Recently a good friend posted a selfie he took of himself. What struck me was it wasn’t done with a smartphone or computer. He is into using an old Reflex 2 1/4 camera with Tri-x Film and it is a great image! It got me thinking back to when I started my career. Before I started doing commercial work I was doing and selling fine art photography. In 1975 I was the first photographer admitted to the Boston Mills Art Festival. It is now one of the biggest shows in the area. Because I was the first Don Getz, who ran the show then, asked me for an image they could use in publishing the show. Since most of what I did was using an old Burke and James 8 x 10 camera that could also shot 4 x 5 negatives, I thought what better way to do the image. So I trekked with my camera gear and a 3 x 4 foot mirror down to the steps of Virginia Kendall Park. Above is the imaged used! While I enjoy digital work, sometimes I think of pulling the B&J back out of mothballs!
Recently I’ve read a lot about creating composite images using Photoshop and layers. There was a time, before digital cameras, computers and Photoshop where things were created in camera! I was fortunate in working with clients that gave me total control over an image. This image was created for a magazine cover. We created the background using coal . Then each battery was placed in position. Our medium was a 4 x 5 camera and in this case we decided to use color negatives, just in case we had to do some retouching. Each bolt of lightening was created using Kodalith material. On the day of shooting we brought in twenty pounds of dry ice. Pieces were carefully placed behind the batteries to give the fog appearance. We then started the process of exposing film. First we had to capture a number of brackets for the entire set. Next we captured each bolt of lightening testing with Polaroids as we went along. Last we captured the sky using a projected 35mm slide image. In total, each piece of film had 7 exposures. Time to build the set, two days. In total it took us half a day to create all the negatives. Once processed we picked the best exposure along with the best placement of lightening bolts hitting battery terminals. A 16 x 20 print was then made. Retouching was done to two terminals where the lightening just missed. The client then used the final image to create the cover. We used this technique several times over the years that I worked with this client and others/
If you find this interesting, let me know, and i can share more of how we used to create composites in a world long gone. BTW we used about 30 Polaroids to test progress of the image.
Recently I’ve read a lot about creating composite images using Photoshop and layers. There was a time, before digital cameras, computers and Photoshop where things were created in camera! I was fortunate in working with clients that gave me total control over an image. This image was created for a magazine cover. We created the background using coal . Then each battery was placed in position. Our medium was a 4 x 5 camera and in this case we decided to use color negatives, just in case we had to do some retouching. Each bolt of lightening was created using Kodalith material. On the day of shooting we brought in twenty pounds of dry ice. Pieces were carefully placed behind the batteries to give the fog appearance. We then started the process of exposing film. First we had to capture a number of brackets for the entire set. Next we captured each bolt of lightening testing with Polaroids as we went along. Last we captured the sky using a projected 35mm slide image. In total, each piece of film had 7 exposures. Time to build the set, two days. In total it took us half a day to create all the negatives. Once processed we picked the best exposure along with the best placement of lightening bolts hitting battery terminals. A 16 x 20 print was then made. Retouching was done to two terminals where the lightening just missed. The client then used the final image to create the cover. We used this technique several times over the years that I worked with this client and others/
If you find this interesting, let me know, and i can share more of how we used to create composites in a world long gone. BTW we used about 30 Polaroids to test progress of the image.
So the other morning I rolled over, looked out the french doors and this is what I saw. Had to capture it while in bed since I knew it’d be done in a few minutes. Made me take pause to think about how fortunate we are to have what we call “Our little corner of heaven.” Hope you too will enjoy this image!
The holidays are rapidly approaching touchdown! Online NOW I have a series of images to brighten up any room! Panoramas of the CVNP and surrounding areas and a new series I call “Nature in The Abstract”. Images taken from nature that speak for themselves. Prints range framed 20 x 40 upwards of 30 x 70 canvas wraps! Visit today, orders place before 12/10 will arrive in time for the holidays!
Too often our conference rooms are boring, Granted their purpose is to hold meetings but what if you added some interest to the room to help boost creative thinking and possibly make it a place where people will come to brainstorm and work together simply because it has some interest. Here’s a short video showing some of the types of artwork we can install in your conference room to liven it up!
While I have been selling 20 x 60 images online, I have a friend who wanted something bigger. Here is the first 30 x 70 floating canvas wrap I’ve produced and it’s blown our minds! If you’d like any of my images this large send me an email and we can work out the details. Another one of my favorites was also produced this large. Hale lake and Chapel
I've always had a love for black and white images so I thought it would be a good time to have some fun! There is a new page under Portfolios of a few that I've started to play with. While the panoramas are still taken and processed with my Iphone4, they are brought into Photoshop where I convert them to B&W using Nik software and add back a touch of color that interests me. They are being printed on my new Epson Pro 4900 printer, Epson's newest addition to their great line of printers. Sizing is still 12 x 36 matted and framed to 16 x 40, though with the new printer I can print upwards of 17" wide and however long I want!
If interested in purchasing these or any of the other panorama images, please email me. I am working on setting up an online store but it's not there yet.
Would also love to hear feedback from anyone. Thanks
I'm new to this blogging thing so please bare with me. I hope to share some of my experiences while wandering the local area that encompasses the Valley National Park running between Akron and Cleveland, OH. I will also go back and forth between some of the experiences I've had over the last 35+ years of shooting. It's been a roller coaster ride, like so many other shooters. From a studio of one to a studio of 8. From 35mm through 8x10 and into the digital world starting back in 1992 when we installed one of the first Leaf systems available in the country. Since then I've shot nothing but digital and have loved every minute of it. In addition to doing commercial work I now spend a good deal of my time capturing panorama images of the area. Above is one I happened to capture just the other day after we had major rains and flooding caused by rising temperatures and melting snow. It, like all the other panorama images you can find in the portfolio area, have been shot and produced on my IPhone 4. How do they hold up? Well I export them and then print them with an Epson 2880 to 12 x 36, mat and frame them to 16 x 40 and they have been selling as fast as I can produce them.
