On the road again
September 4th, 2007
I’m leaving in a few minutes for a trip to New York City. I have shoots planned with four wonderful NYC models, three of them to be outside the city in natural locations. I also plan to get together with some photographer and model friends as well as at least one “civilian” friend who isn’t involved in the world of photography.
One of the original reasons for this trip was to visit Coney Island before it is too late. The famous amusement park is in danger of “development” intended to make a lot of money for a few people, most likely at the expense of the historic character of the place. I just want to have a look and take a few photos before that happens.
The schedule for this trip is pretty full, so I don’t know if I’ll be doing any posting while I’m there or not…but if I find the time I’ll try to put something new up here now and then.
This photo is again the lovely Angeliqua Oryx http://www.modelmayhem.com/member.php?id=441345 wandering naked around my favorite farm. Every forest path should have such a charming wood nymph.
Nudes Italian Style
September 1st, 2007
The Italian blog/web magazine LiberaEva http://www.liberaeva.com/vernissage.htm has just published a very nice feature on my figure work.
Thanks Adam. I’m very pleased.
Hell Freezes Over
August 31st, 2007
That’s one possible explanation. Others say it’s a sure sign of the apocalypse. I shot a roll of film yesterday. That’s the first time this century.
As you know if you’ve been reading this blog, I’ve been playing around with a Holga lens mounted on my Nikon D200. I started wondering what it would do with a full size 35mm frame. It’s nice and soft in the corners, so the larger frame should be softer. Since the D3 isn’t available yet, the only way to find out was with a film camera.
So I got one of my old FE2s out of the cabinet and went to the camera store and got a new battery for it and a few rolls of film. Then I called up trusty friend and model Nemesis who came on in to my studio on the spur of the moment along with her husband.
It was a different shoot for me. I tend to shoot a lot with my digital cameras and sort it out later. This time I only shot one roll of 36 exposures. It took some adjusting. I shot 35mm for many, many years…starting as a newspaper photographer in 1968…but it really has been a long time since I shot film. When I took the first frame I pulled the camera away from my face and looked at the back for the histogram…hmmmm…hope the meter is working right…and then I tried to take the second frame, but the camera wouldn’t fire…oh…you have to wind this little lever…how quaint. How did I ever manage to work this way?
But at least the Holga lens is a bit easier to focus with a real focusing screen with aides in it instead of the clear screens on autofocus cameras. And the FE is a sweet camera…I fell back into the groove with it very quickly. Not surprising since they were my primary cameras for 20 years or so before digital came along.
I don’t see a lot of difference in these photos, although that may be because of the lighting I chose for this test…and maybe the fact that I was able to focus more accurately with the FE. It does seem pretty soft at the bottom edge of the photo. Nice highlights blending into the shadows. I have several more rolls of film to shoot, so I’ll try some different things with them and let you see the results.
But, so far I find the Holga lens to be a fine soft focus lens. A real bargain at the price compared to the ridiculously overpriced Lensbaby. Too bad it comes attached to a Holga camera. In my opinion the best thing to ever happen to a Holga was to have the lens hacked off and put on a real camera. But I do tend to have an attitude about the random disasters that Holga users seem to be fond of dealing with.
Thanks Nemi for being so readily available for my testing. I have a few more ideas I’ll be calling you about in the coming weeks.
Back to the digital Holga
August 27th, 2007
I guess back is the right word since this lens throws photography back by a century or so. But for some subjects it has a nice effect, so I expect I’ll keep using it now and then. This is another of Angeliqua Oryx http://www.modelmayhem.com/member.php?id=441345 out at the farm a week or so back. More from that shoot will be coming. And I’ll be doing some more work with Angeliqua later this week. She’s great to work with.
Another Tool
August 24th, 2007
I’ve ranted here before about the unimportant nature of the tools we choose for our work. There is no virtue attached to the tools, other than what comes from the quality of their construction or their designed-in ability to achieve their intended purpose. Cameras and lenses are tools. Photographs are what photography is about. We all chose the tools that work best for us. Knowing the available tools and making good choices is part of the discipline of photography.
The Holga lens on my digital camera is an interesting combination of tools with enjoyable results. I like the photos I’m getting with that combination. But this photo of the lovely model Vassanta http://www.modelmayhem.com/member.php?id=209943 was done with a very different tool, a 50mm f/1.4 lens.
Using a camera like the D200 with a 50mm lens changes the way that tool works from how it works on a “full frame” camera. On a D200 the 50mm focal length is a very moderate telephoto. Pretty much perfect for portraits. But I’m using my 50mm for a couple reasons. First, as was the case in this photo, it allows me to control depth of field. With that f/1.4 aperture I can achieve very shallow depth of focus to put a background out of focus and isolate the subject. I seldom use 1.4…it’s just too shallow and autofocus tends to miss too often. But stopped down one or two stops the autofocus has a bit more room for error and the background still goes nice and soft. The effect is a lot like what I would get with my beloved 85mm f/1.8 on my film cameras.
Of course, the other thing that makes the 50mm f/1.4 a useful tool is the ability to shoot in very low light levels. With the ability of my D200 to shoot excellent quality photos at 1600 ISO that wide aperture on the 50mm gives me a lot of flexibility to shoot in all sorts of light. Since I like to use the “available darkness” when I’m shooting outside the studio rather than bringing along and using supplemental lighting, the f/1.4 is very helpful.
The 50mm f/1.4…a useful tool for making photos in certain situations.
Vassanta…a beautiful woman who looks wonderful through any lens.
Another Fuzzy Farm Photo
August 22nd, 2007
I’ve been having a lot of fun working with my new Holga lens on my D200. I really like the results, so I think I’ll be posting more of them here. This is Angeliqua http://www.modelmayhem.com/member.php?id=441345 out at the farm last Saturday. She is a beautiful lady and did a great job modeling while getting all scratched up on the weeds and stickers that are part of any farm.
More shooting today and tomorrow, then maybe I’ll get a bit of a break and spend more time editing. Or maybe not…
More Digital Holga
August 20th, 2007
Here’s another photo from the farm shot with the “digital Holga” a Holga lens mounted on my Nikon D200. I’m very pleased with the results I’m getting with this cheapie lens.
I was back at the farm this weekend with my friend, Gary Mitchell http://garymphoto.blogspot.com/ This time I worked with a new model, Angeliqua Oryx http://www.modelmayhem.com/member.php?id=441345 , who did a great job and was a lot of fun to work with. I haven’t had a chance to even look at the photos we did, let alone edit them, but I’m sure there is a lot of good work there that will be shared here eventually.
The next couple days will be spent editing, then I have a couple more shoots set up later in the week. I’m just about two weeks away from a trip to NYC so I’m working on arranging shoots and visits with friends while I’m there. There seem to be quite a few models in NYC who want to shoot with me, so I should come back with more new work from there.
Vassanta
August 16th, 2007
I’m actually making a little headway on editing. I don’t know how long that will last, though, because I have several models who want to set up shoots in the next few days, so I’ll probably get distracted again.
But, here is a shot from the editing I’ve been doing. This is beautiful Vassanta on the farm where Dave Rudin and I did a shoot last month. I’ll be shooting more on that farm in the near future…and I’m hoping for some softer light next time, but we’ll just have to wait and see what mother nature provides.
You can see more of Vassanta on her modeling portfolio here: http://www.modelmayhem.com/member.php?id=209943
And now for something completely different…
August 13th, 2007
Anyway, a while back I had talked with a model who was also into martial arts about doing a shoot of two women boxing. The idea was to try to capture a good punch landing. It never worked out to do the shoot with that model, but recently I was talking to a friend who works out with a trainer down the hall from my studio. I mentioned that photo idea and she jumped at the chance.
Progress
August 8th, 2007
Today has been a productive day. I managed to get a lot of errands done and still had time to do some editing at last this afternoon. I worked on a shoot I did with Mandy http://www.modelmayhem.com/member.php?id=156097
up in the Cleveland area a couple months ago. I love working with Mandy. She’s really nice to be around and she has a body that is just amazing. Add to that the fact that she works really hard to get good photos and is up for just about any challenge. If you doubt that, just look back through the blog to see the photos we did in the snow last winter with temperatures in the low 20s.
On this day we shot at some parks that were a bit too crowded for us to do everything we had in mind. The very bright sun that day also caused some issues that were hard to overcome. But I think this is my favorite from the shoot…just Mandy on a rock. I like the tension in her beautiful body and the relationship between her tattoos and the markings on the rock.
Now, back to more editing so I can get caught up…
