The Case Of The Disappearing Camera

Nikon F6 product shot courtesy of Nikon USA

Dirk Rösler from Japanexposures got me thinking about cameras with two recent articles on his site. I don’t think I’m feeling the charm of a camera quite like he does, but I must say he hit the nail on the head in his second article. Getting used to a new camera always disrupts real photo work and leads to a period of fiddling with the gear.
So, what do I appreciate in a camera? What follows is a bit of experience mixed with philosophy, so if you don’t like that, don’t

Kind Of Podcasting

Some adminstrativa here, and an opportunity for me to make you aware of a new feature of this site. I’ve discovered Audioboo a while ago and have been uploading a few podcasty audio segments. Here are the two most recent ones:
One about a bad (?) habit of mine:
Listen!
And one about my new lightweight approach to high resolution photography:
Listen!
The newest Audioboos will always be linked to in the sidebar of this blog.

On Strike

Grasses Overhanging A Rock, Thuringian Forest

What does a doctor do when he is on strike? And not even on call? He switches off his cellphone and goes on a long hike. At least that’s what I did yesterday.

Now That Is Sharp

Voigtländer Heliar 3.5 50 mm at f/9, whole image

As opposed to this:

1950-ties Leitz Elmar 3.5 5cm in a contre jour situation

Everybody knows that nothing lasts forever, not even the enthusiasm about a new (old) camera.

Man Jewellery

Leica IIIf RD ST In Grey Griptac

Last weekend, I found a 1950-ties Leica IIIf Red Dial Self Timer in a store in Münster for a good price. Functions seemed ok, the collapsible f/3.5 5 cm Elmar is coated and hasn’t a single scratch. And if it’s a russian imitation, it’s good one …
Still, all was not well.

The Path To Pt/Pd-Prints Is (Yellow-) Green

A Digital Negative For Pt/Pd Printing

In preparation for Arles, I’m printing a project in platinum-palladium. This morning, on a whim, I tried printing out a digital negative according to recommendations from members of the alternative photographic processes mailing list. The yellow-green color is intentional, these inkjet pigments are said to absorb the most UV.

Shoot Loose

Satanist Transportation

There’s something to be said for shooting loose, not minding much about technicalities, point of view, composition or working with your subject. The view from the angle of your eye, glimpsed in passing, has a certain raw freshness, unpretentiousness.
This came back to me

Feels Like Cheating

It's Getting Better

In my last post I asked with regard to photogravure: “Are there any shortcuts that work?”.
I’m happy to report that there is a shortcut, and it’s called …

First Time Through

This will be a rather longish and heavily pictured post about my first experiences with the photogravure process. My son and I have been going through it once now from start to finish, the results being unimpressive but instructive.
One word of warning: if you’re an experienced printer and don’t like to see amateurish behaviour and cruel use of materials, stop reading now!
That being said, we’ll start quite harmless:

Halftone Film Positives

These were easily made from the medium format negative on 5×7 inch Adox halftone sheet film, developed in Tetenal Eukobrom.

People Camera

Parkours Du Chien

Here, as promised, are further impressions from the first few rolls of film done with the new-to-me Nikon S3 LEB. It is refreshingly uncomplicated to work with. No built-in exposure meter means you meter the light with an incident meter before you go into a scene and keep it at that, possibly eyeballing it for vanishing light, opening up the f-stop as you go. That’s taken care of, now we dispense with focusing. It is advantageous to do an estimated focus by turning the lens barrel to the approximate distance your subject will be in. Fine focusing is done with the middle finger on the wheel at the front of the camera, the index finger falls naturally on the shutter release, making that operation and image taking an instant and one-handed operation.
And oh, seeing the subject: just keep both eyes open, it’s a 1:1 viewfinder! You remain concious of your subject’s environs up to the limits of the field of view of your left eye.
Everything on the camera being mechanical, there is no perceptible shutter lag. Could I have captured my son vaulting over our dog’s leash otherwise?
In fact, the Nikon S3 LEB is so conductive to taking fast impressions of fleeting moments (aka snapshots) that I’ve declared it my people camera.