4/25/2006
Magic Garden, Empty
I was lucky enough to get this yesterday as the reflecting pool was being drained and fallen petals covered everything. Central Park.
4/24/2006
Good Vibrations
Biopsy results from the colonoscopy all normal. Phew. I think I have too much imagination for my own good.
* * *
If you haven't been up to the formal gardens in Central Park - 5th avenue and 105 street- now is the time. I was blown away this morning. Not the greatest lover of tulips but with puddles left over from the rain - man - that sort of took my breath away.
I continued with the "phone in nature" series. Found some sand - buried phone in it and then excavated as if I had just found it. Even tried to float it in the pond (I would need to tape up the holes from the inside for it to float).
If you look at the pictures on this site I don't think you can find a single (well I know one) shot that I would consider pure nature photography in the sense that it is bereft of human artifacts. I noticed this about myself a long time ago. I wonder whether the insertion of the phone and possibly other objects into otherwise mundane nature shots stems from prediliction. Of course the phone - even in this retro-version - seems to be the gadget for everything in the future:
The Phone: still camera, movie camera, planner, blood-pressure device, translator, small massage unit, e-mailer, text messenger, price-evaluator in the supermarket, accupuncture machine, garage door opening, music player, mapping navigation system, and possibly a program to tell me what's in the fridge - oh and you still may be able to use it as a phone to call people.
* * *
If you haven't been up to the formal gardens in Central Park - 5th avenue and 105 street- now is the time. I was blown away this morning. Not the greatest lover of tulips but with puddles left over from the rain - man - that sort of took my breath away.
I continued with the "phone in nature" series. Found some sand - buried phone in it and then excavated as if I had just found it. Even tried to float it in the pond (I would need to tape up the holes from the inside for it to float).
If you look at the pictures on this site I don't think you can find a single (well I know one) shot that I would consider pure nature photography in the sense that it is bereft of human artifacts. I noticed this about myself a long time ago. I wonder whether the insertion of the phone and possibly other objects into otherwise mundane nature shots stems from prediliction. Of course the phone - even in this retro-version - seems to be the gadget for everything in the future:
The Phone: still camera, movie camera, planner, blood-pressure device, translator, small massage unit, e-mailer, text messenger, price-evaluator in the supermarket, accupuncture machine, garage door opening, music player, mapping navigation system, and possibly a program to tell me what's in the fridge - oh and you still may be able to use it as a phone to call people.
4/23/2006
Man With Poles
The Bridle Path, Central Park - Yesterday
They call them 'trekking poles; and I don't really understand why someone would need them on flat land. (or anywhere else?) - JeffK
2 Rolls
i sit on the edge of the bathtub inverting a plastic lightproof canister 4 times every minute. i have two rolls of film in the canister. two plastic containers with liquid - one yellow and smelly, the other clear -- sit on either edge of the bathtub rim. i look across at the lightswitch. it has a stain around it from fingerprints, probably fingerprints with chemicals on them. it's been building up for ten years. i think: not once have i put some fantastic and cleaned that area. is it a memorial of some kind?
and i look at my casio stopwatch which says its time to invert the tank again.
what's on those rolls? i know roughly that its what i shot yesterday in the park. i remember a couple of shots that i'm sure i got. but are they any good? will what i thought at the time was a humorous shot still have that humor on the negative? i never know.
and i'm getting towards the end of 8 minutes and pull the plastic top off the tank. man, if i could do that without getting developer in my lap. i should wear an apron. remember photographs of Ansel in the darkroom with his apron.
but an apron in my bathroom will take up 10% of the space.
i pull up the toilet lid and pour the developer out. the yellow liquid is ready to pour in. i don't feel like putting that damned top on again so instead of inversion i swish it around a while. oh, yeah - 30 seconds. i haven't swished that short stop for 30 seconds in 30 years.
out it goes into the toilet where the water turns purple. flush.
in goes the fixer. plastic top on and give it a good shake. i'm going to really hypo these rolls. i'm giving them full agitation every 30 seconds.
in the meantime, i'm setting up my gravity works washer in the sink. i hate to do anything with chemicals in the sink since the cat drinks from same; but we're just talking about washing. and after the thing is washed, i'll scrub the sink before giving Buddy his water.
i really should clean that light switch.
soon the two strips of film are hanging from the piece of string near my kitchenette over a small pot with a touch of short stop mixture in it. The smell keeps the cat from brushing up against the bottom of the hanging film.
Ah - these negatives look good. Nice and dense the way I like 'em. That shot looks great. I wonder what it will look like...
and i look at my casio stopwatch which says its time to invert the tank again.
what's on those rolls? i know roughly that its what i shot yesterday in the park. i remember a couple of shots that i'm sure i got. but are they any good? will what i thought at the time was a humorous shot still have that humor on the negative? i never know.
and i'm getting towards the end of 8 minutes and pull the plastic top off the tank. man, if i could do that without getting developer in my lap. i should wear an apron. remember photographs of Ansel in the darkroom with his apron.
but an apron in my bathroom will take up 10% of the space.
i pull up the toilet lid and pour the developer out. the yellow liquid is ready to pour in. i don't feel like putting that damned top on again so instead of inversion i swish it around a while. oh, yeah - 30 seconds. i haven't swished that short stop for 30 seconds in 30 years.
out it goes into the toilet where the water turns purple. flush.
in goes the fixer. plastic top on and give it a good shake. i'm going to really hypo these rolls. i'm giving them full agitation every 30 seconds.
in the meantime, i'm setting up my gravity works washer in the sink. i hate to do anything with chemicals in the sink since the cat drinks from same; but we're just talking about washing. and after the thing is washed, i'll scrub the sink before giving Buddy his water.
i really should clean that light switch.
soon the two strips of film are hanging from the piece of string near my kitchenette over a small pot with a touch of short stop mixture in it. The smell keeps the cat from brushing up against the bottom of the hanging film.
Ah - these negatives look good. Nice and dense the way I like 'em. That shot looks great. I wonder what it will look like...
Infrared
In the quest for dreamier photographs I'm going to pick up some Kodak HIE tomorrow. I've read through most of the fact sheets; what filters are useful; keep the stuff in the dark etc. I haven't been able to find dev. times for HIE and Ilfotex dd-x. I hate using two developers (contamination, confusion etc.). So I think I'm just going to do take a wild stab at the first roll with dd-x and see what happens. Probably just do it as I would tri-x. What the hell. I did a search for the recipe on Ilford and Kodaks' sites but you know how it goes.
One of the handiest developer / film databases I've ever found is at DigitalTruth.com
I was sort of wondering what happens if you put some portable heat source into something - like the telephone I've been using and do it in infrared. I'm sure there's some glove warmer, or liquid heat pack, that you could do this with.
Anyway - the holidays are fini - so the quest to spend money in the Chelsea or Western Midtown? What is that area around B&H called. Did it used to be Hell's Kitchen? It does seem sort of hellish.
One of the handiest developer / film databases I've ever found is at DigitalTruth.com
I was sort of wondering what happens if you put some portable heat source into something - like the telephone I've been using and do it in infrared. I'm sure there's some glove warmer, or liquid heat pack, that you could do this with.
Anyway - the holidays are fini - so the quest to spend money in the Chelsea or Western Midtown? What is that area around B&H called. Did it used to be Hell's Kitchen? It does seem sort of hellish.
4/22/2006
Hup Two Three
This was an old digital shot that I had a lot of trouble with (the usual stuff - highlights etc.) but I managed - what two years later - to get something halfway okay out of it.
Gods on 42nd Street
42nd Street Gods
This was shot with the Pentax 67 !! So you see - the Pentax 67 is one of the best cameras for street photography.
Fring and Yellow Stuff
It looked like spring. It felt like fall. It was a perfect time for me to go to Central Park and play with my yellow phone idea. The cherry blossoms and all the other blossoms were doing their best to entice me - and I couldn't help taking straight nature shots. But then I pulled the yellow phone from my knapsack and hung it from the cherry blossoms and began playing around with various arrangements. Passersby stopped to gawk - and I don't blame them.
My stock answer to anyone who asked what I was doing was: "I'm working on an art project for a class." That seemed to work. Everyone knows that you do crazy things for classes.
After a while with these weird still lifes - I began putting the phone in places where people could walk by and I could shoot their reactions. So conceptual meets street. No getting away from it. People are still more interesting than cherry blossoms.
I want to do the same thing again - but I want to do it with infrared film. I've never shot infrared and all I know is that you need a red filter (which I have somewhere in 39mm). But as to which film - or what ASA etc. - I'll need to do some research and testing I guess.
But it was damned good to get out. And dispite my intentions of doing this artsy thing - I found myself - as usual - doing some straight shooting as well. And that may be the best. I saw something very strange - a guy on the bridle path came walking by using what looked like cross country ski poles - but no skis of course. Is this some new fangled exercise regime. I have no idea but I got the shot with the cherry blossom trees in background.
My stock answer to anyone who asked what I was doing was: "I'm working on an art project for a class." That seemed to work. Everyone knows that you do crazy things for classes.
After a while with these weird still lifes - I began putting the phone in places where people could walk by and I could shoot their reactions. So conceptual meets street. No getting away from it. People are still more interesting than cherry blossoms.
I want to do the same thing again - but I want to do it with infrared film. I've never shot infrared and all I know is that you need a red filter (which I have somewhere in 39mm). But as to which film - or what ASA etc. - I'll need to do some research and testing I guess.
But it was damned good to get out. And dispite my intentions of doing this artsy thing - I found myself - as usual - doing some straight shooting as well. And that may be the best. I saw something very strange - a guy on the bridle path came walking by using what looked like cross country ski poles - but no skis of course. Is this some new fangled exercise regime. I have no idea but I got the shot with the cherry blossom trees in background.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)