The 52 Project, Week 29: 8x10 around New York

During my brief time in New York before and after my guest spot on the early November 2010 episode of the Film Photography Podcast, I had some free time to roam around some other cool places in New York and play around with the 8x10. The same as last time, these are all scans of quick and dirty contact prints on Oriental RC VC paper with very little correction in post. Click the scans for a better view plus exposure data.

The deep downtown area of Newburg, NY, quite run down, but in a very photogenic way!

This image definitely took some "cojones" to take. I was in a VERY bad neighborhood for quite some time scoping out and setting up this image. Thankfully, I'm still around to share the urban decay of Newberg, NY with everyone. P.S. If it looks like a meth house, smells like a meth house, and has gunfire like a meth house, chances are its a meth house. >__<

Moving on.

A very unusual view from a scenic outlook of the Hudson River and Poughkeepsie, NY. Just ignore that little "squiggly" in the corner :p

So just when I thought things couldn't have gotten any hairer as they had earlier that day in downtown Newburg, I got hassled not once, but twice by Poughkeepsie police about shooting with my 8x10. Apparently, having anything on a tripod that looks more menacing than a point and shoot is "against city ordinance". After explaining that I wasn't Ansel Adams or planning to score big bucks of the above image, they were a little more relaxed with my shooting; they still followed me back to my car, however. >__>

This image helped to kick off my love affair with long exposures on the 8x10. For all you sports shooters out there, you just won't get it.

No real drama with this exposure, unless of course you considering a long exposure in a heavy downpour and 45 degree weather to be a problem. For large format? Not so much. ^__^

Keeping it short and sweet, onto this week's lessons...

Something Good: Each 8x10 sheet metered very differently, but with a little Zone System came out with even density in the negative with consistent print times for the contact prints. Yay!

Somehting Bad: Hair and dust are the bane of my scanning existence, nuff said.

Something Learned: Big cameras attract lots of attention (duh), both good and bad. Know your equipment, but know your photographic environment as well. If things get sketchy, ask yourself if getting the shot is really worth that extra risk.

Next Week: The big 'ole sheets of Tmax 400 keep on coming. And even though there's not going to be any new emulsions or processes, I guarantee the subject matter will keep things fresh!

The 52 Project, Week 28: Large Format from Westpoint

The large scans are starting to roll in and will be posted over the next few days. All of the following scans are made from 8x10 contact prints on Oriental RC VC paper. If you haven't had the chance to try this stuff, it's got a very predictable print time, that translates well over to Ilford Multigrade IV RC VC & FB VC papers. Oh yes, and it's also economically priced in 100 sheet boxes coming in just above Arista EDU products and well below Ilford. As always, click the scans for more specific exposure data. Anywho, onto today's scans:

A scenic from Westpoint Military Academy onto the river. Proof that the Zone System works!

A little bit of spot metering, a dash of the Scheimpflug Principle, and some patience on the subject matter, and you too can throw together a successful landscape, even in harsh early afternoon light. And if you're willing to go the extra mile, selective filtering and compensating in development will yeild even more favorable results in the final print. I wouldn't call the above "final" just a made for the internet scan. Still pretty nice.

Only about 300 yards away from the first image, this second was captured about a half hour later. From what little information I was given about the historic Westpoint campus, I was told this outdoor theatre serves many purposes from commencements to spring and summer concerts. The high contrast afternoon light provided some interesting tones from the brushed silver stadium seating. Those were metered as my Zone VIII highlights and the deeper brush on the middle left of the scan provided a usable Zone II/III shadow.

Something Good: The exposures are fairly even and have a wide tonal range. Turns out writing down exposure data and previsualizing the final image really does help in capturing a landscape.

Something Bad: I'm new to landscapes, hence the slightly boring nature of the compositions. Also, only after making these contact prints did I realize that my contact print frame needed some intense cleaning. Try to ignore the "crud" in the upper parts of both scans. >__<

Something Learned: Patience for landscapes is a virtue that I soon won't have. Some of the greats truly did wait a LONG time to get the image they were seeing in their heads. When given a very strict window of working time, try to document the surrounding area, not make an award-winning landscape.

Next Week: More large format scans! I did shoot a whole box of Tmax 400 (10 sheets) afterall. :P

The 52 Project, Week 27: Winnie the Pooh & Katie Too!

The last of the series of Hasselblad images from my little two week excursion, this week features one aspect of film that I've really yet to embrace...grain. If you can't tell what I mean from the thumbnails, just click them to see a bigger size, it should then become much more apparent.

Tigger, Piglet, and Winnie the Pooh...kind

After hanging out in NYC with Mike and Duane from the Film Photography Podcast, I made my way out to Amherst, MA to visit a good friend of mine, Katie O'Neil. She's a jack of all trades: horse trainer, rider, pre-vet student, film photography enthusiast (you're welcome Katie), and even a licensed Zamboni driver. As of Feb. 2011, she's in Ireland interning with a horse stable having the time of her life;color me jealous. During my brief visit with her, I managed to stay over for a fun Halloween party at her hometown employer, Lonebirch Farms.

For Halloween, horse enthusiasts pull out all the stops. Not only do they dress up, but so do the horses. Katie herself dressed up as Piglet, with her dog Maggie as Winnie the Pooh, and her horse as Tigger. Its all cute and fun, until you get roped into painting a horse. >__<

A witch, her horse, and jack-in-the-box hubby.

Increasing grain = decreasing sharpness :(

Did I mention what my biggest pet peeve was?

A maiden/damsel and her trusty steed/unicorn.

Something Good: For ISO 3200 film shot at 3200, the shots are more than usable, with decent shadow detail and well controlled highlights. These even look good optically printed as 10x10's.

Something Bad: Ilford Delta 3200 isn't cheap, and at times is more expensive per format than even high speed color film. Also, it's available only in 35mm and 120, sorry older and large formats.

Something Learned: Diluted XTOL is the way to go for sharpness in very high speed shooting situations. Its ability to keep the grain patterns tight and shadow detail present are phenomenal! Be sure to check out the scans at full size to see for yourself.

Next Week: The large format side of this trip. To call these shots a fresh persepective is an understatement!