Assignment Finished

Well thank goodness for a second opinion. I had finished (so I thought) editing the photographs for Julie. All but the ones shot on my old Canon with the FP5 400 black and white film, I hope to see those tomorrow. My wife needed to test the optical drive in her laptop & instead of going to get her a DVD, I asked her to run a quick slide-show of the images. Good thing, as I noticed that two of the images showed the sloppy hand of a novice editor. Now that that has been corrected (live and learn) I can hand over the CD with a smile. I can't wait to see how the black and white shots turn out. Seeing as some of the black & white images may need work - this posts title may be misleading.

The seagull image was taken at Riverside Park May 29th. It was off the cuff so I didn't take notes but it was shot handheld with the f1.8 50mm lens, Fuji Velvia 50 slide film. This is a scan from the print made at time of developing.

The Editing Work...

I had forgotten how long and involved the editing process is when you are processing a LOT of shots. The shoot at Julie's went fairly well (I'm never satisfied - but I settle down a bit after the client lets me know what they think). I am actually quite happy with the images of the finished casts... They turned out quite well. The one I posted here is a tad different, I forgotten to set my flash - wonderfully dark. Perhaps it doesn't convey what the other casts do... but I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out. The actual cast is a much happier shade of red.

Many hours into the fray now... I have to quit for the evening as I am beginning to make little mistakes. For all of the tedium, however, there is the reward of having actually made something. Worked, as Julie did with her plaster, with the pixels to create a thing of beauty. There is a small sense of accomplishment. That does have a lovely feel to it. It will feel a lot better after I am actually finished the job, even more so when Julie selects and uses the images. Tomorrow is another day, with some editing to do...

Tomorrow is the big shoot

In just a few hours I get to photograph Julie Keon hard at work in her studio again. Julie does body casts. Often these are belly casts for pregnant women but not always. I saw a wonderful front & back cast of a woman with scoliosis, and others that were not pregnancy related. Here is her website:

http://www.ottawabellycasts.com/

I am delighted to be able to photograph Julie at work actually casting. Up until now I have only been able to photograph her working on pieces that have already been cast. I have 36 black and white exposures available on my 35mm and a fully charged battery on my digital camera. My medium format TLR is acting up - so I will leave that at home. To warm up I believe that I will be taking more pictures of existing casts, casts I think Julie will be showing at an exhibit soon.

Soon I will be snapping away (wish me luck), and for the first time ever I will be shooting a real live model. I hope she too is pleased with my work (Julie seemed pretty happy with the shots I had taken earlier). One cannot get too much ego stroking nowadays.

The First Slides

I bought a roll of Fuji Velvia 50 to try in my Canon FTb. I was hoping for outlandish colour... actually I was hoping that the battery adaptor I bought to make my light meter work properly was indeed functional. I think the metering is working fine, I just need to learn how to use that information better, As it turns out the colour is none too freakish as I had hoped. It is heartening to learn that my film camera is in working order.

Sadly, I only had the one roll of Velvia. Most of the other colour film I have promises vivid colour. We shall see. My next roll will be the Ilford HP5 PLUS 400 that I will be using to photograph the casting session at Julie's. I have high hopes for the look of that film as well. Most of the internet reviews are positive.


On a less exciting note - the 120 film I had developed at the same time came back with the last six photos missing... as though the shutter had not opened. I'll run one more roll of Portra VC 160 through the TLR to see if the bugs have worked themselves out - I tested the shutter and that seems to work... now.
On the whole - I would happily buy another roll of Velvia if I can find it again, these trilliums were shot in poor light 1/8 sec, @ f8, tripod, mirror up, remote trigger. (the totem was 1/1000 sec. @ f4 - handheld)

The First Post

...and so it begins. A blog. I think of this as a way to keep anyone who cares to peek inside abreast of whatever is going on with me... and a place to dump photos. Speaking of photos - never trust a man who's "developed" a photography habit to stock the fridge...

I soon leave with my wife on a lengthy road trip - hence the film. I hope to have a number of colourful pictures to show off on my return. Hopefully I won't be kicking myself for not bringing something. I have two 35mm film cameras and a Twin Lens Reflex as well as the Nikon DSLR. That should cover the bases. To those who know a thing about film... I don't plan on taking the two rolls of Ilford black and white film with me. I have a special purpose for each.

This weekend I hope to shoot at a friends place, she (Julie Keon) makes plaster casts predominantly of pregnant women. If all goes to plan I should get several more photos of completed casts and a casting session. I'll be shooting digital and black & white film against the clock so to speak. I imagine the plaster is unforgiving and that time will be an issue. The shoot is the better part of a week away and I'm nervous already.

The second roll of B&W is for a tattoo session. Ivan, my friend & the owner of The Wizzard's Den tattoo studio in Petawawa, will be getting a tattoo on his neck. I am honoured to be allowed to photograph the event.

...now if only I can get my hands on some Velvia before I go on vacation.