These two portraits are natural light portraits I took of my parents in their kitchen. These were play-around shots with my Contax RTS III and the 50mm f1.4 Planar lens for it. I wanted to see what the out-of-focus areas looked like when shot wide open. I think the shot of my mom with my dad in the background has an extremely painterly quality to it and really shows off the lens’ capability. Now it makes me want to use that lens more!
I was out doing some more street shooting in my neighborhood and found a couple more “ordinary objects” that cried out for portraits. I’ve included some of my past ones here to provide some context for the project idea.
These were shot on a mix of films – the black and white are either Kodak Tri-X or Ilford FP4+, and the color shots were taken with Kodak Ektar 100, all using my Rolleiflex 2.8E.
Five more from the shoot. Wanchuk is a fun subject because he always brings a creative energy to a shoot that brings out the best in both photographer and subject.
I call that last one “Girl With a Pearl Earring” because the pose reminds me a bit of the Vermeer painting.
After doing a series of more serious poses, we decided to get a little funky and play around with faces and gestures.
This last one is not typical of what I’d expect someone to use a soft-focus lens to shoot, expression-wise. I think it works, in spite of or perhaps because of the contrast between the content and the image style.
I think I wrote previously about the Hermagis Eidoscope soft-focus portrait lens I have on loan. Here are some results from it. As the lens is on loan to me and not mine, I have not sent it off to have replacement waterhouse stops made for it. It was expensive enough modifying my camera to fit the lens – I don’t want to spend more money on accessories for a lens I’ll have to return. That said, as the only waterhouse stop I have for the lens is the wide-open f5 stop, that’s the only one I’ve been using. It’s not only the maximum amount of light but also the maximum soft-focus effect. I’ve been told that if you stop the Eidoscope down past f8, it becomes a much more regular, sharp lens. But this is what you want to see with this lens anyway – the soft-and-fuzzies.
I know the lens is flattering to women – I did not know if it would be too much for male portraiture though. I think my example here bears out the fact that it works well for both genders. Here is another portrait of my friend Wanchuk, this time a half-length shot with a different outfit. The soft-focus glow is especially apparent in this image, with the bright denim jacket giving lots of flare around the cuffs of the sleeves.
These were shot on Ilford FP4+, with the lighting being just one 1000w Fresnel tungsten lamp and a silver reflector. I bought a pair of these cheap Chinese knockoffs of ARRI fresnel lights ($125/ea as opposed to more like $600/ea for the ARRI lights) for the purpose of teaching my large format photography class. Since I had a need for something that would work without needing electronic synchronization (the Hermagis has no shutter, therefore no flash sync), I broke the fresnels out again for this lens test. Proof positive that you don’t have to have massive, fancy, expensive strobe lighting setups to create great portraits. That said, I wouldn’t try this with my 14×17 using hot lights – there’s just not enough light to be had without literally cooking both subject and photographer.
As I mentioned previously, the Hermagis Eidoscope does not have a shutter in addition to not having an iris diaphragm for the aperture control, so I used a pair of spare dark slides from an old 5×7 film holder, held in a V configuration, as the shutter. I was able to pull off a roughly 1/30th second shutter speed by keeping the gap between the dark slides relatively modest (about a 20 degree wedge). Eventually I’ll print these in platinum/palladium.
Here are two photos of the Hermagis Eidoscope #5 mounted on my Canham. The Hermagis is on loan to me from the Washington School of Photography. Mounting it on my camera required multiple customizations. First, I had to have the front standard on the Canham swapped out, as the original one was made to handle Linhof lensboards. The Linhof Technika board is just a little too small to take the flange for the lens. Fortunately, the Canham design will accommodate the larger Toyo 110×110 mm board, and now comes standard in that format.
I called Keith Canham and spoke with him about this. One of the great things about calling Keith is that when you call to discuss a problem, he answers the phone himself. You speak directly with the man who built your camera! He suggested that I pull the front standard off the camera, ship it to him, and he would re-use the hardware on a new wood panel the required size. I followed his instructions and popped it in Priority Mail. I had the new panel with all the hardware installed plus the original should I ever want to convert it back in my hot little hands within four days. Talk about customer service!! This is why I will be a loyal Canham customer as long as they remain in business.
I took the Toyo lensboard out to my folks’ place where I have my drill press and, after hunting around a bit to find the proper tools, drilled the hole in the lens board that would let the flange fit. Typically, I slightly oversized the hole, but not so big it caused any problems. I’d wish for a laser lathe but I don’t do this kind of stuff often enough to justify such a thing. For now I’ll live with my cheap Ryobi drill press and my variable diameter circle cutter.
In addition to mounting the lens, I made a lens cap from the cardboard insert that came in a package of Bergger VCCB fiber paper. The lens cap top was traced from the lens hood then cut out with an Xacto blade. The edge was made from a strip of the same board bent into a tube. There was a small gap in the side of the tube because it was too short, but that worked out to my advantage- otherwise the cap would have been too tight and therefore too hard to take off and put on efficiently. The tube is attached to the body with black bookbinder’s tape, the same tape I use for repairing hinges on light traps for film holders.
I’ll be using the lens cap as a shutter for now, until I get around to making a mount for a Packard shutter. You can see the lens cap in the first picture, on the lens.
Here is a CDV by Brady from his later years at his Washington DC studio. The subject is R.J. Arnold, who went on to have a career as a photographer in California. 
For more information about Mr. Arnold, there is a very nice website about California photographers from the 1870s-1990s at CAViews.com.
It is seldom that you find photographs of early photographers, so this was a neat acquisition for me. I have one other image that I believe is of a photographer (the label is vague – it could be the photographer himself or it could be merely inscribed by the photographer to the sitter).
Images of photographers with the tools of their trade are, unfortunately, extremely collectible and therefore out of my budget. But this photo of Mr. Arnold as a young man fills a nice niche as a stepping-stone to the goal of a cdv or tintype of a photographer with his camera.
A long time ago I started working on a series about how we commodify people and their identities. I was playing around with advertising slogans on grocery bags and how those slogans can be used to replace food with people (not in a cannibalistic sense but as something to be looked at as a consumable or a flavor-du-jour). I’ll pick it up again when I get the chance and see if I can do more with it. Let me know what you think of the idea and the execution in this image.
The original is a whole-plate (6.5 by 8.5 inch) hand-coated palladium print on Bergger COT320 100% cotton rag heavy-weight paper.
I dug up a few older platinum/palladium prints I did a couple years ago and realized they were worth sharing, so I thought I’d post them here today.
They were studies for a series I was working on – they didn’t make the editorial cut for the series, but as standalones they’re good. 
These were shot in my home studio (aka the dining room) with a single light and a black velvet backdrop. The camera was my ancient studio portrait camera with a 5×7 back installed and a Seneca portrait lens (aka Wollensak Vesta, rebranded). I mention all this to show that you can produce great work with the simplest of set-ups and equipment, and you don’t have to have the latest and greatest or fancy facilities.
I wanted to announce the launch of my portrait photography business. My studio is located in Rockville, Maryland at the Washington School of Photography, where I am a Resident Photographer. My philosophy of photography:
Photography is Magic – I fell in love with the magic of photography when I made my first darkroom print. When I saw the image emerge in the developer under the red glow of the safelight, I knew right then the camera would be my constant companion for the rest of my life.
My goal is to go beyond producing portraiture that is functional documentation. I want to use my creativity and vision to produce iconic representations of your spirit and character. I use vintage tools and antique techniques and processes in a contemporary style to create not mere photographs but tangible art objects you will be proud to display in your home and pass on to future generations.
To make an appointment, go to my web gallery at http://www.theflyingcamera.com and click on “contact”. Change the Subject line to “appointment”. As a benefit for my blog readers, include the promo code “BLOG” in the subject for a 10% discount on the sitting fee. This promo code will be good through April 1, so book now!
Alexander. 5×7 inch Palladium print on Bergger heavyweight fine art paper.
A few more from the Helios 85mm lens. I’m impressed, what about you? That razor-thin depth of field wide open is tricky to manage, but I think it transitions nicely between sharp and out of focus.
Frosty is one of my two cats. He’s the more wiggly of the two, actually, so it’s a challenge to get him to pose. Chub-Chub will sit still longer, until he realizes the camera is pointed at him, and then he has to come look at the lens.
This is my friend Missy, wife of my best friend Steve. This was a grab shot at their Super Bowl party. She just lights up when she smiles.
Richard is another friend – also photographed at Steve and Missy’s Super Bowl party.
dcphotoartist 