CaliGirls

I'm appearing a bit like a voyeur here, but actually this was the first shot after a roll change. I looked up after changing the roll, put the camera to my eye, focused and clicked off several exposures. These California girls heading out to the mid-morning surf happened across the frame. This was the first clean exposure. You're looking at Tri-X shot through a CV 35/1.7

The Giant Camera

On the western most edge of the city and county of San Francisco sits the Giant Camera.


The Giant Camera is actually a camera obscura, a walk-in pinhole camera and minor tourist attraction. Visitors to the Cliff House will find the Giant Camera ensconced on the lower back deck, close to another minor tourist attraction, Seal Rock. The Giant Camera doesn't fit the decor of the rather modern looking Cliff House retaurant. The camera's design is really almost tacky, but it is loved by San Franciscans.

The experience of being inside the Giant Camera is magical. Several visitors at a time enter the camera through the front doors and find a position around a central viewing area. Once inside a guide closes the doors, and the visitors suddenly find themselves in a very dark, very quiet space. They wait in the for their eyes to adjust to the dark with nothing but the sound of the Pacific and their whispers and giggles.

Allowing for the adjustment, the guide then opens the aperture, which is located on the pyramid-shaped structure on top of the camera, and an image of the Pacific Ocean magically appears on a horizontal surface in the middle of the room. The guide can rotate the aperture to provide different views of the ocean, and even Seal Rock.


Most tourists and visitors seem underwhelmed by the experience. Afterall, there's a much better and realistic view just outside the door, but for anyone who has ever been remotely serious about photography the Giant Camera is wonderful, pure magic.

Spiazzo

This is a place called

Spiazzo

Fuji Superia 400

Mood Light

Not a very cheery image; I know. The fog will do that. This type of light presents a challenge. It seems to have a built-in mood and seriousness to it.

What's Your Summer Photo Project?

What's your summer photo project? I was asked this the other day, and even though I had a well thought out answer, I've always considered everything I shoot as a a shade of the one major project that we create over and over. Filmmakers make the same film, musicians write the same songs, painters paint the same painting, photographers make the same photograph. However, when we first choose a meaningful project it is a personal show of confidence, a sign that we are beginning to look at our work seriously, and (God forbid) take ourselves seriously.

I think projects are a good thing, especially when they are created in response to a concept, or an ideology. I love how Walker Evans' conceived his subway project, the work which eventually became the book, Many Are Called. The project idea arose from a strong ideological reaction to classic studio portraiture. Evans' felt compelled to create the antithesis of the studio protrait, and set about on his masterpiece. IMO, the result was very successful, a beautiful and fascinating body of work. To me this is the absolute best approach for a project. The desire to shoot cohesively should be driven by a greater need.

The wrong approach is one wherein the photographer seeks to handicap himself as a means of improving his "skill." Such projects usually entail the photographic equivalent to walking around for three days with your right leg tied back, in the hopes of improving the strength of your left leg. For instance, shooting strictly with a particular focal length, shooting only images within a one block radius of your front door, shooting only things that are the color red, are all handicap-based projects, especially when set about so simply.

For me, a self-imposed project should be an opportunity for discovery, or enlightenment, and it should be something that needs be written down. It doesn't need to be thematically grand, or ideologically driven. It can be driven by emotions and desire, but it should be purposeful and multilayered. For instance, it's one thing to want to photograph the simple beauty and the majesty of an old-growth redwood forest, but to set out to want to explore and convey, along with that beauty, the mysterious and mystical, or a sense of age and time, is taking the project to another level, a level that will challenge the photographer. By adding this additional layer the photographer adds a degree of measurability to the project that will help to determine whether the photographer was successful, or not.

The success of the project is ultimately determined by the viewer, so while a project can be a personal endeavor (and there's nothing wrong with shooting strictly for oneself), the feedback is invaluable, and any serious project should take into account the viewer, or the audience.

I hope to announce the completion of my summer project(s) here, and if anyone else is planning a summer project, and is posting online, and would like someone to view and provide feedback, I'll gladly help out in anyway I can.

Temptress

A photo



of a temptress.

Untitled Places

In an attempt to put some "form" to my pBase gallery, I regrouped my current work. My favorite new gallery is the one called This Place Has No Name.



This gallery groups together of all my recent images of places that have intrigued me into taking their picture. I do a lot of shots like this.



They typically don't get a lot of attention when I post them online, but I don't care. I'm really enjoy them and enjoy seeing them grouped together. It's like they have a cause now, a raison d'etre.

US 101

Here's a very small section of US 101, the big gnarly freeway, a portion of which serves as a pipeline up and down the peninsula from San Francisco to San Jose. US 101 follows the entire contour of the western edge of the San Francisco bay. The well worn strecth of US 101, between the two cities, is unremarkable, and ugly, a utiltarian patch of concrete and tar, that is both, hated and cursed, and absolutely necessary.

Bumper-to-bumper at 80 MPH, the passing traffic kicks up dust and trash, the flotsam and jetsom of life, hubcaps careening, spearing toward the shoulder, rubber melting, oil spraying, and billboards.


Tri-X in FX15

Closer

With the weather being the way it's been here on the west coast, I find I turn inward, inside, when I can't go outside. So, when inside, when I want to photograph, I look at things closely, closer. How convenient for me, then, that I recently acquired a macro lens, a Nikon 55/2.5, for my Nikon SLR. The timing was good.



If you've visited here before, you're probably well aware that I'm not a flower photographer kind of guy. So...


Here's a shot of some rotting berries!

When I look at these images, I realize just how much I enjoy shooting film. It'll be a sad day when we're no longer able to shoot film...I'd rather not end this post on a down note, maybe on a dark note:



Thanks for visiting!


Nikon FM3A Nikkor 55/2.5 Kodak 400UC, Fuji Superia 400

A Bridge (to cleanse the palate)

The San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge from Treasure Island. This shot depicts San Francisco's notorious summertime afternoon fog as it sweeps in over Twin Peaks and Sutro Tower.

Looking For Purple

~Click to see larger~

I sought something purple, but found nothing. I sought something "meaningful," and found this. An image for the weekend.

Minolta CLE, CV 28/3.5, Tri-X

My Better Half

It must be half-frame time. Oscar, publisher of Single Coated (the photoblog) posted a delightful half-frame image on his blog, at about the same time I had taken to carrying my Pen Ft with me again. His image inspired me to actually attempt to finish the 36 exposure roll of Kodak 400UC I had trapped in the camera.

The half frame camera is a really wonderful and different format. It is the analog equivalent of the digital point & shoot. At 72 exposures/36 exposure roll, there's really no holding back. Armed with a half-frame SLR, anything and everything is fair game. Shooting with my Olympus Pen FT, and its double-stroke film advance, makes me feel like some 1970's hipster revelling in his cutting edge state-of-the-art doofus gear.

Printing half-frames normally usually results in images like the ones below.



Sure one could scan and size the individual "frames," but the side by side look is so inherently "cool"—like two frames from a 16mm movie, that breaking up the pairings is too hard to do.



Everything takes on such an unusual and cinematic look.

If you're interested in seeing some other photographers who shoot half-frame, check out Keith Goldstein there on pbase and on RFF as Kbg32.

RJ

The Summicron 50/2 is a wonderful lens, a joy to use.



Here's a shot of my son. I love the glow and the bokeh exhibited by the lens. The lens and the boy are both beauties.

Leica M camera, Summicron 50/2, Fuji NeoPan 400

Railyard Outing

I was invited to shot this last weekend with a group of local photographers, some of which are RFF members. It was a great excursion to San Francisco's railyard for old streetcars. The city maintains a "collection" of the cars.

I shot with both color and black and white. Here are some of the early results, a first whack really.




If interested, look HERE for more images.



A special thanks to Allan (Kaiyen on RFF) for putting this offer to shoot with his photo group out to local RFF members. I'm really glad I was able to come along.



I usually shoot alone, so this was interesting.



Details: Kodak 400 HD, Leica M4-P, M-Hexanon 28/2.8

The Haunting

Last September, I screwed up this roll, and it haunts me to this day. The roll (and two others) represent about 3-hours of effort while shooting at a street fair, on a day when everything seemed so right, seemed to 'click' (pardon the pun). This was one of those rolls that I knew had some interesting shots. One of those rolls that photographers rush to process, and then pull out of the fixer at the earliest possible second, to view the results.

I accidently processed this roll in partially exhausted developer, and when I pulled it out from the fixer, I knew it immediately. At the time I was thankful and hopeful, because the developer had at least partially processed the roll(s).

In hindsight, however, I would rather have had the roll completely destroyed, because I can see the images, the compositions, and I know I had some decent shots.



The one above is about the best I can pull out of the roll with this scan and scanner. I recently picked up a new scanner, so I'll probably give the roll one more effort. I'm still hopeful.

BTW, I've not made the same mistake again.

Begin Again

...

Rangefinder Photography Book 2 Available Now

I'll take a little time to announce that the Rangefinder Photography 'A Gathering' is available from Lulu press HERE. This is the second book from the membership at RangefinderForum.com (RFF). BTW, the first book is also available from Lulu and currently sits on the publisher's Top 100 list.

'A Gathering' is a collection of images taken with rangfinder cameras. Ninety-seven (97) international photographers contributed 2 photographs each to the cause, providing a biography, photo titles & descriptions, and technical data.

On RFF a question arose regarding "who did what" on the project. I'll try to define that here. The book was created by a team of 5 RFF members. I am happy to have been a part of that team. While the "responsibilities" within the team, were defined, they were never strictly the province of any one member. Any and all decisions were discussed thoroughly by the team. The broad general roles fell something like this:

I, 'RayPA' (Ray Angelo) worked on compiling and editing the back-of-book information (bios, image descriptions, tech data).

'back alley' (Joe Rizzuto) a moderator at RFF, as well as a poet/photographer, wrote the dedication, and represented the membership of RFF throughout the behind-the-scenes process.

'Joe Friday' (Brett Solberg) worked within the "restrictions" of the first book's layout & design, and found a truly unique look for book 2. Brett basically laid out the entire book. He also compiled and managed images, applied the necessary sharpening, designed the covers and just about everything else having to do with the look and feel of the book.

'Rover' (Ralph Meliso) was essentially the team leader/project manager and editor. He held and managed the deadlines and submissions. He also acquired the permission necessary for the use of the essay (the winning essay from a RFF contest), gathered and compiled information, chased down missing information, vetted the final document.

'GeneW' (Gene Wilburn) was part of the initial project design and conception, helping to provide direction for the project.

'A Gathering' looks very nice, and is a nice acompaniment to the first book. While the first book had 25 photographers, two images each, 'A Gathering' took any and all comers who responded and made the deadlines.

We've an excellent collection of images and some real talent both here in this book and at the RFF gallery. If you get the chance, check out both.

From the San Francisco Orchid Show

I'd never been, and was amazed at the passion surrounding these plants. People are fanatical about orchids, which is fine. Everyone should feel passionate, or fanatical, about something (guess what I'm fanatical about).



Plants were put up for display and lit up with lights, and affixed with ribbons and claims of "Best," "Runner-up," "Honorable Mention," etc. People with macro lenses on their cameras, and soft flashes, crowded around the winning entries like they were Hollywood stars.



I came totally unprepared with black and white film loaded in the camera, intent on shooting the periphery, the people. I felt compelled to "look the part," and snap a few shots of these strange little beasts. It's odd. I don't consider them flowers at all, because hearing stories about how and why some of these plants evolved into their existence was fascinating, weird, and seemed almost willful on the part of the plant, almost devious, intelligent. That's kind of creepy, cool, but creepy.



In the end, we came home with several new housemates. They're beautiful, but they're still not flowers to me.

And now for us fanatics: images caught with a Leica M4-P, Summicron 50/2 lens, Tri-X.

Phat Plus-X

Can film type affect your shooting style?



Lately I've been reveling in Plus-X, and all its glorious mid-tones. It's gotten to the point where I end up close to a flat (low contrast) image, because I concentrate so much on those fat middle tones.



So, with my 100' roll of Plus-X I've been inspired to search out those tones. I find myself pointing my camera at sticks and stones, which is not what I like shoot, but the above image gives me a little faith that I can embrace Plus-X for shooting on the street.

You Own the Theater

You own the stage, the players, the script, the responsibility, the theater.