NEW PRESTON CONNECTICUT – A really gray day. New Preston is a small village near us just off of Route 202. Politically it’s part of Washington Connecticut. The Congregational parish has two church buildings: a traditional neo-classical wooden structure where the congregation meets for most of the year, and a stone church where they meet in August. New Preston doesn’t have a green so both buildings are sited awkwardly – the stone church s literally 6 feet from the edge of the road. Taken with my Alpa TC.
WARREN CONNECTICUT – Back to shooting digital. Over the next few weeks I’ll be shooting primarily with my Alpa TC and its sensational 36mm Schneider APO lens (translating to 35mm terms the lens is equivalent to a 24mm). I’ve attached my Hasselblad H4D 60 digital back to the camera. This results in a very compact camera with a 60 meg sensor. There are no focus or exposure aids so I carry as laser distometer and a spot meter when I shoot with this camera. The Hasselblad back does not have its own power supply (it’s normally powered by the Hasselblad body), so I also carry an external battery that powers the back through its firewire 800 port. Here are a couple of sample images; one in grayscale and one in color:
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Another day with film. I’m mastering the mechanics of the Linhof film back so I had fewer ruined double exposures. Here’s a view of 23rd Street taken with my Alpa TC, a 36mm Schneider APO lens on Ilford XP-2 film. I’ve always considered the gray scale rendering of chromogenic films to be slightly odd for landscape – there is a slight infrared quality to it. This image illustrates this effect.
23rd Street
Take a look back at the post for February 9. The vertical line up the middle of the picture is actually a scratch on the negative. Very irritating. Another issue with film. I’m reposting the image here with the scratch repaired and minor edits. Film helps make this image appealing because its response curve has a “shoulder” that prevents the windows from blowing out entirely, and “halation” (light diffusing through the film’s base) add a glow around the windows. On the other hand the scratch illustrates one of the key hazards with film. Overall I spent 20 minutes or so spotting the scanned negative in Photoshop.
Seagrams Building at night
On this day one year ago: Lexington Avenue at night. Not one of my more popular images – probably because the reflections (which was the appeal of the situation for me) are confusing.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – My second day shooting film. I’ve put a Linhof 120 film magazine on my Arca TC body. It makes an 6 cm x 7 cm negative. The film magazine is heavy and quirky – the film advance leaver is two stroke and there’s no interlock to prevent double exposures, so I made a fair number of double exposures. Here’s one shooting straight up from the Park Avenue island: Another view of the Seagrams building.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – Here’s a surprise for you. One of the reasons that I’ve gotten behind in writing these – I’m actually writing this on February 18 – is that I’m experimenting with . . . . film. You read that correctly. The F*** word. My plan was to shoot film for three or four days. There’s a couple of days turn around on processing, and then whatever time it takes to edit and scan. Taken with my Alpa TC and a 36mm Alpa APO Switar lens. Shot on 120 size Ilford XP-2 film, a “chromogenic” black and white film that is processed with the normal C-41 color negative process.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – Weird. You take a month’s break from visiting a place, you come back, and it’s entirely changed. Tom Sachs’s sculpture, Hello Kitty, has been in the courtyard of Lever House for longer than I’ve been photographing for this blog. Now it’s gone, so it’s “bye bye Hollo Kitty”. Here are some links to some earlier Hello Kitty photographs: July 6, 2010, May 11, 2010, April 20, 2010, and March 19, 2010
I guess I really like Hello Kitty. The little gold doodad that replaced Hello Kitty appears to be a part of a much larger installation by Rachel Feinstein entitled “The Snow Queen”. Photographed with my Leica M9 and a 28mm Summicron lens.
WARREN CONNECTICUT – Maria and I went snowshoeing today – the snow is actually chest deep. This is the most severe winter in memory. I took my Hasselblad and a 28mm lens and captured this on the way back.
