I might be ready for @polaroidweek
I’ll be getting out Sunday afternoon for a photowalk. 5 instant cameras. 10 packs of instant film.
It’ll be my first excursion with other photographers since February last year. Masked. It’ll be a ton of fun and I’m super stoked.
‘Roid Week Spring 2021 runs April 18 through 23.
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.
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.
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.
A barely recognizable night shot from back in the mid-to-late 60s. Converted from color to monochrome in Photoshop. Shot from up in the spectator stands on the west side of the track.
I’ve started posting my shots from Fremont Drag Strip on Instagram > @fremontdragstrip
I was around 15-16 years old when I took these pictures. I’ve shared them in a number of places on the web already, but not Instagram.
We’d drive past this unusual bit of modern architecture every time we visited Torri’s grandmother in Turlock, CA.
I couldn’t resist getting a few shots using the *ist D with the Lensbaby attached.
Converted to black and white in Photoshop using NIK Silver Efex Pro 2 plug-in.
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.
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.
Russ Morris. Slightly Obsessed With Photography since 1964. 