allen_friday

<p>At a college, there should be plenty of people willing to model in exchange for prints (TFP) or a CD (TFCD). Check with the art department and get a recommendation on an artist model. Check the campus billboards for local bands and singers--they always need new images. Craig's list or UK equivalent is your friend. Do you have any friends with small children? Trade babysitting for modeling. Remember, a model can be anyone, she doesn't have to be "a model"--i.e. someone who could grace a Vogue cover. Check with others in the photography department--they model for you next week, you model for them at a later date. </p>

<p>I'd give them to a local historical group or museum, if they will take them. I don't really see a big problem with "privacy issues" here. Your father was the portrait photographer. He was the owner of the copyright and presumably all rights to the photographs. As his heirs, you and your brother now hold those rights, which you could assign. <br>

Most portrait photographers will use examples of their work for advertising or hang sample prints in their window. There shouldn't really be a privacy issue here unless the use of the photo was specifically limited in the agreement between your father and the client. </p>

<p> </p>

<p>Nathan,</p>

<p>Asking a question on a general forum is not doing research, it is going to give you a lot of opinions and misinformation. A case in point is the first answer you received from Chris, who used the following in his answer: "I assume", "I doubt", "I sense" and "I don't know." </p>

<p>Research is actually reading the books, which will be generally authoritative, have been edited for content and clarity. Research is actually doing a search and reading the sites. I googled "avedon working method lights" and came up with numerous sites discussing his actual methods. It took about 30 seconds. I also did a quick search of the archives here on photonet, and guess what, this has been discussed before. The first one that came up contained a reference to digitaljournalist.org issue 406 which contains video clips from the author of the book referenced above. The third clip is entitled "On How Avedon Works." Again, it took about thirty seconds. </p>

<p>Living in rural North Dakota is not really an excuse. I live in rural Iowa (a town of 7000 people). It took me a couple of minutes with minimal effort to find the exact answer to your question. Amazon delivers to North Dakota. Google Books contains excerpts of many books which you can read for free. I went to books.google and searched "avedon west", a preview of the referenced book came up. Guess what, the first few pages show his camera and set up for taking the photos. Another 30 seconds of my life I will not get back. </p>

<p>I guess my ultimate point is that you should make at least a minimum effort to find an answer instead of relying on us to do all your work for you. </p>

<p>

 

<p>Well, there have been several books written about Avedon which go through his working method and even show "behind the scenes" photos of his set up and him at work. Why don't you do the research and find out exactly what he did instead of speculating? </p>

<p>I'll start you out, find a copy of "Avedon at Work: In the American West" by Wilson and McMurtry. Amazing what you can find if you just look. </p>

 

</p>

<p>One clarification to your post: the photographer was not using "color film." He was using three separate black and white plates, each exposed through a different color filter. </p>

<p>There are quite a few contemporary artists doing basically the same thing today, making tri-color gum prints. Of course, they are making prints, not slides. Three black and white negatives are created, either in camera or digitally. Each negative is printed with the color of gum complementary to the filter used to create the negative. For example, the red filter negative is printed with blue gum. When the three layers are printed, you get a full color image.</p>

<p>You can create the three negative easily in photoshop using the "channels" function. </p>

<p>Check out alternativephotography.com, "The 19th Century Gum Bichromate Process in 21st Century Concept and Techniques" for a quick and easy method to do tri-color gum prints. The article is by Christina Anderson.</p>

<p>Pinhole cameras can be as simple as a cardboard box, cigar box or oatmeal container (even a box made out of legos) which has been spray painted black on the inside. You can use double sided tape to hold the film to the back of the box. A pin hole is located opposite the film. </p>

<p>With such a simple set up, here is what you do: In a dark space, a closet, a windowless bathroom, under a heavy blanket, a changing bag, etc. you open the box and tape the film to the back of the box. You close the box, you may want to tape the edges of the box with black tape to eliminate light leaks. Cover the pinhole with tape or your finger. Carry the camera to your balcony and position it for the exposure. Uncover the pinhole and make the exposure. When the exposure is done, cover the pinhole and carry the camera back to your dark space. Open the box and take out the film and develop it. Pretty simple. </p>

<p> </p>

<p>"Light Science and Magic"--best book on lighting ever. Read it. Read it again. Then start worrying about which brand or type of light to get. </p>

<p>I generally put the lens at belly button height for a "normal" look. </p>

 

<p>Fabian,</p>

<p>Go to the top of the Photo.net page, click on the tab marked "Learning." Scroll down and read the sections on "Point and Shoot Photography" and "Basic Photo Tips." Those sections will at least get you started along the path to learning about photography. Then continue to read the rest of the tutorials. Or you could go to a book store and get a couple of introductory books on photography and read those. Or find a friend who understands the basics and spend an afternoon with him. Or go to Google Books and check out their selection of on-line books. </p>

<p>You are trying to run, but you have not yet learned to walk. Spend the time and put in the effort to learn the craft of Photography. We could spend hours answering your general questions, but books and books have already been written on the subject. Once you have put in some effort, come back with your specific questions. It's time for you to do some work. </p>

<p>I have a similar question. I am an aspiring potter. I have not taken the time to learn anything about actually making pots, cups, bowls etc. I have an old pottery wheel that I'm thinking of replacing with a new one. Which one should I buy? What clay should I buy? How much water should I use? Do I need a kiln? I've heard that there is something called glazes that go on the pottery. Is that true? Which one should I use? Where do I buy it? For all of you who are more experienced than me, please tell me what to do. I have entered a show next week and I need to make a piece to enter. </p>

<p>See if you can find the book "Into Your Darkroom Step by Step". It is what is says, a step by step guide to developing film and printing your first photograph. It covers equipment you need, how to load film on reels, etc. It has ample photograph illustrations. About as basic as you can get. </p>

<p>P.S. I just checked Amazon and they have copies available. </p>

<p>See if you can find the book "Into Your Darkroom Step by Step". It is what is says, a step by step guide to developing film and printing your first photograph. It covers equipment you need, how to load film on reels, etc. It has ample photograph illustrations. About as basic as you can get. </p>

<p>P.S. I just checked Amazon and they have copies available. </p>

<p>Hi Michael,</p>

<p>I can tell you that MF film photography is still a part, at times a big part, of my photography. I shoot 35mm (Leica MP and Nikon F100), MF (Mamiya 7II, Mamiya RZ and Fuji 6x9) and large and ultra-large format cameras. I also shoot a D700.</p>

<p>I decide which camera to use when planning a shoot. I first consider what I ultimately want from the shoots: color or B&W, 4x6 lab prints, 20x24 platinum prints, 16x20 silver prints, or the flexibility to make various size prints. I then consider the practical aspects of the shoot. Obviously, I will not choose an ULF camera for street work. LF is great, but impractical at times. </p>

<p>MF still fits that niche when LF is impracticable but I want large negatives from which to print. I find that I use MF most often in two situations: 1. In the studio when I don't want the expense or time constraints of shooting LF, especially when working with models. 2. When traveling. The last two times I've traveled to Europe, I carried my D700 and my Mamiya 7II with 2 or 3 lenses. The D700 is fine for most of my color work, but I still like the feel and look of traditional B&W silver prints over what I can get digitally. For making enlarged negatives for alt printing, both the d700 and the Mamiya fit the bill. I sometimes cannot get the exact shot I want because neither camera has movements like a LF camera, but it is a compromise. Also, many places do not allow tripods, a necessity for most large format work.</p>

<p>MF has long been a compromise between the ease of 35mm and the quality of LF. Nothing really has changed in that regard. The D700 is a great camera, and I even prefer the quality of it to MF in very low light situations. But, it hasn't replaced the MF for B&W, or for color when I need a very high resolution scan.</p>

<p>As stated above by several posters, cameras are just tools. Sometimes, in my photography at least, the best tool is still a MF film camera. </p>

<p>Yours, and others, milage may vary. </p>

<p> </p>

<p>Matt is dead on here. You really don't need a formula. Now that you are aware of the concept of "Family of Angles", start shooting. You will quickly figure it out based on what you see in the view finder. You might start out with something flat like a mirror or a reflective box to get a feel for it. Try to minimize and then maximize the reflection on the surface. You are shooting digital, so you should be able to see the results quickly and adjust. After you have figured it out with flat surfaces, move onto curved surfaces like spoons, forks and vases. As Mikie said, "Try it, you'll like it." </p>

<p>I second the recommendation to read "Light-Science and Magic." The best book on lighting ever. And I agree that you should read it before going out and buying new lighting equipment.</p>

<p>The photo looks a little under exposed (albeit the Tee looks good which is the goal of a product shot). Charles Webster is spot on regarding moving the mannequin away from the wall to diffuse or eliminate the shadow.</p>

<p>You should be able to get good results, even if they are not optimal, with a small flash. Move it off camera as Charles said and perhaps add a reflector. (You can make your own with a piece of white board for very little expense.) It is nice to have studio strobes and soft boxes and umbrellas, but they are not essential to getting good shots. You really need to learn how to use your meter for consistent shots. Unless your flash is tied to the meter, the in-camera meter will be pretty worthless for flash situations, unless you learn how to adjust the intensity of the flash. You may need a dedicated flash meter. But, read your owners manual first and figure out the limits of your meter with your flash. Until you get one, the histogram on your camera should provide you with enough information to adjust exposure between shots. </p>

<p>I have been on Ragbrai several times and I found it a wonderful time. By the way, not everyone on the ride is drunk, but there are groups which do over train on a regular basis. </p>

<p>It sounds like you will not be riding, but driving the support vehicle. This can also be fun. The ride takes place on paved county roads. For most of the ride, gravel roads will intersect the county roads about every mile. Please don't try to drive on the route itself. You can drive parallel to the route and then drive on the gravel to intersect the route. This years course is full of hills. Look at the topographical sections published for each days ride and you should be able to find place to set up for good shots of the line of rides for a hill top with smaller hills receding in the distance. </p>

<p>Towns are also good for street type shooting. There is a designated town for "lunch" which is about half-way through the days ride. Grab your camera and walk around. I would take a 35mm SLR (or digital) with a 24-200 lens for shooting, or any combination of primes which will allow for close up street type photography. something for medium distance shots of riders as they go past and a long focal length lens for close ups and to reach out to distant riders.</p>

<p>A lot of the action on Ragbrai takes place at night. You will need a flash or the ability to shoot at high ISO. The overnight towns all give concerts and have food and beer for the riders. <br>

The best pies are made by church ladies, highly recommended. Also, the last week of July is prime sweet corn season in Iowa. Try the peaches and cream variety. </p>

<p>The best (i.e. most rowdy) parties are usually in the last town before the overnight stop. Be sure to check out all the team buses. Most teams park at the lunch stop for several hours and you can usually get a beer at the team buses. Some have fabulous insides. <br>

Be sure to drive around the Iowa country side and check out the small towns not on the ride. Lots of landscapes, barns and grain elevators to shoot. </p>

<p>Above all, have fun. </p>

<p> My darkroom is located in the basement directly below the master bedroom. My wife is very sensitive to smells. Normal black and white development and printing has never been a problem from a smell stand point. The only real problem I've had was with toners, especially sepia toner. I learned my lesson and now move to a bathroom on the other side of the house when I use sepia toners, or I move outdoors. <br>

One thing to consider is that this will not be a permanent darkroom, unless you plan to live at home for the rest of your life. You can use work benches for your dry side. Home depot, Sams and Costco all sell industrial style workbenches which will support any enlarger you're likely to buy. When you move on, you can take the beches with you and your parents can reclaim the room. Also, you don't need a special darkroom sink. They are nice to have, but you can get by with a plastic, laundry-type sink. My first dark room didn't even have a sink, I had to carry water back and forth in 5 gallon buckets and wash prints in trays in a bath tub. <br>

It seems like manufacturers stick the word "photography" on an item and charge two or three times more for the same item you can get at a hardware store. Please check out local hardware and home improvement stores for items that serve the same purpose. <br>

I do a lot of alt process work. My only caution is that the chemicals for many alt processes stain anything they come in contact with. This is especially true of platinum, palladium and cyanotype chemicals. You're parents will have to toss any sink after you move out. </p>

 

"Has technology changed the way we think about and take photographs?" Yes. But this is nothing new. After all,

photography itself is less than 200 years old. Didn't the Kodak Brownie change the way people at the turn of the last

century viewed and took photographs. Didn't the rise of the 35mm camera change it. What about 110 and APS

formats? How did the rise of the photo-processing industry change things? Suddenly everyone could take photos at

home and take them to the store to be developed, no home darkroom needed. All these changes were technological

changes.

 

In the last 15 years, digital has become the norm. Negatives have been replaced by files. Images can be sent via e-

mail. Are the changes mainly within photography, or more generally in computers and electronics? I can still shoot film,

have it developed and printed and then scan the print into the computer. Which is the bigger change, the fact the I have

a computer on my lap and can communicate with people from all over the world, instantly, or that I can skip the in-

camera negative?

 

Photography was a technological development in the first place. It has changed many times in a very short period of

time: salt prints to albumen to silver geletin to color to ink jet; paper negatives to wet plates to dry plates to ortho film

to pan film to color film to pixels; mouse trap cameras to box cameras to view cameras to medium format to 35mm to

digital. Which of those changes did not afffect the way people thought about and took photographs?

Two years ago I took a workshop in wet plate. The instructor stated that half the look of old wet plates came from the

lens and half from the chemistry. The more tintypes I do, the more I agree with him.

 

Old lenses have a special look, softer focus, imperfections, etc. When I do a tintype with a modern lens, it looks like a

modern tintype. When I shoot with old lenses, it looks like the old tintypes.

 

It is possible to use film and come close to the old look. Remember, tintypes typically require an exposure of 6 or more

seconds. If you stack ND filters and use slow film, you can get the long exposure. Shoot with the lens wide open.

 

It is also possible to bleach the negative around the edges to simulate the look of the collodion pour.

 

Of course, if you are shooting film, you will have to print the negative on paper. This will have the look of a wet plate negative printed on

paper, not a tintype, which is a direct positive. Make a negative with a long tonal scale (2.0) and try print out paper to acheive the Carleton

West look.

 

Or, you could just shoot tintypes. It is a lot of fun, and not all that difficult once you get the chemistry down.

Into the Darroom Step by Step. It goes through film develoment and making prints in, as the title says, a step by step

basis. Very basic, but good to take care of the begginer nerves.

Why don't you ask her? Google her name and the first site that comes up is her site. There is a contact tab on the page.

Many years ago, I debated for a few months between the Nikon F5 and the Nikon F100. (They are 35mm SLRs which shoot film, for

those of you who don't remember the dark ages.) The two had the same image quality capture device--35mm film. The F5 had a few

extra features--better battery life, more frames per second, a 100% view finder, etc. The F100 cost less, had a 96% view finder, but it

was lighter and smaller. I played with both and kept changing my mind. I finally bought the F100. I have never regretted my decision.

The extra features were not missed and I used (and still occasionally use) the F100 more than I would have the F5 because it travels

better because of its smaller size.

 

Do the issues between the cameras sound familiar? Another way to put it is as follows:

 

F5 = D3

F100 = D700

 

Nikon sold a bunch of F100s. For those who want full frame, I think the niche for the camera exists.

I wonder what you mean when you state the positive looks good. If it looks like a print, then it is much too contrasty. The positive needs to be very soft, kind of like printing a grade 2 negative on grade 0 paper. No real balcks and no real whites.

Get Kodak's book, "Conservation of Photographs." CAT 193 5725. It contains sections on identifying the emulsion on various glass plates and then the proper way to clean them.

The zone system does not require densitometers or step wedges--although they can be helpful to fine tune. Go to the View Camera Magazine web site and read the article by Steve Simmions on testing for film speed etc. The exact title is "A simple Way to Test for Film Speed and Developing Time." You can do it all by doing a minimun print time test and then use that time with exposed negatives shot at varying speeds to find your film speed. You might also check out "The Practical Zone System" by Johnson or Fred Picker's "Zone VI Workshop."

 

Simmon's article was first published in View Camera, January/February 2006 if you can find a copy.