To Take "Note"

I always say you have to use the best tool for the job….. I find that to be true with just about any project… IE, when I lay bricks for a pathway, I use a rubber mallet (hammer) while if I pound a nail, I use a steel hammer. When I paint a clay pot, I use an array of brush sizes. AND….and please take note as this goes against my photographic grain; when I take photo’s….I even use digital (egads I say!!), over film, if the project dictates it.

So my last project…..which will soon be a book…..entitled Ghost Riders….. demands that I capture individuals at night as they move ‘in and out’ of our mortal world. So far I have captured several thousand images using digital but very few are good enough to use in my image gallery/book. Now, there is no way I can capture the same using film. Why? Read on….. embrace change I need to tell myself, where change is needed.

First….sheer numbers alone imply that film is undoable. Let’s say conservatively that I took 1500 photo’s (way too low of a number) and divide that by 36 roll count of film and that equals around 42 rolls of film, plus the developing cost etc…plus the scanning time etc….

Second…the genre, the type….. what am I trying to capture? Since using digital allows me some use of ‘live screen’ if I elect…..that helps me frame and compose the scene based upon the light. If I didn’t do that, it would be pure ‘hit and miss’ and the numbers I quoted above (1500 conservatively) would be much greater. I simply can’t shoot ‘live’ with film. So, would I end up with any shots…any? Not sure.

Third….the mood I am trying to convey in my project Ghost Riders, demands a very moody, high contrast image when much of the background is just darkness…. a few lights….. much of the foreground or subject is blurred in detail, although…..I still want a bit of ‘life’ to poke thru the image. Digital allows me to do that while film is less contrasty, and while I can obtain blur, it isn’t the same as required in my images for this project.

Fourth…Aim……. Part of this project forces me to get close….more up close than sometimes many ‘subjects want’. Now, I have done street photo’s for many years and have no problem getting close and just snapping away and moving on. So most likely I wouldn’t be bothered with film and this same approach. But digital has made the project a bit easier in terms of time available to shoot.

Yikes….. when I re-read this blog I am aghast…. I am eeking out a swallow….my hand is shaking as I type…. my head somewhat faint….slow down…breathe now Jim. Digital? Really? Come now…..don’t drink the Kool-aid for I am in the ‘land’ of Kool aid drinkers and I usually run from the thought. But I have to admit, that yes….I find it appropriate to shoot digital ‘at times’ …after all, they shoot horses, don’t they? I drank the Kool-aid.

A 1.4

A few months back I wanted to shoot wide-open so I could garner that bokeh, …oh that all wonderful bokeh. Softness….blandness…..a blur, so as to hint at what the lens might be trying to hide…like a lady eyes; full of mystique. In order to dial into this pent-up desire, I needed not just a fast lens but also a manner in which I could use that lens to my advantage. Hence the first step.

I purchased a set of ND filters…..with stops of 2, 3 & 4 which enables me to attach to my lens to darken the amount of sun hitting. And being in Arizona…..I needed that. Hey, no problem shooting ‘closed’ at F16 in many cases, or F11, or F8, but neither garners that bokeh. With my filters I can now stop down several times enabling me to shoot wider.

At that time I had just one Zuiko under F2 which was my beautiful yet whacky 55mm F1.4 lens. I say whacky since the results were undeniably whacky, with stray light, glares….etc….but with my filters it also provided me with that wonderful, oh such wonderful and desirable bokeh. Simply outstanding. But my 55 has a slight issue with the tip of the lens having been dropped (oh no, not by myself….but purchased with this slight mar), and the ND filters are difficult to attach. They also are 55mm filters.

My remaining Zuikos, of of which I have countless…..all accept a 49mm filter. So I managed to capture a bit of bokeh with my 85mm F2 with ND’s and yes, I did obtain a bit of blur. But nothing whacky….nothing that I would visit my parent’s grave with and show to them.

So today……of all days, and just because…..I purchased a Zuiko F1.4 50mm (step 2) which will accept 49 ND filters. When this bundle arrives, and it will…..even though it is the season for lateness in packages (December), I will attach a #3 or #4 filter (depending on the sunlight) and shoot at 1.4 and be wide open ‘in the day’…... I am looking for that whacky feel, …a bit of bazarreness to it…an eccentric attitude…flaky, freaky, funky and kooky …..

I will dream well tonight….

Lomography

According to Wikipedia….Lomography is…” a photographic style which involves taking spontaneous photographs with minimal attention to technical details…….and images often exploit the unpredictable, non-standard optical traits of cameras (such as light leaks and irregular lens alignment), and non-standard film processing techniques for aesthetic effect”

Well….. That looks a bit like my style. The other day I was out taking some photos with some 17 year old expired film I purchased thru Ebay from Cheche. I had no idea of how it was going to turn out but on a recent shoot in Nogales (one side is on the US, the other is Mexico), and during the celebration of Little Amal , I came down with the intent of pure experimentation. Whatever came of it, came of it…..

So, armed with that, I put my OM2SP in the bag along with a 55mm and 85mm lens. When I arrived I put on the 85mm and never looked back. I shot with Fomapan 400 (17 year old expired), knowing that since it was BW film, I had a pretty good chance of how it might look.

I shot a few rolls of film….then returned to my studio where I developed. I figured that since I attempted to overexpose a bit during the shooting process, I might also alow a bit more time in the development tank as I did stock with a full 9 minutes of swirling in the chemicals. In hindsight, I might have done 8:30. Now, with the two rolls I shot, I placed only one in the tank as this was an ‘experiment’ after all. In the taking of the images and….in the processing. So with one more roll to expose, I will probably go to 8:30 minutes.

If you look at some of the photos under my latest batch, you can see they turned out well. A few scratches and perhaps just a tad underexposed I would say (thus why I will process the last roll differently), the images are okay.

The point is….they are okay. I like them….I like the dark shadows,…the blackness….the thickness of lines and contrastiness of images. I like the scratches, the lines…..the development etc. The look….I like the look. That is my style. Others will look at it and rip them a part technically…. So be it. I don’t care. These are my images and I like the way they are. I hate perfection. The world is far from perfect and so are our eyes. So why should an image be perfect? Why should we take images into photoshop and digitally craft to seemingly perfection? Why do we distort colors and warp our true visual hue? Why do photographers in utter banality warp images with sharpness and shift away from natural degradation? I don’t know…. But it isn’t me. I am or must be a Lomographic designer….

The M8

The day I was out shooting in Tucson….a buddy and I got there around 5pm and we were having a beer around 8. So, …what……give or take 3 hours of street work? I was with one of my film cameras and 35mm lens. I was also experimenting with my Voigtlander VC11 light meter which attaches to the hot shot of my Leica film camera.

Now,…loved it…loved it, loved it, loved it. A small learning curve cropped up I overcame. The camera is pure mechanical….nothing to help me as all manual. So the Light Meter was placed in the hot shoe but since the camera isn’t at all mechanical, it doesn’t read the settings on the meter like other cameras might. So, a few mishaps where I just shot without transferring those settings to my lens/camera, but ….it worked all in all. It takes one step more, so not fast. It almost pays to just use the sunny 16 and estimate, …time wise that is.

But as the sun faded, as it does fairly early in our western area…my camera soon found itself unusable. Simply no light. So I ended up walking around watching Robert have fun with his digital.

Yet like all things, …one needs to look at the silver lining which was this experience got me thinking. I need a (EGADS) digital camera for certain situations but, and this is a huge but….it has to fit my ‘analog craving’ lifestyle. Is there such a beast out there? So my homework was ahead of me and I did just that. I read up, questioned, was on forums etc… all on that analog / digital quest. And I ended up with my perfect style…my analog digital style. I found a camera that was an analog wanting to be digital, instead of a digital wanting to be analog.

A Leica M8, and while not a Monochrom, with the CCD sensor, it surely produced excellent BW images.. COSTLY….remember that. Don’t try this at home unless you are aware of the cost.

The M8. I only shoots in BW …period so color rendition beyond is useless to me. That meets my style. It is 15 years old…..with a crappy LCD you can’t read, …yet, I don’t want to even have a LCD so a crappy one is next best thing. Some other NO’s…

NO live screen….. NO exposure meter beyond center weighted (very limiting). NO automatic focus….all manual baby. NO wi-fi, NO video…NO SD card over 32 MB. NO usable ISO beyond 800. My style is showing. NO EVF but only an optical which is what I shoot with on my manual film cameras. NO ratta-tat-tat as continuous shooting is nil. NO quiet shutter sound. Can I get any more analog…any more like my Leica M6 or MA or Olympus OM1 or OM2? Just happens to have as an ‘output’ some digital files instead of negatives but wow, pretty dam analog.

The games begin…..

Confused

There are times when we all just ‘fumble’…. well, I had that time the other day, so let me explain.

For the past 6-7 months my photography has been concentrating on a ‘project’ that is a soon to be photo book. One of the guidelines I instilled within my self was that I was looking for symbolism, which, meant that I wasn’t looking for any humanity, just objects. To boot….I shot exclusively with a 55mm lens and with my Olympus Om2-SP.

But last night….I went out with a Leica MA plus a Voigtlander VC11 light meter attached to the hot-shoe. Normally not a problem. But given my past 6-7 months I found myself stumbling along just doing mundane street photography in downtown Tucson with nothing explicit to shoot.

Exactly now where did I stumble? To start off the bungling….take the focal length. Instead of 55mm I was now using a 35mm. Not a lot of difference but enough. One thing I have learned is to take out one lens…..only one lens. Concentrate on that focal length so one’s eyes and brain become in sync and what I ‘seek for’ is what I find; all based upon the focal length I go out with. So shooting for months with a 55mm lens kind of spoiled me a bit too much as my mind sought out photos more attuned to a 55, rather than a 35.

To move on…… in my project I purposely selected ‘no humanity’….only objects. But yesterday I became torn between a combination of both people and objects and I feel…looking back at my shots (on film, so I have no idea what they look like), I feel I missed on both accords. Now did I? not sure….

Moving on some more…..I found myself shooting with a Leica MA where I was experimenting with the Voigtlander VC11 light meter for the first time in the field. This particular model of camera doesn’t connect to the light meter so I have several steps here. First….attempt to adjust my camera settings so they come pretty close, based upon the sunny 16 rule. Second….take a reading on the VC11 after setting what I feel is a good aperture. Third, read the reading…..and move my settings on VC11 to my camera lens and camera. Then shoot. …. This is a bit more time consuming than thought considering I need to wear reading glasses.

With my reading glass issue…..I find myself in a process within itself. My glasses are a top my head while I scan looking for a shot. Then I pull my glasses down to take readings on the light meter. I keep them down as I adjust my camera settings. Then I raise my glasses and take a shot. Then…repeat performance. Seemingly now, not all difficult but remember that street photography requires a bit of quickness to not miss a shot and that entire process with my glasses simply slows me up, thus….I fumble and stumble.

How to move forward…? First..get bifocals. The lower half will be my reading cheaters while the upper half will be essentially clear glass as I am not near-sided. Then, practice, practice and practice on the procedure of using the light meter and making sure I properly transfer said readings to the camera…

Sounds easy….is it?

Down a Dusty Lane

Wickedly hot….. not normally a time I enjoy shooting. I picked up my legs though and slugged along down the barrio of South Tucson. Door country…..window country….. with a Spanish flair.

While not my usual shoot….I shot. The old barrio of Tucson has a shot around every bend, for each house being unique and covered with character. Cobwebs on some cringe along the wood. The rod iron that twists itself along each house and over, and thru…and around and on. I love iron. Rust….matte black…...tweaks of color from lost paint. Together with the doors and window I shoot in this area, I can find enough character to showcase a culture, still being defined as it passes with age.

But….dusty….a lane I take to the right soon stops, no where to go yet to backtrack. I twirl around and face the other direction and see a new dimension of view, as now I am returning, as opposed to going. A small door rests itself within an alley barely a foot in width behind a bush and between two walls. Seemingly to no where, a side door lays. Where does it go? It can’t open outwards for it would just bang into the wall opposite. Must be an inner door but who can fit in here? Who can slice their way thru a foot of space and then have the know-all to enter. Push the door open…. And does it open, or is it locked.

No knocker…..and no, no doorbell. Just a door caked with an outer layer of dust that tells time has passed without a visitor. I take a reading on the alley and take a snap or two with my camera & 35mm lens. I hope to. capture a span showing distance as well as peripheral. Does it turn out using my film?….not sure. But I have a memory and sometimes when I walk about, it isn’t always about the shot, but the memory that leads up to that shot.

Film Noir

I really enjoy film noir…. a few months ago I watched a movie called Curtiz… it was a Netflix movie produced in Hungary. A fantastic movie as Curtiz was the producer of Casablanca (Bogie and Bergman) and the movie follows the tumultuous filming of these academy award winner actors . During WW11, Hollywood was under great pressure to put forth their share of propaganda and this film strikes that accordingly. if you watch, I recommend you view both the original Casablanca and this film Curtiz, back to back…a double header.

One, if not….the best thing about the movie was the film noir feel… All Black and White and filmed I believe on original film stock….with ‘oh so delicious ‘ shadows and the video-graphy is simply superb with high contrast shots….dark backgrounds etc.

If you have any familiarity with my shooting style….you have pieced together my strong propensity of a preference that includes high contrast and noise, film grit, darkness etc…

Now where am I going with this? Well recently I received a small package for Czechia and it arrived. This package cost me $100 but well worth it. It is chalked full of expired 2007 Fomapan 35mm film in BW. Oh my…. did I just get to heaven? 20 rolls….yeah….20 rolls of 36 count equals over 700 upcoming shots. Expired film is one of a kind. In fact each roll, each 35mm negative is unique or can be. That is what I am counting on.

A bit of blur or messiness….grit….noise above normal dust…scratches, light leaks….mmmmmmm. Better than **X you say…well, could be. Imperfect bred to perfection.

Now I just have to decide on what ‘upcoming’ project to offer this film stock to? I have several…which one best fits and which lens, which camera…. I love it….

Tactile

I speak of it often….the value of ‘tactile’ or tactility, if a word exists. I speak of it for I live it, daily. Every day when I take my film camera’s out for a walk-about, I get all tactile inside.

Let me just take one aspect of the tactile movement as it relates to my cameras. The film advance. Taking my right thumb and moving the film advance lever is a remarkable soothing action. Pure mediation comes into my mind with that simply physical act.

The beauty is that this ‘action’…..the feel of that tactility, will vary with my cameras. For instance, when I shoot my Leica’s, oh boy…..melted butter comes to mind. My thumb movement just slides. The sound is an adorable soft mechanical blurrrrrrrr…….. Heaven comes to mind. As stated earlier, this is where my meditative process begins to sink in. Thumb action…..soft blur…….a moan

My Olympus OM’s differ depending on the OM model. The OM1 differs slightly from the OM2. Together the sound and feel is greatly different from the Leica’s. The OM’s are more stiff….audibly more mechanical by nature. Inherently they provide a deeper tactility than the Leica just because they lack that butter smooth Leica movement, a movement I am sure was carefully crafted by Leica engineers. None the less, the OM’s offer tactility but on a different plane.

I possess other cameras as well that equate with a different range of Tactility. IE…my 1915-1920 Kodak Brownie has this soft difficult knob to turn and I have to view to see how far to turn. Am I there yet? Is the film advanced? My Kodak Retina has this odd reverse sided film advance that is placed at the bottom of the camera as opposed to the top. A different finger placement is needed all-told but the meditative effect is high just the same. I have older Leica’s such as my model A. (circa 1929) where I turn the sprocket knob to advance film. The knob is metallic and has a pull to it, not preventing advancement but as a photographer, I do know I have to turn it about one complete turn of the dial as I can visually see the film number gauge move from 1 to 2 or 5 to 6 etc.

In every and all cases……I go out….shoot….viola….I am in love.