My Archives: September 2003

Friday, September 19, 2003

I guess photojournalism is one career path I'll never wander down. It would have been simple enough to pack up some photo toys and wander down to the harbor area to take in the rising water and grab some interesting shots of the destruction brought to town by the storm. Maybe I should have gone down. As maggie said, maybe the insurance companies would like to see some alt-process damage inventory photos.

I didn't, though. There's already enough coverage of the situation by the local news folks, there are way too many ignorant yahoos gawking and getting in the way of rescue efforts, and the last thing I'd want to see if my house was flooded out would be some joker with a view camera and pretensions of "making art" out of my misery.

I did spend some time finally getting some smaller alt-process works matted, mounted and wrapped for delivery to Angelfall Studios. I'll be dropping them off tomorrow after a few hours of playing scanner slave, so if you want a chance to pick up some affordable alt-process photography, swing by the gallery at 2936 Remington Avenue.

I also did some selenium toning of the prints from my last two darkroom play periods. I'm really loving the wonderful color shift that the Forte Polywarmtone yields with an extended toning time. The cold grays and blacks went to a rich maroon/brown with an incredible warm feeling. Slightly less time can give a rich dark brown, which worked well for a pinhole shot of the Civil War re-enactment last Spring. I'll have to sneak them into the darkroom for one more quick wash and a drying session on the flat screens. My homegrown string and clothespin deal just lets them curl too much.

Posted by coldmarble @ 05:11 PM ET [Link] [blab]

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Arrr! What could be more fittin' an' proper than to have the sea at your doorstep on Talk Like A Pirate Day? Some sections of the city have seen the waters of the Chesapeake up close and personal as the wind and storm surge join with high tide to inundate streets. Pratt Street, a main artery along the waterfront in downtown Baltimore, has turned into a series of asphalt islands surrounded by rising flood waters. High and dry here but other areas of the city and surrounding area have seen hundreds forced from their homes by the ravages of Isabel. The digital's charging up now and I may try to get out later for some shooting. I'm not much for the photojournalism scene but I'll do my best.

Posted by coldmarble @ 10:06 AM ET [Link] [blab]

Thursday, September 18, 2003

Just when you think your plate's as full as it can get and one more crazy idea for a project will push you over the edge...

Art-O-Mat

With the work load of producing PDFs for this semester, time for photo play of any kind has been scarce. A few hours in the darkroom each week are all I can muster energy for, and those precious hours are a much needed recharge to the creative batteries. Some longer range works are in progress, with some more cyanotype on fabric planned soon but nothing to share at the moment. It's been matting marathon time, trying to get enough small samples ready to drag over to AngelFalls Studio for their version of "affordable art."

I'd love to do the Art-O-Mat deal. It's so wonderfully zany, it'd be a crime not to. The dimensional requirements are perfect for some 6x9 cm contact prints from the pinClack. Seems like a perfectly clear sign to me. If and when the start of the semester rush tapers off, and if I get caught up on the umpteen other projects I've promised myself I'd play with...

Posted by coldmarble @ 10:19 PM ET [Link] [blab]

Monday, September 15, 2003

This is the kind of article I like, recycling some junk to make a fun photography tool. It also makes me regret I don't have a "real studio" where I could play with a light painting tool on a large scale. I've seen some nice work done with this technique and I'd love to give it a try. Maybe I can sneak my way into one of the studios in the art center after hours?

Work's been slowing me down in production of any new photos to share here, but the creativity index is still running high. Plenty of new ideas are just waiting for the workload to slack off and free up some play time.

Posted by coldmarble @ 12:04 PM ET [Link] [blab]

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