Can I Eat Him, Mom? Can I?

 

 

Rollei 35, 40mm f3.5 Tessar Lens

Kodak TMax 400 Film

 

I have a thing for Rollei cameras. My latest is the tiny little Rollei 35, a guess-focus camera with a jewel of a Tessar lens (collapsible). It has a meter, but no provisions for focusing. Seems I guessed the distance pretty well in this shot.

 

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And Another From the Handley Library - Fujifilm GS645S

 

Young Adult, by Reed A. George

Fuji GS645S, Kodak TMax 400 Film

 

I absolutely love how this image turned out. The "Young Adult" sign on the back wall was a bonus; I didn't even notice it when I was shooting the image! Too funny.

 

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A Rolleiflex Portrait - Now That's Nice Bokeh!

I really love my Rolleiflex 2.8F. I dreamed of owning this camera for a very long time. Through the generosity of my friend, Charlie, I was able to get it.

 

Lunchtime Portrait, by Reed A. George

Rolleiflex 2.8F Planar, Kodak TMax 400 Film, at f2.8

 

What an amazing camera this is. Oh, and if you don't know what "bokeh" is, it's the rendering of the out of focus portions of the image. I think the Rollei bokeh is the best.

 

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Visit to a Buddhist Temple - With My Rolleiflex 2.8F

Wat Lao Buddhavong, by Reed A. George

Rolleiflex 2.8F, Kodak TMax 400 Film

 

I made a visit to a local Buddhist temple that I'd never been to before - Wat Lao Buddhavong in Catlett, Virginia. Anticipating a festival that never materialized (I guess my information was wrong), I took the opportunity to walk around the grounds. These are a few of the things I saw there.

 

Shooting with TMax 400 in the bright sunlight and with snow still on the ground meant very fast shutter speeds (1/250-1/500) and small apertures. I did use a yellow filter, which reduced the sensitivity by about 1 - 1 1/2 stops, so really, I was shooting at an equivalent of about iso 150.

 

The square composition worked well for me here. The detail that the 2.8F's Carl Zeiss Planar bring out are just amazing.

 

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Some Panoramic Pinhole Images - Buddhist Temple

Here are three 6x17 shots I recently made at my meditation class:

 

These were made with the "Reality So Subtle" panoramic pinhole camera that my wife bought for my on my 50th birthday. It shoots four exposures on a roll of 120 film (TMax 400 in this case, which I developed in Kodak D-76 diluted 1:1 for 13 1/2 minutes). The top and bottom images were made with about ten seconds of exposure; the middle one took one hour.

 

(Click Here) to read more about the camera.

 

(Click Here) to see the images above at full size on my flickr page.

 

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High Work, Powerline Installation

I've been watching these powerlines get installed near my home.

 

One day, when they were working very close to the road, I drove home and picked up the Mamiya Universal Press (MUP) and came back to photograph the installers at work. I approached some guys on the ground, and explained that I was going to take a few photographs. They said no problem.

 

I shot all of these with the Mamiya 150mm f5.6 lens. I used TMax black and white film and the 6x7 Mamiya back. I cropped the first two images to 6x9 format, to eliminate a bad scratch on the negatives.

 

 

The guy on the wires closest to me in the picture above was new to the job. He and his boss (on the ground) were yelling at each other the whole time I was there. Dropping the F bomb left and right. The boss explained to me that he'd left a line in the wrong place, and had to retrace his earlier work. He also told me that if that little carriage they're in goes off the cables, you basically have to climb out and get it back on. Pretty stressful stuff.

 

 

It was certainly worth the stop to photograph them. I found myself wanting a longer lens for this particular subject. Maybe I'll go back and catch them with my Nikon DSLR and a 300mm lens.

 

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Film Fear-Mongering at Pop Photo?

 

Chinese Actress, by Reed A. George

Rolleiflex T, Kodak Portra 160 Film

 

As you probably know, I love shooting film. I have so far stuck with the big names in film, with few exceptions. Kodak TMax is my choice for black and white film in iso 100 and 400. Ilford Delta 3200 is my favorite fast black and white film (I shoot it at 1600). For color, I shoot mostly Kodak and some Fuji.

While there are some other great films out there, including many to try out at the Film Photography Project's store, I have been content to stick with my favorites.

I recently started to read an article at Pop Photo entitled "12 Films Worth Shooting With Before They're Gone". I thought that maybe they had some information on films that truly are on their way out. As soon as I started the article, I noticed that the first two films listed were my favorites: Portra 400 and TMax 400! Oh, no! Did they know something I didn't? Nope, I don't believe so. Their third listed film is Tri-X, the most beloved of Kodak standards still available. I am pretty sure I would have heard if any public announcement had been made about Tri-X.

Now, I'm not saying it won't happen. We may see the sad day when these films disappear. I'm just not convinced that now is the time to get people worried about it. So, thanks for nothing useful in this case, Pop Photo.

If you feel the need to read this article (as in, if you want to worry unnecessarily), you can
(click here) to see it on Pop Photo's site.

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Goodbye Minerva Lake

Backlit Leaves, Minerva Lake, by Reed A. George

Nikon F, Nikkor 28mm f3.5 Pre-AI Lens

Kodak Tmax 400 Film

 

My aunt and uncle are moving out of the house they've lived in since I was a kid. In Minerva Park in Columbus, Ohio, it's a place I spent a lot of time as a kid, going to the pool in the summer with my cousins. This may be the last time I ever have the occasion to walk around Minerva Lake. This picture will remind me of the place forever.

 

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Dreaming in Monochrom(e) - High ISO Analog!

I've been playing around, using my Leica M4-2 film camera as a test to see if I really want a Leica Monochrom digital rangefinder. (Click Here) to read more about it.

 

I said at the outset that I understand that shooting black and white film in a Leica M4-2 has its limits in terms of emulating the amazing new Leica Monochrom digital black and white rangefinder. For example, the Monochrom is noted for its great performance at high iso settings.

 

Well, I decided to "push" (quite literally) the high iso limits of the M4-2 by push processing Kodak TMax 400 film to iso 1600. It was quite simple. I just shot at exposure settings for iso 1600 instead of 400, then instructed my favorite processor (The Darkroom, www.thedarkroom.com) to push the film two stops. This cost an extra $2 in processing costs. Pretty reasonable.

 

Here are some results from a concert I attended. I'll start with one of my favorite local performers, Melissa Wright and her band Mink:

 

 

Mink, by Reed A. George

Leica M4-2, Kodak TMax 400 pushed to 1600

 

And a few more, these of the band Dry Mill Road:

 

 

 

Dry Mill Road, by Reed A. George

Leica M4-2, Kodak TMax 400 pushed to 1600

 

All of these shots were made with my Zeiss Sonnar 50mm f1.5 and Leica Elmarit 90mm f2.8 lenses.

 

As you can see, the contrast is pretty high in these shots. They don't have the amazing dynamic range of the modern digital monochrome. But, the film grain is quite nicely controlled in my opinion. In fact, I think these look better than equivalent shots with my digital rangefinder Leica M9 would at iso 1600. I may have to do that comparison to further convince myself. Already this little project is teaching me something about how much I can do with film and the M4-2. I haven't pushed a roll of film in years, and I feel that it frees me up to take the M4-2 along for shooting musical events that I would have only really considered the Nikon D700 for in the past. I'm pleased with that.

 

I also want to continue to extend this, seeing how TMax 400 holds up at 3200 and maybe even 6400. I'm sure it will start to degrade significantly at 6400. But, I think I may be able to pull of 3200 with no real problem.

 

From what I understand, Kodak TMax 3200 is no longer being produced, but Ilford Delta 3200 is. I used the Ilford film in the past, but found the grain to be very high at 3200. I liked that film much better at 1600. Considering that the Ilford 3200 is more than twice the price of TMax 400, I'm not sure I have much motivation to give it another try, especially when I can get this type of performance from the TMax.

 

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Self Portrait, In the Shadow

Me, by Reed A. George

Leica CL, Minolta Rokkor 40mm f2 Lens, Kodak Tmax 400 Film

 

There's one side of the camera lens that I distinctly prefer to be on - behind it. However, I did include myself in this image.

 

I loved the crazy shadow shape on the deck of this housing unit overlooking the Potomac River at Georgetown University. I can't decide if it looks like I'm ascending to that shape, or being oppressively threatened by it. It's graphic; you have to give me that.

 

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Barcelona's Placa De Sant Felip Neri

 

Placa De Sant Felip Neri, Barcelona, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Pana-Leica Summilux 25mm f1.4

iso 1600, f5, 1/320 sec

 
Placa De Sant Felip Neri, located in the Barri Gotic neighborhood of Barcelona, is a special place with a deep history. Originally the site of a Jewish cemetery, a baroque church was built here in the mid 1700s and still stands.
 
On January 30, 1938, during the Spanish Civil War, a bomb fell on the square, killing 42 civilians, including 20 children who were taking shelter in the basement of the church. In the images below, you can see the significant damage that the bomb did to the stone walls of the square.
 
While the shot above was taken with the Lumix DMC-G3, the remaining pictures in this post were taken at night with my Leica CL, Minolta Rokkor 40mm f2 lens, and Kodak Tmax 400 film. I did not use a tripod, and most were shot at 1/15 second exposure.
 
My goal was to capture the feeling that the place gave me as darkness fell. It is not a sinister place, but certainly has a dark history.
 

 

There is still an elementary school in the square. The children in these pictures were meeting their parents, and playing before walking home. While the pictures look dark and threatening (which was my intention), the kids were quite happily running around the square.
 

 

If the soul exists, many have flown skyward from this place. Remnants of those flights persist. Like a tidepool that stays intact after the tide has receded, this place holds memories for those old enough to remember, only vague shadows and moods for those too young.
 
I thoroughly enjoyed trying to capture the impression Placa De Sant Felip Neri made on me. The Leica CL was the perfect tool for it, even though I had to work carefully with iso 400 film and low light levels.
 

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