What a year it has been thus far, here is a brief synopsis in bullet form:
- Off to a busy start.
- Lots of studio time recording great musicians.
- Countless hours playing and watching basketball.
- SXSW (!!!!!), 43 bands in 4 days on crutches mind you.
- Photos in Recording Magazine.
- True love lost.
- Two page spread in 48HR magazine!
- Way too many airports.
- Lots of documentary/production work.
- Analog photo = 97.25%; digital photo = 2.75%
So much more really, but my focus this year has been on being offline, creating images by hand and building my body of work. Hence, this place has become rather neglected, and soon it is going to be sealed as a memorial of moments passed. I have created a mountain of work this year and am in the process of putting together a proper way for it to be viewed.
In the meantime, here are a few contact sheets for you to enjoy...
PEACE to you all!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Well Hello There
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Back In Action
Thanks to the loving generosity of a wonderful friend - I am now the proud owner of a very unique camera, the Zeiss-Ikon 510/2 - also called the Bob 510/2. So many things make this camera so special, first it was made in 1936 and for being 72 years old it is in fantastic shape (it was purchased from the original owner in a small coastal Spanish town). It uses 120 (medium format), which is very common and should (fingers crossed) be produced for many years to come.
It came with this cool leather carrying case which is also in fantastic shape for it's age, inside I keep a notebook, pen, and some exposure charts. Because there is no exposure meter built in, the aforementioned exposure charts are pretty crucial, unless you just want to wing the exposure. Each snap of the shutter I write down the shutter speed, f stop, focus distance, and scene details. Definitely not a rapid approach to photography, but certainly a record for a lifetime. 
To me the best part of the camera is the aspect ratio, which is 6x9! Pretty amazing for such a small camera, later versions went to the traditional square medium format (6x6). Below you can see that the negative from this thing is nearly 4 times the size of a standard 35mm - talk about resolution. However, this only yields 8 images per roll.
So far I have put three rolls of film through, and last night I developed a batch of C41 film by hand. Unfortunately, 2 rolls were damaged - partly to user error and partly because the new Kodak 400NC film stock really is horrible, very flimsy and hard to load, does not help I use a stainless steel 220 reel (always doing things the hard way). The surviving roll yielded an image I would like to share. Made this one on the platform of Civic Center BART - f/22, distance at infiniti, and winged it on the shutter time as the train sped by. 
PEACE to you all!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
The Moon, My Love
To achieve the effect on the print below, I used an Anti-Newton Glass 4x5 carrier and used blue artists tape to mask off a custom frame.
Chromogenic Print, 1/2, Hand Developed by the Artist
Not for Sale
PEACE to you all!
Friday, July 10, 2009
Fun
This is why I love film, there are things that can happen that are truly impossible to reproduce. Ultimately, this is a flawed photograph, my reel was a little wet which caused parts of the roll to stick to itself. But, to me it is beauty. This was a roll of Fuji Velvia 50, which I pushed to 100 and cross processed as C41 - developed by hand. Not sure what band this is, although I know that is Dr. Octagon's MC off to the right.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Fresh Batch
Spent about 3 hours on Monday evening developing seven rolls of film, then spent a subsequent 3 hours yesterday morning cutting, sleeving and scanning. I am pretty stoked on the results, but probably won't post to many of them here. Hand developing film makes the connection to the images so very personal to me, and just scanning many of them does not do the images justice. So, over the next few weeks I will be sneaking into the lab to print them by hand. 
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Screen Snap
Working on a video tutorial on how to develop your own color film at home. My first foray into video and Final Cut Pro has made me realize why I love still images so much :)
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Clothing Optional
Well, again this space has been unused for sometime and this time I am not going to apologize. As of late I have been spending less and less time on the computer and actually taking the time to enjoy life outdoors in the wonderful city I live in, I highly recommend it! Have been creating a lot of images though - all film - and developing rolls as well. Here is a shot of me at work with my Mamiya 645E manual out in Wilbur Springs.
Here is a link to a few more images from Wilbur.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Centered
Wow, it has been exactly two weeks since my last post - lethargy on my part I guess. It has been a great couple weeks, the opening went fantastic. Good turn out and the photobooth was a lot of fun. Here is a link to the photos, which I edited late in the evening a little left of sober so they turned out a bit darker than I would like.
On another note, the anniversary of my birth occurred yesterday, and to celebrate the Moon and I rented a car and headed north to Wilbur hot springs. Wilbur is a special place and the springs there were certainly the most healing waters I have ever encountered! The entire place was powered by solar panels and has zero cell phone coverage, it was nice to be off the grid albeit for a few short days. Also turns out the springs are clothing optional, an option we of course exercised! :)
Took a lot of photos over the weekend which I have yet to develop, for now here is an image that reflects my current state of being:
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Dev
I have been accumulating some black and white film at home over the last few months and over the weekend finally broke down and bought some chemistry. I developed a roll last night with some shots from xmas time. The image below was taken on xmas eve when I went on a hiking adventure with the Soulmates, a dedicated crew of hiking fanatics on Oahu.
I really did almost die on this trip. We were hiking to the Makapu'u tide pools - which are absolutely gorgeous. The surf report indicated a high surf advisory, but we were hiking at low tide so a group of decided to make the trek around the cliff-hewn lava coastline, giant waves smashing all around us. We got to one point where the cliff cut into the coastline so much that one section had become like a waterslide, slick lava rock that shot straight down into a washing machine of a break. So, of course as I am traversing this harry spot, a huge breaker popped out of the ocean and slammed me into the rock. I braced myself on all fours but started sliding down the slick rock, I managed to find some traction and hold on, barely getting out of trouble before the next wave of the set rolled in. It was a pretty harrowing experience, because if I would have slid down there was no way I was going to make it... 
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Dawn of a new era.
So I just got home from Hawaii late last night, trying to get back in the groove of things in SF and getting used to the chill!I developed about 12 rolls of film at Rainbow Photo while out of town, so I have lots of scanning to do. BTW, if you are ever in Hawaii, don't use Rainbow Photo! They ruined one of my rolls and scratched all the others, on top of that they don't even do push/pull processing. Unfortunately, I think they are the only lab on the island who does E6 processing.
The image below was created on November 4th, 2008 - shortly after I casted my ballot for our new president. So many more scans to come...
PEACE to you all!
Friday, December 12, 2008
Serve
California's rolling hills, as seen from Amma's ashram in San Ramon. Again, working with film that had been expired for over ten years. Notice how the light actually goes off the side of the frame and onto the register. Try that with digital, HA!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
F F F Film
This is what happens when you develop an expired roll of film in bad chemistry...
The National.
PEACE to you all!
