The Photog Formula

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

As I’ve been doing more and more alternative process photography and doing a lot of research on the web, I’ve come to the conclusion that there are endless “Photographic Possibilities.”

And, ironically, that’s exactly what I got from my loving wife this morning, “Photographic Possibilities; The Expressive Use of Equipment, Ideas, Materials, and Processes” by Robert Hirsch.

I haven’t done a lot of reading from it yet, but I know it’ll be one book close at hand at all times!

I’m sure I’ll be using it along with my Darkroom Cookbook while I do assignments for my independent study photography class.  I can’t wait!!

====================

I’d also like to take this opportunity to mention another photo blog I came across; Elizabeth Briel.  She does a lot of cyanotypes that are amazing!  That’s another process I’d like to try and I’ll be referring to her site for help.

Thanks for dropping by, and have a great weekend!!

Well I finally got around to editing my video on how to make a PVC Lightbox!

I’m teaching myself how to use Final Cut Pro because I’m tired of the limitations of iMovie.  (I’m also doing a promo video for the high school and need to do a better job than iMovie!)

So after a little messing around, I got the video done last night.

Please note also that I shake, a lot!  That’s normal and not because I’m nervous or on drugs.  It’s called Essential Tremors and I don’t really notice most of the time, until I watch myself on video!

So without wasting anymore time, here it is.  Enjoy!

Comments are always welcome!

DIY Lightbox

(I’m sorry, the video is too big to upload directly to my blog!  It runs about 12 minutes.  Next time I’ll have to limit myself!!)

Here is an image of the completed project:

Well here we are, 2010!

I was thinking the other day of everything that’s happened in the past 10 years.  First of all, those 10 years went fast!

In 2000, I was going back to Europe for my second tour in Germany.  I spent New Year’s Day at a place called Scooter’s Bar & Grill here in town with friends.  I remember the last song they played before the clock struck 12 was “1999″ by Prince.  Then they threw the CD onto the dance floor and everyone danced and stomped on it.

In 2001, I was in Germany when the most tragic day in our modern history took place.  We were getting ready to get off work when we got the word that the World Trade Centers were hit by terrorists.  None of us could believe it.  My wife called me from home crying wanting to know what was going on,  and I told her to keep watching the TV because at that point she knew more than me.  I don’t think I saw any of the news footage until three weeks later.

I was still in Germany in 2002.  Life wasn’t the same after 9-11 and we were training harder than ever preparing to go to war.

In 2003, I left Germany to become a recruiter in Pennsylvania.  I didn’t get to go with my platoon to Iraq, something that I regret to this day.

2004 was a busy year.  My second son, Finn, was born on March 30 in Erie, Pennsylvania.  My wife and sons went back to Germany while I was being discharged from the Army.  I was diagnosed with Essential Tremor and told by the doctors that I would never get back into my combat job, which was the Cavalry.  I was crushed, but knew I didn’t want to sit behind a desk for 12 more years, so I decided to get out.  It took 11 months before I was discharged, on November 10.  (Leave it to the government to take as long as possible!)  But I thought it fitting that I was discharged one day before Veterans Day anyway.

Then, from 2005-2009, chaos.  We moved back to Wyoming, stayed with my parents for awhile, moved out, held numerous jobs, went back to school a few times, moved again, and got a degree.  I’m now pursuing a degree in Secondary Education.  I’d like to teach photography.  I also have plans to move again, but this time out of the state and to a warmer climate.  Although I used to love the snow, I was a ski instructor and was on the mountain 3-4 days per week, I’m now older and wiser!  If I don’t have to be out when it’s 20 below zero, why should I be?

So here we are, in 2010.

I was out driving around trying to find something worth taking a picture of.  I was actually on my way home, without ever taking my camera out of the bag, when I drove past the 34th road kill.  (Yes, I was counting!)  But this time, there was a massive bird making a meal of it.  As I drove by I noticed the iconic white head and immediately hit the breaks.  It’s not every day that you see a Bald Eagle, especially 3 feet off the road.  (Although while driving around today I saw two more!)

I turned the car around and pulled off the side of the road, getting as close as I could without scaring off the most beautiful bird in the world.  However, two cars passed me and off the eagle went.  I sat there waiting for it to fly back, but it didn’t.  I drove off thinking I’d missed a great shot, when I saw it again flying back and perching on the fence.  Again, I turned around and stopped right across from it.  I quickly aimed the camera and got 3 shots off before it flew off again.

After a little playing in Photoshop, I came up with my first photo of 2010.

I hope you enjoy!!

If you’d like to see a larger image, please visit my Flickr page or DeviantArt page.

I guess it pays off to write a wish-list for Christmas.  This is the first year in a long time that I wrote a list.  It’s actually an “all-year” list, and not just for Christmas.

And of course, everything on it was photography related!

A few of the things that were on the list, and that I was fortunate enough to get, were OHP Transparency Paper, The Darkroom Cookbook, Third Editionby Steve Anchell, Experimental Photography Workbook, 5th Edition by Christina Z. Anderson, an 8X Loupe, and a Diana F+camera.

The books are awesome.  If you haven’t read them, I would highly recommend you check them out.

Now, the Diana.

As you may know, I’ve been doing a lot of experimental photography in the darkroom.  I’ve made a pinhole camera out of a coffee can, done solargraphy, developed both film and prints using coffee, and even made some digital negatives.

With the addition of the Diana, I can now enjoy lomography!  And because I just couldn’t wait any longer, I put some Ilford Delta 100 film in her and started taking pictures.  The Diana F+ includes a flash, colored gels, 2 masks (for 16 shots and panoramic shots), and a pinhole setting.  Everything I need in one plastic camera!

Once I was done with the roll of film, I decided to develop it once again using coffee.  (If you haven’t done this before, check out my post on how to do it – Caffenol – Developing Film with Coffee).

The negative came out a little light without much contrast.  But I scanned them anyway and tweaked them a little in Photoshop.

And so here they are, in no particular order:

Thanks for visiting!!

Here I am, at 12:37 am, thinking about the direction I want to take with my photography.  Why?  For one thing, I’m in the middle of taking a series of 30 seconds exposures to create an image of star trails.  Why I started this tonight when I have a 9 o’clock class tomorrow morning, I don’t know.

I’ve been doing quite a bit of work in the darkroom lately developing 35mm, 120mm, and even some paper negatives from my newly created pinhole camera.  I had forgotten how fun it was to actually create your own photos.  Not just taking them, but making them.

But I’m a bit discouraged.  I don’t know what I want to do with my photography, where I want to go.  I do know a few things, however:

I don’t want to be a wedding photographer.
I don’t want to be a pet or children photographer.
I do want to be unique.
I do want to be creative.
I do want to have fun in the process.

So where does this leave me?  I seem to spend more time searching and viewing other photographer’s work then I do working on my own.  And at the end of the day, I feel like I’ve accomplished nothing.

This is not what I want to do.

Sometimes I feel like giving up, throwing in the towel, and saying, “To hell with it!  I’m not going to get anywhere anyway!”

Then there are days when it all seems crystal clear.  Those days are few.

I enjoy taking photos of many things; architecture, landscape, urban, macro, the stars, abstract, just to name a few.  Do I need to pick one and concentrate on that?  Or do I continue taking pictures of everything hoping something will “click”.

I great photographer once told me not to limit myself by choosing a genre, but to take photos of whatever I wanted.  I like that advice.  But what do I do with it?  (BTW that photographer was Clay Enos.)

I’m frustrated by the fact that I don’t have a studio space, or the clientele to warrant getting one.  I feel cramped in my house.  And now that the weather is turning colder, it’s only going to get worse.

I’m relieved that I have access to a darkroom where I can escape for a few hours.  But that, too, will not last.

Then there’s this blog.  I feel horrible about not posting regularly.  But on the other hand I don’t want it to fill up with posts like this one.  So if you’re a reader, thank you so much for sticking around!  I promise there won’t be many of these “ramblings”.  However, if I don’t post for awhile, it’s because I don’t feel like what I have to say at that moment is worthy of your precious time.

Thank you for sticking through this.  Goodnight.

I’ve been doing a lot of alternative photography lately.  Since I started a black & white photo class I’ve been experimenting more with developing film and using medium format cameras.

One of the coolest developing processes I’ve come across is developing film with coffee.  At first I thought, “Yeah, whatever.”  But since I’ve done it, and actually got some results, I’m more than convinced.

So here’s how I do it:

The first thing you’re going to need are some materials.  Here’s what I’ve used:

• Exposed film (if you didn’t know already!)
• 12 tsp Instant Coffee (NOT decaf)
• 6 tsp Washing Soda (Arm & Hammer laundry soap work good…powder kind)
• 1/2 tsp Vitamin C (not necessary)
• Water at 68 degrees F
• Fixer (the only darkroom chemical you’ll need)
• Processing Tank
• Film Spool
• 3 Glasses
• Spoon
• Measuring Spoons
• Funnel
• Thermometer
• Stop Watch
• Bottle Opener (for 35mm film)
• Scissors (to cut lead and spool off 35mm film)

** The amounts above are for developing 120 film.  If you’re developing 35mm film, just cut the amounts in half.

Step 1:  Prepare Developer

For 120 film you’ll need to add the coffee and washing soda to 250ml of water each, and the vitamin c to 200ml of water.  If you’re developing 35mm film you’ll add the coffee and washing soda to 125ml of water each, and the vitamin c to 100ml of water.

Mix each ingredient separately in 3 glasses to ensure they dissolve completely.  Then pour the 3 mixtures into one larger container, like a 2 liter soda bottle.  Let this mixture sit for 5-10 minutes to get rid of all the bubbles.  Now’s a good time to prepare your film.

Step 2:  Load Film

While your developer is settling you can prepare your film.  In a dark room, remove film from canister and load onto the film spool.  It must be completely dark or you’ll expose the film.  I use a closet – and my wife then tells me not to come out!  Haha, she’s funny!  Once the film is on the spool, put it into the processing tank.  It’s now safe to come out of the closet!

Step 3:  Develop

Pour the developer into the processing tank and start the stop watch.  Agitate the film continually, by inverting the tank upside down and back upright, for the first minute.  Then agitate 3-5 times every 3 minutes after that.  I developed my film for 25 minutes using the above recipe, and the film turned out great.

Step 4:  Rinse

Pour the developer down the drain.  (It’s non-toxic!)  Fill the tank with water (68 degrees F) and pour it out.  Repeat this process 5 times.

Step 5:  Fix

Add the fixer to the tank.  Agitate again for the first minute.  Then, every 25 seconds, agitate 3-5 times.  Repeat this process for 3-5 minutes.  When finished, pour the fixer back into the fixer bottle, because you can reuse it.

Step 6:  Wash

Rinse the film for 5-10 minutes.  You can also fill the tank and dump it out about 10 times.

Optional:

As a final rinse add 2 drops of liquid soap to about 16oz of water and agitate 5-6 times.  This will help reduce the amount of water drops on the film.

That’s it!  Once you’re done, you can pull out the film and see the results.  Let the negatives dry, preferably overnight, before scanning or handling them too much.

The results are quite amazing!  I scanned the negatives, cropped them, and got rid of some of the scratches.  But that’s all the post-processing I did on these images.  The brown tint they have is from the coffee.

Just like any alternative process, don’t be afraid to fail and have fun experimenting!

With all the hoop-la about photo restoration, I thought I would go against the grain and do something different.

We’ve all seen the old photos of grandma and grandpa at their wedding, or uncle Ted at the birthday party.  These photos have probably been sitting in a box up in the attic without the proper protection, and have all but been destroyed.

Then we’ll see them restored back to their original state, or sometimes even better with added color and effects.

But what about those photos that haven’t yet made it to “vintage” status?  Well, I pulled up a few of my photos from the Army and decided to go try the process backwards – making newer photos look much older.

I chose the military photos because they just seem to fit the style I was after, but you could do this with any photo.

Here I am sitting in the back of my Bradley Fighting Vehicle after a
long day of training.

I used a combination of effects to achieve the look.  I first applied an old photo look to them using an Alien Skin Exposure 2 filter.

Here I am again with the ammo I was going to fire downrange.

I used the Black and White filter and chose an effect under the “Early Photography” folder.  If the effect wasn’t exactly what I wanted, I just played with it until I was happy.

This one is of a Bradley rolling down the trail.

After I got the look I wanted with the photo, I took it into PhotoFrame 4 to apply the frame.  This is one great plugin for Photoshop!

It was actually a little difficult deciding on which frame I wanted to use, but I finally settled on what you see here.

A couple of soldiers waiting on the Blackhawk.

So you see, you don’t always have to make photos look brand new and modern.  With just a little creativity and experimentation you can make a totally good photo into one that’s in need of some restoration!

If you’d like to know how I did this, I’d be willing to put together a tutorial.  Just let me know!

Summer’s over, Fall is quickly approaching, and that means that the holiday season is getting near.  I know, some of you don’t want to hear that there are only 113 days until Christmas, but that’s life.

Every year I feel blessed to have the family and friends that I do.  We share memories during the season and have dinners together and reflect on life’s activities.  But what about those who are less fortunate?

They don’t deserve any less than the next person.  They may just be unlucky in life.  But that shouldn’t matter during the joyous holiday season.

I came across a blog post the other day from Zack Arias.  I’ve bookmarked his site and think you should as well.  He’s a great photographer from Atlanta who doesn’t hesitate to help….anyone.

He recently posted a video from a guy named Jeremey Cowart.  This video has inspired me.  It’s made me sit back and think about what I have, and be thankful for it.

Jeremy has started a photography project called “Help Portrait” and it’s worth every second of your time to watch it.  I will be participating and I think you should too.  Even if you’re not a photographer you can still help.

Go watch the video. Then make the decision to do your part to help.  I would love to hear your responses.  Just post them in the comments.

Thank you.

Just being a photographer is great.  But unfortunately it won’t pay the bills.  What do I mean?

Well, you can take all the greatest photos in the world, from exotic locations to backyard shots, but if nobody sees them nobody will buy them.  You can also have the best photo services in the industry, but if nobody knows you do it you won’t gain any customers.

So how do you get the customers and sell your prints and services?

I ran across a guy, Tyler, that will show you exactly how to do it.  He’s not a photographer, (his father is), but he does know the business and has been marketing for many years.  He is going to show you exactly how to “get massive exposure on the web and have new clients swarming to pay you top dollar for your photography skills”.

Excited?  I am!

You can read more about him along with some great photography articles on his blog, ThinkBigArt.com.

You may also want to just watch the short video he put together, Over[Exposure].

So go take a look.  It won’t hurt.

I had an engagement shoot last Saturday in Story, WY with a beautiful young couple, Tyler and Gillian.  They were great to work with and we all had a lot fun.

They wanted to do some outdoors shots, so we headed to Story, where they are getting married, to see what we could come up with.  I was a little worried because we were supposed to have some thunderstorms that day which could have been disasterous!  But as luck would have it, the weather was just wonderful.

It did rain the night before so everything was wet, but that didn’t slow them down!  They were willing to try everything I threw at them and never complained about sitting on a wet patch of moss.

Here are a few of the better shots of the day.  I hope you enjoy, and comments and critiques are always welcome!