Category Archives: Cameras

Cameras, Color, Large Format Cameras, Medium Format Cameras, Photography

Glen Echo Recap – in color

October 11, 2012 dcphotoartist Leave a comment

Just thought I’d do a re-visit of all my Glen Echo color work, to put them in one place. When I get a bit more organized, I’ll put my platinum/palladium Glen Echo photos together and do another mini-gallery. This has all been shot with a mixed bag of films and cameras. Mostly my Rolleiflex 2.8E, with one nod to my Canham 5×7 (the Glen Echo sign at night – it’s special enough it gets its own row). The films have been Kodak Portra 160NC, Kodak Ektar 100, Fuji NPS 160, and Fuji NPH 400. With the exception of the Ektar 100, most of the film used has been anywhere from a couple years out of date to almost a dozen years expired. Which says a lot about the quality of modern color film emulsions.

Part of the purpose of this exercise was in response to a discussion recently on an online photography forum I read where someone was complaining about how hard it was to take good photos in places you are familiar with. While I love travel photography (I’m getting ready to indulge in some serious travel photography early next year, probably one of those once-in-a-lifetime trips – I’ll keep you updated as the time approaches), I think it’s absolute baloney that you can’t take interesting photos of places you know and see every day. If anything, the opposite is true. But each type of photography requires a different mindset. Photographing on the road requires you to be able to filter out the extraneous detail because it’s ALL wondrous and new. Photographing at home requires you to turn off the detail filter so you start finding the interesting stuff you ignore because it’s what you see every day.

Photographing my own neighborhood is about recording and observing change – it’s like doing a series of portraits of the same person – this week in a suit, next week in a sundress, then later in an anorak, this year a little taller, next year a beard, the year after with a tan and a buzz cut. The Glen Echo photos are another form of portraiture, portraiture of a place. Places can have spirits and identities, and their face changes over time, just like a person’s.

Glen Echo Sign, Morning	Glen Echo Park Sign, Evening
Glen Echo Sign
Glen Echo Carousel in Motion, #1	Glen Echo Carousel in Motion, #2
Glen Echo Carousel in Motion, #3	Glen Echo Carousel in Motion, #4
Glen Echo Carousel, Midway, Twilight	Dentzel Carousel, Glen Echo, Sunset
Glen Echo Arcade, Twilight	Glen Echo Arcade,Puppet Company, Twilight
Mirror and roof vaulting, Glen Echo Dentzel Carousel	Dentzel Carousel Horse
Faces of the Dentzel Carousel	The Dentzel Carousel in motion
James, Glen Echo Park #1	James, Glen Echo Park #2

Cameras, Color, Medium Format Cameras, Photography, Portraits

More Environmental Portraiture

October 9, 2012 dcphotoartist Leave a comment

Two more photos of my friend, Charles, in his friend Henry’s garden.

Sometimes a portrait doesn’t even have to include the person it’s about. In this case, the design of the garden, including the whimsies and follies, speak volumes about the garden’s designer.

Iron Gate, Henry's Garden — Iron Gate, Henry’s Garden

Rusted Toy, Henry's Garden — Rusted Toy, Henry’s Garden

All taken with my Rolleiflex 2.8E, on Fuji Reala film. The film is easily 11 years out of date, but still produces excellent results. I wish I had a couple of bricks more of it in cold storage, but Fuji discontinued the emulsion in all but 35mm size a couple years ago.

Cameras, Color, Medium Format Cameras, Photography, Portraits

Environmental Portraiture

October 8, 2012 dcphotoartist Leave a comment

Here are a few portraits of a friend of mine in his natural element. Charles is extremely fond of gardens and gardening, and this is one of his favorite gardens that belongs to a friend of his. I hadn’t seen him in several years, and so the other weekend I drove up to Baltimore to visit, and brought along the Rollei to shoot his portrait. I’m so glad I used some of my last remaining rolls of Fuji Reala – they did him justice. It was the least I could do to honor him as he’s been such a good and devoted friend over the years.

Charles, In Henry's Garden, #1 — Charles, In Henry’s Garden, #1

Charles, In Henry's Garden, #2 — Charles, In Henry’s Garden, #2

Charles, Rule Britannia, Henry's Garden, #3 — Charles, Rule Britannia, Henry’s Garden, #3

Charles, Architectural Element, Henry's Garden, #4 — Charles, Architectural Element, Henry’s Garden, #4

Here are a couple from my ongoing Food Truck series – the cashier and the head chef of Pepe, the Jose Andrés-helmed gourmet food truck here in DC. I THINK the young man giving the interview in the second photo may be Jose Andrés’ son.

Cashier, Pepe Spanish Cuisine Food Truck

Pepe Food Truck Chef Interview, Franklin Square Park

The following two are shots of a friend of mine who is thinking of getting into modeling, so we did a couple test portfolio pieces out at Glen Echo a month ago. I think he’s got the face for it, for certain. The trick will be to figure out if he can move and pose, and if he can get his body conformed to modeling industry standards.

And last but not least, here’s one from the vaults of another very dear friend from Singapore. We went to Fort Canning and went up on the roof of the remnants of the fortifications to shoot some photos of him and some of his friends, and I grabbed this one between poses. It captures his personality absolutely, although he foreswears this photo now because he has quit smoking. But it still reflects his inner sparkle and cheek.

I’m trying to get better at photographing strangers, and photographing unposed portraits. I find it incredibly easy to photograph people I know well because I can perceive little gestures and nuances that reflect their personality. The trick will be to get better at that kind of perception with total strangers, without imposing preconceived notions of what I THINK they are on them. Perhaps it’s an impossible chase, but it’s one I’m going to hazard.

Cameras, Color, Medium Format Cameras, Photography, Washington DC

Glen Echo Carousel Motion Study

October 8, 2012 dcphotoartist Leave a comment

Just some more playing with movement studies using the Rolleiflex. This was shot with 11 year old expired film – Fuji NPS 160. It has held up remarkably well. Otherwise I don’t have a lot to say, as the pictures speak for themselves I think.

Cameras, Color, DC Cityscapes, Medium Format Cameras, Photography, Washington DC

Neighborhood Scenery

October 4, 2012 dcphotoartist Leave a comment

A street scene in my neighborhood. This mural was created on the side of an art gallery/community center/performance space a few blocks from my home. I was on my way to meet a friend for dinner when I spotted it, and the way the light angled across the surface just begged to be photographed. Shot with my Rolleiflex 2.8E, Fuji NPH 400.

Why Futbol and not soccer? Well, there is a very large hispanic population in my neighborhood, and as such, it deserves to be called by its proper name, futbol! Y Hernandez está corriendo…y tire…GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL! This is the neighborhood elementary school where many amateur teams play league games or just get together for a little pick-up round or two. I was inspired by the setting sun and the long shadows being cast by the players on the field. Still the same camera, same film.

Actually, the caption for this is somewhat misleading, as the original thought was as much about the red emergency call box post as it was about anything else going on in the scene. But as I was composing, the cyclist came along and I waited until they presented an ideal composition.

Juggler, Bethesda, Barnes & Noble window

This doesn’t quite fit the neighborhood theme as it isn’t in my current neighborhood. But downtown Bethesda USED to be my ‘hood when I was a teenager. This was a “freeze the action” test for the Rollei. It worked remarkably well, wouldn’t you say?

Cameras, Color, DC Cityscapes, Medium Format Cameras, Photography, Washington DC

Glen Echo Park, Twilight

September 22, 2012 dcphotoartist Leave a comment

Glen Echo Arcade,Puppet Company, Twilight

Rolleiflex 2.8E, Kodak Ektar 100.

More of my twilight/nighttime exposures. The subject is Glen Echo Park, again. I love shooting in the park because of the wonderful neon lights, and the fact that while it’s never BUSY at that time of day, it’s never empty either. The park is always changing with the seasons, and it has a very secluded feel despite the proximity to the nation’s capitol and two very busy highways.

Antique Processes, Cameras, DC Cityscapes, Large Format Cameras, Night-time, Photography, Platinum/Palladium, Washington DC

Dupont Taxi, Palladium

September 17, 2012 dcphotoartist 1 Comment

Taxi, Northbound on Connecticut at Dupont Circle, Night

Another image in that nighttime series. Palladium print, Bergger COT320 paper.

Antique Processes, Cameras, Darkroom, Large Format, Large Format Cameras, Night-time, Photography, Platinum/Palladium, Washington DC

Variations on a theme – Palladium versus Ziatype

September 17, 2012 dcphotoartist Leave a comment

Dupont Circle bus stop, Palladium over Fumed Silica

Here’s another of my 5×12 panoramics of Dupont Circle here in Washington DC. This was several exposures on the same negative, yielding an approximate minute and thirty seconds or thereabouts. We were printing from this negative in my Advanced Topics in Platinum/Palladium Printing class out at Photoworks Glen Echo this past weekend. The print I scanned for this image was printed on Bergger COT320 pre-treated with fumed silica. The fumed silica yields a definite boost in dmax.

The next print is of the same negative, but printed as a Ziatype. Ziatypes are a variation on palladium, but they use either Lithium Palladium or Cesium Palladium and Ammonium Ferric Oxalate instead, which yields a neutral-to-cool tone image more like platinum in color, and they are a printing-out process developed in water as opposed to a develop-out process that requires Potassium Oxalate or Ammonium Citrate as a developer.

The distinction between printing-out and developing-out, in addition to the chemistry variations, is the fact that a printing-out print’s final exposure is judged by visual inspection – what you see when you pull the print from the contact frame is pretty much what you’re going to get when it is washed, cleared, and dried, but a developing-out print will have some kind of ghost image that is anywhere from almost imperceptible to a partial rendition of the final image prior to development. Neither one is better than the other, except that the Ziatype is easier for beginners until they gain confidence in their coating and printing skills. Ziatypes also have a wide range of contrast controls that will also affect image color in addition to contrast.

Cameras, Medium Format Cameras

Rollei all kitted out

September 13, 2012 dcphotoartist Leave a comment

My beautiful Rolleiflex, all kitted out with a proper strap and lens hood now. The strap arrived maybe two weeks ago and the lens hood, an after-market metal hood with a lovely black crackle finish, arrived yesterday from Amazon.com. I was a tad worried about the lens hood because third-party Rollei accessories have a bad reputation, but this seems every bit as nice as the Rollei hoods and it’s a fraction of the price. $30 +/-, versus $200+ for genuine Rollei branded hoods. I’m using the thing, not collecting it!

Cameras, Civil War, Color, DC Cityscapes, Large Format Cameras, Lenses, Night-time, Photography, Places, Travel, Washington DC

Further Colors of Night- DC’s Chinatown

September 12, 2012 dcphotoartist Leave a comment

The fresh noodles and Peking duck house on 6th Street, NW. I think someone needs to teach them about Windex, as the “OPEN” sign is fuzzy not from being out of focus in my composition but from the splattered duck fat on the window. And no, I’ve never eaten there to know if the food is any good or not. But if you’re lucky when you wander by you can watch them making traditional Chinese noodles in the window, stretching and re-folding the dough over and over and over again, then cutting the ends and BOOM! you’ve got all these separate strands of pasta.

I liked the juxtaposition of the empty sidewalk out front, the lone Prius in the parking lot next door, and the intimate diners in the window.

Secession Sushi - The Wok 'n Roll in the Surratt House — Secession Sushi – The Wok ‘n Roll in the Surratt House

This one gets a cutesy title because there’s just something so post- and meta- and ironic and all that kind of stuff about having a sushi joint on the ground floor of Mary Surratt’s boarding house, where the plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln was hatched. Don’t believe me? Read the plaque on the wall of the house, like the two time-blurred figures in the photo are doing. It’s a very odd vestige of what downtown Washington looked like in 1865, and despite what Robert Redford would have had you believe in “The Conspirator” (by filming in an albeit lesser mansion in Savannah, Georgia), evidence of the utterly middle-class lifestyle of Mary Surratt.

All the above images were shot with my Canham woodfield 5×7, using my Kodak 12″ Commercial Ektar, using Kodak Portra 160nc film.

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