The 52 Project, Week 23: I Think There's a Pattern Here

On yet another seemingly boring Sunday afternoon, which may after today be called “8x10 Day”, I took to the streets of Toledo, OH looking for an image. Not feeling adventurous enough to go all the way downtown, I started at the Toledo Museum of Art and started working my way east, in hopes of an interesting image. Having the same kind of photo on my mind as taken in Week 20, I knew this kind of image might take a while to find; two hours to be exact.

I still need to work on scanning these contact prints.

Finding the patterned building leading against the sloped street was the easy part, filling it with somebody was much harder. Quite hard to tell in the photo, but I was on the opposite side of a four lane, very busy highway. So even when someone/a group of someones were coming into the scene, that doesn’t mean a semi, school bus, or sedan wasn’t. >__>

After about an hour and a half of queer looks, honked horns, and explaining this camera outfit to passers by, I was done; something needed to happen quick. Just then, a small pickup truck pulls off the road, nearly up onto the sidewalk, which would have simultaneously ended my loaner 8x10 and this project. Turns out, it was the owner of the building that the Eastman Commercial had been staring at for nearly two hours.

“Oh crap, here we go,” I thought.

Judging by the manner with which he pulled in front of the shot, I wasn’t expecting anything pleasant. Fortunately for my optimistically paranoid self, he was a fan of all things antique, AND willing to “pose” for shot with his building. He pulled away, only to come walking back into my shot 15 minutes later.

That brings us to this week’s key issues.

Is this image too much like Week 20’s?
Is the feeling of the image compromised by the fact that the person was encouraged to participate? Is it still Street Photography?

Why are there no answers here? Much like anything else art, the answers to these questions are entirely subjective. But that doesn’t mean you out there can’t weigh in. I’d welcome your open and honest opinion, as comments and critique only serve to help the artist. Thanks for playing along.

Something Good: Having well over an hour to meter the shot, compose, recompose, etc., etc., the shot and its processing were more than controlled, even with a red filter on a directly sun-lit scene.

Something Bad: Aside from the drama llama that comes riding in from the aforementioned issues, there’s some obvious dust spotting on the negative itself. This is the result of a dust being trapped on the darkslide and migrating to the unexposed sheet prior to exposure. Drats. >__<

Something Learned: There’s really nothing quick about the large format process, and I think I’m really starting to like it.

Next Week: A deliberate and very personal portrait.

The 52 Project, Week 13: Little Miss Japan

Life really has a way of getting in the way sometimes...

A slew of incredibly cool things have been happening lately, and as soon as I've finished processing them, this blog might start to get back on track. >__>

Leaving this stagnate for over a month has been awful. A six week hiatus while in the midst of catching up an already behind project is a formula for disaster. This blog was established for BOTH the reader and for myself to reflect upon the week by week trials of shooting film. Hopefully busting my ass this month will get me back to such a point. To readers who've stuck by and checked up occasionally through this dead period (you know who you are), Thank You.

*Now back to our irregularly scheduled programming*

Back in August (<__< I know), a very long time friend, near and dear to my heart, came back from her studies in Okayama, Japan to visit friends and family. Though my time with her was short, we certainly made the best of it. There are a couple more rolls and scans waiting in the wings, but Laura's just such an expressive, wonderful girl that the four scans from this one roll should tell you everything you need to know about her.

Yeah, I can't believe this dog is 12 either. Scan 1: Laura and Nick, the Happy Mutt

Laura LOVES dogs, period. Old dogs, inbred dogs, ugly dogs, slobbery dogs, and of course, the cutest of cute puppies; they all manage to make her day. If you start to see an unusually high number of random dog photos on this blog, part of the reason was I shot them for her. ^__^ This particular dog is her old pal, Nick. And although at 12 he's not moving as well as he used to, taking a walk down the street with Laura seems to turn him into a puppy again.

Ah window light, you always go down smooth.Scan 2: Laura at Squire's Castle

Squire's castle, just outside of Cleveland's eastern suburbs, is a great place for anyone to take a photo. During the summer you've got temperate weather, boat loads of window light, and a ton of windows with which to pose pretty girls. So I decided to follow through with all the hype and give it a go.

An imcomparably genuine smile. Scan 3: Happy Laura

The following two scans were both an exercise in Laura's expressions and a testament to the dynamic range found in color negative film. Completely unlike digital, I didn't have to horribly underexpose my subject just to obtain a desirable background. I just metered my shadows, pointed, and shot. Voila! For you hardcore tech geeks, my SBR (subject brightness range) was about 10-12 stops. And considering only a little sky is blow out on this not-so-cold-stored 8 year old film, I'll take it.

Could you tell we were having fun with this?Scan 4: Laura Peace Sign

If Laura's somehow talking with somebody without smiling, it's more than likely because she's in the middle of flashing one of these. Yeah, it's definitely a Japan thing that she's picked up along the way, but we'll forgive her for that. ;)

 Something Good: This old Portra comes to life in the shadows! Just make sure to limit over-exposure of your shadows to no more than two stops; otherwise, we're talking Chernobl-esque highlights.

Something Bad: Like any old, medium to high speed film (yeah, 100 was FAST film back in the glory days of Tri-X and Tech Pan) flare is something that needs to be unscrupulously controlled. Scan 2 was acceptable to myself, but others will argue.

Something Learned: So long as this old Portra 160VC is shot in overcast to shady conditions, the skin tones and saturated landscapes it produces are magical. Try it in direct sunlight or flare, and it becomes just another color film.

Next Week: I plan on catching up, but in no particular order. These updates can be expected to occur at a rate of two to three posts per week, not necessarily all including photographs. We'll see. ^__^

The 52 Project, Week 7: The Abandoned House

Closing in on the 2 month mark with The 52 Project, I still don't feel like I'm hunting around for things to shoot. If anything else, I'm growing more and more confident in finding a single subject to "spend" a roll of film on. This week's installment, the abandoned house, is something I've wanted to explore at a close distance for nearly 10 years.

Ever since moving to rural Deshler, OH in 2000, I've driven by this ominous looking house along State Route 235 nearly every day of my life. I'd always wondered what laid within, but not until I was driving by a few weeks ago did I consider just pulling over, going in, and making a shoot of it. And here it is. 

I like how the house has an "angry" face.

Scan 1: Angry House

I've never been much of a landscape guy, and in my photos, it has to show. The lines aren't quite there, nor are all the elements of the house. From a landscape point of view, it's not that hot a photo. But from a portrait photographer's point of view, the expression in this "portrait" is spot on.

And through the front door you can see...

Scan 2: Rooms Falling Apart

Like the caption states, as you walk through the front door, you're greeted with destruction. Three floors worth of neglected property are tumbling down around you. Certainly in its day, this was quite a house; right now though, I'm still pretty awestruck.

This doll is too creepy for words.

Scan 3: The Creepy Doll

While originally composing this shot, I was trying to focus on the unique forms displayed by the stripped stairs and falling ceiling. By the second frame, I was knocked back by the eerie little doll left at the foot of the stairs. Including the original idea with this terrifying toy was only natural.

Note to self, frame within a frame works.

Scan 4: Through Shattered Glass

You can see a bit of this image through Scan 2, but the framing conveys a completely different mood. Seeing as this whole roll was an experiment in "things I barely ever do", I thought "oh what the hell" and tried framing something within its own frame. The Hasselblad's ability to naturally vignette and soften the corners definitley helped.

 Something Good: I went outside the box this week, and in a few ways. I never usually trespass for the sake of photos, I never usually shoot landscapes, and I've never shot expired film. For the most part, it looks like going outside my comfort zone paid off.

Something Bad: The film was expired, and doesn't quite react like perfectly good film. Once a film has been sitting in your fridge for more than few years, there's no guarantee that the film will display its typical properties. The starting film was 160NC, and it largely acted as such, but there were a few exceptions. I typically overexpose by 1/3 stop just for good measure, but apparently a little overexposure in this expired stock from 2005/2006 just blows way, way out.

Something Learned: Intense care for your expired film is key. Looking a little more into my exposure problems, there are numerous precautions to take when shooting more "unstable" films. Live and learn; hopefully the latter, though, because I've got 29 more rolls of this stuff. x___x

Next Week: I just got back a batch of 5 rolls of film and have some major catching up to do. Not sure what it'll be from, but there's a good chance it'll be grainy film or expired film. No matter, they all look good.