picked up a couple bottles tonight. the first one, i had a glass at a restaurant. two bottles of januik 2001 merlot (92 pts, pierre rovani, wine advocate). the other was recommended to me by the guy at the wine store, a noval lb porto (91 pts, robert parker). i have to remember to update my wine notebook next time i’m home. i think my little wine rack is overflowing with bottles now. :-/
read on for reviews.
thanks to spacenuke’s blog for inspiring me to do some panostuffs. this is from a series of shots i took in the middle of nowhere above san jose. i had the day off and i spent it driving.
did some contact printing last night.. makes me wish i had a proper printing frame. i was going to take the b&j out this morning but it was dark and stormy. i was able to get a decent scan of this print.. there wasn’t enough contrast to scan the negative directly. it might be a good candidate for split contrast printing. gosh, so much to learn.
after work today i did some self tests. first, use front rise to correct parallels on tall stricture. second, use front tilt to adjust focal plane up a vertical subject. i passed both. i took notes on my polaroids so i can remember.
it really is worth it to frame up and focus on subjects. you don’t really need to shoot film at all. just take notes. my front-rise image, i raised the front standard 2.8cm. i didn’t record the front tilt on the second image.. i’d need a protractor and it wasn’t that important. i tend to use the “tilt/swing until everything is evenly unfocused, then focus entier image”. it makes me want to get a proper focusing cloth .. my jacket lets in a lot of light underneath the camera.
by request, this is a picture of my new car on the grounds of fort hunter liggett. i got it on august 20th. it’s been incredibly fun to drive.
here’s what’s been going on over the past few days.
per, the photographer doing the zion workshop, checked in on me to see if i was still up for going. i’d forgotten i told him i’d respond with a yay or nay. he saved a spot for me and now i’m definitely on the list.
took my burke & james out in downtown mountain view the other day. i talked to three random people who asked about my camera. the longest conversation was with a gentleman on a bike who remembered having family photos taken in england with a large camera, similar to mine.
took my car in for its first oil change. i should have done it at 3k miles.. took it in at 3.7k miles. i now have the discontinued sti labelled floor mats. i feel so cool! really, i do :-)
decided i need to subscribe to view camera magazine, despite what an ass steve simmons seems to be. at least he’s putting out a decent publication.
today i picked up a book on LF landscape. it’s fantastic — large format nature photography by jack dykinga. it’s got perfect tips and illustrations on focus. i’m really starting to understand LF focusing.
i need to fiddle with the scanner a bit more. it’s doing some sort of auto-exposure that’s messing up my scans. i have some recent 8×10s that are losing a lot of detail when digitized.
gosh, reading this book really makes me want to go out and shoot!!
this is my first negative out of the buke & james. someone on apug offered to custom make a lens board for me at cost! i will take the guy up on the offer. i can’t wait to start using this beautiful camera.
today i picked up the latest issue of view camera magazine and it is chock full of beautiful color LF images. it’s so inspiring!
took the burke and james out for a first test shot, along with a 12″ meyer apo-process. the test neg looks good. now i need a real #3 lens board and not the piece of cardboard i used to hold the lens in. :-) my next task, natural light portrait.
did some minor repair work today. this is my newest acquisition, a burke & james 8×10. it was refinished by the previous owner. it’s weird how these cameras were made of nice wood then painted dull grey! in any case, i spent some time on it today. i detached and reattached the bellows, cleaned off and brushed all the metal pieces, and wiped all the parts down. now the standard brackets are moving well (much better than when i got it) and the bellows isn’t hanging off the back standard. now all it needs is a lens.
i also took anoother picture so you can see the size of the camera in comparison to something more familiar.
rest in peace, richard avedon. thanks for inspiring me with your portrait work.
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