From all of us to all of you, have a safe and fun-filled holiday season!
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Film: A Slight Return Part II
In the last post I pulled my Yashica Mat 124G and shot a roll of TRI-X (12 exposures) in the old house we rented in Grand Haven, Michigan for a week. Yesterday we went to Camera Mart in Pontiac to pick up some equipment and chemicals to develop the negatives. The Camera Mart people are first rate and always willing to help. Here’s what we bought:
- Kodak TMax developer
- Ilford Rapid Fixer
- IlfoStop Stop Bath
- Kodak Photo-Flo 200
- A Kalt stainless steel developing tank (One 120 reel)
- A Kalt stainless steel reel
- A filmstrip squeegee
- A graduated cylinder
- A thermometer
- Three one quart Delta 1 photochemical containers
All of it was around $112, which isn’t too bad. I thought about getting a bag of D-76 and mixing the developer, but TMax seemed to be more convenient since it, like that other chemicals, are in concentration. The mixture is one liter of of TMax to four liters of water, so I will have to figure out a one to four ratio for the quart containers. The fixer is also one to four. The Stop Bath is one to nineteen. The Photo-flo ratio is one to two hundred, which is going to be tricky to measure for a one quart container. I read on the Web somewhere that a guy uses an eye dropper to mix his.
There are two big elements to developing negatives- mixture ratio and time in the tank for each chemical. The critical time, naturally, is for the developer.
So I’ve shot what I think is a pretty decent roll of film and I’m apprehensive about screwing it up. I’ve developed hundreds of negatives, both 120 and 35mm, but that was around thirty years ago. I bought a five pack of TRI-X and have the second roll in the 124-G. I’m going to shoot the second roll on junk and use that as a guinea pig to see if I can get the film threaded correctly on the reel. Before I potentially destroy an exposed roll of film I’m going to sacrifice an unexposed roll and thread it on the reel in the light of day, over and over again until I get the feel back. The worst thing that can happen is the film sticks together on the reel, ruining the exposures. I can’t tell you how many times that happened to me in the past. Practicing with the film in the light (with my eyes closed) will help when I’m doing the real thing.
The next step is to go to the grocery store and buy a few jugs of distilled water and mix the chemicals, then practice, practice, practice loading the reel to prepare for the real thing.
Between Point and Shoots and DSLRs
With Detroit Revived released, I’ve started on a new photo essay eBook called Broken City, Big Hearts. It will be shot over the winter months in Detroit and will revolve around a few low key charities that help people survive year around, but particularly in winter. Detroit winters are deadly, especially to the poor and homeless.
I’ve created a page called Winter in Detroit on this site and have started shooting around Capitol Park on the outskirts of downtown Detroit. I haven’t carried a big DSLR since I want to be as inconspicuous as possible. I’ve been shooting with my old Nikon Coolpix 3100 which I love, but two flaws make it difficult to use. For one, the cycle time is slow and has caused me to miss some good shots. For two, the zoom doesn’t focus well, or at all. I had something to do with that. When we were in Mexico a couple of years ago the lens wouldn’t retract and I used a butter knife to break it free. The 3100 still works great for non-zoom shots, though, and I’ll keep that camera forever. The shot below was taken with the 3100 and processed in Lightroom 5.
I wanted something with more sophisticated controls than a simple point and shoot. I needed a small camera where I could easily control exposure, ISO, white balance and other familiar DSLR functions. I saw a used Canon G12 at B&H for $259 and bought it. It retails at $749 new so I got a decent deal, and have never gone wrong buying used equipment from B&H. The G12 came yesterday. It came just in time, since I’m leaving for San Francisco and Palo Alto on Monday for two days and I’m taking it with me as my one and only camera. If I’m lucky I’ll have some time to get some shots in SF.
First, the G12 is not a DSLR and at first feels like a toy, which it definitely is not. It’s a solid, serious camera. It’s weighty for its size, and I like that. My photographic experience falls on the extreme end points, either with a full blown DSLR with a wide variety of lenses or a dinky point and shoot (the 3100) so the G12 feels comfortable.
The LCD display is on a swivel, and it’s useful. I have a T2i which I bought before the T3i came out, and I now see how useful the articulated display is, especially in movie mode. The G12 also has a front dial to easily change F-stops and an exposure compensation dial up top. I’ve already used this dial a lot. ISO also has a dedicated dial, which is handy.
The shots below were taken with the G12 this morning.
The G12 offers controls that a DSLR user will want and expect. Some of the controls are more direct and accessible in the G12. There’s a mode dial that Canon DSLR users will be familiar with. Experienced users will deal with five out of the six modes (excluding movie mode). I’ll be using Av (aperture priority) and M (manual) modes primarily.
I’m impressed with the information available on the LCD display. There’s a live histogram, front dial that changes aperture value (in Av mode), shutter speed (in Tv mode) and an electronic level.
I own a Canon T2i, 10D and 30D and have gravitated to the 30D as my go to camera (even thought it’s only 8 megapixels), but I’m really attracted to the G12, which is 10 megapixel. It reminds me of the old 35mm rangefinder cameras that I’ve always liked and used in the past. The G12 will take a little getting used to, but its destined to be my main street photography camera.
Speaking of street photography….
Here’s what I’ve learned, shooting around the outskirts of downtown. Always keep moving. Keep your camera in your pocket (preferable a coat or jacket) and keep it on, ready to shoot. Continuously be aware of your surroundings and continuously look for shots. When you see one, take it, but take it fast and keep moving. All of the shots below were taken with the Nikon Coolpix 3100 and processed in Lightroom 5.
I was eyeballed by some dudes on an isolated street corner (not the guys in the above photo) and I wanted to get a shot. One of them kept his eyes on me, so I took the safe route and kept on moving. One missed shot is not worth losing my camera, wallet or worse.
That’s the bad, but there’s a lot of good. I’ve found that a little kindness, respect and communication goes a long way. There’s a dude who plays saxophone outside the Millender Center, spring, summer, fall and winter. I see him every day when I walk and hear him every day in the parking structure. The guy is really, really good and should be playing in a band. He’s producing art in thin, indifferent Detroit air. I approached him, offered him a couple of bucks out of respect and asked if I could take his picture for this blog. He smiled and said, “Knock yourself out, man.” He was friendly, gentle and articulate.
Everyone is not like this, of course. Street photography is a learning and growth experience for me. It’s not easy approaching people and asking to photograph them. I’ll be doing this throughout the winter and documenting what I can. I’ve leaned something else in the last week or so. What’s the difference between a dull street photograph and a good one? People.
Out in the Country
We’ve been shooting so many urban scenes for Detroit Revived that we decided to take the dog and head north toward Lapeer to see what we could come across. We were encouraged when we saw two trucks carrying hay bails into town, so that gave us a subject to search for. We came across this down a dirt side road…
Turned out to be a nice day to shoot.
Detroit Revived Update
Detroit Revived is about 50% complete. The places shot so far (other than a catalog of photos of Detroit) are D:hive, CANVASxDetroit, Green Dot Stables, Urban Bean Company and Hostel Detroit. With the help of Emily Doer (founder of Hostel Detroit) we will be shooting several more locations in the upcoming couple of weeks. We’re pleasantly surprised by the amount of enthusiasm regarding the book, which motivates us even more to get it right.
The DSLR Artist Free Download
The DSLR Artist is on promotion as a free download on Amazon.com today through Wednesday, September 18th.
Sand Dunes Setup
Here’s my simple setup for the Silver Lake sand dunes shoot.
I used a Canon T2i, a meFoto (made by Benro) backpack tripod, a Tokina 11-16mm zoom lens and a Canon 70-250mm zoom. The lens in the setup photos is the Tokina.
I also used a nine stop ND filter and a polarizer on some of the shots, mostly on the Tokina. Why did I use these filters? I was at the dunes in the middle of the day and not during one of the golden hours (the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset). The day was completely clear and the light intense. Without using these filters the photographs would have been merely snapshots.
I intentionally left the lens hood off the Tokina. Why? The Tokina 11-16mm is prone to lens flare, which I mostly like, especially with long ND filter exposures.
I also like using my iPhone for test shots. In the days of film photography, a lot of photographers (especially fashion photographers) used Polaroid cameras for test shots before they committed to a composition/exposure combination.
An iPhone (or any other smartphone) is the new Polaroid.
The test shots above looked interesting to the naked eye but lacked spark in an actual shot, so I looked elsewhere.
Another dud. Whipping out a few quick snaps will give you great compositional feedback. Fast.
The sand dunes setup was simple, but it still took a lot physically to lug around a heavy camera backpack and tripod up the steep sand hills and the miles within the vast dunes, but you know what? It was worth every minute.
StefanStudios 