Instant Kelsey
October 7th, 2014
One of the truths of photography is that whatever materials you use and love will be gone, usually within 20 years or so. Nothing lasts forever in this world. I’ve seen this happen many times over my 50 years in photography. None of the chemical photo papers that I used are made today. Tri-X is still around…one exception to that rule…but Kodachrome, of course, is history. It’s a fact of life. There’s really nothing we can do about it.
One recent victim of this is 3000 speed black and white instant film. I’ve loved this film for as long as I’ve known about it. When Polaroid went belly up I was pleased to find that Fuji continued making a similar film. I have been working on a project using this film for some time. When I heard the news that Fuji had discontinued their 3000 ISO film I immediately bought as much of it as I could find. I’ve been slowly using up that stash since then.
When I did these photos of Kelsey Dylan I was experimenting. These were taken before the Fuji discontinuation, so at that time I wasn’t worrying about not having the film available to work with. For many years I’ve used my Speed Graphic to shoot this film. It delivers great quality, but is a bit of a pain in the ass to use. You view camera guys are used to working this way, but it is a style of shooting that has never been a good fit for my way of working.
I have a Polaroid pack back that goes into the back of the Graphic, sliding in like a film holder in front of the ground glass. I use a 90mm lens because I like a wider focal length for this work. The 90 is close to a “normal” focal length with this format. The rangefinder on the Graphic works, but not with this lens, so I have to use the ground glass to focus and compose. Of course, that means the camera must be on a tripod. I can’t view the composition without taking the back out. I just don’t enjoy working that way.
So, I had a thought. Why not buy an old Polaroid camera and use it? They are cheap on ebay. So I did. None of them work really well, so I now have 4 or 5 of them in various stages of decay. I found a source for the unique batteries they take. And I started using them with the Fuji 3000 film. These photos are one of my first tests of those old Polaroid cameras.
What I found out was that those old cameras all suck big time. I know Polaroid made a few high-quality cameras…and everybody who cares knows which ones those are and the prices for them are way up there. The cheap ones are the ones that suck. And that was the case with all the Polaroid cameras I bought and tested.
So, after a few packs of film I went back to the Speed Graphic. I still have some of the 3000 film and am still working on my project, slowly using up the last of this great film. Any models out there who would like to participate in the end of an era of the world of instant photography, please get in touch and maybe we can work together on this.
It’s sad to see this material go away forever. But time marches on.
A note on the calendars. There’s a sale on right now you can 15% off by using the code: FINDACURE when you check out. That sale only goes through October 9. Also I noticed in my sales report that someone in France bought one of the calendars of Kelsey. Seems we both have fans in France. My work has always been very well received by the French. Just click on the calendars to the right if you’d like to get one for yourself or as a gift.
It’s Calendar Time Again
October 4th, 2014
I’ve published some calendars again for 2015. These calendars are a great way to get copies of some of my best photos at a very low price. And they are nice to have hanging on the wall all year long. Above is a calendar entirely of my favorite model, Brooke Lynne.
And this second one is all photos of Kelsey Dylan, another of my favorites. Both the Brooke Lynne and the Kelsey Dylan calendars are updated from the 2014 calendars featuring these great models. There are new photos along with some of the all-time favorites.
And I’ve updated the Figure in Nature calendar that I do every year with a lot of new photos, but still a few of my old favorites. There are a lot of different models in this calendar including Stevie Macaroni on the cover and inside, as well as Blueriverdream, Ayn, and many more. This is a great assortment of my best work with the best models in the world.
And, finally, an all new calendar this year featuring one of the most beautiful places on the planet, Starved Rock State Park. I’ve had the opportunity to work there several times with some great models and found I now had enough fine photos to put a calendar together with just photos from that one place. The models include Claudine on the cover and inside, and also Kelsey Dylan, Ayn, and others.
You can go to my store to purchase a calendar by clicking on the one you are interested in above, or use the images of the calendars in the right column to go to the store any time.
Claudine At Starved Rock
October 1st, 2014
Sadly this will be my last post from this amazing shoot at Starved Rock. I got to work a lot with the wonderful, fun Claudine on our last day of shooting there. She is always a blast to work with and is a very accomplished model.
Claudine is pretty much up for whatever it takes to get a photo. She doesn’t mind getting cold and wet and dirty…as you can see here. If she lived a bit closer to me I’d be working with her all the time. But she stays very busy modeling in Chicago, so that’s not likely to happen.
So, as we say goodbye to the fantastically beautiful Starved Rock State Park, we’ll close with a photo of Dave Swanson leading the lovely Kelsey Dylan astray into the thickets.
I’ve published my 2015 calendars. They are ready for you to order in my on-line store. There are four calendars to chose from this year, including one that is all photos from Starved Rock. I’ll have more about them in a future post.
And, remember, I’m now on Ello. You can find me here: https://ello.co/davel51
Clear Nude Magazine
September 29th, 2014
Back in February the editor of Clear Nude magazine, Allicette Torres, sent me an e-mail asking me to review her new magazine here on the blog. She sent me a link to allow me to view the magazine without paying for it. I looked on line and was very impressed. So impressed that I decided I wanted to look at the printed version before I did the review.
I ordered the printed magazine from Amazon. Unfortunately it arrived at about the time I was leaving to attend the memorial service for my mother-in-law. In all that activity the magazine was pushed aside and I forgot about doing the review.
I was reminded of it last week when another e-mail arrived from Ms Torres thanking me for my contribution to the current issue of the magazine. This came as a surprise to me, but I soon learned that my favorite model, Brooke Lynne, had sent one of my photos of her to the magazine to be used to illustrate an interview with her as the featured model of the issue. You can read a bit more about that in the previous post here.
So, here’s my view on this magazine:
As I said, I was quite impressed at the first issue on line. However the printed copy was a bit of a let down. The reproduction was not all that great, mostly, I think, because of the low quality paper it is printed on. There’s nothing to indicate who is doing the printing, but I suspect it is printed by Amazon. I was also bothered by the many photos printed across the gutter in a way that pretty much ruined the photos because the subject was lost in the gutter.
The third issue, which I just received from Amazon, is better. The paper quality is still a problem and hurts the quality of the photos, but it appears they learned the lesson about the gutter and stopped ruining photos by printing them across the gutter. That’s good news.
But still, I think the on-line version of the magazine is a much better viewing experience. And that’s from an old guy who still likes to hold a printed publication in his hands to look at it. But, the quality of the photos is simply much, much better viewed on a screen. I’m sure higher quality paper would fix that problem, but it may not be an option for their distribution method. So it goes.
I talk about print quality first because, after all, that is a major consideration for any publication that is about photographs. And that is primarily what Clear Nude is about.
But, there’s more to Clear Nude than the (not quite) pretty pictures. There are some serious attempts at writing about the genre of nude photography. And it’s obvious that the editors are open to a wide range of opinions and approaches to the subject. I applaud them for that, even though I have to say that at least one essay in the current issue angered me. But that’s a good thing. It’s wonderful to have a publication out there where divergent views of nude photography can be expressed, even if some of them are wrong. 😉
But I do recommend the magazine to your attention. I suggest, unless you really want to hold a printed product in your hands, that you just stick with the on line version of the magazine. You can buy it at their website here. The digital issue costs only $5.99. That’s quite a bargain for a quality product like this. As I write this Amazon is offering a discount on the regular price for the printed version. You can just click on either of the covers above to go to the Amazon page to place an order if you want the printed version.
Ms Torres and her staff are doing something good and important with Clear Nude magazine. I hope you’ll help support their efforts.
Different Views
September 27th, 2014
I’m proud to announce that the photo above is published in the current issue of Clear Nude magazine. This is an excellent magazine and I highly recommend it to your attention. It’s available both on line and in print. You can order the print version on Amazon too.
In my next post I’m going to talk a lot more about the magazine. But for today I want to talk about the photo that they published. The photo was one of many illustrating an interview with my favorite model, Brooke Lynne. It is one of Brooke’s favorite photos from our trip to the desert southwest. It’s not one of my favorites. But that is ok.
I have a different view of the relationship between photographer, model and photographs from most photographers. I think differences are good. I do things my way and I’m happy to let everyone else do things their way, so you won’t hear me trying to talk other photographers into working the way I do. It’s a choice and we all get to make our own choices.
I consider my models to be co-creators with me of the photos we make together. I’m serious about that. I share copyright with my models. They get all the photos and they have full rights to do anything they want with the photos.
So, Brooke likes this photo for some reasons that don’t really matter to me. She is very pleased with her pose. I understand that. It’s a really difficult pose and was hard to get into, and even harder to get out of. She did it like the master of posing that she is. She’s an amazing model. This photo demonstrates that. But this photo does not work for me as far as what I’m looking for in a photo. My goal is to show the beauty of the model in relationship to the beauty of nature. The model has to fit into the scene and reflect the forms of the scene in her pose. That’s not really happening in this photo. In fact, to my eye Brooke stands out too much and doesn’t blend or relate to the forms around her. She’s sort of at odds with them.
But, and I can’t emphasize this enough, that’s ok. This photo is Brooke’s just as much as it is mine. I’m glad she finds something in it that works for her and I’m very happy that she has had it published in a great magazine. I am not complaining in any way and I never will.
That said, my differences with Brooke over this photo do not end with the selection of this shot. I would also crop this photo differently. In fact, nearly all the shots I took of Brooke here were cropped differently in the camera. I find the sky a distraction in the composition. It seems to me discordant. It draws my eye up to the top of the frame and away from Brooke, who is really the subject of this photo.
But that’s just my opinion. Brooke is completely free to crop it as she sees fit. Again, I’m not complaining, just commenting on how two people, both involved in the production of a photo, can have different ideas about how it looks best. I’m sure Brooke picked this frame because it has the most perfect execution of the pose to her eye. She did crop some of the sky out of the original frame, so I know leaving some sky was a deliberate decision on her part. And I’m fine with that.
I know most photographers are much more territorial about their photos. I have never really understood why the subject, who is working hard and has agreed to be nude in the photos, shouldn’t have at least an equal right to the photos. After all, the model is really doing all the hard work and I’m just taking photos of her while she does it. So, that’s how I work.
And, here’s how I would crop that photo…I get to have my opinion too, of course.
And here’s another photo of Brooke taken near where the one above was shot. This photo shows more of what I’m looking for. It’s our differences that make life interesting. We should learn to enjoy them.
I’ll have much more to say about Clear Nude magazine in my next post.
And, I’m now on Ello. Are you? Come on over there and connect with me if you want. Find me at https://ello.co/davel51
Back To Starved Rock
September 25th, 2014
Getting back to our shoot at Starved Rock last year, here are some more photos from the second day of shooting with Claudine and Kelsey.
It’s so wonderful to be able to work in such a beautiful location with a couple of the best figure models in the world. It really doesn’t get any better.
Still more to come from this great day of shooting…if I don’t get distracted again first.
Yep
September 22nd, 2014
An Interesting Rant
September 17th, 2014
I read a blog post this morning that I found interesting and provocative. So I decided to take a break from posting Starved Rock photos and share that post and write a bit about it myself.
Go here to read the post by Randall Armor.
Ralph Gibson has been a “famous photographer” since the days when I was in photo school. As you can see from my self-portrait above, that was quite a while ago. Mr. Gibson is even older than me. And he’s famous, at least in the photo community. I’ve never met Mr. Gibson, though several of my favorite models have also modeled for him. I’m sure he’s a reasonably nice guy. And I often say that I’m sure he is an artist because I can only understand about a third of his photos.
But I have a pretty low tolerance for bullshit, especially the bullshit that tends to be all over the place in the world of art.
As to the whole digital vs film debate, I think it’s pretty stupid and pointless. Those are my cameras in that self-portrait. I know how to use them. The Leica was one of two that were part of my daily kit, along with two Nikons, when I was working as a photojournalist. The Leica doesn’t get much use these days, but I still use the old Speed Graphic to shoot with instant film.
All my life as a photographer there has been someone saying that the latest advance in photo technology was wrong somehow. Starting with “No professional photographer would use a camera with a light meter built in.” Of course, I started doing photojournalism with 35mm cameras when many were saying that no professional photographer would use that “amateur format.” All of that is just pointless hot wind as far as I’m concerned. And that includes the digital/film debate.
I have some very good friends who only work with film and consider digital to be an inferior way to make photos. I disagree with them, but we are still friends. Everyone is entitled to their choice of tools. That includes those who insist on using film. But it also includes me and others who have decided that digital cameras are the best choice for their use. It’s really no one’s business other than the photographer.
And I like to remind my “film friends” that it’s not really photography unless you coat your own plates. After all, if you just buy factory-made film, you are limited to what the manufacturer has decided will be the characteristics of that film and aren’t really in control of your process.
The debate is stupid. I’m sad that someone whose work I admire has displayed such a silly opinion. But I’m not really surprised to learn that he tends to talk a lot of the art-world bullshit. I guess that’s one of the requirements to become a famous photographer. It’s bad enough that the critics spout so much bullshit. It’s a shame that the artists have to get involved in too.
And that made me think of this WUMO comic from yesterday:
I also enjoyed the R. Crumb recording of Fine Artiste Blues that was quoted in Mr. Armor’s blog post. You might enjoy it too. Here’s a link to it on Youtube. I liked it enough to go ahead and buy the track.
Anyway, feel free to comment if you are so inclined. I’d particularly be interested in hearing from my friends who have met Mr. Gibson.
A Second Day at Starved Rock
September 15th, 2014
After our day of shooting with five models at Starved Rock several of the models had to leave to go home. But Kelsey Dylan and Claudine were able to stay for a second day of shooting.
So Dave Swanson and I headed back into the canyons at dawn for a second day of shooting with two of the world’s best models. It doesn’t get much better than this.
There are a bunch more photos to come from this great day of shooting. Here’s one of the other Dave hard at work with Kelsey modeling for him.
We Call Her Macaroni
September 11th, 2014
The amazing beautiful model, Miss Macaroni, came to Ohio this week. So, of course, I took her to one of my favorite locations at dawn and she did a great job of exploiting her surroundings and producing wonderful photos. There are a ton of shots to share, and I’ve put this shoot into the que for future blog posts, but I couldn’t resist sharing a few of them right away.
There will be a lot more from this shoot to come when I finally work my way through all the other shoots from the past year. But enjoy this sample for now. Thanks Miss Macaroni for another fantastic shoot…and no falls this time.
