Friday, April 9, 2004
I've been printing like a mad man, running through half a dozen sheets of watercolor paper in the past few days. Mainly working in cyanotype and Van Dyke, I've also tried a few prints with the "Blue Van Dyke" process mentioned in Christopher James' book, The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes. It's not very controllable at all. As a matter of fact, it's pretty dependent on the "happy accident" factor. This could be a problem for someone like me who enjoys having at least some say in how the final image looks. Sometimes, though, you just have to trust to luck and hope for the best.
Posted by coldmarble @ 09:36 AM ET [Link] [blab]
Thursday, April 8, 2004
Finally got around to adding two excellent photoblogs to the sidebar. I've been reading them both for a while now and should have shared them much earlier.
Coincidences - an eclectic examination of photography in general, with an eye towards trends and goings on, some show reports, and occasional tales of personal exploration of the craft
Conscientious - Joerg Colberg's doing an outstanding job of assembling a wide range of interesting modern photography links. Something new every day and always a fine starting point.
Another bit of housekeeping was the addition of a Model Search Contact Form to aid in the endless quest for people patient enough and adventurous enough to hold still for my slow working techniques. I'm hoping it will help make it easier for anyone remotely interested in modeling to get in touch with me. I know a lot of women will be thinking, "Oh, I'd like to but I'm -insert favorite excuse or euphimism for 'not beautiful'- to model for a photograph." Ladies, everyone is beautiful! It's my job as a photographer to find that beauty and bring it to life on film.
So, help me out, or I go back to doing self-portraits. You don't want that to happen. ;-)
Posted by coldmarble @ 02:05 PM ET [Link] [blab]
Tuesday, April 6, 2004
Though last night's darkroom play was cut short by a pounding headache, (much better after Ibuprofen and a good sleep) I did take the time to try a print from the few frames of an experiment in usinig 35mm film in a medium format camera. Several observations from the simple 
pinhole bodyscape:
- The technique appears promising enough to warrant more experimentation
- Respooling 35mm film on a 120 roll with backing paper lets the film "wander" too much
- Next attempt, try using the foam and rubber band technique
- Faster film might work better with live models to cut down blurring... can't expect them to hold breath for two minute epxosures
- Try next experiment in daylight or with a more dramatic light source than the soft light of two flood lamps
- Continue experiment with regular b/w film rather than IR
All in all, though the initial output was less than I'd hoped, the technique does offer a fun way to work with a very wide panorama and an even wider angle of view than I'd expected. With a bit more experience in using 35mm in the ArgoPinFlex, I'll have a better idea of what is in and out of the frame. Finding a way to constrain the film movement to the center of the frame will help considerably. This project might progress from experimentation to usable camera. Hooray for that!
Posted by coldmarble @ 09:23 AM ET [Link] [blab]
