Sunday, February 08, 2004
In a fit of something, I wiped out my journal (I'll be updating the look of this soon). Let's just say I'm confused about my/the future. I realize I've been trying to present myself in as professional a way as possible. Sometimes I get scanning jobs from professionals and I don't want them to think I'm not professional. And well someone who is professional might want to buy one of my photos and if they don't think I'm professional they might not buy. So I was thinking I need to eliminate all confusion and some of the more nonprofessional stuff from my website. Well I've decided it doesn't matter and I'm thinking turning up the unprofessional aspects might be better. I probably won't lose business--how low can you go! And who knows I might even connect better with other people--probably the types I can relate to a bit better. The main thing is if I going to be poor--which I am. I might as well be happy. Trying to be something I'm not doesn't make me happy. So I'll be adding more silly stuff and more serious stuff and helpful stuff. I'll just do more stuff that I enjoy and think is interesting and not be too concerned with who I might offend or not offend.
Here's some stuff I was thinking the other day:
I'm constantly questioning myself, my motives, what I want my photography to be like/about/for. I suppose this is normal. Maybe not wise to have on public display, but who cares right? At times I feel I should be more professional, thinking it will help me make more money. Well I don't think that is the case. I'm trying to remind myself to be myself. Which means, I think, to not worry about how people are perceiving my website/me. I guess the best thing to do is just be myself and let the chips fall where they may. It's not like I'll be loosing too much money if I lose a scanning job or two because someone doesn't think I'm professional enough to handle their negatives.
Since I quite paying my adwords on google my site has dropped of the search results. I was 3rd for "negative scanning". Now when I search on that term I give up looking for my website after 5 pages of search results. I know google has been changing their algorithms and/or the way they sort stuff and some people feel the adwords participants benefit. I think that is true. This change has happened within the last week. Another great thing is after sending out a local mailing for my scanning service my website hosting company had major problems and their site wasn't even accessible, so naturally neither was mine. Oh well, this is all to say the scanning business has kind of dropped off.
Here's part of my blog that I desimated last week:
1-4-04
Happy New Year!
I'm in the process of developing a backlog of 120mm, 4x5 and 5x7 film. I should have some new work sometime soon. By the end of the week I should everything together and making darkroom prints, enlargements on Oriental Seagull and contact prints on Kodak AZO. I'll be breaking down my printer soon and listing it on ebay in the next day or so. I'll put a link to it when it's up.
When I'm happy with the prints I'm getting in the darkroom I'll start listing some on ebay, I'll put links on the website to my ebay store at that time. Also, I'll be updating the website with new work and also eliminating some work from the sight because there are a few photos that had to have some serious touch up work in Photoshop due to bad light leaks with the Holga camera.
12-29-03
Well the big part of my transformation is complete. I got an enlarger yesterday. An Omega B-6, it takes up to 6x9 negatives, so that's perfect for me. Last night started going back through printing contact sheets of my most recent negatives. It's interesting I see there are things I miss when I'm just scanning the negatives. It would be very time consuming to scan every negative. I do get a preview look at them, but it's a pretty small image and it's sometimes challenging looking at a small lo-res image trying to decide if it's the one I want to scan. It's very easy to miss the more subtle images. Pouring over medium format contact sheets is pretty enjoyable--especially since I got my first pair of actual reading glasses a couple months ago. God it's a sweet thing to be back in the darkroom with Johnny Cash's Live at Folsom Prison playing in the background.
Today I got a DVD of a documentary about Brett Weston from Levin Gallery, I got it from him on eBay. The movie is very cool showing Brett out shooting and in the darkroom. My favorite scene is when Brett opens a can of something in the back of his little camper and starts eating out of the can. And also how keeps starting nice big bonfires with gasoline. I especially liked his comments on the Zone system. He said it was a waste of time, something more to take notes on in the field. The way I think about the Zone system is, "Gee maybe someday I should figure out how to do that." Brett Weston seems pretty smart to me.
One nice thing about inkjet printing is the prints are flat after printing. I bought a small print dryer/ferrotyper thing and it helps to flatten the prints okay, but I think I'll have to break down and get a dry mount press.
12-15
Well I finally got my fingers in the paper developer last night and printed some 4x5 contact sheets and contacts of some 120mm film. It was nice to see what the 120mm film looked like on photo paper compared to being scanned. I was surprised that they were as contrasty as they were because they were developed in PMK Pyro developer which gives a negative that prints flat on AZO and I was using grade 2. It must be the lens on the Fuji cameras I use.
It is really exciting for me to get back in the darkroom. While I'm happy I was able to keep making photos while I didn't have access to a darkroom, the scanning and inkjet printing for black and white miss two very important elimants for me. #1 - the deep blacks and #2 - the process, the craft of making prints in the darkroom.
Soon all my printing will be on regular photo paper, either as enlargements or 4x5 and 5x7 contact prints on Kodak AZO paper. I'm about 2-4 weeks away from having a fairly functioning darkroom. I should have my enlarger this week and a few other items like a proper contact frame and a dry mount press cover the basics.
12-13
I have just dropped the price of my photographs. I have decided to work very hard at selling my pictures on my website and ebay. The way I will do it is to keep my prices low so more people can afford my work or might just take a chance on it. I'd rather have people enjoy my photos in their own home or at work then just look at them on the website. If demand picks up then I will raise prices a little at a time depending on the demand. I've thought of a number of ways to make a living doing photography. I've done art shows/fairs which I really enjoy but they are very expensive to do. There are many other avenues for photographers, but my work doesn't fit in a lot of them.
One reason I like art shows is that I'm dealing directly with the people buying my work, but as I said they are very expensive to pull off. Also, as much as I love to travel I am limited in the amount I can be away from home, especially during my son's school year. So selling on the internet and ebay is great because I deal directly with the person buying and I can be around the house. Since I don't have a ton of overhead, I can keep my prices low. It's the same with my scanning service.
I've already got a decent amount of traffic to this site and it's steadily growing so I know people are finding it. I know how to sell on ebay and I'm getting a better handle on how to sell my photos on ebay. So with a lot of effort and persistence and luck it will work.
Another reason I'm lowering my prices of my photos is I see a photograph more like a CD or a musical concert or a play--something that can be reproduced numerous times. It's been said many times that the negative is the score and the print is the performance. Well than my theory makes sense.
I know there are many artists and collectors that feel the price of the work equals its merit, quality, worth etc. I disagree. Much of the cost of a photo is marketing, travel, commission, business expenses, art show fees, you name it it's all in there.
11-2
I'm ordering a new shutter for my first Holga camera, which I love, or I guess it's the lens I love. It's frighteningly sharp in the middle of the image (for a holga lens) and falls off nicely on the edges. I really like using this camera with the 6x4.5 insert because rarely see any of the black falloff in the image which it very common with Holga pics and one reason I'm not a fan of it. Also, I'll be getting a Holga that has a bulb device and a cable release and a tripod mount for long exposures. This all from Randy at Holgamods.
10-31
Well after going around and around I've decided to stick with making carbon pigment inkjet prints. I've done a lot of thinking and researching about this. With using carbon pigments and cotton or rag papers this type of print is very archival and will probably last as long as a traditional darkroom print. Also, I really like the way they look. I thought what if I go to all the trouble of setting up a darkroom and I didn't like how the prints look, either because I can't find the right paper or toner to get the look I've become accustomed to.
I realized if I started doing contact printing and enlarging I would be spending so much time in transition and very little time taking pictures.
I found a number a excellent writings on why photographers are switching to making carbon pigment inkjet prints. I'll be putting this information together with links and summaries of this information.
While researching, I came across quite a bit of information regarding print permenence, both for traditional and inkjet prints. It appears that the biggest issue affecting the life of a print, assuming the best materials and processes are used, is pollution and airborn environmental toxins. This is very interesting, because it's kind of a mute point to say "this archival photograph will last 100 years," because it doesn't matter, if the photo is displayed and depending where it is displayed, pollution and toxins could take its toll fairly quickly. I'll be sharing more of this information as well.
10-28
CARBON PIGMENT PRINTS FROM DIGITAL FILES
"It seems to me to be the most beautiful printing of photography I have seen. The colour on the paper is almost physical. The surface of the paper itself is beautiful." - David Hockney
"Never before have I found a medium which offered such remarkable integrity in the interpretation of my work. I can finally make prints which exactly capture what my mind's eye was seeing at the moment of exposure. No longer do I feel artistically limited by technical compromise or constraint -- I've been waiting for this all my life. These prints are the fruit of my lifetime's association with great painters and thirty years work as a photographer searching for the perfect print medium. In 1971 I studied very briefly under Ansel Adams who, as a young man trained as a classical pianist, maintained, 'If the exposure on film is the score, the final print is the performance.' I feel that at last I am making truly beautiful music." --Peter Ralston
Yes, Carbon pigment prints are very nice and have a slightly different quality than a traditional photo. I'm torn about the two. I think ultimately I will be using an enlarger and making traditional silver prints from my medium format negatives. But my first step back in the darkroom is with contact printing. I'll be ordering chemistry this week. I was going to use ABC Pyro but the more I'm reading I might use Pyrocat-HD. It looks a little easier to deal with and it apprears there's less chance of streaking with tray developing the negatives.
I'm so excited to see what these negatives are like. They are 4x5 and 5x7 and were shot about 2-3 years ago in Dauphin Island Alabama and in and around New York City. Hmmm, since my flatbed scanner is in storage in the Catskills I'll have to find someone to scan those prints once there done and assuming there's some good stuff.
I just got word that I'll be participating in the Minnetonka Center for the Arts Second Annual "Arts of the Holidays" Juried Art Show and Sale from November 13 through December 23 in Minnetonka, Minnesota.
10-18
My favorite place to shoot in Austin were the underpasses at Ben White and Lamar. It cracks me up, I love Austin and lived there for 12 years, but visually for taking pictures it didn't do much for me. The only thing that really interested me were the underpasses. The interchange at Ben White and I-35 was looking interesting last year, but I never got to it.
Underpass Lightpole
Underpass Lightpole 2
17 Ft. 1 In.
V
Pole Underpass
10-11
Late last night I pulled out my 4x5 and 5x7 contact prints printed on Azo paper from two years ago. The richness, detail and depth are beautiful. Part of what is real seductive about these prints is that they are contact printed, so there is no loss of detail from the negative like what happens when enlarging or scanning.
Over the past month I've really been struggling with whether to buy a view camera again and start contact printing. Last night decided it for me. I will do it. Then I realized I don't need the camera right away to get started with contact printing. I have at least 25 negatives from when I was living in New York that I took with 4x5 and 5x7 cameras. I'll use these negatives to practice developing using inspection which will be pretty cool. You just use a dim green safelight (I think) and check how the development is proceeding.
Then I can contact print these on Kodak Azo paper. It's a silver chloride photo paper. Years ago there use to be many kinds of this paper, now Azo is the only kind. And it is only made in grade 2 and 3. The best place to get it and the most informative place on the planet regarding Azo is at www.michaelandpaula.com. Michael Smith and Paula Chamlee are two people who keep the simple traditions in photography alive with burning passion. If you want to make photographs the way Edward Weston did, check out their site and read and learn and ask questions.
So my plan is to develop my large format negs and process and print those and get an 8x10 view camera and start shooting with that and do 8x10 contact prints.
This type of photographing will be so different from the way I've been shooting for the last year. With medium format a roll of film is about $3 and you get 8 - 16 shots depending on the format. One 8x10 sheet of film is $2. Not to mention setting up the camera.
What is really driving me to this is the beauty of the final print.
10-9
Looks like I'll be doing a show in November at Artamotive a gallery in Northeast Minneapolis at 208 13th Ave. NE. The work for the show will be up for two months--through the lucrative holiday season... Currently they have a rock and roll show up. Lots of poster and photos from the glory days of Minneapolis punk rock with Husker Du, The Suburbs, Suicide Commandos and many more.
I keep getting more scanning jobs, so that's picking up nicely. I would get pretty nervous if I had to send my negatives across country like people do when they send their film to me for a scanning job. So I understand the concerns people have when sending me their film. My best recommendation is to send via Fedex or UPS so the package is trackable.
I've been getting at my backlog of film. Here's a few new pictures from, Big Bend and Enchanted Rock in Texas and a couple others from somewhere in Iowa.
Enchanted Rock
Enchanted Rocks
My photo assistant in the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park in Texas
Rustic
The end of the day with lots of lens flare
********************
I've been working on my brother's website. He's a specialty coffee roaster. We're getting his site up and putting together a nice shopping cart. Once I'm done with his, I'll do the same to my site so it will be easier to make payments for scanning orders and to purchase photographs.
10-3
Here are a couple of new pictures from a lake shore which I don't know the name on the Gunflint Trail near Grand Marais Minnesota. They're pretty abstract and were taking as the sun was getting very low in the sky.
Shore and Sand
Shore and Sand 2
Been working on updating this website--I'm sure it'll take a week or so to complete, fun! Also trying to set up a proper shopping cart, more fun! Developing more film so I should have new pictures up soon enough.
9-30
I was just thinking about why I take pictures. One of the things I really like about photography is how a photo can make something you see everyday look like nothing you've ever seen. I big part is how the photo isolates a part of the whole object. I have a series of shots I took at a reststop in Texas. I'm working on a triptych using these images. When people see these they have no idea what they are looking at until they are told. To me, that's part of the magic and mystery of photography. Taking the mundane and using it to make an interesting picture.
9-29
The Millstream Artfair in St. Cloud Minnesota was pretty cold. I think I'm getting a cold or the flu. I am still a Texan at heart and body. The weather yesterday was like January in Texas, But in Minnesota "it's a bit nippy out" or it's "kind of cool for September." No, it was freezing!
Met some very nice and helpful artists who were set up next to me. And a crazy thing happened... I was awarded best in show (not best in breed mind you). What a pleasant surprise. The artfair committee bought one of my photos to be given away in a raffle at next year's show.
That was my last outdoor show for the year. I did a few shows this year and learned a lot. You've got to have extra tarps, spring clamps and business cards. Go to bed early the night before you leave. I need to make a list of what to bring--I always forget something. I can't do any shows that have the word craft in the name or in the application or the advertisement--I won't sell at all. I need to get in big city shows with lots of people. I need a trailer. I need a nicer looking display.
Otherwise, I was pretty happy with the overall reaction to my work and the experience of doing artfairs.
For next year, I plan to do artshows every week during the summer when my son is out of school. I would like to try some this coming spring, but the logistics with his school make it pretty challenging. There's one in Austin, TX this spring and the deadline is Oct. 1, maybe I'll give it a shot.
* * * *
I've been doing a lot of thinking recently about shooting in large format again. Getting an 8x10 view camera and only contact printing with Azo paper. I had been doing this a few years ago, using a 4x5 and a 5x7 camera. The big issue now is having a little extra $$ for the camera, film, paper, lens, film holder and tripod. I'm pretty sure when the money's saved I'll make the leap.
Well I've hemmed and hawed about doing a blog for so long. I've finally decided to do it again. I've been living in Minneapolis now since the spring and it's not too bad.
Winter's approaching--wee! This week it's supposed to get in the upper 30s. I'm doing an art fair in St. Cloud, MN and the low will be in the upper 30s--that'll be a fun setup.
* * * * * * * * *
3-11
Well it's been awhile since I posted--I've been kind of busy. Since my last post I've decided to move to Minneapolis and not sell photos on ebay anymore. And a few other things have happened. There's some new work on the website. Some winterwonderland shots and some summer/fall blasts in Texas of my favorite rest stop.
So yes, I'm moving to Minneapolis at the end of the week. I've been here in Woodstock for a bit over 4 months. And before that 11 months in Austin, Texas and before that Brooklyn New York for 2 1/2 years and before that Austin Texas. Friends have begun calling me the Nomad. I never thought I'd be moving from the Catskills for a long time, but things happen--ain't that the truth.
Living in Minneapolis will have its bonuses--it'll be cheaper; lots of family; I done growed up there so I won't need a map; my life won't be so unpredictable because school won't get cancelled for my kid everytime a flake of snow falls from the sky like here in the Onteora school district in the beautiful Catskill Mountains; and I get to take a new road trip route along Lake Erie and through my old stomping grounds--Chicago.
With this move, I've decided come hell or high water I will make my living off photography. Whether it takes 6 months or 2 years I'm going to do it.
I see my last post mentioned that ebay photo sales had been picking up. Well they picked up and died. I've listed and relisted stuff. Higher prices and dirt cheap prices. Only a few things have sold and the prices are so low it's just not worth the effort. I've seen more people trying to sell their photos on ebay and they aren't selling either. For whatever reason original photos do not sell too well on ebay. It's pretty odd because there have been some nice photos for sale and they don't sell. But some of the crappiest paintings on the planet sell like hot cakes.
I'm going to make some additions to the website like finally putting some links to stuff I like and adding images from my collection of vintage negatives which I've sold on ebay in the past.
November 12
Okay so I haven't done nothin on this site since May... and people just keep on coming. So I guess I'm picking up the torch again. This won't be the same. I've got to make a living so I can't just screw around anymore. I've got to work. Which means sell stuff on eBay. Also I take pictures er um photographs. So maybe I'll talk about that. I could have links to the stuff I'm selling or maybe not or maybe I will. Any way it's cool people keep looking here. Over the last few months this site has average 7,000 hits per month!
And I'll try to find to find some Odd websites for your enjoyment. Oh and we recently moved the the supposed hippie capital of the free world--Woodstock NY. I'm disappointed, I've seen very few hippies. I saw a wizard though!
Here's some stuff I was thinking the other day:
I'm constantly questioning myself, my motives, what I want my photography to be like/about/for. I suppose this is normal. Maybe not wise to have on public display, but who cares right? At times I feel I should be more professional, thinking it will help me make more money. Well I don't think that is the case. I'm trying to remind myself to be myself. Which means, I think, to not worry about how people are perceiving my website/me. I guess the best thing to do is just be myself and let the chips fall where they may. It's not like I'll be loosing too much money if I lose a scanning job or two because someone doesn't think I'm professional enough to handle their negatives.
Since I quite paying my adwords on google my site has dropped of the search results. I was 3rd for "negative scanning". Now when I search on that term I give up looking for my website after 5 pages of search results. I know google has been changing their algorithms and/or the way they sort stuff and some people feel the adwords participants benefit. I think that is true. This change has happened within the last week. Another great thing is after sending out a local mailing for my scanning service my website hosting company had major problems and their site wasn't even accessible, so naturally neither was mine. Oh well, this is all to say the scanning business has kind of dropped off.
Here's part of my blog that I desimated last week:
1-4-04
Happy New Year!
I'm in the process of developing a backlog of 120mm, 4x5 and 5x7 film. I should have some new work sometime soon. By the end of the week I should everything together and making darkroom prints, enlargements on Oriental Seagull and contact prints on Kodak AZO. I'll be breaking down my printer soon and listing it on ebay in the next day or so. I'll put a link to it when it's up.
When I'm happy with the prints I'm getting in the darkroom I'll start listing some on ebay, I'll put links on the website to my ebay store at that time. Also, I'll be updating the website with new work and also eliminating some work from the sight because there are a few photos that had to have some serious touch up work in Photoshop due to bad light leaks with the Holga camera.
12-29-03
Well the big part of my transformation is complete. I got an enlarger yesterday. An Omega B-6, it takes up to 6x9 negatives, so that's perfect for me. Last night started going back through printing contact sheets of my most recent negatives. It's interesting I see there are things I miss when I'm just scanning the negatives. It would be very time consuming to scan every negative. I do get a preview look at them, but it's a pretty small image and it's sometimes challenging looking at a small lo-res image trying to decide if it's the one I want to scan. It's very easy to miss the more subtle images. Pouring over medium format contact sheets is pretty enjoyable--especially since I got my first pair of actual reading glasses a couple months ago. God it's a sweet thing to be back in the darkroom with Johnny Cash's Live at Folsom Prison playing in the background.
Today I got a DVD of a documentary about Brett Weston from Levin Gallery, I got it from him on eBay. The movie is very cool showing Brett out shooting and in the darkroom. My favorite scene is when Brett opens a can of something in the back of his little camper and starts eating out of the can. And also how keeps starting nice big bonfires with gasoline. I especially liked his comments on the Zone system. He said it was a waste of time, something more to take notes on in the field. The way I think about the Zone system is, "Gee maybe someday I should figure out how to do that." Brett Weston seems pretty smart to me.
One nice thing about inkjet printing is the prints are flat after printing. I bought a small print dryer/ferrotyper thing and it helps to flatten the prints okay, but I think I'll have to break down and get a dry mount press.
12-15
Well I finally got my fingers in the paper developer last night and printed some 4x5 contact sheets and contacts of some 120mm film. It was nice to see what the 120mm film looked like on photo paper compared to being scanned. I was surprised that they were as contrasty as they were because they were developed in PMK Pyro developer which gives a negative that prints flat on AZO and I was using grade 2. It must be the lens on the Fuji cameras I use.
It is really exciting for me to get back in the darkroom. While I'm happy I was able to keep making photos while I didn't have access to a darkroom, the scanning and inkjet printing for black and white miss two very important elimants for me. #1 - the deep blacks and #2 - the process, the craft of making prints in the darkroom.
Soon all my printing will be on regular photo paper, either as enlargements or 4x5 and 5x7 contact prints on Kodak AZO paper. I'm about 2-4 weeks away from having a fairly functioning darkroom. I should have my enlarger this week and a few other items like a proper contact frame and a dry mount press cover the basics.
12-13
I have just dropped the price of my photographs. I have decided to work very hard at selling my pictures on my website and ebay. The way I will do it is to keep my prices low so more people can afford my work or might just take a chance on it. I'd rather have people enjoy my photos in their own home or at work then just look at them on the website. If demand picks up then I will raise prices a little at a time depending on the demand. I've thought of a number of ways to make a living doing photography. I've done art shows/fairs which I really enjoy but they are very expensive to do. There are many other avenues for photographers, but my work doesn't fit in a lot of them.
One reason I like art shows is that I'm dealing directly with the people buying my work, but as I said they are very expensive to pull off. Also, as much as I love to travel I am limited in the amount I can be away from home, especially during my son's school year. So selling on the internet and ebay is great because I deal directly with the person buying and I can be around the house. Since I don't have a ton of overhead, I can keep my prices low. It's the same with my scanning service.
I've already got a decent amount of traffic to this site and it's steadily growing so I know people are finding it. I know how to sell on ebay and I'm getting a better handle on how to sell my photos on ebay. So with a lot of effort and persistence and luck it will work.
Another reason I'm lowering my prices of my photos is I see a photograph more like a CD or a musical concert or a play--something that can be reproduced numerous times. It's been said many times that the negative is the score and the print is the performance. Well than my theory makes sense.
I know there are many artists and collectors that feel the price of the work equals its merit, quality, worth etc. I disagree. Much of the cost of a photo is marketing, travel, commission, business expenses, art show fees, you name it it's all in there.
11-2
I'm ordering a new shutter for my first Holga camera, which I love, or I guess it's the lens I love. It's frighteningly sharp in the middle of the image (for a holga lens) and falls off nicely on the edges. I really like using this camera with the 6x4.5 insert because rarely see any of the black falloff in the image which it very common with Holga pics and one reason I'm not a fan of it. Also, I'll be getting a Holga that has a bulb device and a cable release and a tripod mount for long exposures. This all from Randy at Holgamods.
10-31
Well after going around and around I've decided to stick with making carbon pigment inkjet prints. I've done a lot of thinking and researching about this. With using carbon pigments and cotton or rag papers this type of print is very archival and will probably last as long as a traditional darkroom print. Also, I really like the way they look. I thought what if I go to all the trouble of setting up a darkroom and I didn't like how the prints look, either because I can't find the right paper or toner to get the look I've become accustomed to.
I realized if I started doing contact printing and enlarging I would be spending so much time in transition and very little time taking pictures.
I found a number a excellent writings on why photographers are switching to making carbon pigment inkjet prints. I'll be putting this information together with links and summaries of this information.
While researching, I came across quite a bit of information regarding print permenence, both for traditional and inkjet prints. It appears that the biggest issue affecting the life of a print, assuming the best materials and processes are used, is pollution and airborn environmental toxins. This is very interesting, because it's kind of a mute point to say "this archival photograph will last 100 years," because it doesn't matter, if the photo is displayed and depending where it is displayed, pollution and toxins could take its toll fairly quickly. I'll be sharing more of this information as well.
10-28
CARBON PIGMENT PRINTS FROM DIGITAL FILES
"It seems to me to be the most beautiful printing of photography I have seen. The colour on the paper is almost physical. The surface of the paper itself is beautiful." - David Hockney
"Never before have I found a medium which offered such remarkable integrity in the interpretation of my work. I can finally make prints which exactly capture what my mind's eye was seeing at the moment of exposure. No longer do I feel artistically limited by technical compromise or constraint -- I've been waiting for this all my life. These prints are the fruit of my lifetime's association with great painters and thirty years work as a photographer searching for the perfect print medium. In 1971 I studied very briefly under Ansel Adams who, as a young man trained as a classical pianist, maintained, 'If the exposure on film is the score, the final print is the performance.' I feel that at last I am making truly beautiful music." --Peter Ralston
Yes, Carbon pigment prints are very nice and have a slightly different quality than a traditional photo. I'm torn about the two. I think ultimately I will be using an enlarger and making traditional silver prints from my medium format negatives. But my first step back in the darkroom is with contact printing. I'll be ordering chemistry this week. I was going to use ABC Pyro but the more I'm reading I might use Pyrocat-HD. It looks a little easier to deal with and it apprears there's less chance of streaking with tray developing the negatives.
I'm so excited to see what these negatives are like. They are 4x5 and 5x7 and were shot about 2-3 years ago in Dauphin Island Alabama and in and around New York City. Hmmm, since my flatbed scanner is in storage in the Catskills I'll have to find someone to scan those prints once there done and assuming there's some good stuff.
I just got word that I'll be participating in the Minnetonka Center for the Arts Second Annual "Arts of the Holidays" Juried Art Show and Sale from November 13 through December 23 in Minnetonka, Minnesota.
10-18
My favorite place to shoot in Austin were the underpasses at Ben White and Lamar. It cracks me up, I love Austin and lived there for 12 years, but visually for taking pictures it didn't do much for me. The only thing that really interested me were the underpasses. The interchange at Ben White and I-35 was looking interesting last year, but I never got to it.
Underpass Lightpole
Underpass Lightpole 2
17 Ft. 1 In.
V
Pole Underpass
10-11
Late last night I pulled out my 4x5 and 5x7 contact prints printed on Azo paper from two years ago. The richness, detail and depth are beautiful. Part of what is real seductive about these prints is that they are contact printed, so there is no loss of detail from the negative like what happens when enlarging or scanning.
Over the past month I've really been struggling with whether to buy a view camera again and start contact printing. Last night decided it for me. I will do it. Then I realized I don't need the camera right away to get started with contact printing. I have at least 25 negatives from when I was living in New York that I took with 4x5 and 5x7 cameras. I'll use these negatives to practice developing using inspection which will be pretty cool. You just use a dim green safelight (I think) and check how the development is proceeding.
Then I can contact print these on Kodak Azo paper. It's a silver chloride photo paper. Years ago there use to be many kinds of this paper, now Azo is the only kind. And it is only made in grade 2 and 3. The best place to get it and the most informative place on the planet regarding Azo is at www.michaelandpaula.com. Michael Smith and Paula Chamlee are two people who keep the simple traditions in photography alive with burning passion. If you want to make photographs the way Edward Weston did, check out their site and read and learn and ask questions.
So my plan is to develop my large format negs and process and print those and get an 8x10 view camera and start shooting with that and do 8x10 contact prints.
This type of photographing will be so different from the way I've been shooting for the last year. With medium format a roll of film is about $3 and you get 8 - 16 shots depending on the format. One 8x10 sheet of film is $2. Not to mention setting up the camera.
What is really driving me to this is the beauty of the final print.
10-9
Looks like I'll be doing a show in November at Artamotive a gallery in Northeast Minneapolis at 208 13th Ave. NE. The work for the show will be up for two months--through the lucrative holiday season... Currently they have a rock and roll show up. Lots of poster and photos from the glory days of Minneapolis punk rock with Husker Du, The Suburbs, Suicide Commandos and many more.
I keep getting more scanning jobs, so that's picking up nicely. I would get pretty nervous if I had to send my negatives across country like people do when they send their film to me for a scanning job. So I understand the concerns people have when sending me their film. My best recommendation is to send via Fedex or UPS so the package is trackable.
I've been getting at my backlog of film. Here's a few new pictures from, Big Bend and Enchanted Rock in Texas and a couple others from somewhere in Iowa.
Enchanted Rock
Enchanted Rocks
My photo assistant in the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park in Texas
Rustic
The end of the day with lots of lens flare
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I've been working on my brother's website. He's a specialty coffee roaster. We're getting his site up and putting together a nice shopping cart. Once I'm done with his, I'll do the same to my site so it will be easier to make payments for scanning orders and to purchase photographs.
10-3
Here are a couple of new pictures from a lake shore which I don't know the name on the Gunflint Trail near Grand Marais Minnesota. They're pretty abstract and were taking as the sun was getting very low in the sky.
Shore and Sand
Shore and Sand 2
Been working on updating this website--I'm sure it'll take a week or so to complete, fun! Also trying to set up a proper shopping cart, more fun! Developing more film so I should have new pictures up soon enough.
9-30
I was just thinking about why I take pictures. One of the things I really like about photography is how a photo can make something you see everyday look like nothing you've ever seen. I big part is how the photo isolates a part of the whole object. I have a series of shots I took at a reststop in Texas. I'm working on a triptych using these images. When people see these they have no idea what they are looking at until they are told. To me, that's part of the magic and mystery of photography. Taking the mundane and using it to make an interesting picture.
9-29
The Millstream Artfair in St. Cloud Minnesota was pretty cold. I think I'm getting a cold or the flu. I am still a Texan at heart and body. The weather yesterday was like January in Texas, But in Minnesota "it's a bit nippy out" or it's "kind of cool for September." No, it was freezing!
Met some very nice and helpful artists who were set up next to me. And a crazy thing happened... I was awarded best in show (not best in breed mind you). What a pleasant surprise. The artfair committee bought one of my photos to be given away in a raffle at next year's show.
That was my last outdoor show for the year. I did a few shows this year and learned a lot. You've got to have extra tarps, spring clamps and business cards. Go to bed early the night before you leave. I need to make a list of what to bring--I always forget something. I can't do any shows that have the word craft in the name or in the application or the advertisement--I won't sell at all. I need to get in big city shows with lots of people. I need a trailer. I need a nicer looking display.
Otherwise, I was pretty happy with the overall reaction to my work and the experience of doing artfairs.
For next year, I plan to do artshows every week during the summer when my son is out of school. I would like to try some this coming spring, but the logistics with his school make it pretty challenging. There's one in Austin, TX this spring and the deadline is Oct. 1, maybe I'll give it a shot.
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I've been doing a lot of thinking recently about shooting in large format again. Getting an 8x10 view camera and only contact printing with Azo paper. I had been doing this a few years ago, using a 4x5 and a 5x7 camera. The big issue now is having a little extra $$ for the camera, film, paper, lens, film holder and tripod. I'm pretty sure when the money's saved I'll make the leap.
Well I've hemmed and hawed about doing a blog for so long. I've finally decided to do it again. I've been living in Minneapolis now since the spring and it's not too bad.
Winter's approaching--wee! This week it's supposed to get in the upper 30s. I'm doing an art fair in St. Cloud, MN and the low will be in the upper 30s--that'll be a fun setup.
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3-11
Well it's been awhile since I posted--I've been kind of busy. Since my last post I've decided to move to Minneapolis and not sell photos on ebay anymore. And a few other things have happened. There's some new work on the website. Some winterwonderland shots and some summer/fall blasts in Texas of my favorite rest stop.
So yes, I'm moving to Minneapolis at the end of the week. I've been here in Woodstock for a bit over 4 months. And before that 11 months in Austin, Texas and before that Brooklyn New York for 2 1/2 years and before that Austin Texas. Friends have begun calling me the Nomad. I never thought I'd be moving from the Catskills for a long time, but things happen--ain't that the truth.
Living in Minneapolis will have its bonuses--it'll be cheaper; lots of family; I done growed up there so I won't need a map; my life won't be so unpredictable because school won't get cancelled for my kid everytime a flake of snow falls from the sky like here in the Onteora school district in the beautiful Catskill Mountains; and I get to take a new road trip route along Lake Erie and through my old stomping grounds--Chicago.
With this move, I've decided come hell or high water I will make my living off photography. Whether it takes 6 months or 2 years I'm going to do it.
I see my last post mentioned that ebay photo sales had been picking up. Well they picked up and died. I've listed and relisted stuff. Higher prices and dirt cheap prices. Only a few things have sold and the prices are so low it's just not worth the effort. I've seen more people trying to sell their photos on ebay and they aren't selling either. For whatever reason original photos do not sell too well on ebay. It's pretty odd because there have been some nice photos for sale and they don't sell. But some of the crappiest paintings on the planet sell like hot cakes.
I'm going to make some additions to the website like finally putting some links to stuff I like and adding images from my collection of vintage negatives which I've sold on ebay in the past.
November 12
Okay so I haven't done nothin on this site since May... and people just keep on coming. So I guess I'm picking up the torch again. This won't be the same. I've got to make a living so I can't just screw around anymore. I've got to work. Which means sell stuff on eBay. Also I take pictures er um photographs. So maybe I'll talk about that. I could have links to the stuff I'm selling or maybe not or maybe I will. Any way it's cool people keep looking here. Over the last few months this site has average 7,000 hits per month!
And I'll try to find to find some Odd websites for your enjoyment. Oh and we recently moved the the supposed hippie capital of the free world--Woodstock NY. I'm disappointed, I've seen very few hippies. I saw a wizard though!
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