No matter how big or small dogs are, they all share a very important trait. Appetite. They all love to eat. They especially love to eat what their human companions are eating at the time.

Gizmo is no exception. No matter what it is, he’s willing to try. From meat scraps to broccoli or carrots or even roasted seaweed he’s a ready taker. Peanuts are a favorite, but if he could speak for himself I’m sure he’d say “I’ll have what he’s having.”

One of my few digital photographs captured with a Fuji Finepix S2 Pro and a 24-85mm Nikkor lens.

Tags: Color, portraits, fuji finepix S2 pro, Digital

When I visit Washington DC, most of my travels are on foot or by metro. A person could walk miles while seeing much of what our nation’s capitol has to offer. From the Library of Congress to Arlington National Cemetery, not to mention all of the galleries and monuments, this walk in this park offers plenty of exercise and certain doom for your footwear.

That’s where I saw something that I am sure has made plenty of ‘folding money’ for an innovative entrepreneur. People can now avoid the inconvenience of a good stroll in the park and hop on a Segue instead. Expending no more energy than standing, tourists watch the world slip under their feet as they weave their way through the pedestrian rabble led by guides who give driving lessons with the history lessons.

I caught this scene near the Navy Memorial. It reminded me of off-duty mall cops out for the weekend or a repentant motorcycle gang. “Born To Be Not-Quite-So Wild”.

I used a Lensbaby mounted on a Nikon FM2 and Neopan 400 shot at par, developed in Acufine.

Tags: monochrome, portraits, lensbaby, DC, filmphotography, acufine

Occasionally, time relative to monochrome development really doesn’t matter. When I read about stand and semi-stand development I was a bit skeptical, but film is cheap so I gave it a try. I picked up my Pentax Spotmatic F, loaded it with a Kodak Plus-X, and took to shooting. I heard that semi-stand development effects contrast and image texture in strange and wonderful ways and I was eager to see what I would find.

My neighbor was having a few of her trees removed before they removed someone’s house on their own. I used a 180mm Takumar lens to reach into the branches where a tree surgeon was working. I could see high contrast and perhaps grainy limbs partially obscuring a human form.

Near my home, there is an old diesel engine slowly returning back to nature while resting on blocks by the side of the road and just begs to be photographed. I have studied it behind the lens often but I have never captured an image of it worthy of keeping. The 50mm f/1.8 Takumar lens allows a photographer to get very close to a subject so I finished the roll exploring the lines and shadows of this once powerful industrial machine.

Back in the lab, I mixed 100 parts water to 1 part Rodinal developer, poured it into the loaded developing tank, and let it sit in the sink for 30 minutes. After ten seconds of torsional agitation, I let it sit for another 30 minutes. I poured out the soup, rinsed the film in water, and then fixed and washed the film in the usual way.

Tree Surgeon shows detail in the trunk of the tree and in the lumberjack. The goggles give him an alien look, perhaps of a tree dweller, but definitely someone who is comfortable in his surroundings. He is curiously aware of the photographer but not distracted by the camera’s presence. The marvelous grain in the leaves and branches is accentuated by the soft unfocused shapes that vary subtly in tone but show the grain as distinct parts of a whole.

Tree Surgeon

The semi-stand technique gives the images of the old diesel engine depth and texture. The acutance of the film comes out in the springs and screw heads of ‘Industrial Mortality’ and reminds me of a charcoal drawing of an art deco fortress. The panel with its screw heads are the drawbridge and the springs are watchtowers. Monochrome gives the image a dark foreboding feel.

Industrial Mortality

‘Fracture’ is just that; a fractured machine stripped of its power. A large crack runs up the wall of the cylinder from the orifice in the foreground and is joined by smaller cracks that radiate throughout the structure. The acutance of the film gives these lines a hard edge and pulls out the pits in the rest of the metal. The little nest built in the hole shows just how long this machine has bee idle, and will likely remain that way for quite some time.

Fracture

Semi-stand development was a wonderful experiment. The results can be unpredictable, but this technique shows just how versatile older photographic formulations can be. Rodinal has been around for more than 100 years and, although Agfa has abandoned the product, still survives under the names R09 or Adonal. You can find them online at Freestyle Photographic Supplies.

Tags: Rodinal, industrial, portraits, process, Rodinal

A random shot into a crowd is usually just that . . . random. How many stories can a single shot capture?

A few holiday seasons ago, I captured this moment in time of my family. It was just a shot into the crowd, but it shows the dynamics of a typical family gathering. My mom is in conversation with my wife across the room. My son is either daydreaming or watching his uncle and aunt serenade the cookware. Perhaps he is really looking for a quiet corner to hide while my niece darts in to grab a cup of coffee. There is so much happening on so many ‘frequencies’ caught in a single instant. A natural collage.

Perhaps that’s why holidays are not vacations and vacations should not be planned on holidays.

Tags: holiday, family, portraits

The family dog is a popular subject, probably because they are always available for a shoot and just so darned cute. Dogs are the perfect model because they need no makeup and little coaching while working for peanuts, or cheese, or even a piece of salmon.

After mounting a Lensbaby lens on a Nikon FM2, I discovered Gizmo carefully watching one of us eating a chip, or a sandwich, or something else that he knows he would like. The Lensbaby is a bit unpredictable but that is why I like it. There is no auto-exposure. There is no auto focus. The only way to focus the lens is to move the flexible lens barrel until the ‘sweet spot’ is focused in the viewfinder. Sometimes the final image comes as expected, sometimes not.

In this portrait, I focused on Gizmo’s eyes leaving the rest of the image to chance. The Lensbaby uses discs that change the aperture from f/2.8 with no disc to f/16, which is the disc with the smallest opening. Changing the discs changes the depth of field, or the range of distances that come into focus on the film plane. For this shot, I didn’t use an aperture disc so most of the image is out of focus except for his eyes. The result is a portrait that clearly suggests ‘dog’, but draws the viewer to those big Shih Tzu eyes. Sparkling catchlights add dimension to his face.

Adorable.

Tags: Nikon, monochrome, Ilford HP5+, portraits, lensbaby

After several innings, this spectator had enough. She came because her parents made her come. She was cold. As far as she was concerned, the game was slow, dirty, and BORING.

The eyes say it all. Why am I here? Why is no one here to play with me? Where is the playground? We have to be out here three more times this week and all day Saturday and whining about it is useless. Her expression is that of any little girl dragged to her brother’s baseball game against her will. Her face pleads to the viewer, “Help me! Please!”

The original image was digital; one of the few that I have published on this website. It was shot with a Fuji Finepix S2Pro at ISO 800 through a Nikon AF Nikkor 28-70mm f/3.5-4.5D lens. Post production, I turned up the shadows a bit to give the image a ‘high dynamic range’ look. The result? A photograph that looks a bit like a hand-tinted monochrome print or pen-and-ink illustration.

The lightened shadows, sharpened contrast, and cooler hues in the image helps her ask the audience, “Why me?”

Attitude

Tags: fuji finepix S2 pro, portraits, Baseball

After weeks of posing, processing, printing, and publishing, I completed the self-assignment for my son’s high school senior portrait. I had never attempted a job like that before but the results were worth the effort.

Before I could put this assignment to bed however, the school requested other portraits or snapshots of prospective graduates for the yearbook. After finding a few that I already had in my library, I discovered on a bookshelf another portrait of the boy. I remember the day well.

While my wife and I were shopping for ceramics in Vietri sul Mare, a small seaside town just east of Sorrento, Italy, our three-year-old son was captivated by the water running from a fountain in the piazza. I tried to pull him away, but his curiosity continued to draw him to it. I would coax him back, but as soon as my attention shifted elsewhere he was playing in the fountain again. Seeing the opportunity, I pulled out my Olympus OM-4T and shot several frames of him spellbound by joy and wonder as the water cascaded around his fingers.

I lost the negative years ago, but I was able to scan the print. This image will be in his high school yearbook this year, but the day will live forever in my heart. It is easy to see why.

Glee !

Tags: film, SLR, Olympus OM

The weather is a fickle partner in the portrait business, especially in Washington. There could be a soft pall of fog one moment and bright sunshine the next. When Nick and I went to Fort Flagler to have a go at it, rain was coming and going, but less so as the morning wore on. Still, there was a heavy overcast which is perfect for outdoor portraits. Once we arrived however, the clouds rose and then dissipated. The result? Harsh shadows and light that had my model squinting.

With nothing more than an open garage, an old cotton tarp, and some bungee cords, I set up a studio of sorts. With a dining room chair and kitchen stool to help position my models, I used a 180mm f/4.5 lens mounted on a Mamiya C330 TLR camera and a Vivitar 283 flash fitted with a Sto-Fen diffuser to shoot not only Nick, but also your humble narrator. My brick and mortar gallery has been asking for my self portrait for months, so I finally obliged.

I used Ilford Pan F+ and Fuji Neopan Acros 100 films, both processed in Rodinal developer (1+50) for 11 minutes.

Tags: Mamiya TLR, Rodinal, Pan F+, medium format, portraits, Neopan Acros 100

My hardest self-assignment yet - Portraits.

I don’t mean the opportunistic kind when someone fits well in a scene, but staged, posed, and artificially lit portraits. My son asked me to shoot his senior portrait this year and I agreed.

It takes work to find the right location (I have no studio), the right format (6x4.5 or 6x6), the right film (monochrome or color) and the right wardrobe. Since I rarely use artificial lighting, we went out to shoot a few test frames and find out how well my 30 year old Vivitar 283 flash could handle the task. I used Chinese Shanghai GP3 film in a Mamiya C220 twin lens reflex camera and the results were good. It was time to choose a location and start shooting.

Fortunately, I’m not tied to any particular day or time and I have latitude on the location. We chose Fort Flagler on the Olympic Peninsula and scheduled the shoot on a Saturday. Being an abandoned gun emplacement on the shores of Puget Sound, there are lots of dark iron railings and marbled grey concrete structures for props and background. The mass and structure of the concrete bunkers and natural lighting that varies from near total darkness to bright daylight gave us lots of options.

I learned a bit about commercial grade portraiture. Everything I learned wasn’t about what worked, but what didn’t.

* First mistake. Don’t shoot in direct sunlight. The flash will fill the shadows, but the bright light makes your subject squint.

* Second mistake. Make sure that your subject does not wear a white or very light shirt. It’s hard to tell where the shirt ends and the neck begins. It also creates distracting highlights if direct sunlight hits it.

* Third mistake. Check the focus carefully before EVERY shot. I had two really good poses in great light, but I would have liked them better if my model was in focus instead of the background.

* Fourth mistake. Watch the framing. When using a camera where the viewing lens is above the objective lens, make sure that there is enough room around your subject. I spoiled a couple of good shots because I was shooting close to the subject and forgot to adjust for parallax. Head shots should include the WHOLE head, not just the lower 90%.

* Fifth mistake. Glasses. Stupid glasses! They almost always create specular highlights on the lenses from reflected fill flash. Have your subject take them off or remove the lenses if they want to wear them. I suppose that reflections could be minimized in a studio environment or removed post-production in the darkroom or computer, but they are irritating nonetheless.

Time to schedule Session Three. Great looking kid, but the photographer needs improvement. Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment. Film is cheap and so is the photographer, so I’ll keep trying until we get it right.

Tags: film, Mamiya TLR, medium format

Most photographs that I have seen of a summer carnival have been shot in full, living color. The bright lights in motion on the rides of the midway and the garish banners on the game kiosks and food booths attract the eye of the young, the naive, and the hungry. Colorful flags and spinning machines of perpetual motion fly against a clear and bright blue sky. There’s a lot of information for the eye to process in a photograph with so much color and motion. WIth all of those elements competing for the viewer’s eye, simplifying the subject can be difficult.

Monochrome isn’t really suited to communicate the colorful carnival atmosphere, but it does capture the character. I took my Nikon F100, a 28-85mm Nikkor lens, and a few rolls of TMAX 400 film with me to the Western Washington Fair in Puyallup, Washington. I left the color film at home this time to avoid the distraction of shuffling bodies and lenses while moments of photographic opportunity slip by. Would shooting digitally and deciding on color or monochrome images post-production be easier? Perhaps, but ‘easy’ is not the reason why some of us stay with film.

Spin and Aloft in the Observations gallery show the motion of the rides at the fair. If But For A Moment, Ferris Wheel Rider, and Anticipation in the Portrait gallery capture the emotions that follow. There was action, excitement, and the sound of money rushing from my wallet. The thrill of flying through space and brushing our hair against the clouds was worth every penny of the overpriced day we spent on the midway.

Tags: Nikon F100, monochrome, portraits, machinery