Nudes

Santa Cruz Is Still My Happy Place

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It’s no secret that I got my start with photography in and around the Santa Cruz area in California. I think it is fair to say that sometimes a place can have just as much influence on a person’s artistic expression as anything else. Had I been born in New York or Paris or the wilderness of Australia my photography would be an entirely different thing today. The salty sea air and long stretches of highway hugging the Pacific Ocean were back in my youth an early source of inspiration and they very much still are today. Not much has changed there. It is still a place filled with the sound of sea birds and populated by people looking to ride a wave, write poetry in the sand, or just experience some silence while looking at the great expanding sea.

Photographed with a Sony A7iii.

At the beginning of this past summer I took a trip back to my roots, exploring the coastline up and down California Highway One (California State Highway 1 technically). It felt really good going back there and making images with the eyes I have today, as opposed to the eyes of my much younger self. I definitely see the world much differently now. A little less whimsical, and yet also little more optimistic if that makes any sense at all. I was also very fortunate that one of my favorite collaborators, Vivian Cove, loves the California coast as much as I do. Spending a day hiking among the rocks and cliffs, marching on dry sand, and dodging potential onlookers is a lot more exhausting than one might think.

Photographed with a Mamiya C330 TLR and Ilford Delta 120 film.

I won’t deny I was feeling slightly overwhelmed when these images were made. There is just so much to see and visit there and only so much film I can carry with me. I brought my digital camera with me as well as a backup for when my film stock ran dry but I wanted to capture the bulk of the work I did that day on film. After all, digital cameras didn’t really exist in any sort of quality form back when I was learning the ropes of photography in the California Bay Area studying at UC Santa Cruz and Foothill College. I don’t even think the first DSLR had been produced yet in any sort of form that was affordable to the average person.

Photographed with a Mamiya C330 TLR and Ilford Delta 120 film.

Every so often I contemplate moving back to the Santa Cruz area. It’s a place that has never really left me and continues to influence who I am as a person today. More than likely that will never happen and perhaps that is for the best. After all, it is far healthier to look to the future rather than linger forever in the past. Still, it is fun to visit sometimes and even more fun when I have the opportunity to make photographs while doing so.

Kodak Portra and the Nude

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I feel like it has been a little while since I’ve posted any work with color film. Even though the majority of my work is in black and white, I actually love working with color film. Color negative film in particular tends to be my jam because I feel like the results are a bit more muted and slightly more painterly than color slide film. Granted, I’m not picky and will happily work with any color stock I can get my hands on for a halfway decent price.

Photographed with a Hasselblad 500c/m and Kodak Portra 400 120 film.

Both of the images in this post were made using Kodak Portra film stock. The top image was with Kodak Portra 400 and the bottom image with Kodak Portra 160. In practice I don’t find a huge amount of difference between the two. Yes, of course the ISO 400 film has more grain, but the warm color rendition with both film stocks just looks absolutely gorgeous. A little bit gets lost when I digitize the negatives, but I still think there is a different vibe here than one would get from a color image coming from a digital camera. It’s just a bit more organic in my opinion.

Photographed with a Pentax 645n and Kodak Portra 160 medium format film.

This post also marks the debut of the first image I’ve posted with the Pentax 645n medium format camera. I’ll speak more about this camera at a later date, but I recently purchased it on whim after seeing one in a store for a very VERY attractive price. It’s been a fun new tool to play with and I’ve been pleased with the results.

One Light In Time

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I’ve never been a photographer that gets incredibly fancy with my lighting setups. Sure, when I was in college taking advanced level photography classes I learned a few complicated lighting setups. I’m familiar with strobes, and light boxes, and beauty dishes, and barn doors, etc. etc. But for some reason the more complicated my lighting setup becomes, the more inauthentic the final photograph begins to feel.

I suppose my philosophy would be different if I were a commercial photographer, but I’m not. Photography has always been a practice that I do for myself and only myself.

Photographed with a Hasselblad 500c/m and Kodak Tmax 400 speed medium format film.

All of that being said, I’m really proud of myself for the fact that I managed to keep a lot of details in the shadows of this image, despite the fact that there was only one single light source directly at the model’s back coming in from the window. I honestly didn’t expect this image to turn out great at all but through a combination of careful metering and some handy stand development with Rodinal the exact opposite happened.

It was tempting to pull out some artificial lighting and give some illumination either facing the back wall or facing directly toward the model. I’m really glad I followed my instincts and just relied on the natural light available to me.

Reflections On The Columbia River

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Typically I associate the summer months here in the Pacific Northwest as a time with bright light that can be a challenge in the best of times to work with. I’m spoiled in that for most of the years I get to work with nice subdued overcast lighting that looks good from pretty much any angle at any time of the day. For two or three months in the summer however, I actually have to be careful when selecting the time of day I go out because the light can become quite harsh, bright, and full of unflattering shadows or highlights.

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

Earlier this week however I had a stroke of luck and found myself doing a photo session on a day with nothing but overcast and mild temperatures. Perfect!! I wish I could say I planned it, but really the weather just worked out in my favor by complete accident.

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

To take advantage of the day I traveling out to Rooster Rock which is a stretch of beach along the Columbia River to the east of Portland that is officially sanctioned as clothing optional. On a weekend when the weather is nice I tend to avoid this spot at all costs because it can get incredibly crowded. However, on a weekend morning when the temperatures are mild the entire place is nearly deserted. It’s the perfect environment where Floofie and I could take our time, work on poses, explore the best angles to get a solid reflection in the water, and not at all worry about looking over our shoulders the entire session.

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

As if I wasn’t lucky enough with the weather, it also happened to be low tide along the Columbia River which meant we could walk out quite a ways into the river and the water was only up to our ankles. Seriously, I’m not sure I could have asked for better conditions.

Isolation at the Oregon Dunes

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I’m planning another trip out to the Oregon Dunes in the next few weeks. It has quickly become one of my favorite places on earth to make photographs, whether I’m there by myself or with someone who is posing in the photographs. It’s a bit of a journey from Portland which can be a pain, but the road trip is worth it. If I take the long way along the coast the scenery is breathtaking so I really can’t complain.

Photographed with a Hasselblad 500c/m and Kodak Tmax 400 medium format film.

This photograph is from a few years ago on my very first visit. It was probably a bit later in the day than I would have liked it be as far as lighting goes, but since it was my first time making the trip I didn’t really know what to expect and I was just happy to be experiencing the Dunes for the first time. I like the way the results turned out anyway. I had my Hasselblad 500c/m with me and only a few rolls of Kodak Tmax 400.