Jan 18th 2023 Pima Air and Space

First blog of 2023….New Year!

Today I am going into Pima Air and Space in Tucson, Arizona to do a shoot. I was going to go with the wife as she could shoot her Canon AE-1 ( which she has had since it was brand new) and I with my Leica MA. We could have a competition of 50mm. But she banked out, so…..I will be able to most likely get in the ‘zone’ a bit easier now.

But I am looking forward to the angles, the sun….shadows…odd views, both inside and outside. I have a few rolls of 400 Fomapan and my MA….

UPDATE: January 23rd, 2023. I spent 4 hours at the museum and went thru 3 rolls of film. You can view my images on my project pages under Air Space.

I came in to this project wanting images that were unique, and not the everyday Plane snapshots that offer little creativity. My images were taken with “Geometry’ in Mind….’Shadows’….”Pieces of Planes’…. I wanted something that offered a perspective where I could document uniqueness.

This first attempt underexposed my indoor shots. I shall return and re-capture those.

The outside images were taken on a day were most were shot in the F8 and F11 @ 1000. I liked the result in which they present themselves. My lens was a 35mm Voigtlander instead of the 50 Summicron I had initially planned. I am happy with that decision as a 35mm allowed me a bit of expanse in the images. If I would have used a 28 or 24 I felt I might have cropped too much. A 50 would have allowed for little ‘expanse’.

The film I used was 400 Fomapan where it “illicits” a noisy…rough….gritty feel to it. Again, my style…my intent. I enjoy creating Zines and I can see where this project will eventually turn into a Zine.

Salt Printing

I just picked up a 28mm …F3.5 Ziuko lens for my Olympus OM-1…. So you might ask, what is in the bag? Well a 35mm, 50mm and a 24mm. I also have a funky 55mm which should provide some odd bokeh from what I understand, but that lens was purchased in Australia and until I venture down there, it stays down there.

I am an utter sucker for film as I believe it to be the purest form of photography. Yes digital is ‘close’….it is quick, live, real time etc…but sadly, it is not film. The next few days we are traveling up-state and will see how film does.

Update……. a few days later. I had three rolls to develop but the last is still in the camera so that will be awhile. As it be, that last roll is the one I really want to view! But I developed the first two and have some nice results.

I keenly want to stay as analog as possible, even though as I sit….I can see a $5000 Digital Leica Monochrom + a lens sitting on the shelf. There it sits….while I am debating picking up another OM-1 film as ‘backup….’ What? Backup?… well, I would hate to lose the OM-1. I can just hear the ‘sigh’ coming from the Leica as I longs to find a new home.

My analog process involves developing the film, which is not all that difficult. At this point I can go a few ways. I can take the negatives and scan them to my computer (yes I know, this is not an analog process), but with those negatives turned to digital, I can then create my zines which I have as physical copies. I want my images in my hands and not on the computer. I just published one called “No Eyes upon Me’…. and have a few more that I am working on, in degree or the other.

The other option is to select certain photos with high contrast and do a totally analog process called Salt Printing. This is not to be done with all photos, ….no, rather… ithe photos must have impact. What will make a person ask a question. Impact = questions and Impact = contrast. If I am lucky, I will find at least one negative I can use to salt print that takes into. account both of those ‘impact’ legs.

Salt Printing is how photography first evolved….. Salt printing was used to develop images of leaves, or twigs or anything that the sun coupled with chemicalized paper, would produce a view representing the said ‘twig or leaf’ etc…. Eventually technology led to photography as we know it today.

Salt printing using the sun to develop the negatives is a totally inconsistent process but it is about as natural as one can get in the photography world. I work with the variables of intensity of sun UV rays, type of paper, image contrast….length of exposure, how much sizing to put on or how much silver nitrate etc…. Cleanliness also comes into play. Can you say ‘variables?”

While suggested by many, I should cut back on the inconsistency such as paper and sizing and cleanliness and yes, ‘that’ I agree on. Try to build in the process some measure of consistency. But where I conflict with their suggestions is in the using of a UV Light box. I don’t envision that a UV light box was utilized in the early photography of salt printing , so…. My intent is to remain true to an analog process using the sun to develop'.

I expect several ‘takes….’. I expect some underexposure and overexposure. I expect the sun to come and go, and I expect difficulty with ‘dodging’ where needed. I expect failure more so than success but ….when success does come about, the end result truly belongs to me.