Portrait in Shadow

I’m really surprised this image came out at all. The shadows in the scene were really heavy and by the time I got around to working in this scene the sun was very high in the sky and there was just no getting around the light being harsh. I’m not one to just stop making images because the environment and the light are not ideal. I think this image is a pretty good illustration as to why I have that philosophy. Even though I would have preferred the light to be softer and the shadows less overwhelming, I still consider this to be a great portrait and I’m glad I made it.

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Sleeping In The Trees

Summertime means getting outside and making a whole lot of photographs. Of course this year that is happening a lot less than I’d like it to but I am still getting out some. We’ve only had a couple of days in these parts venture into the triple digit temperatures and for the most part it has stayed a nice and comfortable 80-ish degrees. That means lots of people volunteering to make photographs and I certainly don’t want to say no!

Up on Sauvie Island, just a little north of Portland, there are large groves of lazy trees dotting the cow fields and long abandoned farms. I wish I knew the name of the trees that dot the landscape there. I’m terrible at arboriculture (thought I do know that word!!). Many of them have these low hanging branches that stretch out like a person crawling along the floor. It is rather beautiful and it makes for some easy photographs. This photograph is actually a little deceiving as the model is only a couple of feet off the ground. Low angles really do wonders with how a photograph is perceived sometimes.

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That Silent Light

I was very fortunate last week to have what I would consider the perfect amount of natural light coming in through my living room windows. I was even more fortunate that Devon De Ville was just a phone call away and was happy to come by to work with me. We spent a lot of time twisting and turning on the couch while I moved about trying to get the best angle in relation to the nice subdued evening light pouring in past the curtains. It was a very simple setup, but I hadn’t had that much fun during a photoshoot in a very long time. I think every artist can relate to the fact that sometimes moments just light up so perfectly it is a thrill to be in command of the creative process. Even better when that creative process turns into more of a dance with someone you enjoy being creative with.

I made this photograph with the Hasselblad 500cm and Ilford HP5 film. Development was with my usual Rodiinal, stand developed for exactly one hour at a ratio of 1:100. This has been my go to formula for the past few months and I feel like I’m getting a pretty good grove with it. Of course, now the weather is changing really rapidly in the Pacific Northwest and the sun is starting to shine which means I’m going to have to switch to a slower speed film. For now though, I’ll just enjoy the results that I got here.

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Photographing for the Shadows

Life has been full of surprises lately. I can’t remember if I mentioned it on this blog yet or not but I just started a new job a few weeks ago so things have been busy. Income will probably be pretty tight for the next year or so while I work on making some life changes, but still, it is a relief to at least have a paycheck I can count on.

That does mean however that my backlog of photographic work is piling up a bit. As I type this I have a stack almost two inches thick of paper negatives I need to scan on the flatbed. It is a fairly tedious task, but I’m excited to share some more of those images soon as I’m becoming quite proud of the work. That is another good feeling in life. Making photographs one feels proud of.

In the meantime here is an older image that I’ve never shared on-line. I made this image with my old Mamiya 645e that I sold a couple of years ago. Sometimes I miss that camera. Though I never totally bonded with it there were times where it had some advantages. The aperture priority auto exposure was shockingly accurate, even in very contrasty lighting situations and I’m not sure I ever had a negative come out of that camera with a bad exposure. This image is a perfect example. Lots of heavy shadows and very light spots with the flood light pointed directly at the model’s back. I wasn’t thinking at all about the metering when I made this image and I just let the Mamiya 645e do the thinking for me. Not too shabby!

Anyway, more updates soon as I can get to them.

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The Couch with Natural Light

I’m starting to venture back into photoshoots which feels really great. Just small ones for now where reasonable social distancing can be observed. So that more or less means working close to home . Hey, I’ll take what I can get and I’m just thrilled to be practicing a creative outlet again after working in isolation if at all for the last several months.

This image was made on the couch in my living room using only natural light. The model was one of my personal favorite people to work with, Theresa Manchester, who always manages to bring a great level of professionalism to every single thing we do together. I’m very fortunate to have living room windows that face directly west which means I get some incredibly brilliant light late in the day. There is a lot of great detail going on here in the wrinkles on the feet, something I quite enjoy when done properly and I think this is a great example.

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