Roller derby dream sequence.
Long shutter on film.
Leica M2
Canon Serenar 85mm
Arista Premium 400
Adox Adonal 1:100

 

My ol’ cousin John scored courtside for Celtics v. Bucks that happened to be on my birthday, so he let me tag along. Score! I was extremely excited.

Aside from the utter awesomeness of the night, I thought I’d pass along some technical notes on the pictures, since it was a little bit of new territory for me. I’d never been to the new Garden in Boston, but I figured it would be kinda like Staples Center with the metal detectors and such. So, I went extremely spartan — just the ultrawide cee-vee, and not even a light meter. Turns out I could’ve lugged in any manner of gear, as Boston is less afraid of shootings with actual guns, I guess. Now the Voigtlander fifteen millimeter is not what you would call a fast lens. So, not having a meter actually wasn’t that much of an issue. I just cranked it as open as it would go, four point five. Then I gave it as much shutter as I could get away with, realizing people were meant to be jumping and dancing, so one-twenty-five to two-fifty. From there I worked it out backwards and figured I was likely looking at pushing my Arista Premium four-hundred film speed to between sixteen and thirty-two hundred. That meant it was time for me to dive into the mysterious world of stand development!

I leaned heavily on a couple pages from RangefinderForum, here and here. Hildebrand, especially, was extremely enlightening. But, both those dudes actually agitate a minimal amount. I knew any shot I liked was going to have a bright white Celtics uniform in it, and I’d want to do everything in my power to hold on to any detail in those. So, that meant an hour and change of development time with absolutely no agitation whatsoever. I stirred the heck out of the one-to-one-hundred Rodinol dilution before it went in. And, then I just let it… stand. The photo of Ray Allen was exactly what I had in mind. A lot of grain, certainly, but very acceptable for pushing near thirty-two-hundred for the first time. I was happy to see detail in the crowd which wasn’t all that brightly lit. Stand development was a very enlightening experience! I would have been happier if there was some crazy three-pointer from our corner, but it wasn’t to be. It was actually a quiet corner of the floor on this night.

The whole thing was a blast. In the past, I’ve looked at the pro photogs at events like these with a good deal of envy. But, I have to say as I sat right next to a bank of them, they all looked bored or miserable. I never wanna be that.

Celtics won, and life is good!

I chopped up the manual for the Leica M2 and created something new.

Foreshadowing more pickup trucks to come!

In truth, I’m the one with a new toy. I picked up a Voigtlander 15mm from UncleScarMT last week. It arrived today and I ran right out to take pictures.

I wasn’t out long before I ran into Eric on his motorbike. I asked if I could take his picture and he said sure. Turns out his sister is a photographer that travels the world. He helped build a “black room” up in her attic so she could do all that stuff. Eric’s plan is to ride his new bike to Florida. Next summer, after back surgery. He’s getting some sort of titanium implant! I asked if he was just taking it out for a spin, but no. He still needs to get his license, and a helmet. He showed me where one of the shift levers should be, he’d just put a vise grip on. They wanted five hundred bucks for that part, Hell, he paid three for the whole bike. But, lord it did sound good when he gunned her. Good and loud. But, soon it was time to put her away. The thing with those manual transmissions is they don’t have reverse, so he had to turn it all the way around and head back into the garage. I told him if the picture came out okay, I’d drop by with a print. He said he’d like that. I told him to take lots of pictures when he goes to Florida. He said he’d bring his video camera.

The photo of Eric is on Arista Premium 400

Developed with HC-110 Dilution B

Here’s the Voigtlander. I thought I’d have problems using the external viewfinder but it feels very natural. I think I’m going to have lots of fun with this! Here’s to new toys, Eric’s and mine.

Here are some some random images from walking around Johnstown. Not sure they fit in with anything except a general feeling of decay.

Shot with a Leica M2
Lens: Voigtlander 35mm
Film: Arista Premium 400
Developer: HC-110 Dilution B

I was running low on Arista Premium, but look what I just got:

Some street images from my recent trip to NYC.

Leica M2
Voigtlander 35mm f/1.4
Portra 800

On a milkgrey fall afternoon, I found myself wandering through the vast Prospect Hill Cemetery in Gloversville, New York. I meandered aimlessly amongst the dead and pondered superstitions of the living. Our civilization is adamant about marking the resting places of our loved ones, and just as adamant about neglecting those markers and letting the elements do the erosive forgetting for us.  I bore brief witness to names that passed away a hundred and fifty years ago. If there is anything to the idea of a resting place, I thought Prospect Hill seemed as pleasant as anywhere, noble trees holding up the rolling hillside.  But, I’m not a believer and the absence of any sort of spiritual presence weighed on me, a tactile emptiness…

As I angled down a shallow gully, a striking momunent caught my eye in the distance, an immediate impression of a powerful towering physique, athletic with a great sense of motion… except as I focused on it, I realized it was actually a tree. And, what a tree! Gnarled and black and crooked. I have no idea how it appeared to me as a human figure. I approached it with high curiosity and could not help but notice how out of place it looked, how sinister. Yikes! At the base of the tree sat two dislodged headstones, smoothed by age — or perhaps to protect interlopers like myself from some terrible knowledge. I wonder who would know the truth.

I dropped reverently to one knee: And, I framed a photograph, noting with perverse glee the dilapidated house in the background complete with rusted out recreation vehicle — how very Gloversville. And, on cue, a black crow added punctuation to the ridiculous scene with a hollow cry that was swallowed up by the endless grey sky.

Leica M2

Voigtlander 35mm

Arista Premium 400

HC-110 Dilution B

 

 

 

I nearly made a hilarious mistake.

A few nights ago I went to see Leroy Powell at Harvelle’s — a very dark little bar. The only camera I wanted in that situation was the Leica M2 with the fast f/1.4 lens. But it had a roll of ASA100 film that wasn’t usable for a dark bar. So I rewound the film, making note of how many exposures were left. I popped in a roll of Arista Premium 400 that I pushed to 1600.

Today I put the old roll of ASA100 film for a day of daylight shooting. I loaded the film and started to click-advance to the point I had stopped. But, I didn’t have the lens cap on! I just caught myself after advancing past the leader. Whew!

(Los Angeles CA) With the release of the new Leica M9 digital rangefinder camera, thousands of wealthy elite photo enthusiasts will be flocking to lay down the seven grr on this wonderful new precision image-grabbing wonder. But, what gets left behind? Imagine thousands of pounds of metal and glass just tossed into teh environments in the form of old, unused Leica M8 cameras. I can’t let this happen to my planet.

Announcing the world’s first Leica M8 Recycling Program. Simply send your address to me and I will send you a postage pre-paid box. Just place your Leica M8 digital rangefinder in the box, seal it up, and send it off to me at no charge to you. That’s right, shipping has been paid for! I will ensure that your old Leica M8 will be recycled in a way that doesn’t harm teh environments.

Please pass this link on to any of your friends with an old Leica M8 headed towards disrupting sensitive closet ecosystems. Help them do the right thing. For our Mother Earth!

We Are The World – Michael Jackson