Blog Vacation

I've decided to take a month off from blogging (I'm so used to it that I'm curious to see what effect it has on me). Whether I come back to this form or not - I don't know. After almost daily entries for 6 years - I'm burnt out.

I would like to try and finish the three books that are sitting around in draft mode. Maybe try and write some more comprehensive articles. I'll return November 1st.

It hasn't been a one-way street. I've learned a lot from you as well. Hopefully you can point me at a good blog to read while I have my morning coffee. Until we meet again - in November.

Lilly Reflection

Inspiration

I put up a cranky post about being annoyed by people writing to me about how they were "inspired" by my photographs. It's too cranky to keep but I've saved it as draft, and I guess the next time that my concerns about money get to me I'll post it again. In the meantime - I added a "donate" button. That's probably a more positive way to deal with it. Any amount is welcome.

Become Your Dream

Dead

Printing Notes

- Received a couple of e-mails asking about what settings I was using with Pixel Genius. This can't really be answered since it is a three-step process - and the steps are different depending on: a) input, b) creative sharpening and c) output.

I was supposed to spend the day organizing negatives but I've been carefully going through the Pixel Genius manual most of the morning. The most amazing part of the process is the middle step where you can selectively sharpen (with various types of sharpening) or even - blur - parts of the image.

I could write up something about it - but it really is all there in the manual. The only point that I'm experimenting with is the difference of converting to 8-bit per channel at some point to help my computer do its thing reasonably quickly. The other thing to remember is to keep any adjustment layers - or anything you do - above the layers created by Pixel Genius.

* * *

On another note: I've recently started to run out of ink (from the first cartridges that came with the 4800) and was surprised to find that when you switch to a new cartridge - there is no "recharging." Unlike, for example, the 2200 - when you switch inks (so long as you aren't switching from mat to photo black ink) - you just stick the new cartridge in - and it does a little checking - but I don't hear any ink being used or wasted (probably since the lines are already charged). That's a nice touch that I didn't expect.

Sleep on Train

The thing that's interesting - this was shot while the train was moving - moving fast - and with the extra speed of TMZ / 1600 and fast lens - sharp as a tack.

Girl Resting

Waiting for Train

TMZ

Shot a roll of TMZ today - both outside and in the subway (@1600). Plan to develop it in DD-X. One thing about B&H - when you go to the darkroom department - I think they are very glad to see you. Several people always approach as if I were the last customer on earth asking if they can help me. Makes me sort of nervous. I keep telling myself that I'm just testing - not to take any good shots - but you know how it goes. You see something - you shoot it. It's like telling the lion to keep away from the lamb. Hey lion - you're not even hungry.

That's true, but - got to stay in practice you know. Pip pip and all that rot. I think I do my best stuff when I'm "just testing." Maybe I should keep that as a permanent frame of mind. It's all just one big lifelong test.

I'm determined to only use ONE DEVELOPER (DD-X). I don't mind using two or three different films - but I'm not stocking more than one developer and since I love the results with DD-X and Tri-X @ 400 which is my main squeeze so to speak - that's that.

Now - tomorrow I'm going to try and set up an efficient negative filing system. That's my plan for the whole day. I don't care what happens - hurricaines - terrorists - my negatives are going to be easy to find and carefully protected and I'm going to do the whole thing in one day. Monday - the day the 9-5 world goes back into harness - that's the day for it.

* * *
I also re-did the design a bit on the Images from the Blog gallery. And I removed a whole mess of photographs on the site that people were linking to in their blogs - and even finding through the google search and asking me weird questions about. There's going to be about fifty blogs that are going to have to re-link to the blog gallery for their background images. If I could figure out a way to charge $1 per image linked to - I would have a substantial income stream.

Or even better - charge $15 a year for a subscription to this blog. That would be fun to watch the hits drop to zero. Technically - it's very easy to do - just password protect this directory and put a Paypal subscription button up. The New York Times is starting to charge for access to their archives. I think they call this monetizing your content.

Line #0

Starting Line

Fifth Avenue Mile, 2005 (This morning)

And yes - Matt - no do-overs allowed. Each millisecond before the gun goes off is different.

The reason I forced myself over to the races this morning (I have a cold) - is that no one really knows much about the races or cares. No crowds. You can get that close. 50mm - not cropped. I have other shots but this was my favorite when I took it so I scanned it first.

Out West, 1995

Paris Shop, 1995

I put 1995 down for any date that I can't remember (many). Ten years ago. Yeah, that seems about right. And next year, for anything I can't remember - 1996. It is possible to take the trouble and write your life's journey and then go through ten thousand negatives and order them by date. Maybe some photographer does that - but that's like Felix Unger territory.

Happy Birthday

My feet are still half-planted in the current age - since output is digital - but it's not anything to worry about while you are out and about in the Big "digital-consumed" Apple.

Non-digital internal workflow changes as your concentration takes a direct route to - gasp - your own imagination. (This can be good or bad depending on functioning of that realm). But your internal workflow changes. Definitely.

Where's the preview button? It's been moved into your brain; maybe your soul. Click and you may be haunted for days in your dreams. There's no button to turn the cranial preview screen off. No timing mechanism. It lingers as long as it wants to.

But wait - wait - can moving the preview device to your imagination get you better pictures? I can assure you with complete certainty that I don't know. The problem is in the definition of "a better picture." You and I are just a bit too close to know things like that about our own images. We know that we evaluate - we try hard - but some psychological distance between the desire for "a winner" and the image must pass first. Time helps. Speeding up the process - counter productive.

But with film - it is always a surprise to some extent. It is. I don't care how carefully you pre-visualized it - the results are never the same. Maybe this is more true in black and white photography where you are always dealing with an abstraction. You get tuned in to it - but you will always find some surprise.

I am always surprised by what I see in the negative - sometimes for the good. Sometimes for the bad. But you know what - that is what I enjoy most! The surprise. What a weird way to go about things. You do everything you can to control what is going to be on film - only to find that everyday is a birthday. Every day - a new "wrapped" present awaits you. Something you've stolen from the world and wrapped yourself - and yet you don't know what's in the box. This is the best part.

Happy birthday.

Grand Central, Dawn

Sanctuary, Night

Church. Fifth Avenue

Corner Scene

I'm going to start adding slightly larger images (700 px) to the blog. Let's see how that works out. I have a bunch of prints to get out today - but then I'm going to start looking more seriously into the next PC. (This took 12 minutes to sharpen @ full scan size of 5400). There are two sharpenings with Pixel Genius - first one is on the original full size (non-destructive) and that's what takes a long time. Then there is a second sharpening depending on the output device. Obviously for the web, this is quick. And even for say an 8 x 12 - painless enough. But if you are dealing with big files - watch out unless you've got the horsepower.

Oh, and in case you wonder - why bother with all that - the results are the reason. The prints I've done after going through this sharpening process have a very smooth transition between edges that looks sharp and yet natural. I guess it's that little extra difference - but it's worth it.

The Technical Trials

and Tribulations continue - sort of.

You folks aren't going to see any new images 'til I get this routing problem fixed up.

First off - ya might be wonderin' how I can even post to the blog.

Good question. The route from my PC to blogger.com to DaveBeckerman.com is different than the route from my PC to DaveBeckerman.com (and when I say DaveBeckerman.com I mean the particular server where my website is hosted.

And the ISP is correct. It is not on their end.
And the Cable company is partly correct, it is not exactly on their end. But it hops along through many company pipes before it gets to DaveBeckerman.

So who is responsible for the space between point A (my pc), B (the cable company) and C (the ISP)

I would have to choose B: The Cable Company. Or, none of the above.

* * *

Wherever the problem was - it's fixed. Of course I didn't do anything except turn on the computer this morning.

E-Mail Problems & Tech

Fair amount of technical problems today. Nothing to do with my pc - just some dumb e-mail stuff with the ISP - and not really their fault either.... just some stupid spam that was huge and that was making it impossible to get my mail - and so - I ended up switching to another back-end pop system... won't go into it.

If I don't respond to you promptly anymore - just chalk it up to a transfer that is going on behind the scenes somewhere in Atlanta.

And FTP to my site right now is next to impossible. Right now the ISP is saying it is probably a problem with Time Warner cable (could be); and Time Warner Cable can't find anything wrong. Symptom - lot's of FTP time outs, and my site (from my machine is slow to load images). But other sites seem okay. You know there's this whole routing process - all these pipes from my pc to their server and back and for all I know it could be a clog in any one of those pipes. So then who unclogs the clog.

Yup. Now that I think about it - clog somewhere because when I ftp my blog from blogger.com to davebeckerman.com - no problem. So something in the path from point A (My PC) to point B (Interland) is dropping the ball, and that path is different that the path from A(Blogger) to B(Interland).

As far as new PCs go. Yeah, for $2500 I can get a pretty amazing dual xeon processor Precision

Workstation from Dell.
Dell Precision 670x64

2 GB DDR2 SDRAM Memory, 400 MHz
2 2.80 GHz, 1 MB L2 Cache processors
250 GB hard drive (I have plenty of hard drives to stick in the thing already)

Their memory is expensive. I don't want another monitor, happy with this one.

One thing I don't know nuthin' bout - this 64-bit business. There are warnings that some applications won't run on 64-bit operating system. Okay - what are they?

Man with Sunglasses

PhotoKit Sharpner, Pixel Genius

Over the last few days - in addition to all the film experiments, I've been testing "PhotoKit Sharpener" from Pixel Genius.

Reason: my own sharpening techniques (and I've been using several including masking) are just not quite up to snuff. Or sometimes take too much manual manipulation.

Photokit Sharpener is for real. And it does make what to me is a dramatic difference in the quality of the prints.

It is geared towards a sharpening workflow. I haven't gone through all the options yet - there are many - but I have been doing a two-step dance where first you sharpen the capture (in this case from 400 and 800 ASA negatives) - THIS TAKES A VERY LONG TIME ON A 5400 16-BIT FILE. I should give the specs on my PC before saying that - maybe later.

It is a non-destructive sharpener. Sharpening is done via a combination of several layers masks.

Then you go to step two where you get your print to the final size for printing with all your correction layers etc. and then you apply an OUTPUT sharpening which is geared towards your output device, in this case an inkjet printer. This doesn't take as long as step one since you're working on a smaller file. I've been doing 12 x 18 prints most of the morning at 240 dpi.

Since I just bought it - it means that a) it will save me time and b) give better results than I can do on my own.

Obviously this is not a review since I don't have the time to write a good review. This is just a further note about what's been going on in the Beckerman workflow.

One caveat. This thing wants a fast processor and lots of memory if you're working on a 5400 dpi scan. So much so - that I may finally (after what - five or six years) have to upgrade the PC. It may be a sign because this morning the machine was making some weird noises; probably the fan was having some troubles. I opened the guy up and cleaned it thoroughly and hopefully turned it on and same noise - definitely from the main fan. I'm not saying that's a reason to up and get a new machine - but it is time.

HP5 Plus @ 1200

Woman on Bench



Subway Crush



Balloon Jump



Victoria's Ticket

HP5+ @ 1200 ASA - 11 minutes / 68F

Highlights are close to being blown. More "pushed" looking than @ 800. Not pleasing to my eye. You could probably drop it down to 10 minutes - which would fix highlights but still lose something in the shadows. I'll just stick with the 800 ASA for now. They pretty much all look like this.

Film Development

I will eventually post this on its own page. But here are the gory details:

Ilfotec DD-X and Tri-X @ 400.

Exactly as the Ilfotec Instructions recommend. However, I got better results using the times for 68F degrees rather than 75F which were too contrasty. Whatever the temperature - I use a cold water bath (the sink). I keep a gallon jug of ice cold water in the fridge and I keep the water bath about 4 degrees lower than the temp. of the developer. Basically this keeps the temp of the developer where it is supposed to be. When you add DD-X (1:4) and I think due to the air-temperature, or maybe the chemical reaction, without the water bath the temp. at the end is a few degrees higher. I suppose that if you are developing film in the Alaskan winter, your water bath might need to be warmer.

Agitation has a tremendous effect on the contrast and appearance of grain. Stirring is a bad way to go as you can't keep repeat it accurately. A number of inversions of the tank within a set amount of time is the way to go. The agitation for the above combination I use is 4 inversions per minute (within 10 seconds).

Keep your time exactly the same by pouring out the developer 10 seconds before the allotted time. And then straight into stop bath. Stop bath has two purposes: stop development and to some extent lengthen the life of the fixer. Everything I use is one-shot - so the latter bit about the fixer doesn't matter. But stopping development - that does. (There are many discussions about whether this stopbath is necessary or not. I don't know. It's cheap and I use it.)

HP5+ @ 800. This will produce more pronounced grain than Tri-X @ 400 but it's got an excellent tonal range and really does pick up shadow areas well and curbs highlights. Instructions are what the manufacturer says they are, though again, best results at the 68F time.

Today I shot one roll of HP5+ at 400 (will try it later in the DD-X); and one roll of HP5 @ 1200 ASA (which honestly is all the speed I need). More later...

I can tell you that 1200 ASA with the F2 summicron was plenty fast for shooting in the subway which I did. I sincerely hope the roll turns out okay because there are good shots on it.

* * *
Developed the HP5 @ 1200 for 11 minutes at 68F. Results were pretty bad. Most of the highlights blown (didn't matter whether this was done in low-light in the subway or outdoors in bright sunlight). Shadows - fair. Not the way to go for me.

Under Vanderbilt Overpass

This is actually my own favorite from yesterday morning (pre-dawn). Something I would never had done if I was working with a tripod which I would have felt compelled to use with slower film. One of those - I've stood here a million times and never looked up shots. And of course the pigeon - symbol of New York - which should be put on the City Flag - helps.

Entrance, Grand Central

Last night and early this morning I went out to do more shooting with the HP5 @ 800 in DD-X. Just to confirm that this was a good combination. I confirmed it.

So thankfully, you can expect less and less development technique herein

I also came back with good shots. More to come later. This was done in the early morning - right before the sun began to show its face.

15 Minutes to Dawn

Night Game

Chrysler from Grand Central

Just before dawn. Grand Central on left.

R2A Shutter & M Series

Dear Leica,

I was bemoaning that the R2A was somewhat noisy compared to the Leica M - and SteveR commented that:

"As for the VC R2A shutters, they are basically SLR designs, so the fact that they are much noisier than a Leica isn't surprising."

Okay. It does look like an SLR type shutter -

Can you tell me what goes into the cost of a current Leica body and why it costs as much as it does. After all, design goes back to the early part of the last century.

Or to put it another way - are they so expensive because they are expensive to make - or is it expensive because only a relatively small number will sell? Can't you make your real money on the lenses? If you sold the body "at cost" - couldn't you still make real money on the lenses, since more people would buy the bodies. Or is it too late for that now with the M mount patent gone.

Well, if you don't want to or can't answer - I'm sure that some of the Leica cognoscenti could clear up the M business model in two seconds flat.

Signed,

An ardent admirer

Night HP5+ Shots

Night Deposit (Garbo 2)
The results from the HP5 @ 800 ASA look fine.

DD-X for 10 minutes @ 68F; 4 inversions per minute.

I am not going to post pure tests, but actual shots that I like from this roll.

BTW, the guy was looking through a collection of CDs and this was taken about 11:30 pm.



Night Couple

A crop of the right side of a horizontal (pushed) negative.

133 Prints for Sale

Yes, I finished proofing another 15 prints or so - and put them up for sale. I starting to wonder whether I need to separate them into the usual separate galleries: people / places / things since people tend to see pictures in those categories. I don't.

I like spinning through the whole thing. But I'm not - I don't think I am - the typical consumer. I like the contrast between the images. And anyone, as noted - very few people pictures sell. Why clog up the places with stuff to be skipped over?

Why should people be less worthwhile to put on the wall than pictures of the park.

Time Time Time

To run a website with your own photographs for sale - takes much more effort than you'd think. If you've never tried it - you should.

Besides the non-photographic technical skills you need there are constant readjustments. Yesterday began when something went wrong with my shopping cart (which I had built from scratch about five years ago). I was never happy with it. Lot's of Active Server Page code and then there was the cost of a secure certificate, and I was tied in to a system with a merchant bank that charged me $49 a month for the processing of orders plus the credit card companies took their usual percentage.

So when it was going flakey yesterday - and I started to look at the code:

"Line 217: ccur is null" (yes, I knew what it meant - trouble converting a null value to currency but why - why - why?)

I couldn't face the beast anymore. Why ccur should be null yesterday, when it hadn't ever been null before. I hadn't changed any code. Something must have changed on the server. Maybe their database was and one of my stored procs was failing... Maybe their version of ASP was upgraded. Who knows.

And so lickety split I looked at the Paypal cart option (the simplest and cheapest one they have).

By end of day the cart mechansim from the olden days had been replaced with the Paypal cart. Now if something goes wrong - it's going to go wrong with about a couple of million people at the same time.

I like that.

Next step.

I had meant to raise the size and price of a number of items. Did that. Then add new prints. Did that. My workflow was simple and familiar and I was happy. Happy enough that after working on the PC all day - I went out at about 11 p.m. to shoot some film. Mostly, I just wanted to shoot HP5 plus at 800 (which I did). I kept telling myself - this is a test roll - don't shoot anything good! But of course stuff happens and I did take some good shots.

I had asked Matt for his TMAX developer / HP 800 time and temps but I still want to try this stuff again in DD-X. I don't like the idea of having two developers to work with. And so - to show you how my subconscious works - I had a dream about developing the HP5 in DD-X and in the dream I was looking at the negatives and they were perfect negatives.

I shot with the R2A and I have to tell you that late last night - with very few people on the street - the "click" of the little near perfect camera caused a couple of stares.

On my way home I was still puzzled as to why they went through all the trouble of making this Leica clone but neglected to make it quieter. I've heard theories that it's because of the metal vertical shutter, but I don't believe that. The G2 for example (bad viewfinder and all) was quieter. I even have this Russian knockoff that Steve sent me - which has a cloth shutter and slow top speed and it is the noisiest rangefinder I've ever held. Clunk!

I would have opted for a quiter R2A even if it had a slower top speed. The quietness is probably the single most important feature of a good rangefinder.

I'm sure that next year - hopefully I do okay in the holiday (Christmas) season - I'll start looking for a used M6. Did anyone ever tell me that 'you get what you pay for.' In most cases. But the problem is not always. For example the Voigtlander lenses, if you chose carefully - are excellent. At least the 28 f1.9 is.

Well anyway - I haven't done much shooting this week because of futzing with the website. And I'm going to spend one more day (I swear that's it) adding more prints for sale. My next goal is to get up to 125 prints. Of course, my goal after that is 150, then 200! I can't put crap up either. It all has to be good stuff. And it has to have been printed first. I never put anything up for sale just looking at the image on the screen.

But I've got an easy system for doing it now (only took five years).

Then I'm going to close my account with the merchant bank (saves me $49) a month. And next time the dumb SSL certificate expires - let it die. The site is now so simple - just HTML and CSS (no need for SSL or a database) that it could be hosted anywhere.

Paypal also offers a more robust plan for $20 a month that includes a way to take credit cards over the phone / fax etc. If someone can't or doesn't want to do it over the web. This second plan - I think they call it Paypal Pro allows you to integrate the cart etc. into your own site so it doesn't take you to Paypal site for the checkout. I'll have to read through the manual at some point and see if it's worth the effort.

On top of all that - I began putting up Ads through Google. These are ads that you (me) pay for by the click. So there's another "non-photographic" thing to keep an eye with an futz with.

So as I say - you need to have some fascination with how this stuff works unless you can afford to have someone do it all for you. I think they call them Webmasters. For the individual artist to afford a Webmaster - that is a luxury that most photographers can't afford - at least not on a regular basis.

And yes, there are sites that will do it all for you - that specialize in selling photographs - but now you're back in the world of physical galleries (in a way) and they want their cut of the pie.

So - all in all - I'm in good shape in cyberworld. This is just a word of caution.

I often get e-mails asking whether I can make a living from this from (and I'm going to call them kids) - wondering whether they could quit their dayjobs and make a living selling their photographs on the web.

My answer is always the same: if you can go part time with the day job, or get the website going while you're at the job - then do it. You can't count on a dime coming from it - especially when you get started. No one wants to hear that. In fact - I've sent out about five replies with that basic message and gotten no, "Thank you e-mails back." I don't think they want to hear it.

I tell stories about talented photographers (no names) that haven't sold a print through their website during the last year.

I make it as bleak as I can because that is the reality. Oh - reality! We've had enough reality. Follow your dream. But be prepared for hard lifting to make it work - and that hard lifting has absolutely nothing with photographic talent.

And then I was waiting for some order(s) to come in to see if the thing was working. And sure enough - last night - two orders came in through the new system. I got a nice notification. All the info was there.

Man in Carriage

From the olden times when New York was called, "Fun City."

Crater Park

Between Sedona, on the way to Flagstaff - I believe it is called National Crater Park. One of my favorite spots to feel a little closer to the center of the earth.

Mailbag

[These are all true - more or less.]

- Mr. Beckerman,
I am working on a book about aquatic pleasure crafts and wondered if you a) had any pictures of same or b) knew a photographer who was good with that sort of thing. I would like the book to be cheery and inspirational. I thought black and white might be good for that.
Have a great day. - JL

An actual phone call at 8:30 a.m.

Phone: Good morning. Do you make 20 x 30 copies?
Me: Huh?
Phone: 20 x 30 copies? Do you make them?
Me: Do you mean my pictures? No - not at -
Phone: No. I meant - aren't you a full-service photography store?
Me: No. I'm in an apartment...
Phone: Oh. I got your number from the web. Sorry.
Me: That's alright.
[hang-up]

More e-mails

-Dave,
I have been reading your blog for a long time now. How do you come up with new stuff to write everyday?

(By including your e-mails and phone calls)

-Mr. Beckerman,
i was wordering why you charge soooo much for your photos?? because i can make a very good one that's bigger than what u sell for about $1.00 on my printer!!! In black and white!!! it really looks good. so - no offense - but i wuz just curious about your expenses. Keep up the good work.
Miles.

Miles, now that you mention it, prices are going up tomorrow.

Tech Talk

So after doing a lot of printing at 12 x 18 from the new Tri-x DD-X (that's a lot of x's) I decided to add the new prints to the site. But much to my dismay (:*&?^&!!) something went wrong with the cart mechanism (home grown) probaby because of some ASP upgrade on the server. Anyway - I just said "f**k it) - and looked at the Paypal Cart. Simplest one they've got.

Two hours later - I've redone the for sale prints and jettisoned my cart. The way I'm set up, not as difficult as you'd think since you can take their "form" and supply it through your web generator template (thank you iViewPro) with tokens that translate into values.

I know that's unclear but it's very easy.

Now, did I jump from the frying pan into the fire - or was this a good idea? Let's see. My own theory is that people have more confidence in the Paypal Cart than in mine.

Their are cosmetics to deal with (I can use my own "cart" icon) etc. and create a return page for the transaction. But in my first tests - seems to work fine.

Ice Cream Dog

FIRESTORM

The headline in this idyllic scene is: FIRESTORM!

Dance at Fair

Why?

Do you ever sit down - have a drink - and wonder why you take photographs? Do you come up with an answer?

It's the same question you can ask of any artisan or artist. Any writer. And the answer is similar to what you'd get if you asked a cab driver.

Cab Driver: I need to make a living.

Artist: I need to.

The fact that money is not usually part of the equation for the artist (and I should say - artist just means someone who is pursuing art at whatever cost to themselves - whether what they are doing is good or not which is a subject for another post).

So you have this artist who can't help doing whatever it is that they do do. The answer is elusive. I think we often fool ourselves by shallow answers such as: I just like it. Or I wanted to meet girls.

My answer. The artist lives an alienated life. It doesn't mean they are anti-social. It doesn't mean they don't have children and grandchildren. But it means that as life goes on, there is some part of them that is untouched, and that looks out at some distance at what is going on.

This "other part" can be emotional, or cool but it has that special ability to stand outside the individual and see or imagine things.

Art then - is some attempt to reconcile this internal schism in the artist. It is actually a survival mechanism for people so afflicted. That's where humor for some jumps into the picture, because they see the world as somewhat ridiculous - so they value those moments.

The next artist has a deep feeling of loss - of youth, of health - and tries to reconcile his own fragility by photographing robust images; or fragile and robust images in the same frame.

For some, the valued images are the opposite of the artists' lives. Their lives are messed up, imperfect, deeply flawed (just like everybody else) - and they look for perfection in the image. Sort of a reverse mirror of their own lives.

In other words, people don't go out and photograph or paint because of some artistic theory (yes they are aware of the theories and may use particular techniques) - but the underlying drive is not intellectual idealogy. It's an expression of trying to resolve and regenerate the schism in their own souls. Or to show this schism. Reconciliation with the reality they experience is momentary. Never fully healed. So they go on. Picture to picture. Novel to novel. Poem to new poem - hoping to find the secret key to unlock the door between their "separate part" and the rest of what we like to call reality.

Sedona Butte

(1995) I think this is called a butte. Maybe not - as I'm no expert on the southwest. But it was definitely a "spiritual power vortex" as they call them out in those parts.

3rd Avenue Fair 1.

This is a quote from Constantine's Sword by James Carroll about the time that Bob Dylan played before John Paul II.

"At the conlusion of Dylan's brief set, the pope went to the microphone. 'The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind.' he said in his heavily accented English, quoting Dylan's legendary lyric. His Holiness defined the wind as 'the breath and life of the Holy Spirit.'

Then, as if justifying the presence of Bob Dylan and, not incidentally, defending Dylan's now renounced conversion, John Paul raised the epic question: "How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man?" And he answered it: "One! There is ony one road for man, and it is Christ, who said, 'I am the Life'!"

9-11 + n days

You know this blog is just a stream of consciousness and improvising. In a way - it's surreal if you think of the mix of pictures and often unrelated words.

But life is accidental as well. I decided to start looking again at some of my old negatives, and this one - shot a few days later - from the 59th street bridge - was on the first negative sheet.

So I guess I must be ready to start looking at some of my photos from 9-11 now

Untitled Brit

Untitled

Added some tone to this for some reason.

Preparing

In The Rubber Broom

"Not only does it pick up dirt from tile, but you can mop with it, sweep with it, it can even be used to clean your windows... Now on t.v. you will see a broom like this that has sold millions. But that broom is rubber and falls apart. This broom is metal - covered by rubber. Go ahead, try and bend it... You see folks - this is a once in a lifetime buy. Not $40. Not $30. But $22. And if you buy within the next five minutes - I'll throw in this mop as well. Think about it. A mop and a broom for $22."

Street Fair

I spent a few hours at the 3rd avenue street fair. I actually shot three rolls which is the most I've done for one location. All M3. I guess I'm always surprised by what I find at these events. I really only saw one other "pro" photographer there. Ladened down with two big zoom dslrs. I just felt so comfortable with the camera. I put an ND filter on (my trade secret) because I really do like to shoot at about f5.6 if I can and I don't like using more than one film type.

Speaking of Tri-X, I finally spent time printing some of the recent shots. Three very good prints. Funny thing: one handheld of the Crucified Christ at the Met - just very dark and mystical. And a few shots done on the tripod at night.

I had a thrill when I saw the 8 x 12's. Even did one 11 x 14 which held up well. Pretty productive day.

I wanted to write something about today being 9/11. In fact, I wrote two posts and then saved them as draft. I could feel myself falling into the chasm of red-state blue-state opinions. And the media is filled with that spitting head syndrome. Does anyone think their mind can be changed by some photographer's opinion? I doubt it. Do you think my mind could be swayed by argument. Nope.

Some states believe the country is going to hell in a red handbasket. The blue states think the handbasket is blue. The independents borrow from each handbasket. Locked in battle to the death. So I think I've only said that the country is polarized and everyone knows that. Now if I can keep my mouth shut about New Orleans disaster, The Supreme Court hearings; the war in Iraq; the use of SUVs; Homeland Security et. al.

Fair and balanced from now on. That's my motto. What does it mean? It means what I say it means - no more - no less.

Garbo

Watchman

New York Morning

Oh, I was thinking as I fell asleep last night, I'm tired of what I've been shooting. I want to go somewhere different. I've done the night thing to death. I was mulling over different changes of scene - but it felt like I had been everywhere in this monumental city. That's not true - I haven't really explored a lot of places in the outer boroughs - and definitely haven't tried Staten Island and very little in Queens.

My thoughts circle around in this virtual tour of the city. I let them fly around until, much to my surprise they land at 59th street and 5th avenue. This just seems to be the navel of Manhattan for me right now.

But it's not the great navel it used to be with the Plaza closed down. And lately a lot of the lights are out by the fountain, and you just stand there in this murk and smell the horse manure.

I'm imagining it at different times of day. Dawn. Dawn on a weekend morning. So the alarm got set, and at 6 a.m. or so I was standing in front of the Bloomberg building waiting for the sky to change.

This time I put the tripod in the middle of the empty street - and photographed with the guards small in frame watching me. I was - after all - on public property so there was nothing they could do but watch me.

And then I moved on. The homeless hadn't been swept from the avenues yet. One was sleeping in front of a ad that has Greta Garbo. Oh - the contrast is a little too obvious. I'm sick of the obvious. More homeless. I'm finished with that.

And I walked past the obvious irony. But the image stayed in my brain and I had to return. That was a shot I had to have and I'd be pissed if I didn't. And I took several shots. Obvious. And can't wait to see it.

Windows were being cleaned everywhere. Construction workers sitting around eating breakfast waiting for things to start up.

The sky glows behind the buildings.

How beautiful the city was without New Yorkers. Stay in bed and let me watch the gleaming patterns form without the usual frenzy.

Into the park and there is this multi-seated bicycle by duck pond. Red. About 10 seats facing each other. As I approach it - a guy on a walkie talkie asks me if this (meaning the Party Bike) is mine.

No. Not mine. Never saw one before.

So he's on his walkie talkie trying to explain to some security guy: There's this bike - this party bike down here unattended.

But party bike sounds like something else to the guy on the other end of the crackle and I hear: There's a bike down there?

- Not a bike. A PARTY bike. You know - one of those bikes with like 8 seats on it. You'd better come down here and investigate.

- Roger that. Party bike. Stay there - I'll be right over. Over.

And I walk off and do some nice reflections in the duck pond - thinking of that question from Catcher in the Rye - but where do the ducks go in winter?

And on my way back - there are three park security guys standing around the red bicycle hydra trying to figure out how to move it. Could it be a new security threat?

I just stand around watching the show. I had no desire to take a picture of it. I'll leave it to your imagination. One of the security guards climbs into it - there is a seat in the center - and there might be a small motor in it. I'm not sure.

But the next problem seems to be what to do with the thing. It's like 8 bikes all pointing to a center hub where the security guy sits.

So they're going through where to bring the thing - and that's about as much of the show as I have the patience for so I continue on my way until the roll is gone. Hop in a cab and by 9 a.m. I'm back in my bed - sound asleep.

Gift Shop

One of the mostly botched results from the Tri-X / Diafine disaster.

Shoeshine

TMZ

All you 1600 ASA gurus - I know you're out there. I'd like a film that I can shoot at 1600. I've seen your work and you're doing great stuff. What's your favorite formula. The whole thing - temp / agitation / tap water? / time / cosmic vibrations.

I love what I'm getting with Tri-X and DD-X.

Diafine with Tri-x was a disaster.

Delta 3200 @ 1600 with DD-X - I don't know - the emulsion seems thin and grain is the usual golf-ball size.

Tri-X pushed to 800 with DD-X - not great in low-light situations but fine in bright sunlight where I don't need it.

Dimage 5400 Scans

Okay - somebody kick me. Kick me hard.

I have been using the Dimage 5400 film scanner for a long time. I have been using it with the "grain dissolver." I set this up as a job a long time ago, and never really did tests with the dissolver on and off. The scanner is also set to do a 2x multi-pass to pick up more in the shadows. I did do tests with the multi-scan option and found enough difference in what was picked up in the shadow areas to double the scan time. But --

This morning - just for the hell of it - this is what I discovered: To do a full 5400 scan with the dissolver @ 2x passes takes about 7 - 8 minutes. The same image scanned at 2x with the "dissolver" off takes 2.5 minutes.

Maybe worthwhile if the results were significantly better with the dissolver - but in fact the dissolver gives a slightly softer rendition which is then "fixed" when you unsharp it later which also brings back the grain.

The difference between the two renditions is so slight - that looking at both versions of a scan side by side - if I didn't know which was which - I don't think I could tell.

So there you go. How could I not have noticed this way back when? I think I need a supervisor to watch what I'm doing or at the very least, a wizard to pop up saying - are you sure you want to increase the time it takes to do a scan? Or - you might want to look at the manual - page 32 before you press that nice icon on the toolbar.

Night Workers

Corporate Patio

These were all shot last night with Tri-X rated @ 400, on a tripod with the C/V 28mm.

Lit up

Fifth Avenue

Dead Body Ban

Echoing a Defense Department policy banning the photographing of flag-draped coffins of American troops, representatives from the much-maligned Federal Emergency Management Agency said on Tuesday that it didn't want journalists to accompany rescue boats as they went out to search for storm victims, because "the recovery of the victims is being treated with dignity and the utmost respect." An agency spokeswoman told Reuters, "We have requested that no photographs of the deceased be made by the media." - Washington Post

Whatever your politics - you are about to witness government doing what it does best: the collective, and individual covering of caudal parts on a monumental scale.

Film E-Mail

Hi Dave,

I stumbled into your web site recently while trying to check on why I got terrible results trying diafine & tri-x and wondering if it had something to do with to with the fact the film emulsion's different now.

Anyway, I want to say I completely understand what you mean by b&W film feeling like returning home. I gave up my Nikon film SLR for a D70 digital a while ago and after plenty of gorgeous color landscapes but lots of stale people photography, I'm back to a Bessa with Summicron as my walk around and natural light camera.

It isn't just that film grain actually gives a welcome character and bite to street photography. Nor that a smaller rangefinder camera makes one more inconspicuous and hence the subject more natural. Nor that digital converted to b&W just doesn't give me the same range of tonality that a good lens and HP5 is giving me (I've tried plenty of channel mixing in Photoshop, but fact is even C-41 b&W film has a longer tonal range converted digital).

All these points are ofcourse moot for those who shoot purely digital these days. But the clincher is I've actually found that not having a distracting LCD post image flash up everytime I've shot something has forced me to get it right and step up my technique. Once that's happened, I'm more confident and now focused on the continuity of capturing images and less distracted by the technology, which sits at home on my desk where its used for the best pics. The camera has been
returned to being a subservient tool and not the image-maker performing the brain work on the field.

I have to add, I'm not crazy about having to pay for film roll costs or the hassle of having to mess around with chemicals (although that can sometimes be fun). I'm in my 20s So nostalgia has nothing to do with it.

I can only state I'm getting better photographs from my daily shooting again, many more keepers than I was with the digital, although I shoot far less images. It's money & time well spent.

Love the photography. Keep up the blog!

- P.M.

I thought this e-mail made the point more succicntly that some of my own musings. It's about a month since I returned to film. Besides the technical aspects of dynamic range which can be argued endlessly - the major difference for me is the linkage to the imagination. Last night - I went out again (I'm turning into a Nighthawk) - this time with the R2A on a tripod of all things with a mechanical cable release. I have one image from last night burnt on that cluttered part of the mind that stores images. Whether it will pan out - whether another shot will jump out at me when I see the roll drying - there is something almost mystical about that moment where secrets are finally revealed.

I suppose you could turn off the instant feedback on the camera. You could put the CF card in a drawer and not transfer the image to your technology box for a day. But could you really resist the temptation to see what you got? Try it sometime.

Motorcycle Stop

Just a couple of notes (Richo was helpful with this) - but it seems that in low-light situations, whether you're using a fast film or not - I think the exposure needs to be bumped up. I don't think this is because of the reciprocity factor - but it appears to me that several films which I used at rated speed at night were undexposed for the shadows. The same films, shot and developed the same way in daylight were just fine.

So the next time I'm shooting Delta 3200, I would probably rate it @ 1200 or @1000 for night stuff and use development times for ASA 1600.

As far as this photograph goes - I don't know anymore about it than you do and didn't wait around to find out. A quick shot as I was about to cross 86th street.

Woman with Packages

Blog Gallery

The Blog Gallery - she's been updated. One-hundred and seventy-one images. Many not in the blog. I'm taking the rest of the day off. Blog will have to survive on its own for a while.

Night Cab

Did a roll (which this is from) of Delta 3200 @ 1600 ASA in DD-X. This is probably the most contrasty shot. Not bad. I need to see how I like the grain (which is pronounced) in a print. I think it's a little accentuated here by sharpening... But here's the nice thing - same time and temp. as Tri-X 400 which is nice for us forgetful types.

One other thing: the thin / thick gaps between negatives with the R2A - not the fault of the R2A but of the Rapidwinder. So I'm going to keep the R2A. Fini.