Not a project!

Ok so as with most photographers I like to give myself projects to shoot, themes to explore, yada yada yada.  But most of the time the minute I label something a project I stop shooting for it or find myself unable to figure out how to proceed.  Or just as often I decide to shoot a project with someone who them moves away or something.  Sometimes the idea are great but just don't reflect my "vision" so I decide to let them go.  This image is representative of an idea I have been thinking about for some time, but I am hoping to just keep shooting it and see if it evolves into something.  Maybe if I don't define it publicly something will actually come from it.  Feel free to tell me what this image says to you, it may help me refine my idea.

Untitled

Holga, Kodak Porta 400

I fear color...

As the title suggests I do not generally shoot in color, even when I pick up a digital camera I usually end up converting the images to black&white at some point during post.  I've always just figured some photographers shoot color and some shoot B&W, no big deal.  After having been in a creative slump, one that I'm still not really out of, I decided to pack mostly color film on my recent vaccay to mix things up a bit.

I have managed to get all of the color film developed and scanned (I still have 3 rolls of B&W to develop).  So here is the first image I started working on.  The focus is softer than I usually like (even for a Holga).  I should note that I took a relatively new Holga and obviously had done a piss poor job of making it light leak proof...but hey embrace the blur and light leaks right?  That's what toy camera photography is all about right? Anyway, while this is not the best image I've ever made it's one of those that I like in spite of all it's flaws and I decided to work on it first.

So for shits and giggles I decided to convert it to B&W and see if I'd like it better and wouldn't you know it, I do....sigh.  The whole point of shooting with color film was to try and convince myself that I liked it.  I can't say I don't like the color version, it's actually makes for a much different image if you ask me.  Anyway if you have any opinions other than "that image sucks!" feel free to weigh in with which one you like better and why.

"Skater Chic, Delores Park, San Francisco 2011"

Holga, Kodak 160NC

Liberty and Fixie's for all!

Here is another image from Lindsay and my Rebel Riders weekend jaunt through DC.  For those of you reading this blog but who don't really know me, Rebel Riders is a bike club Lindsay and I started up for the hell of it.  Basically I floated the idea and she made it happen.  We are a small group of non-competitive cyclists who combine our love for bikes, beers, and service all into one fun group.

Back to the weekend ride, for some reason the fixie's wanted to demonstrate outside of the Supreme Court.  I have no idea either...

"Liberty and Fixie's for all!"

Polaroid 180, Polaroid Chocolate

I'll never let go, Jack. I promise.

So I have finally finished scanning a ton of images from my recent trips to San Fransisco and Boulder, as well as some images from the Rebel Riders weekly happy hour rides.  I still have 3 rolls of B&W to develop and scan, but at least I should have enough material to work on that I should be able to start showing new images more often around here.  At least that is the plan as long as I can find the time these days to work on the images.

So this latest image was from a Rebel Rider weekend ride.  Lindsay and I just got on our Fixie's one weekend and decided to pedal our way through DC with no specific destination in mind.  We found ourselves riding along the south Waterfront just past the Maine avenue fish market (which by the way is a great place to grab a bite to eat!).  We are on a pretty bumpy part of the path and I am concentrating on the surface when Lindsay rides up to me and says "I'll never let you go, Jack!"  Being oblivious I just assume she's gone mental.  She then points out this odd statue up ahead and tells me it reminded her of the movie Titanic.  I continue to look at her, now fully convinced she is mental.  She pedals off ahead and starts bawling, when I reach the statue I discover why....it happens to be a memorial for...wait for it...yup you guessed it, the Titanic.  What the hell a Titanic memorial is doing along the Potomac river in DC is beyond me, but it was obvious photo documentation would be required.

"I'll never let go, Jack!"

Polaroid 180, Polaroid Chocolate film

Impossible Altitude

OK so while I am still no expert on these impossible films I have become over time pretty good about obtaining useable exposures and figuring out what setting the camera needs to be at.  For the PX600 UV film you pretty much need to set the exposure wheel to maximum dark and the image needs to be protected from from light and for the most B&W tones you need to develop the film at or below about 68 deg F.  So while on vacation I was in Boulder, CO which you may or may not know is about 1 mile up in altitude.  I took a few images in Boulder (none shown here, I promise to post them in the near future) and encountered nothing unexpected.  Basically the film behaved just how I figured it would.  The problems came when I traveled up the mountains.  Once I got above about 8,000 ft all of my images started to look like they were either over exposed or had been subjected to light during developing.  Since I knew I was shielding the images after exposure I figured that for the first few images I had just neglected to set the exposure wheel to all dark.  Turns out that wasn't the issue.  So the best I can guess is that the extra UV light that is present the higher up you go was responsible.  The Impossible films either don't have a UV filter built in or the filter isn't strong enough at the altitudes I was at.

Anyway here is an example.  One that I actually like.  I did use Photoshop to increase the contrast a bit to bring out the details.  The actual image is even lighter overall than you see here.

 

"Fear the trees..."

Polaroid SX-70 Sonar, Impossible PX600 UV+ 

Delores Park

Ok so I think the slump is officially over!  I have 17 rolls of film to process (most from my recent trip to San Fransisco and Boulder).  I also have scanned a bunch of recent instant images using the Impossible films.  I will start to roll them out here and on my Flickr stream.  Here is the first image of my favorite park in San Francisco.

 "Biker on hill"

Polaroid SX-70 Sonar, Impossible 600 UV+ BB

Rebel Riders

So this year has turned out to be a bit of a break from photography for me.  Actually this year has been a pretty rough one thus far.  The loss of a great friend to a series of misunderstandings that we just could find our way past set the tone.  Watching many of my friends struggle through this difficult economy.  The loss of a dream I didn't even know I was holding onto.  And other crap not even worth mentioning.  I seem to be the opposite of many of my artist friends, they often find solace in their art and turn to it when they are depressed.  Me I turn away from my cameras, I get to a point where the mere thought of taking pictures and developing the film and edit the images becomes and insurmountable task.  On the plus side I often turn to exercise, which means that I tend to me the most in shape when I'm depressed.

This year I managed to work through all this crap on my bike and was determined to find a new group of friends to ride with so that I'd have a reason to continue even after I worked my way through my funk.  Thus the Rebel Riders were born via my discussions with my good friend Lindsay.  We wanted a bike club that wasn't focused solely on riding fast and expensive equipment.  Lindsay decided that we should combine riding with her focus on supporting cancer research, thus the Rebel Riders are also about service and raising awareness and support for cancer research.  We weren't done yet, as any good college student knows one of the best cures for what ales you is a pint with friends.  So the Rebel riders are also focused on fun happy rides with a focus on exploring the many great bars in and around the DC area.

Since Lindsay and I are both photogs we now have the idea idea that we need to start documenting our HH outings.  Here are the first two images.  These were taken on a recent visit to Start & Shamrock, a Jewish/Irish bar on H St. in NE DC.

 

Star & Shamrock

H St. NE DC

Polaroid 680, Impossible 680 Beta 

The Red Razzle was finally let out!

So in case you have no idea what the Red Razzle is, it is a Polaroid 110b camera converted to accept 4x5 film.  The really awesome thing of this camera is that it has a functioning range finder and coupled with it's 1/300 shutter speed allows you to hand hold and shoot which is pretty much unheard of for large format cameras.  It is also relatively compact and light making it easy to put in your bag and use while walking around town. Don't get me wrong it's no compact camera, but in comparison to other large format cameras it is down right portable.

I have had the camera for quite some time, but as usual I took a few months to actually load it up and take it out.  So here are a few images from Old Town Alexandria, where I live, to give you an idea of what the camera can do.  I think this camera will see regular rotation in my camera bag!

"Door at 714"

Polaroid 110b Conversion (Red Razzle), HP5

"Alexandria Alley"

Polaroid 110b Conversion (Red Razzle), HP5