so many stars

Photosythesis

scott — Wed, 16 May 2012 05:14:21 +0000

Photosynthesis (from the Greek φώτο- [photo-], “light,” and σύνθεσις [synthesis], “putting together”, “composition”)

Photosynthesis - Sie Ist Idaho

Edge.80

scott — Sun, 13 May 2012 04:32:59 +0000

So, while I was in Portland, I got to catch up with Sam, one of the founders of Lensbaby. We’ve been passing friends on Facebook for a few years now and I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to meet the founder of a company I truly admire. Sam was gracious enough to give me one of their new Edge 80 optics to try out with my Composer.

The Edge 80 is a really nice 80mm optic with a 12 blade aperture that opens as wide as f/2.8. But you can tilt the optic within the Composer and get a really lovely selective focus effect. It’s similar to what you can do with a view camera, but when it’s sitting on a small DSLR body you can take it places that you would never be able to go with a large format camera.

The shot below was done in a very small kitchen with natural light from the windows while I was sitting on the counter top. This would be nearly impossible to get with a view camera and I really love the creamy, soft out-of-focus areas. I think I’ll be using this quite a bit yet before I return to PA. Stay tuned for more results.

Veronica - Edge 80

Potassium Dichromate and Other Influencers

scott — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 02:16:30 +0000

so, i’ve been itching to get down into the darkroom again and try contact printing some of my 4×5 negatives with some of the traditional processes that i love. friday’s experiments with salt print didn’t produce much worth noting. and saturday’s experiments with van dyke brown just started out rather dreadful. the prints were coming out too dark and seriously lacking contrast. the images weren’t even close to how i’d envisioned this image printing.

Kacie, Van Dyke Brown - First Attempt

i tried several basic things like adjusting the exposure time, different papers, everything was giving pretty much the same result. i decided to take a break and i got a text message from a friend who models for me. “How’s the printing going?”

“Meh,” i tell her.

a few minutes go by and i get a picture message of her breasts with the message, “here maybe this will help.” well, in my experience, lovely female boobs always help make any bad situation better. and maybe it freed my mind up a bit, but i said to myself, “you know potassium dichromate is supposed to be a contrast booster!” so i double coated some of the sheets i’d already coated, adding a couple drops of K2CrO7 this time.

and BAM! just like that, i get something like this:

Kacie - Van Dyke Brown, Final Print

and now the right side of the print is clear, there’s sufficient depth of dark tones in her hair and lips, and the nice subtle shadow on the left side.

so, the moral of the story is, anytime you’re feeling like things aren’t working call up a friend and say, “you know i haven’t seen your boobs in a while, would you mind helping me out here?” and if she doesn’t delete your phone number from her address book, you might make a discovery that you didn’t think you would find.

Quiet Before Sunset

scott — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 05:33:49 +0000

Quiet Before Sunset

working in the late afternoon when the sunlight streams into the room and illuminates everything with a soft beauty.

model is Ginger

Pinhole Day is Coming

scott — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 05:16:39 +0000

I-78 Bridge over Little Lehigh River

Worldwide Pinhole Day is coming on April 29th this year. so, I’ve been practicing. now i need a nude model that can hold still for about 5 seconds.

homemade foam core pinhole camera with precision drilled pinhole.

I-78 bridge over the little lehigh river, allentown, pa

Ray Tracing

scott — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 03:45:41 +0000

i see a lot of images like this. shadow play and the figure, but to me they kinda all lack a bit of emotional grounding. i’m glad i managed to evoke some of that out of the model here.

it is, after all, for your enjoyment.

enjoy,
scott

ginger - ray tracing

model: Ginger

First 4×5 Enlargements

scott — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 20:57:47 +0000

so, i recently won an ebay auction for an Omega D-II enlarger which gives me the ability to make silver gelatin prints of my 4×5 negatives. having the ability to make original prints from these negatives is a real joy and it’s also kind of curious that this image printed out much differently than the scan and subsequent processing that i did. i really rather liked the fresh interpretation i got from this image. leave a comment with your thoughts.

Floofie - Studio #2, Silver Gelatin Print

Floofie - Studio #2, Digital Scan Processed in Photoshop

Not For What Should Be

scott — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 03:58:46 +0000

a mix of new and old. shot with my shen hao 4×5 field camera and accidentally opened for editing in Nik Software’s Snapseed desktop app. i usually work my photos in Photoshop, but once i had this image opened in Snapseed, i just decided to roll with it and see what happened. and i liked the results, so there. not everything has to be done a certain way.

Sarah - Not for What Should Be

model: Model Sarah

Caffeinated

scott — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 03:26:32 +0000

shot in my small studio on 4×5 film, this negative was developed in Caffenol, a developer based on coffee, sodium carbonate, and vitamin C.

development was at 72°F for 12 minutes, a bit warmer than i’d tried before, attempting to get a little more density on the negative. and i did.

Ginger - Caffeinated

Vernal Equinox

scott — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 04:51:46 +0000

a new model , with whom i’m a bit impressed. she approached me recently about being a fan of my work and wanted to try her hand at some art nudes. hopefully, we’ll have a chance to shoot again sometime soon.

model: Ginger

Vernal Equinox

shot on: Ilford Delta 100 (at 200 iso), scan from 4×5 negative