the light took on a lovely dappled quality that I think worked well with the Petzval lens and the 4×5 Speed Graphic. Created using Ilford HP5+ film.
Last Wednesday at lunch on a very warm, humid day I got together with my good friend Adriana for a portrait shoot in Centennial Park in Mississauga. I used two very different cameras: first, my Olympus Pen F, which until I had primarily used for male portraits. With a 100mm/3.5 Zuiko lens mounted, I think this camera works for female portraits as well.
Next, a portrait with my Petzval lens from the 1860’s using my 4×5 Speed Graphic. While normally I shoot close in with this lens, I decided to try moving back, and I like what the old lens did to the background. There is a a dimensionality to the Petzval lens optical formula that I don’t think digital filters can copy; it’s like being in a dream 🙂
Here is another image of my friend Michelle, taken at the Quebec meet-up of friends she hosted. This photograph was made with my 4×5 Speed Graphic, my antique Petzval lens, some amazing light, and an amazing subject 🙂
Finally back with a new image! This is my good friend Sylvain; a couple of weeks ago I enjoyed meeting up with him and other good friends just outside Montreal. This image was created with my 4×5 Speed Graphic and 1860’s Petzval lens.
When Sylvain saw the image, he said he thought he looked “serious.” The word that works for me is “thoughtful”; like everyone at the gathering, Sylvain is a person of great depth and creativity; he lives up to the caption on his T-shirt. This lens has a very shallow depth of field, but I think it captures depth of character.
HP5+ developed in D-76 stock solution
I developed another 4×5 sheet of Fuji Provia 100F today, and this image goes back to my shoot with my friends Maria and Conor. I love the muted colours!
Speed Graphic 4×5 camera, 1860’s Brass Petzval lens
I had the pleasure yesterday of working for the first time with Natalia Nyx, who is a photographer in her own right, and obviously talented on both sides of the lens! Yesterday, on a very dull and muggy afternoon, we shot at St. James Cemetery here in Toronto. I had three cameras with me, including the Speed Graphic and Petzval, and an image from that camera is what I am starting with. (Shot on HP5+ film) More images of Natalia from this shoot to come!
My Third Eye 