Early Spring exposure no. 8

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 FujiFilm Reala Arista C-41 -  More with Reala. Sometimes you plan excursions to new or exotic places to find inspiration, sometimes it just grows in your yard. My home was built in 1928 and the half acre lot has been landscaped and re-landscaped over the years, and sometimes unexpected foliage pops up. I look at it as the previous residents making their presence known. Thank You for subjects.

Early Spring exposure no. 12

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 Hoya +4 Close-Up Lens FujiFilm Reala Arista C-41 - Spring is here, so time to break out the color film. I have always been a big fan of FujiFilm's Reala. It is ideal for portrait work, and great for outdoor work like the shot above. Colors pop without being over saturated and the grain is minimal even when scanning the negatives. Scanning seems to pick up more grain than conventional printing and most grain reducing software seems to compromise sharpness. Reala gets around this problem beautifully.

Salvaged Image exposure no. 1

Kiev 60 Arsat 60mm f2.8 Rollei Retro 400s Pulled 2 stops D-76 1:1 - Occasional I like to look back through my negatives and try to salvage a cast off. A frame, captured in error due to a mistake or malfunction, that I would normal grumble about and ignore. Sometimes the results are surprising. This image was originally from the this session.  It was the 1st frame on the roll and I had forgotten to move the sync cable from my meter to my camera. I am sure the mistake was followed by some sort of expletive, then I plugged in my sync cord and moved on. The resulting negative was painfully thin and heavily backlit as you can see. I scanned it with the rest of the roll,,, grumbled, and dismissed it. A few days ago while I was updating tags in iPhoto I ran across this image again and decided to try and salvage it. I rescanned it using VueScan and after a few different exposures I achieved the image you see above.

From the Archive - Iron Sculpture exposure no. 10

Mamiya RB67 Sekkor 90 2.8 Kodak T-Max 100 Pro - I did a series of photographs for the artist Umana, of his iron works. He was compiling a book and this ended up being the cover. One of my favorite project. More on Umana here.

Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Exposure no. 5

Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Rollei Retro 80s Adox Adonal (Rodinal) 1:50 - Shooting with the Hawkeye is definitely photography at simplest.

Step 1. Point it in the direction of the scene you want to photograph.
Step 2. Frame the shot using the vague waist level viewfinder.
Step 3. Hold very still (shutter speed is only and 1/30 of a second) and press the shutter button.
Step 4. Advance the film and start over.
Note: Step 4 is extremely important. The Hawkeye will let you expose the same frame over and over again.

It is amazing what a  big negative will let you get away with. The Lens is soft, but contrasty. I used Adox Adonal (Rodinal) 1:50 to enhance the retro feel and I am pleased with the results.

Image captured at the Presbyterian Cemetery in Lynchburg VA.

The Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Camera

Image © Eastman Kodak Company

The Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Camera - Cameras do not come much more basis than this. Fixed Lens, Fixed Focus, 2 shutter Speeds and manual film advance are not some, but basically all, of this camera's features. Originally designed to accept 620 film, it will accept 120 as long as you have a 620 take up spool. I am guessing the effective shuttle speed is about a 30th of a second and if you are really feeling creative there is a B or Bulb setting to hold the shutter open. Ascetically it is a Art Deco, Bakelite wonder and should be a part of any camera collection. I have had one for a long time, but finally got around to using it this weekend
.

Mamiya Press Close-up Tilt/Shift Exposure no. 4

Mamiya 23 Sekkor 100 mm f2.8 Adox Art CHS 100 Arista 76 1:1 - Selective Focus by tilting the back of the Press as seen in example no. 2 here. Focusing on the ground glass can be tricky when tilting the back and it is extremely important to get everything locked down. Swapping the focusing back for the film back is pretty smooth, but makes it easy to move something. A little tweak here or there can ruin the shot. The results are worth it.

Mamiya 23 Close-Up Exposure no. 8

Mamiya 23 Sekkor 100 mm f2.8 Adox Art CHS 100 Arista 76 1:1 - This shot was done the the Press back extended straight back for close focusing, as seen in example no. 1 here. Light source is single 100w Novatron modeling light coming straight from the left. A silver reflector is on the right to provide a little light in the shadows. The Statue is roughly 8 inches tall.

Mamiya Press Tilt/Shift Fun

Example no. 1 Back extended (relatively) straight for
to achieve close focus.

Example no. 2 Back tilted to achieve Selective focus.

I have owned a Mamiya Press for a long time, but have always used it as just a 6x9 medium format rangefinder. It is a great field camera in that role, though it is a much more cable camera. It's movable back allows for Tilt/Shift function similar to a large format view camera. The images above demonstrate the backs capabilities and the posts to follow will show the results. Focus is achieved on a ground glass in the focusing back. The back is then removed and replaced with a roll film back.

From the Archive - Class Ring

Bronica S2A Nikkor 75mm f2.8 Kodak Plus-X D-76 Stock - I shot this for my High School Year Book. Not too bad for a 18 year old. I bought the Bronica S2A used while working in a Camera Shop, and later traded it for a VHS Video Camcorder. In hind site, I got the short end of the stick.

From the Archive - The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect

Bronica S2A Nikkor 75mm f2.8 Kodak Tri-X D-76 Stock - An old Self Portrait, going back almost 30 years. Tri-X was generally my film of choice back then and D-76 my developer. A very simple shot. Incandescent overhead lighting from a single source (my bedroom light). Let's see how many of you digital images you have 30 years from now.