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Monday, March 15, 2021
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Beekman Street Art Fair, Monhegan, Palladium Prints and Lumen Prints...
Well last Sunday Ellen and I spent the day on Beekman Street, from early to late! It was a beautiful sunny day, not too hot, and quite a few people came out for the event. It was the first time I've ever set up for this kind of thing. Here's a iPod photo of Ellen watching the store.
The day was a lot of fun. Met a lot of people and had great conversations about photography. I'm not sure this was a good venue for selling art, as I don't think much was sold anywhere, including by me, but probably a great place for promotion. I even had a couple of people ask about photography workshops. I'm hoping to do a few this autumn with another photographer.
On another note, I'm working my way through the rolls and sheets of film taken on Monhegan Island. Just developing and scanning all this film is quite an undertaking. I think I'm a little more than halfway done. This year, I shot a lot of pinhole and zone plate images, in addition to the view camera and medium format camera. Here are examples of pinhole, zone plate, view camera and medium format (in that order) from the Monhegan photos I've processed so far:
The next major thing coming up is a Palladium Printing Workshop in July with Craig Barber at the Center for Photography in Woodstock. Platinum/Palladium printing is a time-honored type of printing that in many ways is superior to silver gelatin printing (the type of printing most people do in the darkroom). Silver gelatin printing became the norm as it was easier and cheaper. Platinum/Palladium printing, however, has a richness yet delicacy that silver gelatin (and digital images?) don't have.
Palladium printing is accomplished by combining a chemical mixture in a shot glass, then coating paper with the mixture (often using watercolor paper) and allowing this to dry. Then, a negative is placed on top of the paper and exposed to a UV light source (or the sun) until a faint image appears. Then it is processed in a variety of chemicals to develop and fix.
While it's hard to describe the difference, or to see it on a computer screen, here is a google search for "palladium prints" to give a good variety. Here are some famous photographers who used this process:
Finally, I've been dabbling in one-off "Lumen Prints". These prints are created by taking silver gelatin photo paper (the kind used in the darkroom), placing plant material on top of the paper and glass on top of that. Then this assembly is left in the sunlight for hours. The resulting image is then chemically fixed and you have an image like the one below:
Thanks for looking!
The day was a lot of fun. Met a lot of people and had great conversations about photography. I'm not sure this was a good venue for selling art, as I don't think much was sold anywhere, including by me, but probably a great place for promotion. I even had a couple of people ask about photography workshops. I'm hoping to do a few this autumn with another photographer.
On another note, I'm working my way through the rolls and sheets of film taken on Monhegan Island. Just developing and scanning all this film is quite an undertaking. I think I'm a little more than halfway done. This year, I shot a lot of pinhole and zone plate images, in addition to the view camera and medium format camera. Here are examples of pinhole, zone plate, view camera and medium format (in that order) from the Monhegan photos I've processed so far:
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| Original File Here |
 |
| Original File Here |
 |
| Original File Here |
 |
| Original File Here |
The next major thing coming up is a Palladium Printing Workshop in July with Craig Barber at the Center for Photography in Woodstock. Platinum/Palladium printing is a time-honored type of printing that in many ways is superior to silver gelatin printing (the type of printing most people do in the darkroom). Silver gelatin printing became the norm as it was easier and cheaper. Platinum/Palladium printing, however, has a richness yet delicacy that silver gelatin (and digital images?) don't have.
Palladium printing is accomplished by combining a chemical mixture in a shot glass, then coating paper with the mixture (often using watercolor paper) and allowing this to dry. Then, a negative is placed on top of the paper and exposed to a UV light source (or the sun) until a faint image appears. Then it is processed in a variety of chemicals to develop and fix.
While it's hard to describe the difference, or to see it on a computer screen, here is a google search for "palladium prints" to give a good variety. Here are some famous photographers who used this process:
Major photographers using the technique
- Robert Vano
- Manuel Álvarez Bravo
- Alvin Langdon Coburn
- Lois Conner
- Imogen Cunningham
- Edward S. Curtis
- F. Holland Day
- Frederick H. Evans
- Laura Gilpin
- Frederick Hollyer
- Gertrude Kasebier
- Irving Penn
- Edward Steichen
- Alfred Stieglitz
- Paul Strand
- Edward Weston
- Clarence H. White
- Isabel Muñoz
Finally, I've been dabbling in one-off "Lumen Prints". These prints are created by taking silver gelatin photo paper (the kind used in the darkroom), placing plant material on top of the paper and glass on top of that. Then this assembly is left in the sunlight for hours. The resulting image is then chemically fixed and you have an image like the one below:
Thanks for looking!
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Back from Monhegan, Now to the Saratoga Arts Festival!
Just returned from a wonderful week on Monhegan Island, a small rock 12 miles off the coast of Maine, and a famous destination for artists. Here are a few of the first negatives developed:
I shot a LOT of film, but have developed very few negatives so far. That's because I'm trying to get ready for the Beekman Street Arts Fair on Sunday, June 10th. It's part of the Saratoga Arts Festival weekend. This is a first for me--a juried art show ala tents set up on a closed street with all kinds of artists, music and food. I thought I'd give it a try.
If you're in the area, I really hope you can stop by. I'll have my view camera out and taking portraits. There will be a variety of photos on display, with a lot of very different views of Saratoga through pinhole and zone plate cameras.
Here are a few photos that will be on display at the Arts Fest...
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| Pinhole Image on 4x5 film |
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| View Camera image, antique soft focus meniscus lens, 4x5 film |
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| Pinhole image on 4x5 film |
I shot a LOT of film, but have developed very few negatives so far. That's because I'm trying to get ready for the Beekman Street Arts Fair on Sunday, June 10th. It's part of the Saratoga Arts Festival weekend. This is a first for me--a juried art show ala tents set up on a closed street with all kinds of artists, music and food. I thought I'd give it a try.
If you're in the area, I really hope you can stop by. I'll have my view camera out and taking portraits. There will be a variety of photos on display, with a lot of very different views of Saratoga through pinhole and zone plate cameras.
Here are a few photos that will be on display at the Arts Fest...
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| Historic Carousel, Saratoga Springs, Pinhole Camera, 4x5" film |
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| Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Zone Plate Image, 4x5" film |
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
So Much!
"So Much" seemed to sum up my thoughts. Not only, Thank You "So Much" for your support, but "So Much" is going on in my little world of photography. Almost too much, but a lot of little things--experimenting, new technologies, new photographers as friends. Good things. But also makes it hard to update here...but I'll give it a try!
I have three photos ready for a group show at the Saratoga Arts Center Gallery in May. It's an eclectic group of photographers from the Captured Image Guild to which I belong. I am also submitting an eclectic three photos. One is a monochrome pinhole image on large format film; the second is a color large format photo taken with a view camera; and the third is a digital image from Monhegan in color.
Recently, I have been taking a lot of pinhole photos in large format, and putting together a kind of collection of "Saratoga" based pinhole photos. I may add some non-pinhole images in monochrome to the mix. I am doing this as I will be one artist in a juried show on June 10th during the Saratoga Arts Festival. The images I submitted were all in this genre... now I need to get me a tent! And a lot of matting and framing to do!
So, the "pinhole" camera that I am using has both "pinhole" and "zone plate" options. The pinhole is pretty self-explanatory. A tiny pinhole. Not as sharp as a good lens, but not bad. Everything is in focus though. The zone plate is a tiny version of this kind of pattern:
Just like the size of the pinhole affects the image quality, the number of rings and spacing affect the size. This zone plate is only really visible under a magnifying glass, so it's pretty small.
The first images here are pinhole images:
And these are zone plate images:
Here's a slideshow of more pinhole photos taken recently:
So, there are other things happening as well, but I'll save those for another post....
Monday, February 6, 2012
Color Slide Film
I don't do it too often, and when I do, I use it sparingly. Color slide film in 4x5" sheet size that is...
While this one looks even more striking in its glorious color in print than on the screen, this gives you and idea of what Fuji Velvia film is all about. Big, bold colors.
The difficulty arises in the fact that this film is expensive and costs more than $8 per photo in just film and developing costs. (Fortunately I don't work in 8x10" format!)
I know I show a lot of black and white, but I thought it was time to share something different. VERY different from the pinhole camera images in the previous post!!!
Anyway, here are some more examples of photos taken with this lovely film...
By the way, this film isn't particularly good for skin tones. Fuji has its Astia film for that, and its Provia for the middle of the road.
While this one looks even more striking in its glorious color in print than on the screen, this gives you and idea of what Fuji Velvia film is all about. Big, bold colors.
The difficulty arises in the fact that this film is expensive and costs more than $8 per photo in just film and developing costs. (Fortunately I don't work in 8x10" format!)
I know I show a lot of black and white, but I thought it was time to share something different. VERY different from the pinhole camera images in the previous post!!!
Anyway, here are some more examples of photos taken with this lovely film...
By the way, this film isn't particularly good for skin tones. Fuji has its Astia film for that, and its Provia for the middle of the road.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
What Can You Fit Through A Pin Hole?
Enough light to make some nice images. For Christmas, I received a Zero Image 4x5" film pin hole camera. Pinhole cameras are the oldest photo technology. No lens, just a tiny pinhole. Long exposures.
This camera is 25mm for 4x5 inch format (about 8mm in regular photo aperture). By adding additional frames and deepening the camera, you can add 25mm for each frame. I have the camera and two additional frames; thereby having 25mm, 50mm and 75mm focal lengths. One advantage of a pinhole camera is that everything is in focus, near or far.
These photos are four of the first eight exposures taken and developed. I was nicely surprised at the outcome, and I consider these to be a result of "educated serendipity". All four were taken at 25mm, very wide angle and very close. Working with a pinhole camera is going to be fun!
This camera is 25mm for 4x5 inch format (about 8mm in regular photo aperture). By adding additional frames and deepening the camera, you can add 25mm for each frame. I have the camera and two additional frames; thereby having 25mm, 50mm and 75mm focal lengths. One advantage of a pinhole camera is that everything is in focus, near or far.
These photos are four of the first eight exposures taken and developed. I was nicely surprised at the outcome, and I consider these to be a result of "educated serendipity". All four were taken at 25mm, very wide angle and very close. Working with a pinhole camera is going to be fun!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Three of Four Entries Accepted in the Best of 2011 Show at the PhotoCenter in Troy
60 photographers submitted over 200 images for the Best of 2011 show at the PhotoCenter of the Capital District in Troy. 3 of the 4 I submitted this year were accepted. Here's a slideshow with the images that will be hung at the Photocenter gallery:
The show will run from January 20th through February 19th. Opening reception from 5:00pm-9:00pm on Friday, January 27th. The Photocenter is located at 404 River Street in Troy, NY. I hope to see you at the reception!
The show will run from January 20th through February 19th. Opening reception from 5:00pm-9:00pm on Friday, January 27th. The Photocenter is located at 404 River Street in Troy, NY. I hope to see you at the reception!
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