Toning.

First experiments.

Yesterday I fiddled with toning cyanotype. First experiments were fairly positive, with two, maybe three out of eight working out.

I used green tea.

Wet the print, then a bath in a tray with 2L water mixed with a spoonful of washing soda. The bleaching was quick and noticeable.

Then in a tray with green tea for about three minutes.

Then into a tray with water/H202 mix, really just a rinse.

Agitate at each step.

There was still a lot of blue showing, so I dunked and agitated it in the washing soda again and then back in the tea and it started to turn brown.

Last, a clear water rinse in the utility sink in our garage, then the print was hung to dry.

I tried a few different variations of the above, using prints from the past that didn’t make the cut. I have a whole folder of them. Success with cyanotype has not come easy.

The toning saved a few of those rejects.

Cool.

Car show peeps.

An experiment.

Pentax *ist D + Kodak Duaflex II

An experiment. TtV shots, all.

I cropped them square and cloned-in the rounded corners, where necessary.

I wanted to see if these portraits would work without the novelty of the rounded-corner TtV frame.

Interesting results. I think they work.

If I had to pick a favorite type or style of photography, I’d hafta go with portraits.

One person.

Groups.

Pairs.

Any camera.

All good as long as people are involved!

The car shows have been kinda key in my portrait taking and learning process. I like shooting cars, but there are so many cool and unique people waking around that it really is easy to find folks who’ll let me get a shot.

And I’m not shy about asking.

Instax Wide 300.

New toy. Yay.

This freakin’ thing is HUGE at 4″ deep, nearly 5″ tall, and 7 1/2″ wide. It weighs in at 1.62 lbs.

The pix are good sized, with the actual image 2 7/16″ tall x 3 7/8″ wide. The whole integral film packet is is 3 3/8″ x 4 1/4″.

I came with a snap-on close-up filter, but ~16″ is as close as it’ll let you get.

I opened the box, attached the strap, plugged in the batteries, then I burned through a 10-pack of the wide film walking around the house, garage, and yards.

Fun camera. It’ll take a little getting use to the heft, and framing with the viewfinder, but it does take pretty cool shots.

Vic’s addiction, Dead roses, Buddha, Lieve’s addition.

Downtown.

Around the plaza.

My familiarity with downtown San Jose is a result of working at The Tech Museum of Innovation from 2000-2006.

I did web marketing and design for the museum and it was the coolest job I had in my 43 years of working.

The museum was just off Plaza de César Chávez, kitty-corner from the San Jose Museum of Art. The Tech staff was housed in a building around the corner on West San Carlos, and I had a decent sized work-space near the entrance, big enough to park my old Schwinn Collegiate in my office.

Whenever the weather was decent, I’d jump on my bike at lunch and ride around downtown with cameras, my Domke F6 fitting perfectly in the basket hanging from the handlebars.

Lots to see and shoot, with San Jose State, City Hall, The Children’s Museum, Japan Town, and older parts of town well within reach on bicycle at lunch hour.

Jump ahead to 2007, after a short stint as webmaster for San Jose State I landed at Santa Clara University, where I did web marketing until I retired in 2015.

The lure of the city was strong and I would still head downtown on occasion, just to find interesting and unusual subjects for photography.

These six shots were taken around the plaza late December 2008 using my old Pentax K10D and a Sigma 28-135 ƒ/4 zoom/macro lens.

Box Camera Now.

A great little book by Lukas Birk & Photographers around the world.

I spotted this book on IG’s explore. Awesome. Had to have it.

The book shipped from France. Roughly 60 or so contemporary photographers who shoot mostly portraits with the Afghan Box Camera. It’s filled with short bios of each accompanied by a handful of their pictures.

At roughly 5.5″ x 7.5″ and 1.5″ thick, the covers are made from wood and the binding is a little sensitive. I’ve already separated a few pages from the spine.

The pages are all black with white text, which makes it a bit difficult – for me personally – to read. The black works well as a background for the images, though.

Content-wise, it’s amazing. Page-after-page of breathtaking black and white portraits. 335 pages in all.

A very nice addition to the Morris family library.

Learn lots more…

Colors 3.

Green.

Third in a series.

Also, see > Blue, Orange.

Four shots.

Circa 2006.

F Heart K, Sabrina’s Fancy Shoes, Spring Clean, Hollow.

Four shots with my first DSLR, the Pentax *ist D.

These images are all from my second photoblog, circa 2006.

I chose this particular camera because at the time, it was smaller, lighter, and easier to hold than any of the other brands.

It still works. And it’s in really good condition. Really. It looks like new.

It’s a great little camera. And I still have a good selection of lenses for it.

Colors 2.

Orange.

Second in a series.

Also, see > Blue.

Something new(ish).

Blue boy.

Back in February I attended a Cyanotype workshop at a local art center and by May I’d assembled the chemicals and miscellaneous tools and materials needed to get started.

I’ve made cyanos using bits of nature, cyanos of original geometric designs, and cyanos using digital negatives created from photos – old and new – picked from the archives.

These are the latest four photo-cyanos…

B’s reel
6″ x 6″ on 9″ x 12″ Canson Bristol board
Original image

Ol’ Glory
6″ x 6″ on 9″ x 12″ Canson Bristol board
Original image

ARS
6″ x 6″ on 9″ x 12″ Canson Bristol board
Original image

Whirlwind
6″ x 6″ on 9″ x 12″ Canson Bristol board
Original image

Kings Hwy.

The sign.

I maaaaay have taken a picture or two of this sign.

It stood at Washington and El Camino in Santa Clara, not far from the SCU campus, on a corner lot filled with old, dilapidated bungalows.

I drove past this sign on my way to, and from, work, every weekday for 8 years.

Some shots were taken with film cameras, some with digital.

I recall riding my bike the nearly 2.5 mile trip from our home down El Camino one Saturday morning – with a bag of cameras – to shoot this awesome sign.

A relic of a bygone era.

Sadly, the sign is no longer standing.

I checked Google Maps Street View and all that remains is an empty lot with a tan colored slat/chainlink fence surrounding it.

I’d bet it’s likely condos or high-density housing fill the lot today.

I hope someone saved the sign.