a Sense of Order

Whenever I'm looking I trie to See.  I try to build the frame in my mind and that is hit or miss and sometimes it comes easily and sometimes not at all.  Sometimes it's the weather, the mood, my mood, the people I'm with, or the needs of the dog when I'm walking her -- yadda, yadda, yadda..

Ok -- so you get the point -- sometimes it happens, and sometimes it just doesn't... no matter how hard you try.

But -- there are times when a scene just grabs you -- and that's when I have to get the shot.  And during those times if I don't get the shot then I become obsessed and really bummed I didn't make the image.

So -- here's what I'm getting at -- while walking the dog with my wife this scene caught my eye and I took it hand held on the Nikon F100 with 400 ASA Ilford.  And -- I love this image.  The whole lesson here is while your looking try to see - try to see the superimposed frame in front of you - and sometimes that comes easily, and some times - it just doesn't.

Nikon F100, Ilford Delta 400

Working the Boards

A Landscape Architect of the firm works the boards.  Shot on Ilford Delta 400 - self developed and scanned.

Hold the Line !

"Three weeks from now, I will be harvesting my crops. Imagine where you will be, and it will be so.

Hold the line!

Stay with me!

If you find yourself alone, riding in the green fields with the sun on your face, do not be troubled. For you are in Elysium, and you’re already dead!"

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Nikon F100 - Salt Lake City - Summer 2016

Over a Month -- yikes

It's been too long - I'll be working on that for the future.  I will say that I get delayed from posting as I copyright all images now.  So there is a 3-4 month delay after the photo is taken before I have a group to register etc.  And after the image is registered, then I can post.  Ugh --- I know... but that's the process.  Ok -- onward.

This image was taken with the newly repaired Rollei 6008i on Ilford Delta 400.  Home processed and scanned - and the scan is excellent.  The negative processed very flat and as always the flatter the better during the scan.  

I really like this image and may print it 24"x24".

No crop.

Yellowstone NP

Yellowstone National Park - Old Faithful Inn.

A wonderful place and magical where the facility has been updated to todays standards but visually kept to look original.   Shot on Ilfords Delta 400 with a Rolliflex 6008i.  Ilford's Delta is a wonderful film stock which has a resolution much crisper than their HP5.

Ilford Delta 3200

Here's a shot from my first roll of this 3200 -- an experiment with the Bokeh.  Not much contrast in this developed roll I must say.

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Ilford Delta 3200 - Nikon F100

Smoke Tones

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A cedar plank salmon smoking, is a back yard favorite - and on a whim I shot the event and the captured tones blew me away.

The smoke tones, during this evening really gave way to the power of the monochrome - and this became a good learning moment of trying to recognize what BW can really capture.

Formica Color Chips

This was a grab shot - and a bit of a surprise at how well it turned out.  I couldn't have imagined this result.  Geometric patterns are difficult to come by, recognize, and then capture.

Ilford Delta 400

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Nikon F100 - Ilford Delta 400

Timelessness

This image took me a bit by surprise -- as too how well it turned out.  Exposure, composition, and focus is perfect.  And not having the vision of being able to predict it, caught me also.  That's one of the aspects of film - a week after you get the roll developed, there are surpirses - mostly good.

I also didn't mention - this is a timeless image - it could have been shot in 1954 for that matter.
This is Stanley Kane - of FFKR Architects reviewing a set of documents.

Creative Process

I have the unique access to the inner workings of an Architectural office - as it's my day job. And there are times when I take advantage to capture those workings, and this is one of them.  
A collegue prepares a wall with creative ques to start the creatvie process.

400 speed film is great for indoors - it's perfect, combined with a f1.4 lens.  I hardly use 100 ASA as I really like the flexibility 400 provides.

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Nikon F100 - Ilford Delta 400  DevScan by theFINDLab

Ilford Delta 3200

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I started the film quest with a lot of grain - Delta 3200.  It was an aesthetic to pursue which called me to explore for some reason.

Shot at 1600 and developed at 3200.  Everyone says this is the way to shoot it - which is what I did - but I haven't shot enough to know the difference.  3200 is their most expensive stock.

This DevScan is by "theFindLab" in Orem, UT.  Although expensive they are quickly becoming a premier lab - from my own experiences.  I don't know if they think the same thing but it seems I'm seeing more and more Instagram's of their work.

Shot on the Nikon F100 with the kit 24-120D.  I haven't quite figured out this lens for performance - but it sure is convenient to have the focal length.

35mm Film

Film as made me become a better photographer, in 1 week - because I have a vested interest.  Each click is $1.25 in the end.  I become more deliberate, intensive, and reflective of everything I shoot.

I’m using the Nikon F100 and a D 24-120mm lens.  It can outshoot me, yet it can’t run itself - that’s the rub.

This was Ilford’s Delta 3200 shot at 1600 - and going from what I read up on this film stock, many say it’s really a 1600 speed - and from seeing the various examples online I took the cue and decided to stay at 1600.  For some reason I can’t take Kodak’s Tri-X seriously.  Maybe because I shot so much of it in High-School and it never did me any favors.  But that’s a personal problem I guess.

Why Film ?

That’s the Jedi Mind Trick - Shooting film makes me feel like the skill is one of perishability - you either know what you are doing to get the shot or it vanishes to the shoulda, coulda, woulda.

The worst thing about film - I can’t confirm the result after the shutter fires.

The best thing about film - I don’t know yet, other than the boost to the psyche in thinking I’m somehow unique in the photographic space - which is nothing but trouble.

Film becomes a design constraint - give a designer all the choices in the world, and good luck getting a result - but give a designer limitations and you have a better chance at getting something great.  Can the same be true in the photographic world - I don’t know ?  ASA, and film stock are the limiters / aka the design constraints.

Where does this go ?

It keeps going until I get bored or I reach the law of diminishing returns for my efforts.  And that may be a while - as I have a Yashica Mat 124 2-1/4” x 2-1/4’ in the mail for me to dig my teeth into.

Believe you me - this is going to be good.