Category Archives: Photography
Testing, Testing – Boston, MA
Testing, Testing…
A couple of weeks ago, during the trials and tribulations of pinhole camera design I was concerned that the problem I was having was not really the camera design, but the developing process. So I loaded my camera up with a roll of film and went out to see how quickly I could shoot a roll of 36 exposures; of course the goal was to test the fixer, but the secondary challenge was to see what I could get without thinking too much and without a clear subject. I like some of the results. All were taken in Boston’s South End between Tremont and Shawmut Streets and West Springfield and W. Newton Streets (4 Square Blocks).
All photos taken with Carl Zeiss Ikon ZM Rangefinder with Jupiter 3 50mm, f/1.5 with Ilford Delta 100 Pro developed in HC-110 dilution “b” for 6 mins @ 68F.
Quintessential South End.
Brook-to-the-Lyn – Brooklyn, NY
I went for a walk around Park Slope in Brooklyn with my sister, my Yashica-mat 124G, and a couple of rolls of expired Fuji slide film (Fujichrome RMS 100/1000 and Provia 100). This camera is so much fun.
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Susu’s Birthday Party – Cambridge, MA
A couple of weeks ago we put on our dancin’ shoes and headed to Cambridge for Susu’s birthday party. The party had a 70’s and 80’s theme. So for those of you who know me, you understand that there is little chance I would get dressed up in a “costume”, but I figured I would bring an 80’s themed camera. I broke out the Polaroid Spectra System and a pack of Impossible Project film. It was a bit dark in the restaurant, so I had to rely on the flash, but hey the final product looks a lot like… well, Polaroids from the 80’s.
Susu and Tammy.
Boston/Cambridge – Pinholed
A couple of weeks ago I saw a video on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/39578584) about Ian Ruhter, a photographer who built a delivery truck-sized camera. I think he did it because he he wanted to do something different and unique with his photography. What he came up with is quite amazing. I found myself thinking how I can do something that unique with my photography. I started reading about make-your-own pinhole cameras, and decided I would give it a try. First I started reading about “matchbox” pinhole cameras that are small/simple box cameras made from matchboxes. They are pretty simple and dare I say a little boring. I was going to make one, but alas I could not find a box of matches.
(Below) The Dartmouth Street entrance to the Boston Public Library. This was the last shot that I took and thankfully the sun was starting to go down so I could actually get some better detail in the photo. I was only standing about 20 ft. back from the steps and I was able to get both of the statues in the photo. Wow that is wide.
Bird Watching in SOWA – Boston, MA
A few weeks I went out for a walk with my new (to me) TLR camera; I have not written about it much yet. It is a 1970’s TLR that uses medium format film and produces 6×6 negatives (or positives if you prefer slide film). I will write more about the camera later, but for now lets just agree that it is a lot of fun to use.
On this day the sky was quite clear and then all of a sudden clouds rolled in and the sky became quite ominous. I noticed this group of birds chaotically flying back and forth from building to building. I am not sure what prompted them to fly from one building to the other, but it was hypnotic. I stood for about ten minutes watching and waiting for the next move.
Group of birds flying back-and-forth from “580” to an abandoned building in the SOWA part of Boston’s South End. (Yashica-Mat 124G on expired Fujichrome Astia 100)
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Haymarket – Boston, MA
Early in January I went on a short photowalk in Boston’s North End. I decided to make things interesting so I didn’t bring my digital camera and just shot with film. Of course the problem with that strategy is that I didn’t finish the roll, and it took weeks for me to get it developed. Finally I finished it up last week, got it developed, and scanned it. I took these shots in the Haymarket, which we walked through at the end of the day.
A few photos of the produce vendors at Haymarket. The colors here are pretty vibrant even on cold gray days like this one. (Olympus OM-1 w/ M-Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 on Rollei Digibase CN 200)
Some Funny Situations – St. John USVI
Continuing on the “better late than never” theme, here are some more photos from our Christmas vacation in St. John.
Not only do you have to drive a car with the driver’s side on the left on the left side of the road, but you have to look out for all sorts of things crossing the road. There were donkeys, chickens, and goats everywhere. This was a bit of a traffic-jam situation caused by a group of goats crossing the street. (Leica M9 with Summicron 35mm f/2, edited in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom)
St. John, USVI – The Scenery
You know what they say, right? Better late than never. Well here goes…
This Christmas my family decided to do something completely different. Rather than spending the holidays in NJ like I have done for the past 30-something years, we went on an adventure. We rented a villa in Coral Bay on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands and we did what you do on vacation: rest, eat, drink, hike, snorkel, relax on the beach, and take photos. It was a great time. Here are some of the scenic views.
This is the view from the villa that we rented. The house was called “la mer” and it was perched on the top of Bordeaux Mountain overlooking Coral Bay with views of the British Virgin Islands. The color photo is a stitched panoramic of the view during the day and the monochrome is of the same view at night. (1st photo w/ Leica M9 and Summicron 35mm f/2, 9 frames stitched in photoshop; 2nd photo Leica M9 with Voigtlander Heliar Super-Wide 15mm f/3.5 lens, edited in silver efx pro)
Quick Trip to Charlotte, NC
Last weekend we made a trip to visit Tammy’s mother and step-father who recently moved to Charlotte, NC. As I have come to expect with any trip to see Tammy’s mom the weekend was action-packed with lots of activities and fun. On Saturday we went to see Tammy’s mom’s new horse, Spyder, and watch her riding lesson. Of course I took a little time to wander around the grounds of the stables and take a few photos.
This is Tammy’s mom, Vicki, on her new horse Spyder during her riding lesson and monochrome of a tree that I stumbled upon on the grounds of the farm.
The South End in Color (film) – Boston, MA
So as my foray into shooting film continues, I decided to try and shoot some color film. I set out with my Olympus OM-1 and roll of Fujifilm NPH-400 film. I had read about this film in a magazine sometime ago and seemed like it had some interesting properties. It is a low contrast portrait film, but has a good properties for general photography as well. Of course it is no longer produced (it has been replaced by Fujifilm 400H which is quite different from what I have read) so I went on eBay and found a few rolls of old/expired NPH-400 and off I went. I set out around my neighborhood, Boston’s South End, on a few different occasions and came up with some interesting shots. Scanning the film was a bit of a chore, but actually kind of fun. It reminds me a lot of being in a darkroom. I plan on posting about scanning workflow as soon as I run a few more rolls thorough the process and fine tune it a bit. Stay tuned for that.
For now, here is the South End in Color (film)…
This is one of the chef’s at Coppa through a window with the reflection of autumn foliage in the window.
A skull left over from Halloween I assume.
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