Impossible Project PX680 Test Film V4C and... Digital (Gasp!)

Today I have the last of my instant photos from my recent shoot with Hillary. This shot was taken on Impossible Projects PX 680 V4c Test film with an ND pack filter using my trusty SX70. Ligthen/Darken wheel was set about half way to darken, and, the photo was left unshielded out of camera but developed in my pocket away from any light source. Temps were pretty chilly this day so I tried to keep this photo warm, but, I think that may be partially responsible for the blown highlights.

To make up for the partially blown exposure (and because this is my blog and I can do whatever I want) today I'm also sharing some of the digital images from this location. I know it's become a rarity on this site for me to post anything digital, but, I do still shoot digital and see no reason not to share that part of my work here on occasion as well. So, enjoy.

iPhoneography - The Little Camera At Work & The TEDxCLE Intro

For the most part this blog has skewed towards analog photography and my love of old cameras, film and the resurgence of instant photography through The Impossible Project. But to be honest, I have a love and appreciation for all types of photography - including digital and film/video work - which is much more in line with what I do on a daily basis for work here in Cleveland.

While I have posted digital work before, and even some iPhone photographs, one of the things that I haven't shared a lot of here is video work. So, I figured perhaps one of the best ways to transition into that would be to share some recent work that we completed here in the studio I work for (Uppercut Motion and Sound) that is a combination of both video and photography.

The project, completed for TEDxCLE, was shot entirely with iPhone cameras. The final video, honoring this years theme "The Maker Class," was compiled from a series of photographs sourced through the very popular Instagram. Users around the area were asked to generate the content of the video themselves through photos of their city. We then sourced the content by following the user's hash-tag #TEDXCLEMaker. The piece was used as an announcement for the 2012 TEDxCLE speakers, an independently organized TED event here in Cleveland. The photos on this page are some of my contributions to the video as I'm a big proponent of Cleveland myself. 


Here's what it looked like:





Ironically enough, the timing of this video also just so happened to time up with the arrival of my first large format camera - a 4x5 Crown Graphic. Throughout the two weeks this project was going on I was out taking photos with both my iPhone and my Crown. The difference couldn't be any greater - from the size, to the speed of shooting, to the number of frames taken of each subject. The only constant was that the final product was a photograph... my photograph. While I was out, I noticed that I enjoyed something different about each form of photography, but, what I enjoyed the most was the realization of just how embedded photographic expression has become in my life the past couple of years.


Also - If you keep an eye out, you might find more people using Instagram integration in the future. Rufus Wainwright for one is already asking his fans to create a lyrical mosaic of his most recent single Out of the Game. You can read more about that here - but keep in mind Rufus... we beat you to it.

Impossible Project PX100 Test Film - Photos with Bridget

As promised in my previous post I am back to share some more photos of Bridget. This time on Impossible Project's PX100 test film. Being the first shoot that I've had in a while where I was able to work outside due to an unseasonably warm spring, these were shot in a couple different locations around the Cleveland area. The first two from the lower beach/breakers around Edgewater park, and, the second two from a random little alleyway downtown behind the Halle building.

These were both shot using an original model SX-70. Temperature outside was somewhere near 55-60 degrees f - and just to be safe I did keep these in a pocket to be sure it was warm enough for development. The alleyway that I took the next two in was a little darker, so, without a tripod the slightly longer exposure time did give me a bit of motion blur and a softer image.

And finally, just for good measure, I like to remind people sometimes that I do in fact still shoot digitally on a semi regular basis. This is especially true when I am shooting fashion and portrait work for mine or someone else's portfolio. So, below are two of the images that I recently finished from the above alley set. Enjoy.

Canon 5dMII - Ashley

I said I would post some digital, so here's some digital.


Also, I should have a few updates next week, as I hope to be taking many photos over this long weekend. Enjoy your Labor day!

Water Portrait

As usual, I'll start this post with the phrase, "I haven't updated this in a really long time..."

It's true, I just noticed that it was December the last time I posted a photo, which is probably the longest I've gone without posting anything new since starting this blog. Everything has been so busy this winter. I have shot a number of times with different models, but just haven't seemed to have time to put up the photos. Since then, I've also had my work put up for the first time in a small coffee and music shop here in Tremont called Loop. It's nothing much, but it's a start to getting work displayed, and it's actually already brought in some attention and requests from the people who have picked up my business cards.

For this post, I've chose a photo that I just did about two weeks ago. Sarah was scheduled to shoot with a photographer from LA who as in town, but like it often goes with photographers/models/stylists etc, the plans didn't shake out. Being that we had nothing else planned for the day I decided to do a little impromptu shoot here in my apartment with her. I've wanted to do something with water and the old claw foot tub that I have, so that's what we did. There is a nice mixture of natural light and a large soft box from above, and then it's cross processed to subdue the colors a little bit to fit the style. I'm pretty happy with it considering there was almost no planning behind it and the fact that I've never really shot anything quite like it. I think she likes it too... and two weeks later, I think almost all of the water is out of her ears now as well.

Photograph Info:
Location: Apartment
Camera: Canon 5DMII
Lens: 24-70 mm
PostProcess: Portrait Retouch

Artichoke Diptych

Well, I've had this idea for quite some time... I even scheduled a shoot for it, but because of a cancellation by the make up artist at the time it's just never happened. Since Sarah and I haven't shot together in a while, we decided to shoot something this past weekend, so I figured I'd give this a shot after all.

Sarah did the make up without knowing what my concept was...I just said, I want green and yellow, I'll be back shortly. I went and got equipment and the artichokes as well as some jewelry wire in order to make this neck piece. Between her and I it only took about half an hour to forty five minutes to make. It's basically single leaves wired together and then tiered on a ribbon to tie around the neck.

This really isn't my usual style, but I wanted to give this whole concept a shot. I've considered doing more, with different food types, to make an entire series. I'm just not sure yet, there is quite a bit of work behind this shot and the amount of retouching that goes into it. I've spent about two nights retouching skin and removing imperfections to single leaves of the artichoke...

Thoughts?

Photograph Info:
Location: Cleveland Ohio
Camera: Canon 5DMII
Lens: 24-70 mm
PostProcess: Tons.

The Bride and The Bike

So I haven't updated in quite some time. There really hasn't been a lot of time recently for random photography and updates, because I've been working quite a bit on shooting with a few different models over the past couple weeks and it's taken up a majority of my time... both in shooting them and the time spent retouching all of the images from the shoots.

This image here is one from my most recent shoot with Monika. She let me know ahead of time that she had a vintage wedding dress that she wanted to shoot in, but other photographers weren't really giving her the image she had in mind. So, I concepted a little bit darker of an image for a wedding dress using an alley by my apartment, and at the last minute decided to throw in my motorcycle as well.

Alas, here's the final image.

Photograph Info:
Location: Tremont, Ohio
Camera: Canon 5DMII
Lens: 24-70mm
PostProcess: Portrait Retouch

Hemingway

Another from Key West. This is from inside Ernest Hemingway's lofted writing studio.

There was actually a gate at the top of the stairs to stop people from going all the way in, so this was shot with a long lens from quite a distance. Unfortunately, that mixed with low light means this photo has a touch of motion blur.

Photograph Info:
Location: Key West, Florida; Ernest Hemingway House
Camera: Canon Digital Rebel Xti
Lens: 75-300mm
PostProcess: Levels adjustment/burn and dodge/Curves adjustment/sharpen

Under a Bridge

A really old photo of mine. I can't even remember where it was taken exactly. This was with a super zoom point and shoot camera, nothing fancy. Just a snapshot while walking back to my car, but I like it.

Photograph Info:
Location: Unknown
Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ15
Lens: Point and Shoot zoom
PostProcess: Levels adjustment/burn and dodge

Wicker and Wood

If you've never been to Key West, bikes and scooters are pretty much the preferred way to travel for many of the people around town. You end up seeing every kind of bike imaginable... rentals, custom choppers, tandem, etc. This particular bike was shot from the patio of the bar Willie T's late on my second night there. I thought it was an interesting, old bike. It wasn't until I got home and started working on this photo that I realized the entire body of the bike is actually wood with wicker accents.

There's something I really like about this photo. The colors are really nice, much more saturated then most of my photos. I actually shot this with my white balance in the wrong setting and decided not to adjust because I really ended up liking the blue hues in it. I think the reflecting lights in the street and shadowing up top add some nice dimension as well.

Photograph Info:
Location: Key West, Florida
Camera: Canon Rebel XTI
Lens: 18-55mm
PostProcess: Curves adjustment/burn and dodge/Sharpen

The Pier

So I just got back from my week long trip to Florida, and this is my first photo from the trip.

This was taken on my last day at the beach. A panorama of three images on a beach somewhere in the West Palm Beach area.

(Fullview recommended)

Photograph Info:
Location: West Palm Beach, Florida
Camera: Canon Rebel XTI
Lens: 18-55mm
PostProcess: Contrast adjustment/curves adjustment/saturation adjustment/crop/burn and dodge

It's not all fun and games

It's not all fun and games. Sometimes, you have to head out to a hospital, re-enact a surgical procedure, dramatically over light and then process the hell out of it. Oh, wait. That is fun.

Actually, this was a shoot for Marymount Hospital here in Cleveland. One of our clients. Starring one of our art directors, John Ferguson, as doctor. I'm sure they won't use quite the dramatic post production on their versions. I like it though.

Photograph Info:
Location: Marymount Hospital, Cleveland Ohio
Camera: Canon Digital Rebel XTI
Lens: 75-300mm (@ 75mm/F4.0/1/100 s)
PostProcess: Quick and Dirty

Night at the Rock Hall

So, I've neglected this for a few days. On the bright side, during my period of neglect I was actually out taking some new photos.

This Thursday we rented an F2.8 Fish eye lens for some work in the office. I figured while we had the lens, I may as well go out and shoot some stuff with it to see what I could get. Besides, I've always wanted to go down and shoot the rock hall, so after living in Cleveland for three years, this was as good an excuse as any.

I actually went down there right after work and shot for about an hour or so, and there's some photos that turned out all right. What I really wanted, though, was to get a good night shot. So, I met up with Jennifer for dinner and then we rolled back down to the waterfront together to get this shot.

You'll probably see a few more of these on here in time. I really like how they turned out.

Photograph Info:
Location: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland Ohio
Camera: Canon Digital Rebel XTI
Lens: 15mm Fish Eye (@ 15mm/F2.8/1/5 s)
PostProcess: Lens Correction/Sharpen/Curves Adjustment/Crop

A Walk in Tremont

Since this is my first post, and you'll probably see many portraits here, I decided to first post something more scenic. This Saturday I went for a walk in Tremont to take a few photos, and to specifically photograph this church after driving past it so many times. I've always envisioned it in black and white. Hopefully one day I can head back there and do something similar with my Holga to see how it turns out.

Photograph Info:
Location: St. Therdosius Orthodox Cathedral, Starkweather Ave. Tremont Ohio
Camera: Canon Digital Rebel XTI
Lens: 18-55mm (@ 33mm/F4.5/1/1600s)
PostProcess: Burn & Dodge/BW Gradient Mapping/Composite Clouds/Crop