(2048×1618)

I’ve started shooting a lot more in my own neighborhood, the Mission district. The Mission is dense with culture, art, and personality, and venturing out in the mornings has been a great way to get to know the area better. I’ve been waking up early, going for coffee, and once it’s light enough I head out with my Crown Graphic. The weather has been perfect, really – cool and calm, overcast, and sometimes lightly raining. I couldn’t ask for better conditions. I’ve been shooting between 8am and 10am when I’m able to shoot wide open at iso 1600 before too many people are out. I have the run of the place without any trouble.

I’ve already shot 50+ sheets at this point and I’m wondering if I should use this as an opportunity to do more printing, or scan my negatives for presentation online.

HP5+ at ISO 1600, exposed at 1/100 sec f/4,7. Souped in Adonal 1+50 for 20 minutes. Negative scan.

This is a sketch of me done by Anna Conti using her iPad during a party last night. Looking at it reminds me that when you make a portrait of someone it’s a lot more than just capturing their likeness. It’s trying to convey how you see someone — what features get your attention the most and how you interpret how they carry themselves. I think people tend to discount these subtleties in photographic portraiture. It’s just a camera and just a lens, per se, but they can be used a myriad of ways when capturing the likeness of someone. The interaction between subject and artist also contribute their own variation to the experience. In drawing this all more evident as everyone has their own style of drawing. In any case, while taking a break from photographing people, it was fun to be on the other side of a portrait. Thanks, Anna!

When you shoot a roll of film, sometimes you have to “burn” (or waste) the last few frames of the roll to finish it up. I’ve been shooting with Grafmatics lately, a magazine that holds 6 sheets of film. I had 3 Grafmatics I’d shot and had a single frame left unexposed at the time I needed to head to the darkroom to develop my film. So I just shot a self portrait in the mirror before I headed out. It feels weird to “burn” 20 square inches of film but in this context, it’s just one shot out of 18.

Today I decided to try something I read about online. My Speed Graphic didn’t come with a side strap like the Crown did and I read that a child’s belt makes a great replacement. I braved the holiday shopping crowds to hunt down an XS-sized Dockers belt.

I ended up using the Crown’s strap as a model. I creased the leather with paper and vice-grips, then used an electric drill to make a new belt hole. Not bad for a $10 replacement that feels much stronger than the Crown’s leather. This strap’s got to support a lot of weight!

A couple months ago I was walking through the Mission in late afternoon and saw a large crowd in the alleyway adjacent to The Women’s Building. There was a dance performance beginning on the side of the building! I stuck around for a few minutes and snapped this photo (snapped.. I’ve been reading Brad’s blog a lot lately) of one of the onlookers.

Digital point-and-shoot cameras are mostly replaced by cell phone cameras now (see this photo I shot and uploaded directly from my iPhone 4). I think eventually you’ll see them replaced by phones-with-cameras. Or as mine is, a p&s camera that can browse the web and happens to be able to make phone calls.

Tri-X in Adox Adonal. Taken with a Rolleicord V.

We haven’t seen Tom and Clare since they got married last year. It was so nice spending time with my brother and getting to know my sister-in-law a bit more. They had a fairly mixed visit with touristy stuff, family, driving around on their own. On their last full day with us I asked them to pose for me for a few photos.

Ilford HP5+ developed in Rodinal 1+50. Shot with a Speed Graphic at 1/50 through an Aero Ektar 178/2,5 lens. I am not used to more than one subject with a lens like this, it’s quite difficult to get right with a curved focal plane.

This was my first time using the new incarnation of Rodinal, Adox Adonal. I used it at 1+50 just like the old Agfa Rodinal with good results.