February 2005

January 31, 2005

The final days of my darkroom in my old apt....

January 31, 2005

I bought my first SLR on Friday. An SLR (Single Lens Reflex) differs from the Leica's I've been using in that when you look through the viewfinder, you are seeing at what the lens sees. With rangefinders (Leica and their ilk), you look through a little window on top of the camera. When you change the lens on a rangefinder, the view doesn't change only little crop lines appear showing you what your focal length should cover. Rangefinders excel in available light photography. You can use a flash with them, but you're left at the mercy of the auto modes on your flash.

Ultimately, it's this inability to predictably use a flash that drove me to get an SLR. I picked up an older model Nikon, the 8008 with a 35 1.4 lens and the SB-28dx flash. The flash is pretty sophisticated. I can shoot closer to my subjects with the flash without overexposing them. Before, I was limited to a working aperture of F4 at 5feet. Anything closer would lead to sever over-exposure. Now I can shoot a foot away at wide apertures. The advantage of this is that I can think less about my relative distance to my subjects and I can use larger apertures so I can burn ambient light in quicker.

Anyway, my first few rolls show promise, though it will take some time before I fully master it.

Just food for thought...

January 27, 2005

January 25, 2005

I developed my first set of film in my new darkroom today. It was strange navigating in the dark again. I had become so use to my old setup that I really didn't need to see anyway. Anyway, I was only able to develop 8 rolls of film because I've run out of negative sleeves. Have to pick up some more tommorrow. Some snaps from the film:

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January 24, 2005

My darkroom is nearing completion. I'm going to try to develop my first rolls of film in the new apt. My easel, dichrohead and contact printer are still at my old apt. I have to assemble this verticle shelving I bought at IKEA so I can stack my trays in the small bathroom. I should be set to do film tonight though.

Here are some snaps from this weekend, a metal work show at 2nd City Council's new gallery space. It was well attended and some of the work was really great. I bought some Fuji NPH 400 and NPZ 800 to test out. I accidentally rated the NPH at 800 though and had to have it pushed one stop in development. The colors still look pretty good. No overly magenta/red cast on skin tones. Definitely better for people than the FujiPress and Superia.

January 20, 2005

Moving has been a pain. Literally. I hurt my back a few days ago and I am only now able to walk without too much pain. I went out to the beach this morning and took a few snaps. They had consolidated the many piles of trash into really large piles of trash.

There was a mother and child playing by this huge pile. I took a few snaps, trying to show the contrast between this beautiful mother/child moment juxtaposed to a heap of debris. I tried to get closer but I could tell that the mother was real defensive so I layed off. I walked over to where the tractor equipment was. There were these huge metal contraptions that look like giant hair clips that are used to comb the beach. I got low and shot wide positioning the teeth of the comb in the lower part of the frame. I waited for a few bikers and runners to pass between the teeth and took a few snaps.

I went down to the East Village and took some photos at The Village Grind coffeehouse. I'm trying to fill in some gaps for my show at Koos. I'm hoping to spend a few hours a day in the EV to take some some photos.

Unfortunately, I haven't set up my darkroom yet. All my chemistry is in my old apt. and without a car to move it all, I'm left to imagining the shots I've taken.

January 19, 2005

I took a portrait yesterday of Alex Hernandex, owner of Alex's bar in Long Beach. The bar itself was pretty dark, so I positioned him towards an open door during the interview. There was just enough light to show some of the bar details in the background to place him. He had a great expressive face that is really brought out by the contrastier lighting from the door.

Shot with FujiPress 800, a film that's slowly growing on me. I find that I have to over expose it by atleast a third of a stop for best results.

January 18, 2005

I've been moving all week so I haven't had a chance to update much. Here's some images I managed to scan last night from this weekend. First few 3 images are from an closing reception at Agua y Viento. The last three are from SoundDome an experimental music event in Long Beach.

January 12, 2005

Almost 1am. Just finished drying some prints. I haven't made a wet print in a few weeks. Getting the scanner has sort of spoiled me. It was worth printing though. I made a nice 11x14 enlargement of my photo of the debris on the beach and the birds flying above a small group of people. Came out well. I also dug up some negatives I've been meaning to print. I found a photo of my neighbors Tim and Natalie. It was taken on the last day I saw them. The day they left for Nashville a few days before Christmas.

January 10, 2005

One of my storm photos made the front page of the Downtown Gazette today. Yay! It was the color photo of a woman jogging on the beach, framed between two piles of debris.

January 9, 2005

Shot two more show openings last night...the first two are from Gallery 33. They had a show on Urban Landscape. I thought the pair sitting at the bench was perfect, as if they were sitting on a bus bench within the painting. The light was good. I was shooting Fuji Superia 800 and Fuji Press 800. The third photo is of Jonathan who is having a show right now at OPEN Bookstore.:

January 8, 2005

One from last night at the museum. Going to go out in the rain this weekend to take more snaps.

January 5, 2005

It's been raining like cats and dogs the last few days. Whenever that happens the beach becomes awash with trash from the LA river. I went out the last few days to take some snaps.

January 2, 2005

It's been a nice and relaxing last few days. Had a few days off. Shot some personal photos for awhile. I went to a small family gathering this past weekend. I was struck by the number of new toddlers running around and the widening age gap between some family members.

December 2004

November 2004

October 2004

September 2004

August 2004

July 2004