Those Days....

Go ahead, take a gander at the shot below….. That is the top of my Pen F half-frame. A nice morning here in Philadelphia USA with the humidity bound to climb. I have no idea how the folks prior to air conditioning ever survived being back east with Humidity. Regardless, June 14th And my Pen F is telling me I have around 4 shots to go before I max out my film roll. Actually only 2-3 since going to the full 72, makes it really difficult to rewind the film. That my friends is an issue with all Pen F’s….. If you go to 72, the camera won’t rewind well and you risk ripping the film in mid ‘wind’…. So with a few shots to go, I take off to work on my “Alone” project.

With.an extra roll of 400, plus my notebook to record events, happenings…reflections. My project takes me to various locations on the streets of Philly and being summer….and getting into humidity, I knew I had maybe 3 hours before I needed to find shelter (air conditioning). Many times when I shoot in Philly, I make a line, half-way thru my day….to an air conditioned place such as the local camera shop, perhaps the National Park at Independence Hall or Constitutional Hall or the Museum of the American Revolution. I become rejuvenated.

Now, the nice thing about the Pen F is that it is small. Probably the smallest film camera I own. Today I decided to attach my 60mm (85 equivalent) as I did purchase this thing for $895 and dang-it-all Deputy Dog, I am going to get my use from it. So with nothing around my neck to attract sweat, and just my pocket stuffed with that extra roll of film and my notebook; with the Pen F in hand…..I wander.

I looked….I sat…I journaled in my notebook on my day….what I needed to look for ….I placed it back into my pocket and walked some more. A new place. I waited….sat, walked….skirted from one shady spot to the next. Wrote again in my journal as I sat on a cement bench, still cool to the touch from the night.

The funny thing is….2 hours into my walk and nothing….not one shot…no release of the shutter to even make it to 69, let alone 71. But I had time to ponder, sit…bounce my leg around a bit, twiddle my fingers and stare off.

With three hours nearing, it was time to pack up. Take note, there was nothing really to ‘pack up’. Along the return route, it wasn’t that there wasn’t anything to shoot on the streets as there always is, but when I go out with a project in mind, my brain focuses on that project. I seek out images for that particular project. Today, after near 3 hours I had zero shots. But, that’s okay as that is part of doing business….that is photography. With a stated purpose in mind and my brain focused on the shots I want, my mind isn’t just meandering and desperate to take shots just to take shots. I don’t work that way. If nothing comes my way, well….that is the day. Today just happens to be one of ‘those days’.

And You Don't See Me? Right?

Being a street photographer I am always amazed by how the vast majority of people have no idea of their surroundings. They are clueless… Are they Zombies? Are they Avatars from the future? ….Either way, they just lack any awareness of their physical presence and those around. These' ‘space cadets’ just walk around or stand or sit or look off in some direction and are pretty much there for a street photographers picking. Totally oblivious to that which surrounds them. For instance…take this couple below….:

There they are….about a foot away. Just staring. I am next to them and I have no idea of their names, where they are from….do they speak English? Are they Vegetarians? ….do they read books? Are they lovers? Do they prefer chocolate ice cream over vanilla? No idea….. But there they are, big as day.

Dah…take my shot…capture me. I am not posing in any way so a candid shot will turn out just fine….just fine. And yes, I did. I took their shot. In fact this is one of 4 shots I grabbed from them but I prefer this one as they are both looking ‘out’…..I like the closeness of it all. Just ‘Us”…hanging out…..far from good buddies.

Then on the other hand……

Zine Platforms

I have been into ZINES for years…..and have not really struggled but surely had my eyes open to new ways to approach a ZINE in terms of pre-production. Pre-production is what many are not even aware of regarding a ZINE.

Yes, pre-production does involve taking images and the process, be it film or digital…. One can’t do photo zine without photos. But let’s say you have your theme or project and your images are in your files, or negatives are ready to scan. How about transferring that to a physical Zine?

This is where some pre-production once more occurs. Two parts to this process. First is the laying out of your photos as in some sort of contact sheet. In the old days of film, we would always create a contact sheet of our roll of film. Looking at this contact sheet we could determine what was good enough to be printed. Printing in the old days and viewing was a long (time wise) and a relatively expensive process with chemicals and paper etc, so very few negatives on any given roll was actually printed. Now, whether digital or film (I scan my negatives), I come up with some sort of digital file. In order to actually view my images on some broad spectrum, I need to create a contact sheet with all of my images that I ‘want’ or ‘perhaps want’ to use in an upcoming zine.

Below….is my most recent contact sheet I am using (not done with this zine pre-preduction phase). As you can see, this contact sheet has icons of multiple images. This allows me to quickly view my potential images to use. If I don’t do this, I can have a hundred ‘best’ photos from any given project all strewn within various folders and files on my computer. In essence, I wouldn’t know where to begin as I moved forward. Hence, this contact sheet.

Also take note that within or next to each image I have various aspects written in….Sometimes I use this data in my zine and other times not. But data such as F stop, ISO, shutter and focal length. As I put together my photo zine, I do so by connecting images that flow. This ‘flow’ might be subject matter, sequencing of when images taken, groupings or solo shots….whether the image is mostly black, or white or in between. All of this makes a difference in putting together the right visual appeal of a zine.

It isn’t about just tossing images in…. It isn’t about placing in sequential order of when I took the image. It is just….what makes sense to create that all important visual appeal. Now in this project, I have hundreds of photos, so after scanning (if film) or downloading….I had to open up each image to select what I thought matched my criteria. My criteria was spoken to in the previous blog, so return to my blogs and read that one.

Once I have my contact sheet printed out, and I might add data next to each image….I then have to decide….what is my first photo? Make sure you start off on the right foot. Capture your audience with the first few photos. But don’t just load up the front half of your zine with the good photos and then run dry as you get to the end. Carefully and craftily you have to spread your “WOW” photos throughout. Thus, this is where the contact sheet comes into play.

Now….okay….I am ready to go, right? Well….not quite. Have you decided on what software to use to put together your zine? You need something as you can’t just send your images to the publisher (online or local) without them knowing the direction you are taking. Thus, software allows you to piece together your photos, one by one….. place in text or any little drawn on images, or arrows or whatever…..Remember you are creating a book /zine…. so take the time in this creation process and make it stand out.

There are several software programs out there….. For instance for years I used PAGES which is free on my IMAC. While I got used to this software, it had its limitations and it was frustrating to move back and forth between pages, grouping and regrouping images and text….having things disappear on me etc…

So…I went looking on line….. I won’t provide you with a listing of software but will tell you I settled on Affinity Publisher. It was a one time $69 US dollar fee and not a monthly fee. I hate monthly fees. So for $69 I get my registration number which I can transfer to multiple computers so my IMAC is Arizona has it installed as does my IMAC in Philadelphia, as does my laptop. COOL! ….

I like Affinity for several reasons. First the $69 is cheap. Second….this is more user friendly in terms of setting up pages and moving pages around. Third, it has a ‘master page’ or pages, where I can create my own template to use for the entire project instead of inventing the wheel each page. Fourth, I can turn and twist images and text so it isn’t plain and dry and just straight on. I am creating something I want people to view, so I want to be ‘funky’ where funk is needed. Fifth….lots of room to grow. Tons of options, tons of things I have no idea exist in this software but room to grow. For instance, I can have backgrounds that are not one solid color but have gradients where colors meet, or blend or fade etc… That all offers a chance to enhance my final product.

So Affinity Publisher….. And, one of my goals is to get others on board with ZINES and teach this. So now I have a teachable software that is available for both PC’s and MACs and is relatively cheap,

Stay tuned…. my Melbourne Series is being worked on as we speak…..

Key Notes

When I do these blogs….many times I do these for ‘myself’ as opposed for others. I use these blogs as one approach to note taking. What am I doing right or wrong or why isn’t something working etc.

For instance….I was working on a recent book/zone project where I was going thru some of my past images and attempting to make a narrative from them…a visual form of an essay. But it wasn’t working. I was telling Deb just this morning that ‘it isn’t working’….and then I proceeded to create a list of 5-6 things as to why it wasn’t working. Then I mulled around with it once more thinking I could make the project work and no, it didn’t. Then I mulled a bit more and finally it occurred to me why it wasn’t working. And yes, it goes back to the way I shoot, the look I want…what and how I shot yesterday compared to today etc….

This is what I came up with. In order for my images to work and my overall workflow to be successful I need to make sure I hit upon ‘my basics’…or the thing that motivates me. Not what I hear from You Tube or know from other great photographer, but from me. What do I require.

First….when I go out shooting….I go out with a purpose now. No longer just shooting but a purpose in mind. So that really curtails the number of shots I take (film usually but digital is okay). I have a purpose and I seek to find that within my images. That is essential as I enjoy putting together zines and books that represent the central theme.

Second….I want the following in my images. I want movement. But, what is movement? I had to define that. Movement to me can be actual movement as in someone walking or running. But movement can also be action within what that person is seen as doing or represented as doing. So…take a look at these two images below.

Is this movement in the traditional sense? No…but what action is being presented here is movement. It shows this lady who is reflecting upon an image and caught within two separate images, not quite mirror of each other since I stepped back and shot in a refocus. But, the movement or action here is represented in her ‘reflecting’ and wondering to herself about this painting. Movement. Now take a look at the second image below.

This one is shot from behind the person as they walk down a narrow alley. Traditionally this might be thought of as movement but not in my eyes. The act of moving is caught by having his head turn back to me and look at me. That is movement. He is responding…acting….reflecting on ‘what I am doing’ as I take a shot of his movement. That is movement

In goes on and on….as to what qualifies but it has to have my definition of movement. A question that comes up after the fact about the image just taken.

Third…I want visual impact. If I take a nano-second to look at an image…does it create an impact within the viewer that stirs them? Does it make them go Wow?…If not….I don’t have a good picture. This impact can be done in several ways but many times, if not all it is accomplished by the shadows, light….and most of all geometry of the two as they play against each other. Okay, take a look below. What do you see initially? Do you like it?

Look at this one time and do so quickly. Like it or not? I think you will. Then look at it more thoroughly. Look at the shadows below…the harsh light above as it masks whatever he is pointing to (movement) on the table as the other guy looks on wondering (movement). Look at the angle of the table….the pole above the shoulders of the waiter etc… All off center. Angles….angles…. together with shadows and light. A great visual image from the start.

So….that is what I finally came down to today. What works…what doesn’t and why and why isn’t my current project not working? Because it lacks all three components to a degree. Theme, movement and impact.

FUNKY...general notes

For some reason I have used this term (FUNKY) several times now in regards to a project I am working on. FUNKY…. from the onset I wanted images that were unique….not run of the mill, and a bit on the wild, funky side. Not polished for sure.

I am beginning to turn away from being polished. It appears that most everyone and including AI (the image cheating of all cheats )….Oh, think TOPAZ, has polished images but I want images where my creativity come into play. Most people lack creativity and that includes photographers, and AI isn’t quite there yet. I am still daubing on this funkiness issue and have been since completing my Paranormal project. The funkiness in me has come out and now it doesn’t want to go back in it’s hole.

Keep being funky….odd….connect to a theme, but do so without a sense of Normalism. I will continue to be a bit more realistic when I print with my salt printing process as the image needs high contrast and due to the heaviness of grain, when I print…..the image can’t be overly funky. My opinion of course.

Notes on———

Notes

I shoot street…..and this genre allows little time to ‘overly think’ or I should say to stop, adjust, think, adjust etc…. The scene changes too rapidly. But I do have to have my settings in place ahead of time so I can capture images quickly and exposed correctly..

Thus…..notes.

Now, I just viewed a photographer on You Tube from England who suggested to adjust settings ahead of time on his shots so the whites on his negatives are not over-exposed. Makes sense. To do that, he will take a spot reading on a dark area and from that point so as not to overexpose the whites, he will adjust from his spot metering and underexpose by two stops. So a F16 at 15 would now become F16 at 60. Then when he is developing the film, he will cut development time by 30%. So 12 minuets normally in the tank becomes 8 minutes. Again, all makes sense. In the ‘tank’….the first 4-5 minutes is all about shadows while the last portion of development is about the highlights. So by cutting developing time by 30% he is cutting back on the highlights. Between underexposing a dark area by two stops prior to taking the images and cutting 30% off tank exposure in post, he feels he gets it about right.

A second guy on You Tube told his audience to ‘overexpose’ (as opposed to underexpose) shots by a stop or two. Now, this contradicts what the first You Tuber stated but the first one is spot metering while the second one was either auto-program or shooting AP mode. By overexposing by a shot on program mode or AP, ….you are not going to far in exposure to lose your shadows as with film it is critical you don’t blacken your shadows and lose detail as one can always taper down your whites (opposite of digital). Then according to plan, I go into the developing process and increase (as opposed to decrease) the time by 30%. So a normal 12 minute development time now becomes 15 minutes.

Wow….complete opposites! …. So what do I do? First, I have to know my genre of shooting. I shoot street. I have little time to think too much. Second, since I do develop my film but only do ‘salt printing’ as opposed to normal printing or, I develop film and then scan prior to sending to printer, I have a. bit more control over my images by using a bit of software if needed. I usually only will add contrast in software or I can tone down blown out whites. Otherwise, nothing…..so no reason to think about the actual printing process and when I do print with salt printing, I can dodge and burn where needed.

My take? …continue to shoot as I do. Shoot with AP mode or Spot meter. Overexpose shots by one or two shots and then develop in the tank slightly more than usual as I want to have high contrast images This format allows most high content photos…. I think.

Film? Far From Bias I am, right?

This is a post that perhaps some….well for sure, those who shoot digital…will not grasp. For those that shoot film, well…..you are the ‘some’ that I am speaking to for you will grasp this.

What is art? ;….. art as in photography. For me, it is film and nothing more or not less, yet in my mind, digital photography is a bit less. And why might that be? Questions to ponder and for the most part those questions are responded to by imagery represented within film, and the process one takes to derive it.

Let’s go back, whether to Mathew Brady or Ansel Adams or anyone in between or forth that shot film. It doesn’t make a difference if you are medium or large format or 35mm or even if you are shooting video of the same film line. The process that is needed to truly shoot and capture that ‘slice of life’ in a way that represents true art, humanity…the essence of that ‘slice’….has to be done via the process of shooting film.

I was just in a forum the other day where Ricoh came out with a new GR digital which has a new feature to better capture the look of film. But why….why not just shoot film in the first place? It has utterly been decades since digital photography came out and it seems that the nirvana of many camera makers is still to develop a digital process that produces film-like images. Photographers can sense an image that just ‘gets it’…. or many semi-professional/pro’s can tell when an image is film. Why would manufacturers such as Sony, Fuji, Ricoh, Leica, Canon, Nikon, and Olympus/OM System….continue to want to capture film-like images and do so via digital gear? Because many people like that feel; be it black and white or color. Recent firmware updates and in-camera settings that have the mood and character of film….and use various filters embedded in the cameras that attempt….and I use that word judiciously ….’attempt’ to have as an end product, a filmisque quality about it. Even today, with decades between us and when digital first came on board…..many photographers inherently see a need for the film-look. They keep putting forth new products and cameras and software and mega-pixels and ND filters and mist filters and whatever…. Some digital photographers even return to early. digital such as the Leica M8 or M9, the early versions of Contax or Ricoh GR….all because someone says that they come ‘close’ ….(but never achieve) the quality of film.

So… that viewpoint is ‘out there’….it simply exists. Now let’s take a leap into the artistic world. And this is where the split between digital and film take another twist.

They shoot horses (scratch that; I mean film)…don’t they? When shooting film the emphasis is on ‘prior to taking the picture’…as opposed to ‘after the shot has been captured’ which is more akin to digital photography …..I argue there is a certain artistic talent that relies upon that pre-step of the process. For instance, when I shoot film, I know ahead of time what I want my image to become and sometimes I actually achieve it. When in the field….I am forced to truly comprehend the relation of sun/light and shadows. as I read the scene. I am watching and waiting and sometimes that wait corresponds to minutes and half-hours …or more…or I return to the scene later on. I wait….I set my ‘triangle’ of exposure and understand the relationship between all three parts of that triangle. I react to it….. F8 or F2 or F16….and use the exposure comp dial if the lsubject and light might dictate it …. Do I dial in 500 shutter or 250 or maybe a 1000 but no more, since my old camera is limited to no more. ISO (or is that ASA?) is set as I place in the film…… either way, I just go for it. One press of shutter at a time and then, guess what? I do it all over again before I press the shutter for image number 2. I add in other minor things such as if I want to use a ND, depending on my lens…. An ND of 2 or 4 or 6 or 8 or ? …. I see the connection between everything. I overexpose or underexpose….. I am not about “post’ processing, rather…I am concentrating on the ‘pre processing element’…. I stand up, or take a step back using my prime lens…. I move and circle my subject and I embrace the situation.

Phew…. I take a shot…I have captured it. But I have absolutely no immediate feedback to tell me what I did right nor wrong as film cameras have no ‘live view’. I just have my intuition as an artist….as art. I move on. I might have captured 1 to 5 photos of the same scene and in most cases, one shot, or maybe two. It isn’t that I negate any post-processing, but with. the exception of a bit of contrast (which film just plains lacks), I am done with just touching up on the contrast, as opposed to…well; read on.

Now…..I am not going to repeat the process for digital, for it is for many….the vast majority now I dare say….an act of placing the camera in ‘auto’….. or….just snapping and going back to photoshop with my thousands of shots taken, and pressing buttons until visually I see what I want. The so called ‘art’ emulating from this process is not a matter so much of skill (yes, bash me…..), but rather which button and which sequence and to which layer in photoshop do I deal with and ultimately accept as art. Or, a digital camera can present ‘live view’ where the photographer sees exactly what the image is and presses an ISO, or Exposure or shutter or aperture and without any real knowledge of why or how they interrelate, the ‘live view’ tells them the image is fine.

But admittedly, there are also excellent digital photographers who bring to the table a finely honed craft and set of skills. I will never diminish them. I simply state that the manner or process of getting images differ from film and digital. And, the digital never quits looks like film and film never looks like digital. Let’s understand that.

To me art…..is the process of creating via my brain and my intuition and my skill….as opposed to having a software program thick with AI, create for the image as many do. AND, don’t even get me started on phone photography.

There …..it has been written….and as Ramses supposedly might have said years back in the ages of the Pharaohs and ancient Egyptians…..“So let it be written, so let it be done”.

The photo below isn’t an award winner….but it is a creation. You see the light or I should say, where it is? I needed to take that into account. I used the shadows below the ladies eyes to my advantage and exposed for what was visible as opposed to getting her entire face and in perfect exposure, for …in this particular ‘slice of life’….this is how she presented herself to me and her unique raccoon look. Why change that? the deep shadows….the darkness…the slightly overexposed chest or the bright nose of her partner….there were all naturally occurring in the scene. That is what the image ‘wrote’ in reality’…and that is what was captured. This is indeed a slice of life; an art exposed and composed to represent what was in front of me (in black and white of course)….. :-), with only one shot taken…one and only one.

Redirection to Salt Printing

My last blog spoke of ‘re-direction….’ and someone questioned the image I connected to that blog. But wait….hear me out. My intent of over-exposing an image related to my ‘intent of my inten’t, or….what am I going to do with that image that is over-exposed slightly.

My intent….? to create an image, high in contrast….so I could have an image that is in the acceptable category for the salt printing process. Salt printing needs ‘high contrast’ images to work with. If I had a regular exposed image, the salt printed final product image would appear dark and under-exposed. In fact, it is the skin tones I need to worry most about. If not ‘white or light gray’ the skin becomes lost in the background. It is best in the salt printing process to have slight over-exposure, knowing that the image isn’t being created for detail and sharpness. Hence, I can get away with a bit of over-exposure to bring out a high contrast end product.

High Contrast is critical when I work with Salt Printing. And, as I now find myself in the middle of the salt printing process (but working with a different image), I have to admit, it is a process. Not difficult by any means….but, one does have to pay attention to small detail. Again, not rocket science but little things such as totally dry images or paper coated with silver nitrate. Detail pertains to correctly burning or dodging where needed. Or detail implies selecting the right medium to being with. Do you use a wet inverted transparency film or a dry inverted print on regular paper? Is it emulsion to emulsion? If you do a wet transparency film, you can go for emulsion to emulsion while a dry print is the opposite. How does one spread the silver nitrate without created dots under the UV light? How to feather the edges? How to know when to take out of the UV light? 6 minutes? 8? ….9 or 10? ….

You see….salt printing while simple by nature, is far from simple. Just having the right paper is one thing….the right chemicals, the right image etc…. is not ‘IT”….. for “IT” also is in the detail. Below is a photo I took with my 35mm and 400 Fomapan. It was shot inside a building with just a hint of light shining on this ‘candid’ subject. I like the way this print turned out although the funny thing is the sepia still shows. I have another print of this where it is more ‘brown’…. I haven’t figured out why yet.

The second image below has been inverted so it becomes a negative. I will take this negative and use it in the salt printing process.