Cactus Flower and Honey Bee exposure no. 3

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 Hoya +4 Close-Up Lens FujiFilm Pro 400H Arista C-41 - A productive weekend, the Cactus Flowers were still blooming Saturday and the bees love them. Using the Arsat 80mm with a +4 close-up lens had me a little closer to the stingers than I would have liked, but it was worth it. Trying to pick the flower the bees would land on was a little tricky. The bees always seemed to avoid the one I was hovering over with the bulky Kiev. Finally I had to move in after the landed, find the focus and pull the trigger. I got more that I missed, so all and all, a productive day.

Demon Pods exposure no. 2

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 Hoya +4 Close-Up Lens FujiFilm Pro 400H Arista C-41 - I am pretty sure I have seen the plant in several Japanese Anime Cartoons. It is the minion of some demon overlord and uses its sticky spines to capture our unsuspecting heroes and incapsulate them for the return journey to its evil leader, or maybe not.... Amazing color on the stems and pods of this plant and each little spine has a tiny drop of liquid (I suspect poison) on its tip.

Ripe on the Vine exposure no. 4

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 Hoya +4 Close-Up Lens FujiFilm Pro 400H Arista C-41 - I have always been addicted to Close-Up or Macro Photography. There is so much beauty in the small details. Structures and patterns you would never see, unless you took the time to look closely enough. The sliver of time a photograph captures, gives us all the time in the world to find those details.

A Lurker in the Shadows exposure no. 9

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 FujiFilm Pro 400H Arista C-41 - Ever have the feeling you were being watched? I was shooting some interesting plants and when I reached down to pick up my light meter, I noticed this shady character peering at me from the shadows. I managed to quickly guess the exposure, focus and get this shot off, before he pulled his head to far in to get a good shot of his eye. We have seen more of these little guys roaming the yard this year, than in the past. I hope that bodes well for the cleanliness of our environment.

After Pestering this one with the camera for 3 more frames, we both went our separate ways. I suspect he was trying to pluck off some of the low hanging fruit from a nearby blackberry vine.

Cactus Flowers exposure no. 3

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 +4 Hoya Close-Up Lens FujiFilm Reala ISO 100 Arista C-41 - Testing my new Kiev 60 body and my wife's flowering cactus seemed like a suitable subject. The camera is working fine, even if the operator did overexpose half the roll, forgetting to set the shutter speed. The joys of manual analog cameras. The overexposure actually worked well for this shot, adding the the vibrant color and saturation. The Reala coped well a +2 stop overexposure, but struggled and +3 and +4 stops, blocking up badly.

Amazing Wet Plate Photographs by Ian Ruhter

These project is just amazing. The images are absolutely gorgeous. Just had to share.
More here Ian Ruhter.

Not So Instant Karma FujiFilm FP-100c Negative Reclaimation

Calumet Cambo View Camera Schneinder-Kreuznach Symmar 210mm f5.6 FujiFilm FP-100C Instant Pack Film - My first attempt at  FujiFilm FP-100c Negative Reclamation, obviously flawed but still an interesting process. Who knew there was a negative under all that slime. There are a number of sites detailing the process, but this is one of the best FujiFilm FP-100c Negative Reclamation. Just a hint, test your tape to make sure it will stand up to the bleach used to remove the backing material. Regular electrical tape does not cut it, the bleach released the adhesive pretty quickly, resulting in my less than perfect result. I have also seen Clorox Bleach "gel" recommended for better control of where the bleach goes. More experimentation with this process to come.

From the Archive - Musical Still Life exposure no. 7

Mamiya RB67 Sekkor 90mm f2.8 FujiFilm Reala ISO 100 C-41 - One from 1993, a little fun with what was around at the time. Two Bowen 9000 Monolites shooting through white umbrellas. Another example of my ongoing love affair with FujiFilm Reala. Low contrast, tight grain and great tone reproduction.

From the Web - Afghan Wooden Box Camera

Bromo Seltzer in Cobalt Blue exposure no. 4

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 Hoya +4 Close Up Lens FujiFilm Reala 100 Arista C-41 - Somewhere in life I developed an attraction to cobalt blue glass that borders on a fetish. Some of the older cobalt is such an amazingly deep shade of blue, it seems to calm the soul. I am sure the Bromo Seltzer from the Emerson  Drug Co. of Baltimore MD. this bottle once contained, was the sure cure for whatever ailed you, but the gorgeous vessel couldn't hurt.

Instant Karma

Calumet Cambo View Camera Schneinder-Kreuznach Symmar 210mm f5.6 FujiFilm FP-100C Instant Pack Film - I will always love Instant film, especially the pull and peel style film originally made famous by Polaroid. There is something magical about it. The prints are truly a one of a kind moments in time frozen on paper. You can scan it, copy it and print it, but you will never recreate that exact image ever again. The true essence of analog. This was just a quick, one off shut to test my recently acquired view camera. All Hail instant, long may it Peel.