Landscape

Walking The Beach With A Hasselblad SWC

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Sometimes it is really nice to just walk out your front door with a minimal amount of equipment and venture out on a solitary journey without much of an agenda. That’s exactly what I did a few weeks ago on a stormy Saturday morning when I left my house with a Hasselblad SWC and a couple of rolls of Rollei RPX 100 black and white film. I made it a point to keep my day light-weight so I didn’t even bring a tripod with me. Just the Hasselblad, the film, and a small hand held light meter. My water bottle and a few snacks took up more weight in my kit, just the way I wanted it.

Photographed with a Hasselblad SWC and Rollei RPX 100 medium format film.

I headed north to familiar territory, the riverbanks along Sauvie Island. I’ve made hundreds if not thousands of image on Sauvie Island and I’ll probably make thousands more before I leave this planet one day. I think most photographers can relate - it is just nice sometimes to have a place to go to make images that is familiar. It’s like sitting down on the couch and watching a television show you’ve seen over and over and over. There is comfort in the familiar. There is liberation in looking at a scene in just an ever so slightly new way. No pressure to create something brilliant. Just look through the viewfinder and enjoy the process.

Photographed with a Hasselblad SWC and Rollei RPX 100 in medium format.

I’ve mentioned before on this blog that the Hasselblad SWC in some ways serves as a bit of a point and shoot camera for me. It’s small for a medium format camera and the focus is done entirely through making a reasonable guess between myself and the subject. Basically zone focusing. However the depth of field is so long due to the wide 38mm lens that zone focusing rarely misses. There is no such thing as critical focusing with this camera. The scene either is in focus, or it isn’t. 99% of the time I just leave the camera focused to ten feet in front of me and call it good. Everything else I can handle via the tried and true Sunny 16 rule, which is especially easy on an overcast Oregon day.

Facing The Storm - With Hasselblad In Hand

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I feel like every year as summer is coming to a close, and winter weather is on the horizon, I do at least one photo session where the model and I are rushing to outrun some incredibly foul weather. Such was the case a few weeks back when Floofie and I made a trip to Sauvie Island for some early morning photographs. The day started off warm with plenty of sunshine, but once we got out on location it was quickly turning for the worse with every passing minute.

With every challenge there is an opportunity however, so we made our way out to an open field and took advantage of the storm clouds heading our way, hoping to get through at least a few rolls of film before the rain started pouring down on our heads.

Photographed with a Hasselblad 500c/m and Ilford HP5 120 film.

For the black and white images I had quite a few rolls of the tried and true Ilford HP5 with me. I was expecting to do most of this particular session in a grove of thick trees that block out a lot of natural light. Had I known I’d be spending most of my time in a wide open field I probably would have brought a slower speed film with me. I could have easily gotten away with something like Rollei RPX 100 or even Ilford Pan F. ISO 400 film felt a bit overkill in this situation.

Photography has always been about running with what you have in your kit, so Ilford HP5 it was. In some ways it was a nice choice because I could just set my f/stop fairly small (I think these were exposed at f/11), turn the focus barrel to infinity, and let a long depth of field take care of most of the work while Floofie was free to move around and experiment with poses. Not a bad way to work at all.

Photographed with a Hasselblad 500c/m and Kodak Gold 200 medium format film.

It has been a while since I’ve done any “serious” photographed work with Kodak Gold 200 and this may actually be my first session with the film stock in medium format. I have to admit Kodak Gold really works in medium format for my tastes. Colors are bright and exaggerated in a way that reminds me of E-6 slide film while also retaining the grain that is typical of color negative C-41 film.

The grain isn’t too overpowering but it is definitely there. It gives the overall look a bit of a 1970’s cinematic quality which to me is quite pleasing. I need to make it a point to work with Kodak Gold more often. It may very well be my favorite color negative film at the moment.

Photographed with a Hasselblad 500c/m and Ilford HP5 120 film.

For most of these images I found myself down on my belly in the thick tall grass, stamping down the plants right in front of me with my left hand, so I wouldn’t get the grass blocking the frame, and operating the Hasselblad with my right. With an autofocus SLR this would be no big deal, but with the more manual nature of the Hasselblad it was a bit of a comical balancing act. I’m getting to be that age when my grunts and groans from rolling around int he dirt are a common sound during a photo session.

Photographed with a Hasselblad 500c/m and Kodak Gold 200 medium format film.

As we left the scene, packed up, and headed toward the parking lot where we left the car the rain was starting to come down. It was one of those strange sorts of late summer rainfalls, wet and sloppy in small spurts with patches of sun still visible in the sky. Anyone who has spent time in the Pacific Northwest will know exactly what I am talking about. There is a drama to this kind of weather, a kind of dance that takes place in the sky above us and the goal with these images was the mimic that a little bit on the ground.

I think we pulled it off.

...more with the Panon Widelux F8

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It’s been a long time since I’ve fallen so hard for a “new” camera as I have for the Panon Widelux F8. The unique design of the swivel lens has really opened up my creative eye to seeing the world in a slightly different way and over the last several months I’ve become addicted to the experience. I’ve written a couple of blog posts on this camera already which you can find HERE and HERE. I also recommend checking out the web page actor Jeff Bridges has made dedicated to his own work with the Widelux, which is incredibly well done.

Recently I sent the camera off to get a good CLA from a knowledgable repair person who knows far more than I do. I could tell the shutter speeds were a bit off and I’m already waiting anxiously for the camera to return to my possession so I can run more film through it. Still, I managed to do several photo sessions with it, most of which I have yet to even develop, so I should have plenty of images to work on the meantime.

Photographed with a Panon Widelux F8 and Ilford HP5 35mm film.

I’ll fully admit that about 90% of the images I’ve made with the Widelux aren’t particularly great. One of the Widelux’s greatest strengths is its ability to photograph an incredibly wide field of view. This is also one of its greatest challenges as well. Most of the images I’ve made with the Widelux just feel incredibly “busy”. There is just so much going on the frame that the composition is no longer pleasing to the eye. I don’t fault the camera for this as much as I fault my own lack of experience. My photographic failures with the Widelux are part of the fun and every bad image makes the good ones feel that much sweeter and more satisfying.

Photographed with a Panon Widelux F8 and Ilford HP5 35mm film.

With this collection of images, you can clearly see what an image looks like if you don’t set the camera level with the landscape. All of these images were done hand held without paying attention to the bubble level on the top of the camera at all. The result is a “warping” effect which in a lot of cases doesn’t look all that great, but occasionally looks interesting when done with some purposeful intent. If there wasn’t a model in these frames I’d probably dismiss these frames entirely, but when there is a figure to draw the eye into the center of the frame, the semi-circle of the landscape actually looks interesting.

Photographed with a Panon Widelux F8 and Ilford HP5 35mm film.

This session was also the first time I attempted to load film into the Widelux while outdoors. More importantly, I was loading the film outdoors with some incredibly intense wind and temperatures that made my fingers a little bit numb. Threading the film through several gears with barely working hands and a model patiently waiting in the wings proved difficult to say the least.

All part of the learning curve….

World Pinhole Photography Day (on 4x5 film!)

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Well, it looks like another World Pinhole Photography Day has come and gone. I certainly can’t be the only one when I say that it is hard for me to wrap my brain around the fact that it is currently the year 2023. Where on earth did the last three or four years go? I suppose COVID happened. That accounts for some of the whiplash. But still… I guess I’m just quickly hitting that age when time speeds up and the world around you moves faster than you’d like it to.

Photographed with an Ilford Titan Pinhole camera and Ilford HP5 large format film.

Perhaps it is for that reason that pinhole photography feels more important than ever in my life, and why I made it a point to go out and make some pinhole photographs on World Pinhole Photography Day. I’m no different than most people in that I spend the vast majority of my day in front of a computer. I even use that term “computer” very loosely. In reality I spend my day in front of a laptop with three screens, two smart phones, and several televisions pumping out 24 hour cable news. It’s mind numbing to say the least. Would I prefer to have far less screen time? Absolutely yes! But alas, I need a paycheck just like everyone else.

The simplicity of pinhole photography feels like a natural reaction to that unfortunate fact. It is my opportunity to slow it all down. To turn off every single screen. To work with a basic tool that requires slow and methodical interactions. Measure the light. Make an exposure calculation with my notebook. Compose. Open the “shutter”. Wait. Sometimes wait for a long time. Breath the air. Take in the silence. Repeat. It’s a refreshing experience to say the least. There are times when it actually feels like magic.

This year I decided to take out my Ilford Titan Pinhole 4x5 camera loaded up with Ilford HP4 film. I’ve been really happy with that camera ever since I bought it. While it might not be the most elegant looking of cameras, in practice it operates perfectly. It’s nice and light weight which means more room in my pack for film backs. Anyone who has ever worked with sheet film out in the field can understand the value of keeping the weight you carry with you to a minimum. Plus I like the focal length quite a bit. Equivalent to about 20mm on a 35mm camera the angle is nice and wide which is great considering composition is a guessing game with pinhole cameras.

Exposure time on this image was about 25 seconds metered at ISO 400. Negative was developed in Rodinal with a ratio 1:50 at 20C for 11 minutes.

Columbia River Gorge with the Mamiya RZ67

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It’s been raining something fierce here in the Portland area for the last few days. I don’t mind so much. I rather like the rain. It gives me a great excuse to curl up on the couch with my laptop, put on some very warm socks, and get caught up on editing images and watching movies. Over the next couple of days I plan on diving into a John Cassavetes box set I bought some time ago and will develop at least three rolls of film.

Photographed with a Mamiya RZ67 and Ilford HP5 film in 120 format.

I often don’t give my landscape photography the attention that it deserves. I’m keenly aware that it is less popular than the art nudes and figure studies and long ago I made my peace with that. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy doing it though. Heck, as I get older and more grumpy and have less of a desire to be around people I often enjoy doing it more. Landscape photography gives me the excuse to do something solitary without feeling lonely. There is something rather profound and good about that and I feel lucky to have a hobby that allows me to experience such a state of being.

I dragged my Mamiya RZ67 up a rather steep trail in order to make this particular image. I’m not the most physically active person on earth but I’m certainly not out of shape either. The trail up to this foggy hillside was a series of switchbacks that seemed to take forever, especially considering I had my Mamiya RZ67 with me (not a light camera…) a couple of lenses, a couple of film backs, a tripod, and a healthy amount of water and snacks. I don’t think it helped when you consider that it was a very foggy day and I couldn’t see the top of the hill where I was headed so I had no idea how close or far I was.

As always though, in the end it was worth it.