Flag Day
June 13th, 2018
Tomorrow is Flag Day in the U.S.
It’s All Happening At The Zoo
June 10th, 2018
Went to the Columbus Zoo yesterday with family and friends. Took a few snapshots. Thought I’d share them with you here. The one above was shot with my little Canon G7X Mark II.
The others were taken with a Panasonic GX8 with a 100-300mm Panasonic lens.
“A-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh…”
Another Side of Ayn
May 29th, 2018
In addition to being a great model, my friend and muse Ayn is also a great singer. She performs regularly in local clubs usually singing jazz or blues.
I while back I did a few photos for her to use in connection with her singing career.
If you are in the Dayton, Ohio, area and get the chance to hear Ayn performing, you are in for a great treat.
Digital Ayn and Kelsey
May 25th, 2018
As I promised, here are some photos from this shoot with Ayn and Kelsey that I shot with my digital camera. I was still shooting with my Nikon D7000 back when these were taken.
Just a few snaps of the two of them in the window light in my old studio.
And I played with some abstractions using direct sunlight on Kelsey.
More of Kelsey in the sunlight will be coming in my next post.
2257 Lawsuit Update
May 22nd, 2018
Kelsey and Ayn with Instax
May 22nd, 2018
Since all the peel-apart film will soon be gone, never to be seen again, I’ve been working with the instant film that will be around, at least for a while. That’s Fuji’s Instax film. It’s nothing like the wonderful old peel-apart film, but it does have a unique quality that I’m trying to learn to take advantage of.
Again, I’m posting largely unedited files scanned from the Instax originals. Ayn and Kelsey did their usual wonderful job of working with the camera to make great images.
The main problem that I have with all the Instax films is that the medium itself is inherently soft focus. There’s really no way to make a truly sharp photo using this film, no matter what camera and lens you use. They are always going to be soft. That’s ok, once you realize it and accept it. Then you can just work with it, knowing what it’s going to do. But I sure do miss the wonderful sharp photos that were possible with the old peel-apart film coupled with a good camera and a sharp lens. So it goes.
Time marches on and materials come and go. It’s up to us to make the most of whatever materials are available at any given time.
I also shot on this day with a “real” camera, so some regular digital photos will be coming here soon. Stay tuned.
Instant Kelsey and Ayn
May 19th, 2018
I realized that one reason I’ve not been posting much is that the next shoot in line to be edited and posted here is a shoot I did with instant film. The prints are scanned, but they need a lot of time-consuming editing. And I just haven’t had the time to do that.
So, to get things moving I decided to go ahead and post them without the editing. It seems like photos with flaws are popular these days, so what the heck, here you go, warts and all…and the warts are in the process, not in the models.
These are shot with Fuji’s much lamented, long-discontinued 3000 speed peel-apart black and white instant film. I had a stash of this film, but I think I’m down to only a couple packs now. There will never be anything like this stuff. The model is the amazing, lovely Kelsey Dylan. These were shot with my old Speed Graphic.
I also did some shots with Kelsey and my wonderful muse, Ayn.
Lots of film issues with this last one. But I guess it’s still ok if you are into that sort of thing. I like the image anyway. These are a couple of especially great ladies.
There is a lot more from this shoot to come. Both instant film and digital.
Point Lobos
May 16th, 2018
During my recent travels I was able to spend a little time at Point Lobos on the California coast.
It’s an amazingly beautiful place. It was easy to see why Edward Weston loved it so much.
These are a few of the snaps I took while I was there.
Of course I shot these with an 8×10 view camera…just like Weston.
Or maybe I actually shot them with the little Canon G7X Mark II that I keep on my belt all the time…pretty much the same thing. 😉
Pinhole Day 2018
May 15th, 2018
I’ve been traveling a lot recently. That’s one of the many reasons that I haven’t been posting here. I hope to be able to get back to regular posts now. We’ll see.
I was traveling on Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day this year, but managed to take a few pinhole photos along Rt. 50 in Kansas and uploaded one to the WPPD website. That’s my contribution to the day above, taken in Stafford, Kansas.
This year I put my trusty wide-angle pinhole on one of my Panasonic GX8 cameras. Here’s the camera with the pinhole mounted:
You can see my contribution on the WPPD website here: http://pinholeday.org/gallery/2018/?id=979
You might enjoy looking around the website to see the many wonderful pinhole photos from around the world that were taken on Pinhole Day this year.
Brigman/White Project
April 13th, 2018
I’ve been working on a new project. It’s based on the work of two of my favorite photographers from many years ago. A century ago in fact. If you aren’t familiar with Anne Brigman and Clarence White I suggest you spend a little time changing that. They were two very important people in the early years of photography as an art form in the United States. Both were members of Alfred Stieglitz’s Photo Secession. Brigman pretty much invented nudes in nature which, of course, is the core of my own work. White was from my own home town, Newark, Ohio, and did some of his most well known photographs at locations near Newark where I’ve also photographed many times.
Above is my most successful photograph so far for this project. The model is the wonderful, beautiful Ayn Kaethchen.
The orb, by the way, was an often used prop for both White and Brigman.
