Stuff in this Blog
• Lots & lots of pictures
• Art Shows
• Revisiting film
• More on Joni Mitchell
• Beaches International Jazz Festival
• Other Stuff
Art Shows
Beginning in 2014, I hope to market and sell
at more venues. At this point I’m not sure how many, but perhaps six exhibits
and shows per year. Why? Well, in a nutshell, I guess cuz I want to sell more
stuff!
In the meantime I have one coming up next
weekend in Buckhorn and it is for sure one of my favourite places in which to
participate. If you can, plan to attend the Art Festival for a day trip, or
vacation. While in the region, come and enjoy the many attractions the
Kawarthas has to offer.
Buckhorn Fine Arts
Festival: August 16-18, 2013
DATES & TIMES
August 16 – 18, 2013
Friday, August 16: Preview Night Garden Party 7-10pm,
Saturday, August 17: 10 am-5 pm,
Sunday, August 18: 10 am – 5 pm
ENTRANCE PRICES
Admission Friday: $25 good for re-entry all weekend.
Saturday & Sunday: Adults: $7.00 Children under 12 free.
Art is available for purchase using Mastercard, VISA,
Interac (debit) and Cash.
Revisiting film
This subheading might be
a bit misleading. Sometimes the mere mention of “film” is cause for concern
among the legions of digital pixel counters.
Yet film has never really
been far away. Each time I need to look at an older original image, it usually
means film must be scanned. Among the thousands of
35mm and 120 negatives that I have filed away are many images that are only
available in an “analogue” form. That
is, not as yet scanned. As a result, many times they need to be digitized. There is no
getting around the fact that good scanning techniques require lots of patience
and leave people such as myself longing for the highest quality scanners money
can buy to achieve maximum sharpness and Dmax (the scanner’s ability to pull
details from shadow areas – cleanly).
But
what is really meant by revisiting film is, well, actually shooting with it. I
have done so recently and it is my intent to shoot it whenever time and
conditions allow. Why? Well, there is truly something to say for the process of
loading it into one’s camera and exposing it by experience, or with a light meter.
No screen or histogram to view, just expose properly and enjoy the whole
process. I still get excited once the film has been fixed and is safe to be
inspected. Holding those negs up to light is the reward of the process.
Besides,
the constant marketing crap that goes with the "need" to create and
jam in more and more “mega pickles” into sensors every few months becomes
tiresome and expensive. Yes I have full frame sensors in my Nikons. But older Hasselblad,
Mamiya and other cameras continue to work beautifully with the same old Tri-X
and HP5 - regardless of new inventions. There’s
still film stored away in the fridge, but both black and white and colour film may
be purchased at Henry’s, Vistek and other shops (hey, I just picked some up yesterday). It can be ordered from many outlets both in Canada and the U.S. (all
over the world actually).
Many pro outlets carry
both 35mm and 120 formats, as well as sheet films.
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| Framed • Hasselblad Agfa 400 |
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| Shadows & Light • Hasselblad 180mm Tmax 400 |
In the photo below, notice the cropping capabilities afforded by the square format of the Hasselblad camera. Slows you down and allows time to make one exposure...all that is required.
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| JB • Hasselblad FP4 film |
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| JB • Nikon Digital Camera |
Does this digital photograph suffer when compared with the above film version? Well, hard to tell in images reproduced for web viewing. To me (as stated above), there is a completely different, deliberate and obviously slower process with film. Plus - I confess - I love a certain amount of grain.
I have photographer friends, Mark and Scott, who work almost exclusively with sheet films in their vintage wooden Gandolfi and Speed Graphic cameras. I’m happy to say that a former student, Susan, has taken this a step further and creates tintypes and collodion prints. Another friend, Steve, uses a homemade pinhole/Hasselblad film camera to create many of his pictures.
Yes there is a difference
in the appearance of the finished photographs. Film just looks different. It has a lovely
granular structure that simply appeals to me. Yet I am in no way putting down
digital - after all most of my images are shot this way and I have lived on my
Mac processing them for many years. But there is just a pleasing, tactile
feeling to film that, as a photographer, I miss greatly.
Then again, film is a
tool and only part of the process; in many ways not unlike the tools required
to record a digital image. I suppose that the bottom line is; what does it
really matter which format creates the image?
I'll confess this much
though: I doubt that my film camera could ever achieve the low light reach that the full frame
sensor on my Nikon digital with a film camera provides. In this photograph of Toronto pianist/vocalist Kathryn Merriam, an exposure
rating of ISO1600 was used. Yes, I could of shot it on film, but it wouldn’t
have held together as well as this digital version.
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| Kathryn Merriam, Jazz pianist/vocalist • Nikon |
But this argument of film
vs. digital is as silly as a debate over watercolour vs. oil in painting.
They both have their place. In the end, a photograph can
have an aesthetic and lasting appeal regardless
of the choice of recording method. And yes, an archivally processed digital print WILL last.
Besides, it makes far
more sense to have a photographic debate based around lenses.
More on Joni Mitchell
Still on the topic of
film…since my last post, I decided to send Joni’s website an image that I shot many
years ago. They promptly asked me if they could use it and asked if I had
others. There are now 12 photos of mine on Joni Mitchell’s web site. I know!
Gotta love Tri-X.
I could drink a case of you. – Joni Mitchell
Please check them out
here:
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| Joni Mitchell • Pentax Spotmatic, Kodak TriX film • 1972 |
Beaches International Jazz Festival (lots of images here)
The lineup of artists and the festival in general require many talented
people to undertake and organize. It is always well attended and there seem to
be so few glitches, or crowd issues. I suppose in addition to the remarkable
organizational efforts, it is a testament to the jazz crowd in general. The
atmosphere of that festival is very special.
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| Tab's Guitar |
There were many great photos. Here is a link to the other entries:
This year, as a perk for placing first, I was backstage for the 2013
version at the festival. Saw some great musicians perform and managed to
capture the best of a few.
I never tire of hearing The Shuffle Demons. Seeing them perform here was
even fresher and more fun than ever. The Shuffle Demons are simply a killer,
edgy, fun, jazz/funk band, with enormous musical talent. Get out of my house!
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| Rich Underhill • Shuffle Demons |
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| Kelly Jefferson • Shuffle Demons |
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| Perry White • Shuffle Demons |
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| George Koller • Shuffle Demons |
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| George Koller • Shuffle Demons |
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| Stich Wynston • Shuffle Demons |
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| Richard Underhill • Shuffle Demons |
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| Chico Ferrara |
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| Anthony Geraci |
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| Bill King |
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| Selena Evangeline |
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| Mike "Monster" Welch |
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| Robert Linares Brown Orchestra |
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| Selena Evangeline |
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| Michael "Mudcat" Ward |
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| Anna |
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| Michael "Mudcat" Ward |
Other Stuff
Love the country and
wilderness, but sometimes just walking around the city with a camera provides
inspiration and many shooting opportunities. This is especially so late in the
day, when light bounces around the buildings, illuminating subjects with
gorgeous light. Hey, photography is
always all about light and light quality! And the more buildings, the more
fantastic light can be found.
Here are a few city images
shot recently of both buildings and people.
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| Bouncing Light |
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| College Street |
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| Morris |
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| Bloor Street |
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| No Words...please. |
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| Heart of the Hospital District |
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| Toronto Public Library |
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| Stan |
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| Kensington |
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| Anna |
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| Under the Entrance |
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| Teruma |
Finally
Fall classes at Durham College begin in three weeks. Yikes.
I will be teaching three
in Photography and Digital Editing and one History of Photography course this
semester. Am I prepared? Well, once the Buckhorn show is over next weekend I
will get at it.
What else? A new FB photo
page is in the works and an entire new web site page too. There will a couple
of other photo business opportunities on the horizon as well… but now back to
meeting deadlines. Thanks so much for looking at these rambling words and
pictures.
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