Oct 15 2022

Creative B&W Educational Series

Seeing And Working In B&W Part 1a, Basic Compositional Elements

**Understanding the B&W BASIC Compositional Elements and the IMPACT that they can have on the viewers!**

Honestly, with little exception, most people really love the purity of a finely crafted B&W image. There is something freeing when you stand before one trying desperately to understand why you are drawn to it!

This feeling goes back to our roots. The old masters of film had to WORK at their craft, developing creative habits that allowed few mistakes and the greatest impact with the least amount of failures and setbacks. This was due the the cost and time involved in their work. You have to remember that the cost of photography in the early days was very expensive so they NEEDED to master their craft or be doomed to failure!

Today it is quite different! We have many ways of capturing our images in either true monochrome or in color and then converting it to B&W in post processing. This opens up a new artistic world that was never available in Ansel’s time! Believe me when I say that he would have fully embraced todays technology!

So how do we best achieve these world class monochrome images? Honestly the skills necessary are quite easy to master. The most difficult thing to overcome is opening your eyes and mind to think and see in terms of monochrome images. It will be our task to teach you the necessary tools and thought processes.

Before I go any further let me tell you that Jamie Konarski Davidson and I are offering a location work shop in the Low Country of South Carolina from December 1 through the 4th. This will be centered in Georgetown SC and be limited to only a few people. For more info please visit:

https://www.newlifephotos.com/photography-workshops/monochrome-photo-workshop/

Ok! Enough of the preliminary stuff and time to get on to the meat of the post!

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Fuji X100s, 850nm Kolari AR 850nm Infrared conversion – Thru The Door

Ok, take a look at the image above of the shrimp boat viewed through the door of their facility in McClellanville SC. (Yes this will be a shooting location during the workshop!)

What do you notice about the image? Hmm, let us consider it!

1. Dark and moody door frame with just a touch of detail. The overall darkness helps frame the boat and keeps your eyes from re-circulating around the frame.

2. Dingy dirty mid ground full of textures.

3. The Shrimper …. Wabi Sabi at its best (study of death and decay)

4. Brightly lit beams of the ceiling leading your eyes to the boat.

5. Stormy sky above the boat. Do you notice the darker area of the sky? These areas are blue sky! They are darkened by the use of real or digital color filters. For film, a glass filter on the lens, for Digital, a software applied color filter.

What do YOU think? Yes it is a dark and dirty image with strange angles and alignments! But the composition tends to draw your eyes to the boat and hold them there! That is a key element of understanding here and our first 2 rules of B&W compositional tools….

Rule 1 – HOLD YOUR VIEWERS EYES ON THE SUBJECT

Rule 2 – Dark and MOODY contrasts are your friend in B&W

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This image is “The Wheel House Bell”. Here, I was looking to convey a feeling of gloom and uncertainty. The SINGLE compositional element that drew me to the image was the single hand print on the window. It seemed to SCREAM “WHAT IS HAPPENING“. To further my point look at the Bell. The clacker is the letter S which to me says SOUTH as for things going SOUTH for a problem! I can imagine the caption standing at the wheel and seeing something scary approaching as he steadied himself against the glass! I loved the total mystery of the image and even today this is one of my favorite images!

1. Moody Sky with moody clouds. ALWAYS A WINNER!

2. STRONG TEXTURES under the wheelhouse roof.

3. Thought Provoking elements, Bell and Hand Print, attention holders.

So,let’s continue our Compositional rules

Rule 3 – Look for image elements that scream “Curiosity”

Rule 4 – Moody, contrasts sky’s are the secret to a power image!

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SKYS ARE IMPORTANT!

They can be the key to a successful moody image! Look for skies that are full of clouds with texture. Having a bit of blue showing thru the clouds can add a deep emotional hold upon the viewer.

There are a set of VERY important tools to bring out your skies mood depending upon the camera media you use to capture your image!

Your B&W Image Capture Camera Choices :

B&W Digital – Color Digital – Infrared Color Digital – Infrared B&W Digital

For B&W Digital like the Leica Q2Monochrome and the other Monochrome LEICA CAMERAS PLEASE READ THE SECTION BELOW ON PHYSICAL GLASS B&W FILTERS!

For ALL COLOR DIGITAL CAMERAS:

In Post Processing, you can use software color filters to darken the blue sky for DIGITAL Color CAMERAS ONLY.

In Post processing you can use color filters to darken the blue sky. This is an important tool in your arsenal! The various B&W conversion software will allow you to add a digital color filter. Use the Yellow, Orange or red filters to darken the blues of the sky. Orange will also lighten skin tones.

Digital Software Suggestions For B&W Post Processing

Capture 1 for MAC & Windows

Capture 1 for Ipad (M1 or M2 Processors only) I ESPECIALLY LIKE this software product. It is their newest product and it works with every digital camera product that I have! It has the full B&W conversion facility built into it as well. The biggest positive is that an Ipad is small, light and powerful especially for travel! It will save the images on the Ipad if you wish but will also save them to all of the cloud services! I was a beta tester for this software and after being involved in its development I can tell you that it is an AMAZINGLY POWERFUL image processing package!

Photoshop and Lightroom

Nik Filters for MAC & Windows, A MUST for B&W digital post processing!

SNAPSEED (NIK FILTERS) for Ipad, IPhone and Android (all processor types)

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Shooting B&W FILM

B&W FILM RULES:

Film Rule 1 – Stay AWAY from films that use the C41 or E6 Developers

Film Rule 2 – Go for a ISO range of 100-400 to avoid grain!

Flim Rule 3 – Keep color contrast lens filters on hand. Yellow, Orange and Red. These will increase the contrast of your blue sky. Yellow will also open up textures and lighten skin tones in people and plants a little. USE THEM!! I keep an ORANGE filter on my film lens all the time.

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Film Suggestions

Use films that use standard B&W processing, NOT C41 or E6. This way you can do your OWN film processing in your kitchen sink with environmentally friendly and save chemistry!

My Favorite B&W FIlms

Ilford HP5 Plus 400 ISO

Ilford FP4 Plus 125 ISO

Fuji Across 100 ISO – has ZERO Reciprocity failure up to 120s

Kodak TMAX 100

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Pawleys Island Pier, Pre Hurricane, Yes , the end is now gone.

Ok onto one last image. This, like to top image, is a super high key B&W capture. Images like this have a power of their own to stop you in your tracks, grab you by the throat and draw you into the image.

You noticed the very top image of this post. It is another High Key photograph (super bright backgrounds) taken of the Pawleys Marsh in digital. Here you see the Pawleys. Pier (still with the end of the pier) taken on a very foggy morning as a ultra long exposure (I think about 300 seconds on Fuji Across II film.

The most powerful components are the darker groin (breakwater) and pier set against the long exposure smoothing the waves and softening the fog.

What makes this style of image so powerful? It is the contrasts between the darker groin and pier against the stark white contrasting with the smooth surface of the slowed water and the fog of the sky. It becomes almost ghostly and you can easily loose yourself within it.

The key compositional elements in the image:

1. Dark yet almost minimized textures of the pier seems to move forward out to the fog

2. Darker contrast of the groin and its reflection in the ultra smooth surf. This anchors the image in the lower left corner.

3. The ultra bright sky (normally a nuisance and detracting in the image) adds to the ethereal nature of the image

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Ok, this part of my 4 part series on high impact B&W photography is done. There are a few follow up thoughts that I would like to share with you. Firstly, everything here plus so very much more including advanced post processing instruction will be part of the December workshop here with Jamie and I. There are only a few seats left so please if you are interested do not delay. Here is the link for info:

https://www.newlifephotos.com/photography-workshops/monochrome-photo-workshop/

I will be doing part b of this series next week with a discussion of the darker compositional elements in B&W and start on post processing steps for B&W!

My doggie Skittles says:
When I look at a well designed B&W image I have to protect my eyes from the amazing intensity of the image!

As always please let me know what you thought of this post. I know that it has been a super long time since my last one, but with covid and health issues I simply lost all motivation for most everything but have climbed out of that depression at last!

Mar 24 2020

The Ethereal Nature of Long Exposures Part 1: The Daylight Exposure

A conversation on how to easily create amazing Long Exposures

What is needed to create these ethereal DAYLIGHT images!

Warning, this is going to be a 2 or 3 part tutorial and exceptionally long!

Jekyll Driftwood Beach, 400s

Ahh Peace… I love the ethereal nature of the process in ultra long exposures. Sitting there behind a good camera exploring a composition, light and movement while waiting in great anticipation of the outcome fills me with such inspiration that I can hardly contain myself!

While these types of images take a large degree of patience and dedication to the art, I have found very few photographers who having never tried them fell fast under their soulful control! I tell you now that with a bit of basic equipment and easily learned skills that ANYONE with a bit of patience will succeed in this artistic endeavor. Yes you need some extended functionality in your camera system (most modern DSLR and Mirrorless systems have it!). Yes you will have to buy a set of “sunglasses” for your camera lens called ND filters (this is where you will find the expense). But believe me this style of photography is SO worth it.

Roanoke Marshes Light, 3 seconds

But how easy is it to create these peaceful images that speak to your soul? For me the process is quite simple, but I tend to forget that 58 years of experience makes this all easy for me.

So with that in mind I am going to take you through my entire processes and share my equipment lists with the reasons why I chose them and when to use them.

Let’s start out with a quick discussion of what a long exposure actually is:

Any shutter speed longer than 1 second is considered a long exposure.
The upper limit is… well, UNLIMITED! Usually photographers start out at a 30 second exposure in order to get their base exposure locked in, then move up to 2 min or greater. I typically try to target 8 to 15 min for my final image but have several in the 60 min range also.
Typically shorter exposures are needed for falling water in the 10 to 15s range. If you desire to highlight the swirls in the pool under the falls then much longer times are necessary
There are several types of long exposure photography. Here are a few with a bit of discussion about what equipment you need to work them
- Daylight with the sun up: This style is most likely the easiest of the LE areas to explore. Most of your scenes along the beach will have brightness levels of the sky and foreground close enough to fit within the dynamic range of your camera and only need solid ND filters.
- Sunrise/Sunset: This style of LE work is more difficult as the sun nears the horizon during Sunset and as it gets close but not over at sunrise. Lighting conditions are way more difficult and still require solid ND filters but will additionally require 2 specialized filters, a 3 or 4 stop soft edge graduated square filter and a reverse graduated square filter. The light intensity around the horizon will make these image impossible without the graduated filters (more on this in the 2nd post)
- Night Long exposures: Milky Way, Star Trails and others. This is a specialized pursuit that requires different lenses and filters and will be saved for another day.

Camera Features and settings needed

Any DSLR or Mirrorless camera (I use a Fuji GFX 100 medium format digital). You will want the following features and settings:

Aperture mode to determine base exposure
Long exposure noise reduction set to automatic.
- Photographers new to long exposures might want to turn this setting off. Here is why: When you create a long exposure image, say 30 seconds long this is what happens with LE Noise reduction turned on or automatic.

1. 1. The camera fires and takes a 30 second exposure
  2. The shutter closes
  3. The camera keeps the shutter closed and takes a second 30 second exposure in the dark between the shutter and sensor. This is called a Dark Frame Exposure
  4. The camera then combines the 2 images and subtracts the noise

While 30+30=60 seconds does not sound like too much of a wait, if you are in the learning process and going thru the trial and error mode that 30 seconds turns into 1 min, a 2 min exposure turns into a 4 min, 4 to 8, 8 to 15 and so on it goes. This takes a lot of time especially at sunrise/sunset when the light is rapidly changing!

TIP: YES you want the LE noise reduction turned on to get the best and highest quality that the camera can provide, but when learning and making exposure mistakes while calculating ND filter offsets for the shutter these long times degrade your learning curve. So turn it off until you get used to all of this then when comfortable with LE work turn it on AUTOMATIC and leave it there. It will only affect exposures over a certain time which is dependent upon your camera. My GFX 100 turns on at 15 seconds, others at 30 and so on.

Pixel Remote for all cameras

RAW capture mode turned on
Color space set to Adobe RGB
Manual mode with a BULB or TIME setting
- Bulb is where the shutter is open as long as the remote shutter release is active
- Time mode is where you can set exposure times in full stops usually out to 30 or 60 min. With this mode you do not need a timer or a remote shutter release, you set the time fire the camera and sit back.
Remote shutter attachment with a timer display built into it with cable for your camera. This works wired or wireless. I suggest this one HERE
VERY sturdy tripod that you can spread the legs out wide and low. Good tripods are very expensive but can last for you entire life. Look to Really Right Stuff for the best.
A small 3 leg photography stool (Amazon) to sit on and BE STILL. See it HERE
A small red headband flashlight. Turn it OFF hen not needed!

Camera Lens

Lens, a wide zoom. 95% of the time I use a 32-64mm f/4 lens (35mm equivalent of 23-58mm) on my GFX 100 for my long exposures. On rare occasions I have a GF 100-200mm when I desire a detail shot of a waterfall, and a GF 17mm for those times that demand a very wide view.
Most of my students use a 24-105mm f/4 that will cover most all of the scenes you will run across.
You do NOT want a fast f/2.8 lens for long exposures. By adding the extra fast 2.8 setting you loose a more closed down setting like f/22 or larger which will be useful for getting the long shutter times with less ND.

Filters needed for long exposures:

Filters you say??? But WHY?

Well the simple answer is that in order to do long exposures you need to have long shutter times! The filters we use are called ND or Neutral Density filters. They come in several types and styles and they act as sunglasses cutting the light down going into your camera forcing it to longer shutter times to compensate!

Yes, I am afraid that they do cost a bit of money, but purchase the best you can afford, you will not be sorry!

Filters companies are a subject full of differing opinions, many good and many with issues so I will discuss my personal filter decisions and why I choose as I did!

I have been through several companies filters over the years and have used the following.

B+W. Good filters, a bit expensive and limited to round screw on only. They change the white balance of your camera to a brownish tint… They come in all of the standard values and even offer a rare graduated screw on that places the start in the middle of the frame.
Lee. Again, Good filters, very expensive and made of plastic that are very easy to scratch with one or two in glass. They change the white balance to a blue cast. Lee offers ALL of the filters you could possibly need for any type or style of long exposure work
Singh Ray filters. Intolerably expensive. They come as screw on and several sizes of square/rectangle styles.
Breakthrough Photography X4 filters. These are simply the best filters that I have ever used! They are all hardened optical schott glass, ZERO color cast and have an unconditional 25 year warranty! They come in all types and styles, (more on this later) and mount options:
- Screw on
- Magnetic
- 100mm and 150mm squares/rectangles

**BASIC DAYLIGHT ND Filter suggestions for after the sun is up higher in the sky or 1/2 to 1 hour before sunrise!**

3 stop solid ND, sized to your camera lens or a square/rectangle system
6 stop solid ND, sized to your camera lens or a square/rectangle system
10 stop solid ND, sized to your camera lens or a square/rectangle system
15 stop solid ND, sized to your camera lens or a square/rectangle system

TIP: I find that I use the 6 stop, 10 stop and 15 stop most of the time

Breakthrough 3 stop ND

For normal daytime exposures the sky and foreground (especially the ocean) usually have the same tonal range. For this type work just a solid ND set is needed. Solids are the same dark density across the entire glass. Take a look at the 2 images below. Notice how the sky and foreground are at the same basic brightness value?

The TOP post image is also another example that is right on the edge of needing another type of filter!

Pawleys Marsh, 30 seconds. B+W 10 (110) stop solid filter

Since the difference between the TOP and BOTTOM of the image falls within the dynamic range of my camera only a 10 stop SOLID ND filter was required! Exposures like this only need a solid ND filter! For this image I used a B+W 110 (10 stop solid) and fixed the white balance in the RAW conversion.

TIP: Do NOT worry about aperture diffraction on long exposures. Remember that we are AVERAGING and the diffraction errors go away. Use the complete range of your aperture to get the shutter speed you desire!

For color work the rule is the same, as long as the upper half and the bottom half of the image falls within the dynamic range of your camera a solid is all that you need! The Roanoke Marshes Light below is an example for you.

TIP: People moving on a dock you are shooting? DO NOT WORRY! On a long exposure with people walking in the scene they will disappear unless they stand still more than 1/4 of the exposure! The image below had 4 people walking down and back on the dock!

Roanoke Marshes Light, 40 second exposure single 10 stop solid Breakthrough X4 ND.

The MOST IMPORTANT Lesson!

Ok, here it is: The HARDEST part of a long exposure image is learning to calculate the exposure values necessary to get the softness/tearing that you desire. Actually this is very simple and below you will find the steps to easily do this! I am going to show you 2 ways to do this. The first and most important way requires to you multiply/divide a simple number by 2 which is ONE STOP either for the shutter speed or the aperture! But first, we need to understand what a full Stop means for shutter speed and aperture!

Understanding Full Stop Shutter and Aperture Relationships

Shutter Speed Example Full stop Changes:

Shutter Speed Values

1/60s to 1/30s
1/30s to 1/15s
1/15s to 1/8s
1/8s to 1/4s
1/4s to 1/2s
1/2s to 1s
1s to 2s
2s to 4s
4s to 8s and so on.

Full stop changes to your shutter speed is simple dividing or multiplying by 2

Being off by a small amount will make no difference as the shutter speed gets longer.

Aperture: aperture values cannot be calculated like shutter speeds. Aperture is logarithmic and the math is difficult to an extreme. Todays aperture values on almost all of the digital bodies are usually in 1/3 stop values! Below you will see the FULL stop values that we want to use for ease of calculation.

FULL STOP Aperture values

Exposure Calculation Version 1

Discussion on using FULL STOP Aperture and Shutter Values to calculate exposure offset for various ND filters

START: Set the camera ISO value to the lowest native value that the camera supports. This is usually 100 or 200. Some cameras will go down to 50 or 64. Also, most cameras have a LOW ISO setting, DO NOT USE THIS SETTING because the camera artificially gets it lower by decreasing the Dynamic Range of the camera which decreases the quality of your image!
Start by taking a picture in the Aperture priority mode with the aperture set to f/8 to get a base exposure that was good in camera with no ND and say that it metered at f/8 and 1/60s

If your lens goes up to f/22 then we could change 3 stops on the aperture with no ND installed from f/8 to f/11 to f/16 to f/22 which will cause an under exposure of 3 stops that we bring back into the perfect exposure by decreasing the shutter speed by 3 stops or 1/60 to 1/30 to 1/15 to 1/8 seconds. Still not long enough for the purpose of smoothing water so now we add a ND filter
Putting a 3 stop ND on your lens would again under expose by 3 full stops which we counter by decreasing the shutter speed 3 more stops from 1/8 to 1/4 to 1/2 to 1 second. Again really not long enough but we are getting there!
So how about replacing the 3 stop ND with a 6 stop ND? This will give us 3 more stops taking us from 1 second to 2 seconds to 4 seconds to 8 seconds! Now we are getting somewhere!
For a longer yet shutter speed we could replace the 6 stop ND with a 10 stop ND! This gives us 4 more stops of under exposure that we compensate by making the shutter speed longer by 4 stops! So 8 seconds go to 16 seconds to 32 seconds to 64 seconds to 2 min (now round to the whole min because 8 seconds difference from 128 seconds to 120 seconds will make no difference)
Not long enough? Let’s replace the 10 stop ND with a 15 stop ND! This gives us 5 more stops of under exposure from the 10 stop ND. We compensate by adding 5 more full stops of shutter speed going from 120 seconds or 2 min to 4 min to 8 min to 16 min to 32 min to 64 min.
If this is too long you can now open the aperture 2 stops which will allow you to shorten the shutter speed of 16 min or 3 stops to 8 min!

Do you see the relationship between full stop changes in aperture and shutter speed?

This is all you need to do!

Exposure Calculation Version 2

There is a FREE long exposure calculator for your smart phone called: LEE STOPPER. You will need to download and install this app to use this technique!

How to determine your exposure:

Set the camera ISO value to the lowest native value that the camera supports. This is usually 100 or 200. Some cameras will go down to 50 or 64. Also, most cameras have a LOW ISO setting, DO NOT USE THIS SETTING because the camera artificially gets it lower by decreasing the Dynamic Range of the camera which decreases the quality of your image!
Take a picture in the A (aperture priority) mode with the aperture set to f/8
Read the exposure data from the back of your camera and note the shutter speed the camera used!
Set the camera mode to M (manual) mode
Open the Lee Stopper app on your phone
Choose which of the 3 ND values you would like to use in the app, 6, 10 or 15 stops
Enter the shutter speed into the app by turning the white wheel (see below)
Read the new shutter speed from the blue wheel for the chosen ND filter
If the desired shutter speed is less than 30 seconds enter it into the camera with the shutter speed wheel on the camera
If the desired shutter speed is more than 30 seconds then move the shutter speed wheel on the camera to B or BULB
Connect the remote shutter release cable. If it has a timer on it like the suggested one above then put it into the BULB mode and press the button to fire the camera. Watch the timer on the shutter release and when you get to the correct time press the button again to stop the exposure.
Remember if you have the long exposure noise reduction on in the camera the camera will now take another exposure with the shutter closed for the same time as the step above. When this is finished you can view the results on the camera and if not to your liking adjust the shutter time up or down or change the aperture up or down to adjust to your liking and re-shoot.
If you do NOT have a remote shutter release with a built in timer you can select the stop watch button on the bottom of the Lee app (look at the pic below) and it will automatically move your shutter speed to a stop watch in the app. Press and lock the remote shutter release and press the start button on the stop watch screen of the app. When finished, the app will alarm you to stop the exposure.

TIP: for values between full stops (those shown in the app) you can partially move the wheel to the small ticks between the full stops to offset the exposure for partial stops.

Enter Base exposure and read new ND exposure

Stop watch timer in the Lee app

This is all there is to calculation version 2!

Subject considerations

Seascapes:

Clam Creek Pier Jekyll Island, 2 min exposure, 10 stop Breakthrough X4 ND

The ocean surf can give you some of the most amazing images! The waves are AVERAGED during the long exposure so that one builds on another each averaging the wave before it until you get a perfectly flat reflective surface! Notice the great reflections that you can get because of the averaging!

Shot Setup: To create this shot above I set the tripod on on some rocks along the waters edge. I looked for a composition where the pier came in from one side to the T where I could smooth out the water and get a good reflection. I also made sure that there were no ships passing by. Then did a base exposure test of 30s and used an aperture of f/8 . at 1/8s. I then added a 10 stop solid ND and adjusted my shutter speed from 1/8s to 1/4s to 1/2s to 1s to 2s to 4 then 8 then 16 then 32 then 64 then 120 (2 min)

photography stool

TIP: Sand is your enemy! It is full of water and when someone walks by (within 4 feet) the pressure of their feet pushes the water away from their shoes causing the sand to rise around your tripod legs! You might think that this is minor but it will ruin exposures from 2 min and longer! STAND STILL! ASK PEOPLE TO WALK FURTHER AWAY FROM YOUR SETUP! Take a small 3 leg photography stool and SIT DOWN and NOT MOVE! See HERE

Nags Head Pier in Fog/high surf/high wind, 15 min exposure, 15 stops Breakthrough X4 ND

Screw

For really large waves and/or fog you tend to get a more etherial look that is really pleasing! This image was a difficult one to capture due to the large surf, fog and high winds.

Shot Setup: For the above shot took serious thought. With gale force winds from right to left, the Surf was about 12 feet high filling the air with salt spray and since this was a workshop there were 14 people moving about on the sand. I took my tripod and splayed the legs way out to the sides and shortened them to put me almost on the ground. I then sat between the camera and the wind. I also took off the shoulder strap so that it would not catch the wind. Lastly I set up the remote shutter release in wireless mode so that even that wire would not catch the wind. The surf was so high that nothing less than 15 min would give me the look I wanted with pure white water and the fog. Even though there was heavy fog, please notice that the pier is angling down as it goes out. The white a the end is a combination of the fog and the ultra high waves hitting the under side of the pier! This shot was a 15 min exposure at f/32 using a 15 stop Breakthrough X4 solid ND.

TIP: Wind is your enemy and hard to overcome. Splay your tripod legs wide and drop the tripod as close to the ground as you can. Sit between the wind and the camera to block it as best you can. You can put weights under the center post and if on sand buy a dog chain screw that you turn into the sand. Attach a truck tie down strap from the tripod to the screw and tighten it down further reducing movement. Find it HERE

Nags Head Pier, 15 min exposure, 15 stops of Breakthrough X4 ND

Shot Setup: Another image (but different) of the Nags Head Pier. This scene had a 6 foot surf and hardly any real wind. As I studied the scene I realized that the faint clouds in the sky were moving away at an angle and I wanted them to be a major part of the composition along with totally smooth water surface. I setup the tripod with the legs splayed out wide and low to the ground for greater support and wind control. I did not have a lot of time to work this so I started with a 2 min base exposure and then calculated it for a 15 stop X4 ND and took one shot. Total time for this single shot was a 10 min setup with a 4 min base shot (with LE noise reduction on), then the 30 min shot, 15 exposure and 15 dark frame. There were a lot of people moving up and down the pier who simply were not captured in the averaged exposure. I am very pleased with the results.

TIP: Surf and sand is your enemy. With your tripod feet on the sand should a small wave washes over one the tripod will TILT or SINK! If this happens stop the exposure because it is ruined, move your setup higher up the sand and setup again and re-shoot!

For longer exposures in the 4 to 15 min range aside from the wave averaging you can also average the movement of the clouds! Do you see how the are streaming away from us?

TIP: Surf is your enemy. Keep your camera bag behind you higher in the sand!

Brunswick GA. Bridge, 15 seconds, 10 stops of Breakthrough X4 ND.

Shot Setup: For this shot above I was at the bridge leading into Brunswick GA. There was an old bridge this that had been cut off and turned into fishing pier. It was super stable and there was no wind. This was supposed to be a sunset shot but the bridge kept calling to me. So, listening to my inner voice I decided to shoot this in the vertical format and concentrate on color on the side of the bridge, its lights which I wanted to generate star bursts on. The color in the sky was amazing and with the clouds moving sideways I knew it would make a great image. I chose a 10 stop X4 ND. I took 2 or 3 images in this location and liked this the best!

Another advantage of the cloud tearing, water smoothing effect of the longer exposures is the starburst around any bright light in the scene caused by having a very small aperture f/11 to f/22. I think that it adds an amazing compositional image!

TIP: To capture a sharp star pattern on bright lights in your composition use a small aperture!

Duck Island NC Pier, 8 min exposure, 15 stop Breakthrough X4 ND

Shot Setup: This image above was on the boardwalk on Duck Island in the Outer Banks. The water here was green with white caps. Nothing remarkable. The pier on the other hand was stunning with its colors, textures and form! The sky was very overcast and with no form or structure but I thought that a long exposure would pull out a bit of shape. The boardwalk was very stable so I did not have to worry about vibrations. I setup carefully to directly center the pier in the frame. My focus point was 1/3 down the pier as I wanted detail in the rope. I set the aperture to f/32 for the greatest depth of field. I did one base exposure at 1 min and then calculated the exposure for 8 min. This is the single image I took here. I find it very pleasing and ethereal!

TIP: Birds flying through the scene on a long exposure will disappear from the scene due to the averaging of the exposure!

As I said above this introductory tutorial is set up to be presented in 2 or 3 separate posts. Look for Part 2 Sunrise/Sunset Long Exposures and the special filters needed in about 2 weeks!

This is the next type of long exposures we will learn about creating in post #2!

Nags Head Pier Right At Sunrise! 15 min exposure with 3 different ND filter types installed!

As always please let me know what you think of this!

Mar 2 2019

Creating Etherial Long Exposures With Breakthrough Photography’s X4 ND Filters

The Peace Of The Creative…

Slowing down creates peace on multiple levels.

For you as the photographer and for those who view your work, this has never been more true!

I am going to do a slightly different type of post this time.

We will discuss the art of Long Exposures a bit but we will focus more on the technical aspects of using ND filters to correct for different types of lighting as well as talk about good ND filter systems verses not so good, and why it is always best to invest your money in good filters!

Definition: Long Exposure – To create an image in camera with the shutter open for longer than a few seconds in order to smooth out movement over time. This can be softening the flow of water over a waterfall, flattening of waves in lakes and oceans or tearing clouds moving across the sky.

Setup: For camera setup you want a long shutter speed (for me usually from 20 seconds to 60 min), mid range aperture (f/16) and the base ISO that your camera provides. You do NOT want to switch on the L ISO in your camera. While it forces the ISO lower it costs you in reduced dynamic range! You should also verify that your camera has Long Exposure Noise Reduction turned on. This is a royal pain due to doubling of exposure time and forcing you to wait twice as long for a shot but it removes sensor generated noise as well as sensor hot spots.

Note: I have added a video to the bottom. It discusses everything and more that we are talking about in this post but it is quite long!

The top image was taken at the always inspiring Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse across the sound from Nags Head Island in NC. As one of my favorite locations for sunrises over the lighthouse it is also a most worthy location for daytime long exposures! These are usually very easy to create due to the small waves in the sound! This image was done on a Fuji GFX 50R medium format digital with a 32-64mm GF lens, 6 stops of ND (Breakthrough X4 magnetic) and a X4 2 stop soft graduated ND on the sky to balance the difference between the sky and water. The exposure was 20 seconds an hour after sunrise and in the rain.

But by what criteria did I choose the solid ND and the soft edge graduated ND? This is where a little technical knowledge will really help you in creation of amazing long exposures.

First, there are a few points to consider when thinking about using ND filters:

ND filters are simply sunglasses that you put in front of your lens to limit the amount of light that reaches the camera.
There are 2 basic styles of ND, Full and Graduated. Full covers and darkens light passing through the entire lens, Graduated cover and darken only part of the light passing through the lens with the ability to rotate the edge angle of the start line and moving the line up or down in the scene.
In the full family there are several values and styles.Breakthrough Magnetic lens mount with the rotating dial on the back to rotate the filter
- Screw on: they simply screw onto the end of your lens
- Magnetic: these are a new (2018) system from Breakthrough Photography. They require you to buy a special magnetic mount bracket for the filter threads on your lens. The adapter has a rotating ring that allows the filters to be actually turned (for use with polarizers) and costs about $20. Currently, Breakthrough is re-designing both the magnetic filters and the magnetic lens adapters to allow for stacked magnetic filters. This should be completed by summer 2019 and they will replace the older style magnetic filters and adapters. It is important to tell you that when you use the magnetic filter system alone or with the square system there is NO vignetting.
- Breakthrough Square holder that attaches to the magnetic adapter
- Square: these use a square holder and in the case of the Breakthrough this holder will attach directly to the magnetic holder allowing use of and stacking of both systems at once. The square holder will hold 3 to 5 filters depending upon how you initially set it up. This is good for difficult lighting situations where you might need two different graduated filters at the same time. This style tends to suffer from light leaks around the edges of the square solid ND filters unless you carefully assure that they are installed exactly right and only in the holder slot closest to the lens.

In the graduated family there are several types:Breakthrough Photography X4 soft Graduated 100mm filter system
- Hard edge graduated: where the dark area of the graduated filter is a sharp line. This is for use on subjects which have a harsh division between the foreground and background . An example would be shooting on the ocean where the horizon is a sharp line between the horizon and the sky. This is where you would choose a hard edge graduated ND. These filters usually come in 1, 2 and 3 stop values where they start light and graduate to the dark.
- Breakthrough reverse grad
- Soft edge graduated: where the dark edge of the graduated filter starts very soft and light and darkens as it moves up the filter. This is for use in areas that you need to balance the foreground from the background but there is no clearly defined edge in the scene. This is what I used in the image above to darken the sky so there was detail there and still enable the water foreground to be bright and almost a platinum look and feel. These filters usually come in 1, 2 and 3 stop values where they start light and graduate to the dark.
- REVERSE graduated: this is a special graduated ND where it starts DARK and graduates up to lighter values. If you desire to shoot sunrise/sunset this is a MUST have filter because as the sun approaches the horizon you get a very bright line of colors there that will either be blown out or if exposed correctly cause the rest of the image to be way too dark! These filters usually come in 1, 2 and 3 stop values where they start dark and graduate to the light.

So for the Roanoke Marshes Light above, I chose a Breakthrough magnetic X4 (newest technology) 6 stop solid nd to darken the entire image allowing for the 20 second exposure with the camera set to the lowest native ISO value (100), an aperture of f/16 and a shutter speed of 20 seconds. the initial results of this exposure was pleasing water in the foreground but the sky was also too light with little to no detail. So I left the 6 stop magnetic filter on the lens and clipped on the 100mm square filter adapter onto the end of the magnetic adapter and installed a X4 soft edge 2 stop SOFT graduated ND filter. While watching thru the viewfinder I adjusted the graduated ND up and down making sure that the soft edge came down to the horizon or a little above darkening the sky to allow for more detail there yet allowing the soft white water in the foreground! It was as simple as that! The entire process after the first shot took about 30 seconds to setup on the camera lens then shoot!

So let’s talk about sunrise/sunset images when the sun is close to the horizon. We have all been out at sunrise, do you remember the very bright band of intense color that it right at the horizon as the sun approaches? This is why the reverse grad ND filter was created, to keep the bright colors from destroying the overall exposure! Here is an example image, amazingly at the same spot!

Do you see how bright the light is at the horizon? The ONLY WAY I was able to capture this image was to use the reverse grad ND placing the dark section right on the bright band of light. Because the overall exposure was only 3 seconds no other ND filters were required. Should I have desired a longer exposure to further soften the water’s surface I would have dropped in the 3 or 6 stop X4 magnetic filter into the adapter already on the camera!

Let’s take a short side trip here and discuss the actual filters. By now you all have seen that I am a strong user and promoter of the Breakthrough Photography X4 line of magnetic and graduated filters. There is a reason for that:

All dark solid ND filters suffer from some sort of light leaks around the slide in filter holder. The magnetic mounted X4 Breakthrough filter line has solved this problem.
The X4 Breakthrough filters have ZERO COLOR CAST! This is a really big deal. I have been a big user of B+W and Lee filters over the years and still have them on hand. Unfortunately, both of those both have strong color casts that force me deeper into post processing to attempt to correct these color casts. I had always thought that this was simply the cost of doing long exposure! Well NO MORE! I am so pleased to report that those problems are not the case with Breakthrough, ALL BREAKTHROUGH filters! Cost wise they all cost about the same when you get up into the same quality levels (B+W, Lee, SinghRay and Breakthrough). So for me it was an easy choice, I have totally converted over to the Breakthrough X4 line of filters. I currently am using the magnetic and square system from them.
There is ZERO vignetting with the magnetic system on ANY of my lenses. I currently and using 72mm, 77mm and 82mm lenses and mounting both the magnetic system and the 100mm system together!
Breakthrough filters come with a 25 year guarantee and their customer service is crazy good. They are currently (Feb 2019) working on an updated magnetic system where the filters can be stacked in the holder!

So my advice is this. Cameras come and go, it is your glass (lenses and filters) where your quality lays. Invest in the best you can. You will never go wrong with the Breakthrough system! (gee I wish they would pay me…)

Ok, back to images. After sunrise is done and before sunset is anywhere near we can still create AMAZING long exposures! There only 2 problems that we must overcome!

Slowing down the shutter speed to give the long exposure. During normal daylight we will likely be using a 10 or 15 stop solid magnetic X4 ND as long as the sky and the foreground are near the same exposure value.
Should the sky be brighter than the foreground we will also use a X4 soft edge graduated ND filter to balance the foreground and sky.

Here is an example of a scene with little difference between the sky and the foreground. The waves were HUGE this day so I used a X4 14 stop magnetic filter so smooth them down (490 seconds) and give the feel I desired. The fog in the sky took care of itself and I walked away with a balanced ethereal image that I just loved creating! Another example of this is shown in the image below. This again was a super foggy day so the need for detail in the fog was unnecessary so the oly ND needed was again the X4 15 stop magnetic filter!

Ok, let’s take a look at a problem image where the sky has detail that you can see but when you only use a solid nd the sky is totally blown out! What you simply need is a X4 Soft Grad filter to balance the sky and water to give you a bit of detail in the sky!

These last two images show a extreme case of no balance between the water and the sky and more nd was needed on the sky to correct the imbalance.

Ok, one last thing… I had a live group hangout last night with some of my online students and we discussed everything in this post but with more info and thoughts on choosing the correct ND filters for a number of scenes. Here is the link:

https://youtu.be/_qFkUJZzXmw

I know that this has been a long post but it was necessary to show the technical side of creating pleasing long exposures. Next time I will discuss how to meter for long exposures.

As always please let me know what you think!

Sep 9 2018

Another Film Dynamic Range Adjustment Post!

A Quick Dynamic Range Followup and Example

Hurricane Florence is coming… Spent all day today starting to get ready. But yesterday I stopped by the causeway bridge to Litchfield beach and shot 1 roll of FP4+ film on my Fuji GA645zi changing between the red R24 and R25 filter. I was looking to the North from the bridge. It is a very beautiful spot and scene.

This is one of my go to spots when I am looking for inspiration and it did not fail to deliver for me. I was heading home but decided to stop at the studio and put the film into the processor, wait the 20 min then hang it in the dryer overnight.

But…

When standing there looking at the clouds I realized that the whites were going to be blown so I subtracted 30 seconds from the development time to compress them down towards Zone 8 so that I could capture the entire dynamic range, then in scanning moved them back up a bit to place them closer to my memory of them and bring the blacks up a bit! I love the effect the deep red filter gives to the blue sky.

How did I do this you ask? I am glad you asked!

With a hand held spot meter I measure the brightest white I desire texture in, then measured the darkest black for texture. Pushed the average button on the meter and got the zone 5 reading along with a chart showing max and min. This tells me that the whites will be blown out on the negative. SO I adjusted my exposure to give texture (Zone 3) in the blacks I wanted and let the whites fall where they will. In the processing knowing how far over exposed the whites are I can now adjust the developing time (-1N in this case) to compress the whites down to zone 8 (-30 seconds). Easy!

In the scanning software (VueScan) you have the opportunity in the extended menus to again shift the black and white points up or down. I simply adjusted both to expand the dynamic range back out to the range of the Gicle’e (RIP) printing system I use in my studio yet keep the whites from being blown out!

Measure the range of the scene and determine if the film can capture it all
Expose to move the blacks with texture to zone 3.
Pick a -N developing time according to where the whites fell in the negative (1 stop for this one)
Scan to keep the textured blacks at zone 3 and move the compressed whites back up where they belong in VueScan)

The Results:

The Causeway going to Litchfield Beach, SC

It was a pleasant and very satisfying endeavor and made me very happy today when I scanned this image on my way home from preparations.

Data: GW645zi – 55mm – Roll 95 – Fr 8 – Red 25 +3 Filter – f8 – 1_60 – FP4+ – Xtol Stock -30s – Wet Scan – T CI 50 – Litchfield Marsh- 2018-09-09

I know, this was a really short post, but I was really pleased with the image results and the entire process was one of those “By the seat of the pants” type of evolution. I wanted to share again, now simple the process is for adjusting the range on film in development and scanning. There will be yet another one of these in the future but it will be VERY detailed and perhaps even with a video!

As always please let me know what you think!

Sep 4 2018

Controlling your Dynamic Range in B&W Film photography

Stormy Seas in a approaching storm!

Stormy Seas a the dock… 6×12 medium format Tmax 100 film

Dayi 6×12 showing the ground glass and shade and my custom dark cloth attached.

This Super Pano was taken on my Dayi 6×12 medium format view camera. Lens is a Rodenstock 90mm f/6.8 Super Grangdagon N and while it is a bit slow it is VERY sharp and quite beautiful! This is a very different style of camera and will take 5 images per roll of 120 film.

Dayi 6×12 Grand Glass Back

This is an amazing combination of a ground glass focus and calibrated distance focus system.

Dayi 6×12 with the Rodinstock 90mm f/8.6 installed showing the alternative, calibrated focusing system

Shrimp boats are one of several subjects that I will drive hundreds of miles away to photograph! I am very lucky to live so close to a lot of them locally! Because of the continuing loss of our shrimp fleets here I am both driven and inspired to document them every chance I have. You have to admit that they are very beautiful when done in B&W and what better way to document them if not film?

This was a very difficult shot to achieve! To get it I had to overcome the super bright sun coming over my shoulder highting the boat and buildings to the point that they were totally burned out. The storm in the background was dark and foreboding…

The lesson here is to learn and realize that you can control all aspects of your image’s exposure along with taming the dynamic range of the scene through use of thoughtful developing and scanning.

I used a Sekonic 758 to get these results by using a combination of exposure averaging with 6 one degree spot metered measurements, saving each reading in the meters memory then telling the meter to give me the zone 5 average which then became my base exposure. The 758 then showed me the the exposure with a chart of any data over or under exposed thus out of the film’s dynamic range.

Knowing this, I then used a technique where you can either compress the the dynamic range of the image into a smaller space thus allowing the film to compensate for a wider dynamic range that it was designed for! This is called +/-1N developing. You can change developing time down to compress the dynamic range of the image by squeezing the image down from the whites towards the blacks which compresses the highlights into range! The opposite is also true by going +N. But for this image the -1N was enough. I then then used another creative process during the wet mount film scanning by expanding the dynamic range to fit into the wider print profile by +1 to the highlights in Viewscan to put them where I desired for a powerful and moody print. There are a lot of books out there that will teach this technique, but my favorite is Creative Exposure Control by Les Meehan which will teach you the development side of the process. The scanning side is easily done in Viewscan and there is a good book on that on Amazon.

I will also expand upon this in future posts as well!

Rodenstock 90mm f/6.9 Grandagon N, while a slow lens it is super sharp and beautiful!

The wet mount scanning technique will be taught in a future post here along with a video on Youtube! But to do it you will need an Epson 700, 750, 800 or 850 scanner as those are the only ones that the wet mount kit will fit!

Data: Dayi 6×12 – f32 .4s – Roll 4 F3- Avg Metering 6 measurements – Yellow Filter – Stormy Seas- Tmax 100 – Perceptol 1:1 at -1n – 2018

As always please let me know what you think!

Sep 3 2018

Beach Day For Lilly!

Exploring new things can be fun!

Let’s Get To It, Fuji GA645zi with FP4+ processed in Xtol Stock and Wet Mount Scanned

Well, we went last week (Ellen and I, Megan and the 2 grandkids Lilly and Jordan) for a beach day here in Pawleys Island South Carolina. Meg asked for some images of Lilly’s reaction to the ocean! I am really not one for hours on the beach but who can turn down a 17 month old babies reaction on B&W film?

I grabbed my Fuji GA645zi camera (auto focus, 4 position zoom, great meter and built in flash) with a roll of Ilford FP4+ film and we headed out! Not a long trip since we live in Pawleys so soon we were there.

Data: Fuji GA645zi using a yellow/green filter to bring out the skin tones and a bit of the sky and clouds with Ilford FP4+ film processed in Xtol stock and wet mount scanned today.

Lilly did not know what to think of it all but went into the water and quickly backed up. Meg sat down with her and helped ease her into the concept of big water. Pretty soon she was running around having great fun. Normally I do not do a lot of posts of people or family but hey, you know film? You got to honor the challenge!

Meg easing Lilly into the water! Fuji GA645zi with FP4+ processed in Xtol Stock and Wet Mount Scanned

Of course Jordan, my 9yo film photographer grandson is an old hand at this and just looked good at anything he did there!

Jordan my 9yo grandson film photographer!

I took only the one roll but saved one shot for the local beach landscape! Hey your there so you gotta do it right!

Dunes behind us!

As always, comments are welcome! Let me know what you think.

Aug 28 2018

Railroad Day Trip and the Fuji GA645zi

The Art Of Film Photography And Travel

Jordan standing on part of a giant Redwood tree on the top of the mountain

Day 1

Earlier this month Ellen and I took our 9yo grandson Jordan on a week long trip to the San Francisco area. We did many things and visited some great sights! One of the most memorable was a 2 day visit to the Roaring Camp where the Big Trees and Pacific Railroad is! They offered several train trips around the mountains and through the giant Redwoods.

There also were two covered bridges in Felton, one in Roaring Camp itself and another a short distance away in the town. Here is the Roaring Camp bridge.

Roaring Camp Covered Bridge

Dixiana, a 160 yo steam train being lubed

Our first trip was on the Dixiann a 160 year old narrow gauge steam train designed to move ore down the mountains from the mines. It was special in that it had geared drives to all of its wheels and while it could not move fast it could pull loads up and down the mountains and take as much as an 8% grade!.

The rail yard was full of amazing trains that were in various stages of repair or being torn down for parts. It was a photographers dream! There was so many different parts, trains and cars around the yard that I could have spent hours and many rolls of 120 film there. The film I did choose was Kodak Tmax 400. The reason for this was the fact that I was in the mountains covered in giant Redwoods and there was not too much light!

Pacific Railroad Yard in Roaring Camp, Felton, CA

Dixiana, a 160 yo steam train arriving at the station to pick us up

Once it was time to board the train Jordan and I went down beside the tracks trying to get some good angles on the steam engine with its puffing smoke and steam.

As it approached we were physically pushed aside by an foreign woman and her daughter who then stood directly in front of us taking phone pictures.

We were already setup with our film systems when they did this. It was the only black mark on the day for us and caused enough anger for me to yell at them for being so rude but they simply did not care. So this next image had to be majorly cropped to remove them from it. Some people are totally clueless and without a shred of common sense or decency.

If you take a look at the engine you will notice that there is really no dark smoke. This is due to the fact that it has been converted to burn used motor oil! There was a water town that it pulled up to and topped off its water level too.

The engine had a central drive shaft that powered the gear drives to all of the wheels. Next is another image of it getting ready to leave the top of the mountain on the ride back down to the station.

Dixiana, a 160 yo steam train getting ready to head down the mountain

There was another interesting covered bridge in Felton as well. It was the tallest covered bridge that I have ever seen! The town built a nice park around it.

Felton Covered Bridge, Tmax 400

Fuji GA645zi Medium Format Camera

Let’s take a bit of time to talk about the photography a bit… On these two train trips, light was an issue as well as not being able to use a tripod. As this was a week long trip and not photography based I chose the Fuji GA645zi medium format camera because of its light weight, 55mm to 90mm 4 position f/4.5 zoom lens, fast autofocus, accurate built in meter, Aperture, Shutter and Manual modes, internal flash and lightweight as the only camera I would take and carry. It is also tough with a solid titanium body! In other places around California I was able to use a small carbon fiber travel tripod from Really RIght Stuff and then shutter speed became a non issue.

As I said earlier, ALL shots in this post were done on Tmax 400 due to it being difficult using a tripod as well as lower light levels in the Redwoods. Normally in a situation where I have enough light or am able to use a tripod I will always choose Ilford FP4+ 125 ISO film for its amazing sharpness, small grain and great contrasts. I also shot with an orange filter whenever I could but sometime even that had to come off in order to keep a decent shutter speed. Processing was done in Kodak Xtol stock in my FIlmomat automated table top film processor. Once dried I used a wet mount scan process. I find the Tmax films very easy to use and they give consistent results are easy to load on the reels due to their thick film base. I also brought along some Velvia 100 film and managed to shoot a few rolls of that at the covered bridges and ocean scenes.

Day 2

TIme for the Beach train ride! This was a 3 hour trip from the mountains down to the boardwalk along the beach in Santa Cruz! Of course Jordan liked this trip also because the boardwalk held a huge amusement park! We had an hour to play there once we arrived but he was having so much fun that we decided to wait 4 extra hours for the last train back to Felton. The train this time was a diesel, Gene O”lague #2641 that took us and we actually rode on tracks thru Santa Cruz proper! I was pretty interesting and sad at the same time due to the VAST numbers of homeless people who had setup permanent camps along the tracks in the low mountains outside of town.

Gene O”Lague, the diesel that took us down the mountain to Santa Cruz for the beach trip

The train is shown here arriving to pick us up at the station. It was huge and I managed to capture this one image of it arriving before a mob of people again ran out in front of me, oh well…

The trip done out of the Redwoods was very interesting and we even went through a long tunnel as we came into Santa Cruz. The tracks are actually down the center of the streets and was very slow do the traffic! ALL of the people on the streets, in the cars and trucks waved continuously as we would pass.

After we arrived at the boardwalk the train powered down and sat there for an hour waiting for the first trip back to Felton. This gave me ample time to do some detail shots of the train which I found very interesting. This is my favorite of the roll!

Gene O”Lague, the diesel that took us down the mountain to Santa Cruz for the beach trip stopped at the boardwalk in Santa Cruz

Of course we were now at the boardwalk amusement park. We were there a few days earlier (the park) but could not spend much time there for Jordan. So as I said earlier we decided to add 4 extra hours here for him to ride and play. It was time well spent and he enjoyed the day.

Sky RIding on the boardwalk in Santa Cruz during the Beach train ride

Ellen & Jordan

All in all the train rides and park were a nice time on the trip for us all. It was both fun and very tiring but I managed to capture 14 rolls of B&W 120 film and 4 of color slides. I continue to evolve in my technique for travel photography with the inclusion of more capable travel medium format camera systems which makes me VERY happy. I hope to travel much more with Ellen in the future and once in a while I will take my larger Mamiya 645AFDii camera and lenses there is good reason to stick to the lighter Fuji GA645zi system with its single zoom lens!

Things learned:

While a wider range of interchangeable lenses would be nice, the camera/lenses are just too heavy to travel with and carry…
I love rangefinders but an auto focus made my photography much more fun and faster with my family in tow…
Take more film…
Split the B&W film evenly between slow and fast. Stick with Tmax 400 and Ilford TF4+ 125…
Take along a faster slide film…
Get a bigger dark bag to hold exposed film…
Did I say take more film? Yep, but it is a biggie!

Thanks for bearing with me thru this ultra long post. While it does come across as more of a family vacation (which it is) post it really does go into ways to make such a easier and funner experience!

As always, please let me know what you think of it all!

Aug 26 2018

Willy and the Pelican

A Lesson On Life!

WIlly and the Pelican.. Southport, NC

I discovered Willy (his first name is Wet) at Fishy Fishy on the marsh front in Southport while Jamie Konarski Davidson and I were there last weekend and kindly asked the pelican flying overhead to land on Willy. He said that Willy was to small and his landing there would make Willy rock and ruin my shot so he landed on the larger boat then struck a pose for me. A really considerate bird that Pelican was! The scene was busy yet pleasing to me so I sat and talked to the Pelican (they are so chatty) for a bit while I shot the roll of film!

When I was done and started to leave the pelican squawked in his deep male pelican dialect “ what about compensation for pulling this scene together for you?” So i asked the fish monger behind me for a pelican sized payment and gave it to my birdie friend who promptly grabbed it and flew away without a word! I lowered my head in disappointment knowing that I should not have been hurt as all of the creatures live and die in the entitlement mentality! Oh well…

So… Here is Willy and the Pelican!

Willy and the Pelican

This was done with my Mamiya 645AFDii and a 45mm lens using FP4+ film processed in Xtol stock in my Filmomat processor, then wet mount scanned. Full data is below:

BTW, WIlly says he is looking forward to seeing all of you who are coming to the workshop there at the end of September!

645 AFD2 – 45mm – Roll 93 Fr 7 – 1_60 f11 – Orange Filter – Willy and the Pelican- FP4 125 – Xtol Stock – Filmomat – D-CI 55- – Scan Exp Lock – Wet Mount – 2018-08-25

Feb 4 2018

The Amazing (and affordable) Dayi 6×12 Medium Format System!

BIGGER is BETTER!

This is the Causeway to the Litchfield Inn in Pawleys Island.
100TMX processed in Xtol 1:1. Yellow filter, f/22 at 1 second metered on the white roof on the distant boat house where the water seems to end an placing that in zone 7 to 4 seconds then to 6 seconds for reciprocity..

Well… Yes, I have a NEW medium format camera system! Not new used, but NEW NEW!

It is the Dayi 6×12 and is custom made in China for each order. It is very affordable, the camera, lens cone (adjusted for you lens ahead of time) film back, focus screen and shade, viewfinder and a Arco swiss mounting foot! All in all this ran me around $1000 and took 2 months from payment to delivery. There are several companies selling them but I chose ecbuyonline2008 on Ebay, contacted them and then dealt directly with them for a nice discount. They provided a direct email at ecbuyonline@foxmail.com.

Dayi 6×12 showing the ground glass and shade and my custom dark cloth attatched.

Ok, the camera itself is very well balanced and easy to use. As with most types of cameras of this design it uses a lens cone cut specifically for the focal length of the lens used. If you use a different length lens as a 2nd then you will need another cone designed for it as well.

Dayi 6×12 showing the film back and ground glass

The focus is controlled by a CALIBRATED helical mount that gives very fine control of the focus. Because it is calibrated, you can just dial in the distance and forget the ground glass. Me? Not so much. My eyes are not calibrated very good. Now, a cheap laser rangefinder would be just the thing. Fire it, dial in the distance and shoot! I use the ground glass as my focus operation. I have a custom made dark cloth that fits the glass frame and works very well. I have a nice 8x loupe that I use to make up for my old eyes!

There are calibration screws around the outside edge of the lens cone and you can see the small hole for one at the end of the video above. These allow you to set the infinity point and place the lens in the correct position. You can find a tutorial HERE for this process.

Lenses that will work on this camera can be found HERE.

The camera is a bit heavy and not suited to handheld work, but it can be done. It is a VERY well designed and built camera system and has ZERO light leaks.

When the camera first arrived, the film holder was scratching the surface of the film emulsion.

Here is the issue, a spring next to a roller that is too high in the film plane with rough edges! It is the bright silver line under the roller. See how it is bent up in the center? It actually touched the film.

The complete assembly

I took it apart and realized that a spring was adjusted too high on the film holder back and touching the film. It was a simple adjustment to fix this but I still sent an email about it and a few days later this video arrived showing how they said to fix the issue which is exactly what I had found!

This goes to prove that they are responsive to customer complaints, problems or suggestions! That is a big plus in my book!

The system is simply a joy to use. It is bright in the corners (of course that is lens dependent) and the focus is spot on! I have put about 10 rolls of film thru it so far including some Ektar 100 (which I have not processed yet but have the chemistry). Now that the scratching issue is fixed I see a great future for the camera in my kit.

The folks at the company in Hong Kong are easy to work with and very responsive over email. I highly recommend them. They have MANY other cameras for sale also including a larger 6×17 version of this one.

Stormy Seas, Dayi 6×12, not the best composition but a good example of the quality from the camera!

I hope you enjoyed this short post on the new pano camera system. There will be more following!

Oct 27 2017

Testing the new Fuji GA645zi Medium Format Camera

A Light Weight 120 Autofocus Travel Camera with a Zoom Lens!

Fuji GA645zi

Well…. I have been waiting to test out my new Fuji GA645zi camera for about a week now but due to family issues I have been unable to do so.

I finally made it out to visit the shrimp boats just west of Tybee Island and the light house there! The sky was very plain with no clouds but I really needed to test this camera out. I put on a yellow filter to slightly darken the sky and used Fuji Acros 100 film.

This is the shrimper Agnes Marie.

Shrimp Boat Agnes Marie

Data:

Fuji GA645zi – Acros 100 – f19 1-30 Plus 1 EV, Yellow Filter 9-18-17 – Wet Mount scanned – Agnes Marie – 2017-10-27. Processed in Xtol 1:1.

Fuji GA645zi

Please note that along the bottom of the frame ALL of the exposure data is recorded! This is a feature that I really like.

The auto focus system is very robust, fast and dead on! It is not as loud as people claimed and I really enjoyed using it! I had an issue with my first roll in that it did not clear the take up reel and bulged out fogging most of the roll. Bad me, I used the one that came with the camera, so I then used the reel that the Acros came on and all is well there now.

I know that the sky is plain but I am still happy with the results!

I am looking at this camera as a small light 120 travel camera. I know that the 6×4.5 negative is smaller than my 6x7and 6×9 systems but it still gives a large enough negative for sizable prints. An other nice feature is that the camera has a 7 position zoom quasi zoom lens which again makes it attractive for travel!

I only had time to wet mount scan 1 image today but I put 4 rolls of film thru it so there will be more on the way including the Tybee Lighthouse!

Aug 22 2017

Full Eclipse at Pawleys Island, SC

Never 2nd guess yourself on the worthiness of an image…

Full Eclipse, Pawleys Island, SC . 2017

Honestly, I was NOT inspired to photograph this event in the least…

Jordan, my 8 year old grandson

There were going to be MILLIONS of photographers out there shooting the same thing or at least trying. So I asked myself why bother to get the same shot everyone else would have? But my 8 year old photographer grandson came over with viewing glasses so we sat out in chairs in the front of our house (100% eclipse) and watched it happen

The longer it went on the more excited I got, then when the light started fading I decided to fire off a few shots when it reached 100%.

Canon 70-300L

I had a Sony A6500 with a Canon 70-300L nearby so I got up and got the camera from my truck and shot handheld at ISO 4000, f/8 and 1/1000s to keep a sharp handheld shot. There was no time to setup a tripod! I Put the camera in high speed mode and fired off about 30 images then put the camera down and forgot about it till last night. On viewing the images is was stunned by the sharpness of them all and while I had several of the diamond ring I decided upon this one for one reason:

Look closely on the right side of the sun/moon and you can see a solar flare jetting out to the right. It has an orange color…

So, there is a lesson to be learned here (or re-learned in my case…), do not take the desire/inspiration or lack there of for granted, take the time and get the shot and later on decide upon whether or not it was worth your time. It is always best to have it in the can rather than not.

I am glad that I even took the minimal effort to do this. Imagine what I could have done had I setup properly with a 600mm lens ahead of time?

How many of you have made this same mistake? Take my example to heart and always have a camera nearby when you are viewing something that might be worth capturing whether or not you have a desire to do so… One day you might be grateful for doing so!

Aug 6 2017

Testing the New Kolari Vision AR 720nm Screw On Filter

720nm Medium Format Film Photography with Rollei IR400 Film

Tomotley Plantation in 720nm Infrared with Rollei IR400 film and the Kolari Vision 720nm Filter

Infrared FILM photography has always been on the difficult side, but not because of lack for film because there are several films on the market. Rather it is due to the poor quality of the available 720nm filters on the market.

Kolari 720nm FIlter

Recently Kolari Vision www.kolarivision.com has come out with a new series of infrared filters with their AR (anti reflection) that stop or greatly reduce hot spots in the center of your film or digital sensor. These hot spots are due to the various coatings, paint and other reflective coatings on the glass elements and coatings on inside of your lenses causing the light to bounce back and forth several times then hit the film dead center causing the hot spot.

The main filter on the market has been the Hoya R72 filter which works but gives a low contrast washed out image. Along come the new Kolari filter and now I am getting more contrast and even images with greatly reduced hot spots. AMAZING!

So lets take a look at the image above. This is the Tomotley Plantation about 20 min west of Beaufort, SC and was taken with the Rollei IR400 film rated at 720nm. Without a IR filter the ISO is 400 and the emulsion generates a very good likeness of Kodak TriX 400 film. If you add the 720nm filter the ISO drops down to 12 or 6 but you get the amazing whites on the grass and leaves. You even get the Wood Effect where the green items BLOOM out with an etherial soft white energy on the image!

Few things beat a beautiful sunrise photographed in color when you want to create a dramatic image. The same scene photographed in infrared may be disappointing unless there’s some IR reflective subject matter (we’re talking about deciduous trees here) to add interest. That’s because of the “Wood Effect,” which is the bright, white reproduction of the chlorophyll layer of deciduous plants. The effect is named after infrared photography pioneer Robert W. Wood (1868-1955) and not after the material wood which does not strongly reflect infrared.

Normally the Wood Effect is difficult to achieve at 720nm and is better seen at 800nm and and above. I have been very happy with this new filter from Kolari in combination with the Rollei IR400 film because I am constantly getting the effect plus deep contrasty images. It simply works as expected which is way more than I can say for others on the market!

Technical Data:

Fuji GF 670 Medium Format (120) folding Rangefinder with a Voigtlander 85mm Color Scopar lens.
Kolari 720nm AR filter
ISO at 12 and 6, both are close to perfect because they are only 1 stop apart.
Aperture: f/32
Tripod mounted

Development:

Ilford Perceptol Stock mixture 1:0, 20c, 14 min with 5 seconds of agitation every min.
Water Rinse
Stop Bath
Ilford Quick Fix for 5 min with 5 seconds of agitation every min.
Water Rinse
Clearing Wash
Water rinse for 10 min
Distilled Water rinse with 3 drops of wetting solution
Dried overnight in filtered Mistral Drying Cabinet.
Wet mount scanned on a Epson 850 pro at 6400dpi.

If you are considering working in 720nm whether in film or digital I highly recommend this new filter from Kolari!

Jul 8 2017

Finding Myself In The Old Ways…

It seems that I am addicted to film…

Miss Lue & A Hungry Egret

I still shoot with digital (A7RII) and love the look and capability of it, but FILM is what I go to every time I go out shooting… It is Terrible and exciting at the same time! It is so bad that I am looking for another freezer to store my excess film stock!

This is (again) Stormy Seas in Georgetown, SC

This is (again) Stormy Seas in Georgetown, SC (perhaps the most photographed boat in the Low Country). I have hundreds of images of it but I am pulled to photograph her in B&W film each and every time I am in Georgetown. There is something about her lines and textures that inspire me to document her life, and I have for years. Yes I will visit ANY shrimp boat (or grist mill for that matter) and each and every time I visit I see something different and unique… Yep addicted!

DATA:

The image was taken about 5 days ago on a 6×9 Fuji GW 690 II using medium format Fuji Acros 100 film and a red filter, developed in Perceptol 1:1 and Wet Mount scanned on a Epson 850 pro. The 6×9 format will give me 8 images per roll and I will usually scan 2 or 3 per roll, but I am very critical and selective because the wet scan process takes about 3/4 hour per scan!

The top image is near Stormy Seas in Georgetown, about 2 blocks away at another commercial dock and seafood house. I have shot this a hundred times on both digital and film, but never have I captured such a pleasing image as this. It is to me a more enriching image full of mood, contrasts and tells a story. I pleases me to no end the tell the story on an old FILM camera of an old boat and failing lifestyle just as the shrimp boat is in the background and the Egret in the foreground telling a different yet the same story!

There is also the consideration that is tied to the process of working in film. It is slower and much more deliberate, a truer work of love in that you control every single step of the process…

Film choice (Kodak Tmax 100, Tmax 400, Fuji Acros 100 or Rollei IR400)
Camera and lens choice (Medium or Large Format)
Considering the composition and lines.
Getting the exposure dead on (how many of you do that in digital?)
Adjusting for contrast and detail in shadows or highlights.
Film development and processing for highlights or shadows (another complete immersion of self discovery)
Drying (yep at lest 24 hours in a dust free drying cabinet)
Choosing the best image for exposure, sharpness, composition, contrasts, lines, dust & hair and so on..)
Wet scanning (at least a 1/2 to 3/4 hour project per shot)
Cleaning up on the computer by removing dust and hair and adding a bit of contrast)

All in all, the top image took about a week to complete from end to end! I simply love the process, being immersed in it and becoming one in the creative process. Yes it is slow but when I am done it is a total representation of MY PERSONAL VISION!

Film is making a HUGE come back in the world of photography! So much so that you will be shocked when you visit Ebay and look at the prices of old film cameras and systems! All of the major film makers in the world are increasing their production of films and even Kodak is bringing back discontinued film products! New film companies like New55, Impossible Project, and FILM FERRANIA have opened up and are making emulsions!

Developing has never been easier, there are many mail order labs out there but you can process your own film in your kitchen with very little effort and investment! You will need:

Dark Tent or changing bag to move your film to a daylight tank.
Daylight tank (I reccomend a Stainless Steel tank with steel developing reels by Hewes)
Distilled Water
Developer ( I recommend Perceptol by Ilford)
Stop Bath
Fixer
Wash
Water Rinse
Distilled water rinse with wetting agent
Clips to dry your film in your bathroom shower
A flat bed scanner like Epson 500, 600, 700, 800 or 850)

Total you are looking at about $120 for everything accept the scanner! There are great videos on Youtube that will take you thru every step in the process!

Tybee Island Light, Kodak Tmax 100 FIlm on a Fuji GW 690 II camera.

The image above of the Tybee Island Lighthouse was taken last month on Kodak Tmax 100 rated at 50 ISO on the 6×9 format medium format Fuji System. It was hot and the area full of tourists, even up on the top of the lighthouse itself! Still the act of creating this image was both fun and fulfilling and I walked away with exactly what I envisioned as I stood there looking at the scene!

I especially love shooting with Medium Format cameras. They are easier to travel with and the negatives are large enough to give amazing prints. I do have 3 4×5 large format cameras also that are great fun to you but as you can imagine, they are difficult to travel with. Once in a great while I will shoot with a 35mm camera, usually smaller rangefinder that were sold in the 60’s and 70’s!

Medium Format:

Fuji GF 670 (this is my travel camera in 6×7 format with a 85mm lens that folds up into a thin light camera)
Fuji GW 690II (this is a 6×9 format camera with a 90mm lens and a bit larger and better built than the GF camera)
Fuji GW 690 III (a newer version of the 690II)

Large Format:

Shen Hao 4×5 Cherry Field Camera with 5 lenses and film adapters for also using 120 film.
Polaroid 900 converted to 4×5 with a 150mm Fujinon lens. Think of 4×5 travel camera!
Polaroid 110B converted to 4×5 with a 90mm Schneider Angulon lens, again travel!

So, while film does indeed require much more effort over digital, the results simply cannot be compared. These medium format negatives have a native resolution to create a 71×53 inch print without upsizing it at all! The amount of detail is simply stunning and more importantly (at least t me) is the fact that the process become a Zen like activity in creation!

I hope that you enjoyed this post but more importantly to me at least that you considered my words on the creative process and taking complete control of it!

Jan 29 2017

Become the Master of your craft….

Pelican Dock - Type 55 4x5 Film, Wet Scan

Pelican Dock – Type 55 4×5 Film, Wet Scan

This is the Pelican Dock on Pawleys Island, SC. It is a 4″ x 5″ FILM image taken on Polaroid Type 55 film from one of my film workshops.

Polaroid 900 w/ 150mm Fujinon lens converted to 4x5 by Steven Icanberry.

Polaroid 900 w/ 150mm Fujinon lens converted to 4×5 by Steven Icanberry.

I did this with a Polaroid 900 converted to 4×5 format camera and the film was expired (16 years) Type 55 instant 4×5 film that also creates a fragile negative which was scanned Wet Mount on an Epson 850 . This single image costs about $35 to create and process!

But look closely at the image, notice the calm peace of the scene, the amazing clarity and sharpness that is a gift when working with large format film, but more importantly, the edge process markings created when working with this amazing film!

But of greater importance than how I created this image is the why…

We all see amazing scenes as we travel through life, but how many of us actually take the time to really experience and feel on an emotional level what we are actually experiencing as we create our art? I watch so many great photographers skitter from scene to scene like a bee to pollen that it leaves me feeling sad.

Let me ask you, “How can you create art that will appeal to your viewers on an emotional level if you yourself refuse to slow down long enough to feel the emotional impact yourself as you create it?

The key here is to stand before the scene and take it all I. Get a feel for what you desire to share with your viewers before you even pick up your camera! SLOW DOWN, take your time, investigate it from many angles and exposures. Yes this is a single image, in fact the only one I took due to the cost, but I spent a half hour studying the scene, moving around looking for the best impact and knowing that I would get the edge markings and using them to increase overall impact!

This is a hard lesson to learn and harder still to practice. This is one of the the lessons forced upon us who still shoot film as I do. After all, Film = $. We have to slow down and make every shot count so the next logical step is to connect on an emotional level with your subject and thus create art that is charged with mood that will draw your viewer in.

Just because I use FILM as an example here for you do not think that it does not apply to digital! Yes, once you pay back the investment of your digital equipment with image sales (you do sell your work don’t you?) the cost per image is basically paid only in terms of your time. But time also has a value and if by slowing down and imparting emotional impact in your image then you will be on the true path of photographic nirvana!

Take your time, explore your scene, feel it’s emotional impact, SLOW Down!

Do not copy the Bee, rather strive to be a master of photography…

Jan 23 2017

Using M mount glass on the Sony A7rii camera

The AMAZING just got better….

Stormy Seas with the Voigtlander 12mm Ultra Wide Heliar M Mount Lens and the Techart Auto Focus Leica to Sony adapter

Look closely at the image above. It was taken with a Voigtlander M mount 12mm Ultra Wide Heliar lens and the Techart M to FE AUTOFOCUS adapter on a Sony A7rii camera. The cleat on the bottom right is about 6 inches from the front of the lens! The color rendering is amazing and there is very little distortion that is normally found with an ultra wide lens! I can hear you asking how I accomplished this!

I recently picked up the Techart M to FE Sony mount adapter for my Leica and Voigtlander lenses. It has been my desire to use them on the Sony A7rii, A6300 and A6500 cameras.

The Techart auto focus adapter is amazing. I actually moves the lens in and out to get a sharp focus. It has several rules that you must follow to use it and as long as you do it will provide great service. It is quite fast!

Use a center focus point on the camera
Set your camera aperture to f/2 and leave. It there
Set the real aperture directly on the lens.
Don’t try to focus with the lens set to f/22, keep it around f/8 or f/11
The Exif data will shot f/2 but the exposure meter will correctly meter the subject.
Don’t try to use a heavy lens on the adapter unless you support it.

12mm Voigtlander M lens with the Techart autofocus M to FE adapter

Here is a link to a short video demonstration of the Techart M to FE adapter on my Sony A7rii:

B&W work with this lens as well as my other Voigtlander and Leica M mount lenses are just as sharp weather in color or monochrome!

Stormy Seas with the Voigtlander 12mm Ultra Wide Heliar M Mount Lens and the Techart Auto Focus Leica to Sony adapter

I also have and use a Metabones M to FE adapter which gives the same results but with manual focus only. Sometimes manual focus is necessary depending upon your subject but reguardless of focus type both adapters and all of my M lenses work wonderfully on the A7rii camera system!

Stormy Seas with the Voigtlander 12mm Ultra Wide Heliar M Mount Lens and the Techart Auto Focus Leica to Sony adapter

If you have a selection of M lenses then the cost of a M to FE adapter is well worth the money. But I am VERY impressed with the new autofocus adapter!

Please let me know what you think!

Dec 11 2016

One Perfect Image…

Sometimes we just have to stand there taking it all in!

Hoodoos in Bryce National Park at the Sunset Point Overlook. Olympus XA with Kodak Tmax 100 film. This is MY defining image for my entire trip!

Ahh, have you ever had one of those defining moments in life where you KNOW that you are witnessing something truly special that touches your soul? Well that is exactly what this was for me. We had been on the road for almost 11 days on a trip from Rapid City thru Wyoming and Utah. Our last stop of the trip was supposed to be in Zion National Park but we had to cancel due to terrible rain and flooding in the park. We extended our time in Arches which was really nice but it was not until I stood here in Bryce National Park at the Sunset point looking down into the canyon that I realized that I had made a mistake… I should have added onto the time there. We only had ONE day to explore Bryce and it was very nice there with many great vistas and rock formations, but this image at the Sunset Point was the defining moment for the entire trip for me.

Hood Valley, Bryce Canyon, Sunset overview, Sony A7rii

Understand, that I am NOT talking about either of the photographs captured and shown above, but rather the moment for me personally standing there taking it all in, becoming one with the scene, no camera, no thoughts of photography only the experience and impact of witnessing the greatness of the scene. I stood there for a good half hour drinking it all in and I will remember the emotional impact upon me for the rest of my life. Yes… it was that powerful.

There is some serious food for thought in this last statement. In these days of rapid fire digital photography don’t you think that we can quickly loose sight of what it is that we are trying to create in our art? Shooting in film slows you down which aids in the creative process. This is not to say that we cannot do this with our digital systems because we can and I do, but rather most of us who practice this art tend to “hurry, capture and move on to the next thing!”

Olympus XA 135mm

It was almost as if it was an afterthought that I actually took my Sony A7rii with me up the trail to the overlook and took a few images which were actually quite nice in color, but after the sensory overload of the scene I could only think of one thing, B&W and FILM. Yes, I could convert the color image above to B&W in post processing and do quite a good job of it but NOTHING can compare to what I can create with film! So, it was a bit of a walk back down to the car where my wife and 7 year old grandson were resting because of the long drive to get here, but down I went with only one task, to trade the digital for a TINY B&W film camera, the Olympus XA. The XA is the worlds smallest 35mm rangefinder camera. It has an amazingly sharp lens with easy focus, but the key is the fact that it is pants pocket (not those bulky cargo pockets but regular ones), it is light and handy.

I took so much camera equipment on this trip that the only space I had for a film system required that it be tiny. Against all of my experience I threw in this tiny camera along with just 5 rolls of Kodak Tmax 100 film and off we flew. I am so glad that I did now but having said this it is only fair to share that this was a colossal mistake. I should have made room for a medium format (120 6×7) camera and taken out a lens or two for the Sony. I have learned my lesson and will never repeat this mistake. Don’t get me wrong, the XA captured an amazingly detailed and sharp image. I love how it turned out. The Kodak Tmax 100 film along with the Perceptol developer generated a image (yes small) with tiny grain and great sharpness. Am I happy with the result? You bet! Would I have been happier with a larger 120 negative, OMG YES!! Can I have a do over please? Yes, I know, not to much of there ever being a chance for that.

So lets sum this up a bit shall we?

SLOW DOWN, take the time to really look at your subject! If you do this your chances of creating a world class image will greatly improve.
Look closely at what is in front of you, take the time to feel its emotional impact upon you and only then bring out the camera and with your skill and insight to the scene make the camera (nothing more than a tool) capture what you saw!
Think in both color and B&W. Remember though that B&W removes the clutter and confusion of normal color work. In my opinion, B&W allows you to capture the soul of the scene! So yes, take color but also take B&W, you might be surprised at how well you can do.
If you are working in digital only, during post processing work color first completely, save the image THEN process for B&W generating all of the mood that you possibly can!

Ok, this post is done. Get out there, shoot and create, but slow down and think about what and WHY you are doing it!

Nov 22 2016

Going Home to Mama…. Returning to Film!

The joys of returning to our photographic roots…

Murrells Inlet Fleet, Polaroid Type 55 4×5 film, Wet Mount Scan

Have any of you considered film photography?

There is something about working with film that is very calming which can center one’s soul allowing you to really connect with your art. For me it was like going home to Mama. The feeling of working with your hands as part of creating your art will make it more involved and enable you to to really influence the hidden nuances in your work. It will add a bit more complexity to your workflow but trust me it is worth the effort. The single largest change is forcing you to slow down in your creative process, it forces you to really consider every part of your workflow. It really is not any more difficult than digital photography, but it is a bit more involved.

Polaroid 900, Tmax 100 4x5 @ 64, Perceptol

Polaroid 900 with a Fujinon 150mm lens, Tmax 100 4×5 @ 64, Perceptol 1:1 developing

Take a really close look at the details in this image, click on it and look at it in the full screen mode. Look at the GEARING on the edge of the wheel. The detail there will take your breath away!

Film Cameras

Olympus XA 135mm

I have way too many film cameras to list them all, some really small like the Olympus XA which is the worlds smallest 35mm rangefinder and a joy to use.

I also have an Olympus RC 35 camera that is another fixed lens rangefinder. It is simple and fun to use and can be found for very little money. I have mine rebuild and given a bright blue suite that suites it quite well!

My Custom Olympus 35 RC

My Leica M7 Film Body

My last 35mm camera system is a Leica M7 system. It has interchangeable lenses and is one of the best built camera systems that I have. Couple it with the world class Leica lenses and you have an unbeatable 35mm system.

Confusion, Petri 7S 35mm, Eastman XX flim

Fuji GF670

Moving up to Medium Format 120 film systems I have three. I have the Voigtlander Bessa IIIw system that is 6×7 format and the Fuji GF670 camera (also sold under the name of Bessa III) with a longer 85mm lens (left & right). The 670 is my medium format travel camera of choice. Not only is it a functional camera with a built in meter but it is attractive and it always will draw a crowd when I get it out to use! Another nice point to the GF670 is that it folds down on itself to a thin easy to store camera in your bag!

Mamaya RZ Pro II system

And lastly the Mamaya RZ Pro II SLR ( Right) with interchangeable lenses and a world class metering system. This camera is large and heavy but easy to use and a very powerful camera system! I have a f/4 65mm and f/4 180mm lens for it. I also have both the waist level finder and a metering prism with spot and matrix! Like I said, heavy and big, but I use it for ultra long exposures on the coast with the Fuji Acros 100 film which has almost NO RECIPROCITY failure up to 140 seconds then only 1/2 stop after that! The film base is a little on the thin side but still my film of choice for long exposures.

Stormy Seas, Fuji GF670, Tmax 100, Perceptol 1:1, Wet Mount Scan

Polaroid 110 with 90mm lens converted to 4×5!

My 900 converted to 4x5 by Alpenhause Kamera Werke

Polaroid 900with 150mm Fujinon lens converted to 4×5

Moving up to 4×5 Large Format cameras, I have three. first I have a Shen Hao cherry field camera. Functional as it is beautiful. I rarely take it out, rather I am using a Polaroid 900 converted to 4×5 with a Fujinon 150mm lens and a Polaroid 110B camera converted to 4×5 with a Schneider Super Angulon 90mm lens. It is a beauty and very wide!

Yes, as you may have noticed, some of these cameras are quite large. This is due to the negative size. Let me give you some idea as to why digital cameras can never come close to the resolution of film.

Focus Test - Epson Wet Adapter Across 100 Perceptol 1:2 Springmaid Pi

Montreat Cascades, 4×5 Tmax 100 developed in Perceptol and wet mount scanned.

Lets start with medium format:

Medium Format 6×7 format makes an image 2 1/4 inches tall and much wider. Scanned at native resolution of 6400 dpi on an Epson 850 Pro scanner gives me a file resolution of 16452 x 19668 dpi or a print size at 300 dpi of 4.5 feet by 5.3 feet! This is huge.
Large Format of 4″ x 5 ” scanned at 6400 dpi (native) gives a file size of 29107 x 36070 dpi or a print size of 8 feet x 10 feet! There is not a digital camera system in the world that can come more than a small fraction of this!

Film

Film has turned wildly popular again in the past several years and many of the big film manufacturers have started increasing their film production lines again. This is especially true in the medium format lines (120) and 4×5 large format films! Film can be found in single rolls or in bulk almost everywhere again. The big box companies like B&H, Adorama and many others carry almost every type and format that you could ever want!

Processing in B&W has never been easier at home with eco friendly chemistry with no darkroom needed. Only an initial outlay of around $150 will get you started. Cameras can be found anywhere for next to nothing! You will need:

Dark Bag, a cloth bag that it light proof with arm sleeves that enable you to put your film, developing tank, reel an lid inside with your arms to move the film into a light tight developing tank!
Developing Tank, I recommend a stainless steel version.
Film Reels, I like the Hewes stainless steel ones.
Developer, comes either in a powder or a Liquid. I like Perceptol and/or Rodinal R09.
Fixer, to remove un-used silver
Liquid wetting agent to prevent drops to dry on your negative.
Clips to hang you film up to dry!

You can scan your film into your computer with a good Epson scanner like the 700, 750, 800 or 850. You can also buy an adapter for your camera allowing you to scan by photograph!

While I work in both color and B&W, digital and film I find time after time I pick up a film system and load it up with a good B&W film. The process of developing your film can really help you connect to your work as well.

I like several films, here they are in order of favor:

Kodak Tmax 100 in 35, 120 and 4×5, very small grain, good dynamic range easy to process
Fuji Acros 100 in 35, 120 and 4×5, very small grain, good dynamic range NO RECIPROCITY FAILURE, easy to process
Rollei IR400 in 35, 120 and 4×5, Infrared or normal B&W, good dynamic range, easy to process
Rollei Retro 80S in 35 and 120, amazing clarity and sharpness, good dynamic range easy to process
Eastman XX in 35, motion picture film used in B&W movies of the 50’s, smooth gradient transitions.

As an example here is the top image from last week of the fishing fleet taken on 20 year out of date Polaroid Type 55 monochrome instant film. The camera is also a Polaroid 900 that my daughter sent me years ago from a garage sale that I had converted to 4×5 with a Fujinon 150mm lens. A MOST beautiful camera in a bright new blue suite that is just fun to use. It is both rangefinder and ground glass focusing that forces you to slow down and really consider each and every image you capture!

The Type 55 film, even outdated, works flawlessly and generates amazing images where the edge markings add to the artistic impact of your subject

Pelican Dock – Type 55 4×5 Film, Wet Scan

So what do you think? Are you tempted to try this out? It is easy. For starters, you can look at the continuing education departments at a local college or hight school. Most offer B&W film photography with darkroom work. This will teach you enough to allow you to determine if you would like to further investigate this wonderful medium!

You can also contact me and request info on one of my film workshops held in Pawleys Island SC. I would love to have you and share this amazing link to our past!

Please let me know what you think of this post!

Sep 3 2016

My Thoughts on the Art of travel photography…

Or… What I Did On My Summer Vacation!

Warning, LONG post…

Canyon Lands Pano, Sony A7rii with the 24-240 and polarizer

Devils Tower

Travel Photography… Say it, let it roll off your tongue, think about it! I bet that the first thing that comes to mind are images from National Geographic, fine, super saturated color photographs that could take you anywhere in the world by simply looking at them! You know the kind, they enabled you over the years to travel vicarisly around the world just with the magazine and its images!

But is that what travel photography really is?

What is the intent of travel photography to document a place or a trip? Is it designed to tell a story on an individual level or to the masses?

Well for me, it is a combination of the two. Most importantly, the images are to refresh the memories of the trip. But there is a real market out there for well done travel photography whether in print publications, web, advertising or fine art prints. It can be quite profitable if you work at it and can step back and look at your own images in terms of the above markets. Even the housing deceration market has room for this type of photography provided that you can simplify your work to show colors and contrasts over locations.

Jordan, My 7 year old photographer grandson

For this trip, and pretty much all the time when I am shooting digital, I exclusively use the Sony 42 mpix A7rii camera system and the new Sony A6300 for high speed work with Sony G lenses or Sony Zeiss lenses. They are very well suited to this type of photography and give you enough (42 mix) resolution to get amazing images yet still have room to crop!

The drive for this post was a recent two week trip out West with my wife and 7 year old grandson Jordan who I am teaching film photography and darkroom processing to (photographically, I had grand plans for him this trip). Given time I plan on turning him into a photographic GOD for something fun while making sure he is a Rocket Scientist!

We flew into Rapid City, SD and picked up a one way rental car and our first night in a long string of hotels.

Devils Tower

Our Itinerary:

Prairie Dog

Day 1. Rapid City layover and rest.
Day 2. Pick up rental car and drive to Mt. Rushmore in the morning and then the Devils Tower in the afternoon. Continue on 1/2 way to Codie, WY.
Day 3. Famous Hot Springs of Thermopolis, Wyoming then an afternoon visit and guided tour to the most successful dinosaur dig on our continent.
Day 4. Codie WY for several stops including the famous old west town and the Codie Rodio.
Day 5-7. Yellowstone for 3 days in a park lodge.
Day 8. Leave Yellowstone, drive thru and stop along the way in the Tetons finishing in Jackson WY.
Day 9. Drive just north of Salt Lake City in the town of Herbor for a 3 hour train ride around the valley.
Day 10-12. Drive to Moab for 3 nights and visit Arches and Canyonlands National Parks with extra boat and jeep rides thru the park as well as Dead Horse Point State Park.
Day 13. Early morning drive to Bryce National park for 2 days of Bryce National Par
Day 14. Drive to Salt Lake for flight home on day 15.

Drugstore of the West, Cody, WY

So as you can see there was a well thought out family plan for travel and location visits! But, I also had a plan, my photographic plan!

So lets talk first about my TRAVEL photographic equipment plan. I wanted to travel light (yea right). No backpack, rather a small rolling camera case that would fit into the over head of a small commuter plane so that I would not have to check it. I would not have room for a film camera… Dang!

So here is what I brought along:

Sony A7rii camera body
Sony a6300 camera body for Jordan
Sony 24-240mm one lens does it all for Jordan
Sony 24-70 Zeiss f/4
Sony 70-200 G f/4
Tamron 150-600 for those exotic animals I expected to see
And yes… A Olympus XA 35mm film camera (but it is the worlds smallest rangefinder) with 6 rolls of Tmax 100
Filters, ND for long water falls and polarizers for all of the rest in 67mm and 72mm.
Batteries an chargers (both cameras used the same)

This was a good plan (or so I thought) until our very first stop at Mt. Rushmore where Jordan informed me that the 24-240 was too long and heavy. Oh well, I took that and gave him the 24-70.

RULE ONE: No camera plan survives first contact with a 7 year old!

Ok, so at least the part of the photographic plan of me being able to NOT check my camera equipment worked! (I did put all of my insulin and supplies in the camera case just to prove my need to have the case with me but did not need it).

RULE TWO: A super zoom really works best when you have to carry lots of glass around while traveling. See Rule One, Jordan did me a favor here!

Yes, I know that one would not normally trade a light 24-70 Sony/Zeiss f/4 lens for a 24-240 f/3.5-5.6 Sony super zoom but I have to be honest, I was VERY impressed with the super zoom! It was not really that much heaver but it was longer. I NEVER put on the 24-70 after that.

Things to look for on a cross country western trip:

Wildlife
Landscapes & Vistas
Unique rock formations
Waterfalls
Wild colors
Unique photographic visions

Trip Highlights!

Yellowstone

Old Faithful

Querimony: To Questionably Moan & Complain!

I expected great things of Yellowstone and that showed in the number of days there as well as staying in the park. Yellowstone is HUGE, so much so that you have to allow for HOURS of driving time from location to location. The roads are all good, 2 lanes with adequate pull offs. BUT having said that there are rules of behavior in pulling off and rules for how you treat the wildlife. I cannot tell you how many people (especially foreign visitors) who would jump out of the car (still in the road) and run off into the fields right up to the wildlife. To say that this is bad behavior is an understatement. It for one, keeps others from being able to photograph the wildlife and two puts the peoples lives in grave danger that approach the wildlife! Yet this happened almost every time wildlife was near the road. The park rangers had simply given up on trying to educate people who would not listen. They spend most of their time dealing with the MANY dreadful traffic accidents that happened every day. The traffic jams were terrible whenever an animal was near. Sometimes this was due to the animal being on the road but most of the time it was because people parked right in the middle of the road who left their cars.

Buffalo on the Yellowstone river in the early morning mist

I am going to share a few of my favorite images from Yellowstone with you. It is a good cross section of what you can expect to see while visiting!

Blue Pool, Prismatic Spring Upper Yellowstone

Prismatic Spring upper Yellowstone

Yellowstone Antelope, North Entrance

Teal Pool, Upper Yellowstone

And last….

Lower Yellowstone Falls Detail 1 second Exposure with 10 stops of ND

I would travel again to Yellowstone but in the spring or fall in order to see more of the wildlife there. I realize that in the heat of August even the animals would move to higher locations in order to reduce the heat. The only wildlife I really saw in abundance on this trip were Buffalo, Elk and Antelope.

Moab, Arches & Canyonlands National Parks

Delicate Arch

The Moab area offered some of the most amazing locations of our trip. I had thought that nothing could beat Yellowstone, but Moab came very close.

Sandstone Arch, Arches

There are 3 offerings here, the Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park and the Dead Horse Point State Park. ALL three are must see locations. For me Arches was the best, but honestly, we spent time exploring all three in detail (well sort walk detail). We also paid extra for a boat trip on the Colorado River thru Canyonlands for a low view and a back country jeep tour to see area and arches not available to the general public in Arches! If you get here I advise that you do both side trips.

Courthouse Rock, Arches

Whale Tail Arch, Backcountry Tour

Windows Arch on the Back Country Tour, Arches

Dead Horse Point. Look at the lower left corner 1/3 up to see the dead horse outline.

Canyon Lands, Isle in the sky

General Utah

High Desart Train Pano

So…. I had this vision stuck in my head of a parked line of freight train box cars parked in the high desert with a mesa behind them. I found myself looking to the sides of the car as we traveled endless miles through Wyoming and Utah. Finally my wife asked me what I was looking for and when I told her she made a point to help me look and stop me when we came upon them. I know that out West there are ultra long stretched of road. Most are 4 lanes with lots of traffic. If you see that special scene make sure that you safely stop so as not to irritate the 7 year old in the back seat, pull safely off to the side of the road as you watch for the perfect compositional setup and get out and shoot it! DO IT!

Because…

RULE THREE: There are NO GO BACKS! If you see a subject or scene on the side of the road immediately stop and shoot it!

Bryce National Park

Whodos in Bryce Canyon

To say that Bryce National Park is anything less that amazing is an understatement. It was right up there with Arches and Yellowstone in amazing views, colors and the wow factor! This is the location that I would choose to visit again to try some different styles of photography. The colors of the Hodoos are simply amazing and full of wild colors and contrasts.

Natural Bridge Bryce

RULE FOUR: Revisit those scenes and compositions as many times a possible!

While in Arches, my 7 year old grandson decided that he had enough nature and vistas after driving Arches all day long. I took them (at my wife insistence) back to the hotel and went back out to Arches and drove it again in different light conditions and the 2nd time there were clouds in the sky. This made for much better images that I would not have gotten if I did not go back out again!

Final thoughts on what makes travel photography great!

Now as you have seen here, I presented this trip as a travel log. Attempting to document the many wonders of the high plains in the west. For images that have the possibility of selling you need to:

Pay more attention to your editing, scene selection and composition.
You must re-visit local scenes several times in order to get the best light and clouds.
You MUST shoot with your best equipment in order to produce high resolution images for future publication.
In your post processing you must choose only your best images and throw the non used images out.
Be your WORST critique and select only what you would consider to be world class images. Case in point, the image above of the Court House Rocks in Arches. Yes it is a nice image but the lack of clouds in the sky reduce its impact to the point of it being a weak image!

Hood Valley, Bryce Canyon, Sunset overview.

This type of travel photography is more difficult that personal travel images traditionally done by the millions of photographers who roam the country. These types of images are still travel photography but basically serve to show and remember your great trips! They will include more family member in the scenes, less care about the total compositional elements because those are simply not as important to the memory of the trip and locations! They are just as important, but will not generally generate income from sales and publication.

Colophon: Very Important Lessons Learned:

NEVER, and I do mean NEVER plan a 14 day photographic trip with a 7 year old and expect him to be excited beyond the first week. I would have been better off leaving the A6300 and 24-70 f/4 at home thus lightening my load and giving him MY camera when he desired to take a photograph!
Make SURE that you explain to the said 7 year old that “NO! There are places that not only will there be no TV but also no internet! (I was able to get around this most of the time with my iPhone as a hot spot for his iPad!)
Build in several fun days (as viewed by a 7 year old) that includes things like movies, water parks and so on! This is a small price to pay for 7 year old mental health and will refresh his young mind and keep it open for those wonderful scenes you travel to!
How can you get those great travel shots when your walking is limited? As a cranky 63 year old man, make sure that you plan photographic stops THAT YOU CAN DRIVE TO! We (actually my thoughtful wife) did this ahead of time thus insuring my mental health and happiness at the stops we made!
Take the time to occasionally stop at nice restaurants that actually serve wine and beer (this will assist with the mental healty of said wife!) Happy marriages are NOT built and fast food places in a rush!
If you desire to shoot medium format film, you damn well better plan on space for the camera and film! Regrets upon your return will leave a sour taste in your mouth!
Be flexible, very flexible. This will leave you happy in the hotel at night!
Take your pain drugs! (See #7)
If you see a photo subject on the side of the road STOP! There are no go backs! (see RULE THREE about this very thing and really your wife know this and will support your urges to stop in the middle of nowhere!
Wildlife… What wildlife? How did I miss all the great shots of wolves, coyotes, and bears? I was in Yellowstone for heavens sake! The lesson here is to make sure you check the season for high animal activity. I have listened to my photographer Son talk about so much wildlife in Yellowstone that it was not safe to drive! I guess he should have mentioned when he was there! Oh well. I AM happy with what I actually did see (Buffalo, Antelopes, Elk and Prairie Dogs)
Stop at EVERY overlook in every park. You will be happier having done so (and vicariously so will your wife). You will hate yourself when you return home only to have a photographer friend tell you that the one overlook you skipped was the only one you should have stopped at!
If you find a scene that is magical for you revisit at a different time of day. This is VERY IMPORTANT and promote photographic health for those who have heeded these magic words.
Would I do it all over again with a 7 year old? YOU BET!! But I would plan differently. If I take any of my grandkids I need to remember that it is their vacation as well. This means that you build in days doing fun stuff for their age also!

Please let me know what you think of this long post! I welcome all feedback.

Bryce Canyon in camera pano

Jul 3 2016

Amazing Polaroid 4×5 Camera Conversions: Alpenhause Kamera Werke

Let me introduce you to Steven Icanberry!

My 900 converted to 4×5 by Alpenhause Kamera Werke

The story begins…

Several years ago my oldest daughter and her husband gave me a complete Polaroid 900 Camera system for fathers day. I like old cameras and this one sat in a glass display case in my studio for years. It was a beautiful camera but with film no longer being made it was living its life as a hanger queen only.

My Polaroid 900 Camera Set

Steven Icanberry at
Alpenhause Kamera Werke

One day while exploring one of the 4×5 Facebook groups I came across a post from Alpenhause Kamera Werke and Steven Icanberry, He was advertising a conversion on the older Polaroid Land Cameras like my 900 to 4×5 film with a film back and a coupled rangefinder calibrated to the new 4×5 lens he would install! Steven is a disabled veteran who makes his living from converting these cameras!

This was simply too good to be true and after calling him and with his advice for options and lens selection I sent off my camera to him to be converted.

About the film holder!

Now, a little bit of info on his designs and options. His 4×5 film back is of his own design and is small and lighter than any other on the market. He has them made by a local machine shop and I can attest to the quality of it! He removes the old lens and makes a new lens plate mounting your choice of lenses.

I choose a Fujicon 150mm lens. He couples the lens to the rangefinder system in the camera and calibrates it to be perfect. (This was the big draw for me as I was looking for a simple 4×5 carry around camera).

He also cleaned all of the rangefinder optics assuring sharp clear viewing.

I was offered a large selection of colors and new clothes for my camera, I choose bright blue and a silver top along with a built in shutter release cable. Look at the top image above and tell me that the camera doesn’t look stunning!

His camera conversions are simply stunning in their beauty and functionality! For those of you who like and desire to shoot film I strongly suggest picking up one of his cameras. You will not be disappointed at all and you will be helping a disabled US Veteran make a living. But more importantly you will have a camera system that is as beautiful as it is functional. I am going to close this with a few images of some of Stevens cameras and the first shot I took with mine.

He advertises starting pricing at around $500 for a converted camera in stock and also does custom conversions (like mine). I paid $900 for mine, but I chose a new custom lens and several other options!

Am I satisfied? YOU BET!!

Please consider having Steven Icanberry and Alpenhause Kamera Werke do a conversion or sell you a stock conversion! It is my wish to spread the camera goodness around and this is one good company!

Handheld Converted 900 image with TMX 100

Hand held image from my Converted 900 image with TMX 100

Colors colors colors

Beautiful!

Stevens custom designed 4×5 Film Back

My converted 900

Jun 12 2016

Testing The Sony A6300

Smaller, Faster and able to leap over tall buildings!

Yes, you are correct, I shoot with the Sony A7rii 42 mega pixel full frame mirrorless camera! What you cry am I doing with the A6300 which is only 24 mega pixel and an APS-C sensor? Well friends, the answer to that is simple, well perhaps not… I envision the A6300 as a 720nm Infrared camera.

Pawleys Island Marsh, Sony A6300 with the Sony/Zeiss 24-70 f/4 and a polarizer. B&W conversion Look at the detail in the gate and grass. This has a 3 dimensional effect!

But it has several very interesting and powerful functions that have engaged my curiosity. Those are:

11 fps shooting speed.
Faster and more accurate focus than the A7rii
More focus and metering points.
Half the weight of the A7rii
Much brighter and accurate focus peaking system.
Ability to work macro at 1:1 with live view and not have an over pixelated display.
The ability to turn my 600mm lens into a 900mm lens!

Sony A6300 Front View

The 4 test images I took today were shot hand held at 1/250s and in RAW with Zone Focusing. I also had the LIVE VEIW DISPLAY: Setting Effect: ON. This enabled the camera to simulate the exposure effects during composition to give me an idea of what I am actually seeing.

The A6300 is a TINY camera system. It is so light (even with a L Bracket installed) that I had to be very careful when carrying it around. I worried over dropping it and not knowing!

Sony A6300 Back View

The camera does NOT have a built in Stabilizing system, rather it relies on the fact that most Sony lenses have that built in. I has 3 custom WB memories for those of you who are considering the camera for Infrared and it also has 2 custom setup memories that I have found to be very helpful with my A7rii camera!

I found the camera very easy to use and control. I setup all of the custom functions and buttons to make my life easier when shooting it.

As I said, this camera was meant to be converted by http://www.kolarivision.com into a 720nm infrared system and it may actually meet that end, but I really like the ability of the APS system to give me 900mm from a 600mm lens!

Pawleys Island Marsh, Sony A6300 with the Sony/Zeiss 24-70 f/4 and a polarizer.

Here is the color version (with polarizer) of the image above. The colors are nicely saturated and the overall image is sharp and offers enough detail and sharpness to draw the viewer into the image!

Pawleys Island Marsh, Sony A6300 with the Sony/Zeiss 24-70 f/4 and a polarizer.

Here is another view of the salt marsh. I have to say that the camera with the 24-70 Zeiss lens is easy to hold and control. The camera control buttons are easy to reach and control without using them by accident.

Pawleys Island Marsh, Sony A6300 with the Sony/Zeiss 24-70 f/4 and a polarizer. B&W conversion.

Lastly, a B&W conversion of the same image.

I am really excited with the functionality of this little system. I am pleased with the results and will use it for a few months as a color system for my long lens. Ultimately it will be converted to IR but for now I will play with it.

There are several issues with its firmware (same as when the A7rii came out). Overheating during hight speed continuous shots is the big one but Sony assures me that a fix is in work as it was when the A7rii camera came out!

I will be experimenting with the system for a few months and see what it can offer me in terms of images and use. Later this week it is going to the beach for some ultra long exposures to see if it has any body light leaks!

What do your think?

	Caitlin D on UPDATED: IR & COLOR POST P…
	KJB IMAGES on Creative B&W Educational…
	markhilliardatelier on Creative B&W Educational…
	sstyler on Creative B&W Educational…

Seeing And Working In B&W Part 1a, Basic Compositional Elements

Understanding the B&W BASIC Compositional Elements and the IMPACT that they can have on the viewers!

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A conversation on how to easily create amazing Long Exposures

BASIC DAYLIGHT ND Filter suggestions for after the sun is up higher in the sky or 1/2 to 1 hour before sunrise!

The MOST IMPORTANT Lesson!

Exposure Calculation Version 1

Exposure Calculation Version 2

Subject considerations

Seascapes:

As I said above this introductory tutorial is set up to be presented in 2 or 3 separate posts. Look for Part 2 Sunrise/Sunset Long Exposures and the special filters needed in about 2 weeks!

This is the next type of long exposures we will learn about creating in post #2!

As always please let me know what you think of this!

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The Peace Of The Creative…

Slowing down creates peace on multiple levels.

For you as the photographer and for those who view your work, this has never been more true!

I am going to do a slightly different type of post this time.

We will discuss the art of Long Exposures a bit but we will focus more on the technical aspects of using ND filters to correct for different types of lighting as well as talk about good ND filter systems verses not so good, and why it is always best to invest your money in good filters!

Definition: Long Exposure – To create an image in camera with the shutter open for longer than a few seconds in order to smooth out movement over time. This can be softening the flow of water over a waterfall, flattening of waves in lakes and oceans or tearing clouds moving across the sky.

First, there are a few points to consider when thinking about using ND filters:

Ok, one last thing… I had a live group hangout last night with some of my online students and we discussed everything in this post but with more info and thoughts on choosing the correct ND filters for a number of scenes. Here is the link:

I know that this has been a long post but it was necessary to show the technical side of creating pleasing long exposures. Next time I will discuss how to meter for long exposures.

As always please let me know what you think!

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A Quick Dynamic Range Followup and Example

But…

How did I do this you ask? I am glad you asked!

The Results:

As always please let me know what you think!

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Stormy Seas in a approaching storm!

As always please let me know what you think!

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Exploring new things can be fun!

As always, comments are welcome! Let me know what you think.

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The Art Of Film Photography And Travel

Day 1

Day 2

Things learned:

As always, please let me know what you think of it all!

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A Lesson On Life!

WIlly and the Pelican.. Southport, NC

So… Here is Willy and the Pelican!

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BIGGER is BETTER!

I hope you enjoyed this short post on the new pano camera system. There will be more following!

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A Light Weight 120 Autofocus Travel Camera with a Zoom Lens!

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Never 2nd guess yourself on the worthiness of an image…

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720nm Medium Format Film Photography with Rollei IR400 Film

If you are considering working in 720nm whether in film or digital I highly recommend this new filter from Kolari!

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It seems that I am addicted to film…

I hope that you enjoyed this post but more importantly to me at least that you considered my words on the creative process and taking complete control of it!

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The AMAZING just got better….

Please let me know what you think!

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Sometimes we just have to stand there taking it all in!

**Understanding the B&W BASIC Compositional Elements and the IMPACT that they can have on the viewers!**

**BASIC DAYLIGHT ND Filter suggestions for after the sun is up higher in the sky or 1/2 to 1 hour before sunrise!**