PDA

View Full Version : October Still Lifes



unrealalex
7-Oct-2010, 22:50
http://www.ambrotype.ru/photos/wet-plate/ambro-alice033.jpg
Time for Tea, ambrotype 8x10"

Marko Trebusak
7-Oct-2010, 23:49
Yes, I like this idea and feeling of your photo! On the other hand maybe a bit more "Tea" part might balance "Time"?

Marko

robbert
8-Oct-2010, 00:15
http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/8047/robberttc008.jpg (http://img834.imageshack.us/i/robberttc008.jpg/)

boris
8-Oct-2010, 00:37
robbert,
i like the idea very much. was it made with a largeformat camera?
boris

robbert
8-Oct-2010, 00:41
thanks, yes it was made by using a Cambo 4x5, Schneider 150mm, Portra 160NC

Scott --
12-Oct-2010, 11:37
Dug out the Seneca today and shot another sheet of Efke, this time on another of our favorite vineyards, Chateau St. Jean:

http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/dd359/smpsweeps/0057.jpg

Love this film.

Daniel_Buck
12-Oct-2010, 13:11
way expired 4x5 Fujichrome 64T, speedgraphic and a projection lens :)

http://www.buckshotsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/talisker_01.jpg

merelyok
13-Oct-2010, 09:16
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4021/5078757590_de9059c06e_b.jpg

Toyo 45CFL
210mm Fujinon
Arista Edu 400
HC-110

goamules
15-Oct-2010, 07:47
Digital shot of a Collodion quarterplate of a Film rangefinder 35mm! Oh, taken with an 1855 Daguerreotype lens! There, got all four technologies.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4026/5079210758_3c71c77337_b.jpg

RJC
15-Oct-2010, 14:18
Oh, taken with an 1855 Daguerreotype lens!



Wow, how did you mount that Daguerreotype on your DSLR ? ;)

cjbroadbent
18-Oct-2010, 14:11
Shot today on 8x10 TMX in a Gandolfi with a windowlight. Same old stuff but trying out 20 minutes in HC110.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_OR3U2BmIDuk/TLy1ddP9J0I/AAAAAAAAFfE/uusNtQRr_tw/s800/jug8x10.jpg

gevalia
18-Oct-2010, 14:46
Shot today on 8x10 TMX in a Gandolfi with a windowlight. Same old stuff but trying out 20 minutes in HC110.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_OR3U2BmIDuk/TLy1ddP9J0I/AAAAAAAAFfE/uusNtQRr_tw/s800/jug8x10.jpg

Christopher,

I've always liked your backgrounds. Where do you get them?

Ron

dsim
18-Oct-2010, 15:40
Wonderful images everyone.

sly
18-Oct-2010, 16:28
Ron, I believe he makes them - I remember a post where he described the preparation.

cjbroadbent
18-Oct-2010, 23:22
Ron, Thanks for asking - I like preaching about backgrounds.
A background is a very private part. You have to do it yourself. And you do it so that it fits with your very own lighting - in my case, feathered off from the left to make the light and dark parts of the subject stand out.
Ingredients: stretcher, bed-sheet, bucket of white wall-paint, tube of black, big brush on a stick and last, a garden spray can to shower drops of weak white onto the surface for aerial perspective. It must be done lying down - otherwise the the colour runs..

Miguel Coquis
19-Oct-2010, 02:01
Ron, Thanks for asking - I like preaching about backgrounds.
A background is a very private part. You have to do it yourself. And you do it so that it fits with your very own lighting - in my case, feathered off from the left to make the light and dark parts of the subject stand out.
Ingredients: stretcher, bed-sheet, bucket of white wall-paint, tube of black, big brush on a stick and last, a garden spray can to shower drops of weak white onto the surface for aerial perspective. It must be done lying down - otherwise the the colour runs..

Beautiful colors !
Thanks for sharing tips, Christopher !!!

http://macoquis.caraldi.com/scaled/Octubre%20Mes%20Morado/Pomme-II.jpg
light from the right and back left, wide open to create optical "flou" background;
with a 300 mm f:4

Ramiro Elena
19-Oct-2010, 04:17
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4110/5064544127_16b10ea589_z.jpg

Shot with a projection Petzval with great separation issues.
Pears stolen from Scala Dei (http://www.turismepriorat.org/en/what-to-do/places-of-interest/cartoixa-de-scala-dei)

cjbroadbent
19-Oct-2010, 06:09
Finished this off this morning. Un-cropped for proof-of-lf. However the digiroid in the Safe Haven looks better than this.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_OR3U2BmIDuk/TL2V3IVozqI/AAAAAAAAFhE/lyxPiISE0rQ/s800/knife8x10.jpg

Jim Cole
19-Oct-2010, 06:12
Ron, Thanks for asking - I like preaching about backgrounds.
A background is a very private part. You have to do it yourself. And you do it so that it fits with your very own lighting - in my case, feathered off from the left to make the light and dark parts of the subject stand out.
Ingredients: stretcher, bed-sheet, bucket of white wall-paint, tube of black, big brush on a stick and last, a garden spray can to shower drops of weak white onto the surface for aerial perspective. It must be done lying down - otherwise the the colour runs..

Thanks for sharing the great tip Christopher. I'm trying to get settled in Indianapolis after the cross country move and anxious to get back to shooting again. My shutter thumb is itchy!

cjbroadbent
19-Oct-2010, 07:38
Jim, Adding this: It's the bed-sheet that's lying down, not me, and the blended colour must still be damp so that the raining droplets of 'wash' spread a little. I usually shoot stopped down so I need the extra aerial perspective.

The beautiful shot above by Ramiroelena needs no such artifice. Long live Petzval and ditch the paint!

mandoman7
19-Oct-2010, 20:27
Christopher has given solid advice on making backgrounds along with his intriguing photograph. I've also made my own from both muslin and canvas a number of times for different purposes (nearly always found commercial backdrops disappointing).

The last couple were finished off flat on a concrete garage floor as suggested. I found that a broom worked great for spreading a wash around. I think its good to start with a dye treatment for a base color, though, and add washes (diluted paint) to suit (jacquard dyes). Generally speaking, you can't go wrong as you'll be adding color gently and then test shooting until you like it. At times I've used a little spray paint to lighten the middle or darken the edges. Its seems that the more treatments and layers you give, the more interesting the backdrop gets.

Most of the canvas or muslin I've used is from Chicago Canvas Supply, who has good prices and quality material (serving theaters mostly, I believe). I've used muslin from sheets and painting groundcovers and some of those are fine, but its worth noting that the thicker muslins will hang more elegantly. I believe you can often spot bedsheet usage in some shots as the grade looks a bit light. Theater muslin just hangs with a little more dignity, and you can get blank material fairly cheaply. I say go for it.

cjbroadbent
19-Oct-2010, 23:18
No garage floor? Lay down a plastic sheet - it gets messy underneath. And remember to spray upwards so the wash drops fall randomly.
Rosco theatre muslins are stored rolled up and hang straight most of the time. I use a double-bed sheet stapled and stretched on a frame for economy.
The greatest artist and authority on backdrops is Sandro Laferla in New York. He rents, makes to order and understands light.

pound
20-Oct-2010, 07:17
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1174/5099048055_5e7f53f72d_b.jpg
i finally got my fuijinon 210mm W. soaked in HC-100 :) Slight cropped as part of the film did not get developed correctly using the taco method. sorry abt the dust & scratches. I will try to take better care of my negative. :)

cjbroadbent
21-Oct-2010, 05:23
Still on backgrounds for still-life. This one is on plywood. there are some pretty strong colours done over with a brushed white wash. Even when in focus, brush marks seem ok. (Sorry about the product - I normally keep merchandise out of things.)
8x10 Ektachrome.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_OR3U2BmIDuk/TL_7ZN4onDI/AAAAAAAAFiY/K8IUMjetpps/s800/aceto.jpg

Jim Cole
21-Oct-2010, 10:16
Christopher,
I think the brushstrokes look quite fine and make the background look "real". Beautiful shot regardless of the product.

Ramiro Elena
21-Oct-2010, 10:20
Another failure from my part. This was an already difficult shot since the sun was hitting the front of the lens big time. I managed to shield it and then the shutter in the Speed Graphic wouldn't go down to 1/30. This is pushed 2 stops and still under-exposed.
I think it's a Pentac wide open on Efke25.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4128/5102191689_6617a2e57a_b.jpg

Scott --
22-Oct-2010, 11:37
Playing with the half-Petzval and Efke 25.

http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/dd359/smpsweeps/0076.jpg

David Aimone
22-Oct-2010, 11:38
Absolutely love it!


Playing with the half-Petzval and Efke 25.

http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/dd359/smpsweeps/0076.jpg

Scott --
22-Oct-2010, 12:58
Thanks, David!

life_in_sepia
24-Oct-2010, 12:14
Dia De Los Muertes doll (hope that counts as a still life):

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4089/5087292797_51a67af5f4_b.jpg

Whole plate. Dallmeyer 3b, f3.5, 7 seconds.

JoeV
25-Oct-2010, 12:04
Preflashed grade 2 paper negatives exposed in 8x10 nested box camera, 240mm Fujinon Xerox lens wide open, about f/6.5 with "bellows" extension, 20 seconds and 30 seconds exposure respectively.

~Joe

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1238/5115226644_129fc491ee_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1154/5114625147_d585333f11_b.jpg

jon.oman
25-Oct-2010, 12:11
Nice ones Joe!

ustas
26-Oct-2010, 11:07
Please wellcome a doll Natasha! (taken with Kalosat)
http://ipicture.ru/uploads/101024/10430/2TZTPPKIkl.jpg (http://ipicture.ru/)

cjbroadbent
27-Oct-2010, 06:28
The product is missing. It will be a christmas hamper. Shows what can be done with an ink-dinky spot on the same axis as the window-light - to mimic a bit of sun coming in the window.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_OR3U2BmIDuk/TCm-2SI347I/AAAAAAAAFYQ/uNTb1ZfYk0Q/s800/xmas.jpg

Ramiro Elena
27-Oct-2010, 09:04
The product is missing. It will be a christmas hamper. Shows what can be done with an ink-dinky spot on the same axis as the window-light - to mimic a bit of sun coming in the window.


Once again, thank you for sharing such valuable tips. I would have never thought of that yet it seems so simple and logical!

Armin Seeholzer
27-Oct-2010, 09:52
Christopher you are really the still live master!

Cheers Armin

cjbroadbent
27-Oct-2010, 16:56
Thanks. But I'm a slave not a master.

Ramiro Elena
28-Oct-2010, 04:27
Thyme again.
This is two rear elements of different Petzval lenses in one barrel. Too soft for my taste.
Around 140mm and ƒ3,5.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4009/5122333637_90221af1e2_b.jpg

cdholden
28-Oct-2010, 05:35
Thyme again.
This is two rear elements of different Petzval lenses in one barrel. Too soft for my taste.

Not for mine. I like it.

cjbroadbent
29-Oct-2010, 04:45
Back to kitchen-table photography. Lunch on 5x7 Ektachrome with a little bit of help from a mini flash behind the balustrade (plywood, painted over with glue and sawdust, sanded and and painted again in gray and worked over with colored chalk).

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_OR3U2BmIDuk/TMqyAgTat7I/AAAAAAAAFoc/Djd7axdc0xI/s800/lunch.jpg

ustas
29-Oct-2010, 09:57
Just amazing pictures Christopher!
here is a Samovar (Plasticca)
http://ipicture.ru/uploads/101029/10430/rEYF4kXvfE.jpg (http://ipicture.ru/)

bobwysiwyg
29-Oct-2010, 10:23
Christopher, I'm officially hungry now. :) Nice shot!

Keith Tapscott.
31-Oct-2010, 09:46
Still on backgrounds for still-life. This one is on plywood. there are some pretty strong colours done over with a brushed white wash. Even when in focus, brush marks seem ok. (Sorry about the product - I normally keep merchandise out of things.)
8x10 Ektachrome.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_OR3U2BmIDuk/TL_7ZN4onDI/AAAAAAAAFiY/K8IUMjetpps/s800/aceto.jpg
This is excellent, how did you get that slight glow effect?

cjbroadbent
31-Oct-2010, 12:58
...how did you get that slight glow effect?...
I'm ashamed to say, with a black stocking. which comes into focus over f45 so I shot at f32 (on 8x10) which leaves little room for depth.
Ustas, Now I see the samovar, (the site was blocked before) It is fantastic! it's got structure, stability and magic. There's more to it than the lens.

Denis Pleic
31-Oct-2010, 14:40
...how did you get that slight glow effect?...
I'm ashamed to say, with a black stocking. which comes into focus over f45 so I shot at f32 (on 8x10) which leaves little room for depth.

Christopher, I'm constantly awed by your amazing photos. It's always a feast for the eyes :)

I recommended your photos and your Picassa site a couple of days ago to a photographer friend who sometimes does (digital) tabletop photography, using Hartblei tilt/shift lens on a digital Canon body. He's not a pro, and relies heavily on the postprocessing (read: Photoshop). Actually, the guy learned photography with a digital camera and Photoshop, so... I take his comments with a grain of salt, usually :)
His comment after seeing your Picassa site was that yes, the photos and lighting is good, but "the guy uses Photoshop rather heavy-handedly, which is quite obvious" (????)...

Now, being accustomed to seeing your photos here on LFF, and having read almost everything you wrote here, I don't remember you using Photoshop much, let alone "heavy-handedly".

Your comment about the "sfumato" effect above being done using a black stocking puts me at ease... but please (inquiring minds want to know) - do you really do that much "post-processing" (read: Photoshopping) on your photos?

Being brought up photographically in an analog world, I know that most of the effects in your photos (like the sfumato above) can be done without resorting to photoshoppery, which is what I presumed you do, but still... If it's not a trade secret - and I know you usually gladly explain your technique: how much (if any) post-processing using photoshop (or whatever) do you do?

BradS
31-Oct-2010, 21:30
Back to kitchen-table photography. Lunch on 5x7 Ektachrome with a little bit of help from a mini flash behind the balustrade (plywood, painted over with glue and sawdust, sanded and and painted again in gray and worked over with colored chalk).

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_OR3U2BmIDuk/TMqyAgTat7I/AAAAAAAAFoc/Djd7axdc0xI/s800/lunch.jpg

Wonderful! it is quite literally making my mouth water.

(and thank you for sharing all of your background info).

cjbroadbent
1-Nov-2010, 02:09
.... "the guy uses Photoshop rather heavy-handedly, which is quite obvious"...
There was no such thing as Photoshop when most of these photographs were taken. They are mostly Ektachromes and BW prints. The problem, in those not so distant days, was to preserve the mood in the final tranny that was consigned to the client right the way through to the printed page.
I purposely blocked shadows and haloed highlights to prevent the process printer from flattening the picture with his contrast masks. Normally, to please the client, the process printer would open shadows and remove 'reflections'. I had a bad reputation with printers.
I'm not a great user of Photoshop - apart from Curves, Desaturate and Resize to make the thing web-presentable. Since anything large-format on the web has to go through the scanner, I often scan twice in order to force my way into the shadows and hold back a bit on some highlights in a napkin or such. Now I have to pay for obstructing the printer.
I tone-map the thing back into shape and the result usually looks just a bit short of the original tranny.
There is a lot of set-building and painting going on in my studio. I use a coloured chalk, sanded gesso, and I hang gels over parts of the window-light. Sometimes I place a warm inky-dinky in axis with the window. When I use fill, usually a white sheet behind the camera, it is lit with blue gel to simulate sky in the penumbra. I feather foregrounds and backgrounds with scrim and black flags. There is quite a lot going on BEFORE the exposure.
Here is a true digital photoshopped image (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/CLjiFfQqeqayDNkm-C8RuA?feat=directlink) I believe that things can now be done with more delicacy on digital than on film. The file you give the client is definitive and goes from you to the printed page direct.

Denis Pleic
1-Nov-2010, 04:20
There was no such thing as Photoshop when most of these photographs were taken.
...


Thank you for a very informative reply :)
And educating, as always!

Ramiro Elena
1-Nov-2010, 09:40
Do you use strobes and continuous lighting indifferently? I noticed you had a large window box in one of your still lifes. I love looking at other photographers setups. :D

I admire the way you explain your technique in such detail. It is one thing to look at such tremendous work but I truly respect how open you are about the process. It is a great thing you don't encounter very often in this field.

How long does it take you to gather objects, make backgrounds, arrange and light?

cjbroadbent
1-Nov-2010, 13:45
Do you use strobes and continuous lighting indifferently? ...How long does it take you to gather objects, make backgrounds, arrange and light?
It's easy to be a bore with this stuff. It's like dragging the equipment up the mountain to shoot a landscape and sounding off about the climb. Or like golf.

If it stands still, I shoot HMI and/or daylight or halogen.
If it moves, like bubbles, steam or girls, I shoot flash.

Most of my work, which I don't post here, is shot in film studios or rental spaces where there are set builders and there I use whatever lights there are available - usually a couple of 5000 Watt fresnels, one bounced off a 'butterfly' hanging from the ceiling and the other towards the set, through a 6x6ft frame of spun-glass with untidy gobbos to avoid spill and to feather it off the foreground.

Whatever, my favorite is a plain umbrella with either a 1200 flash head or a 2k Watt halogen.

Props: It may take a week to get the things together to put in front of the camera. Unlike many others, I do my own prop-hunting (a prop stylist can take up to $1k per day).

This example (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/V-4lzJLXDY-MiACtJuBo8A?feat=directlink) was put together in a small rented studio and all the props came from home. This other example (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/i_5uaKRgSL586LQlRpsB2A?feat=directlink) was scratch-built in a film studio and the props were hired.

I usually light on day one with false props. arrange on the morning of day two, shoot a test over lunch and do the final shoot in the afternoon... then re-shoot on day three because of some mistake or other.

It is all theatre, and as the man said, contrived photography - and an irritation to the purists who are the majority among us. But it is Large Format after all.

tbeaman
1-Nov-2010, 14:11
I love your work Christopher and am never bored by your explanations, though I liked the golf joke.

minesix66
1-Nov-2010, 16:37
Christopher can you recommend a lens for a 4x5 shen hao to do still life? Right now I have a 75 nikon and was thinking of a 135 or 210 nikon.

cjbroadbent
2-Nov-2010, 02:21
Christopher can you recommend a lens for a 4x5 shen hao to do still life? Right now I have a 75 nikon and was thinking of a 135 or 210 nikon.
135 because the camera will be more or less the same distance from the setup as the width of the setup; so the viewer will feel he is within tactile distance of what you put infront of him.
150 is ok but 210 makes the viewer feel remote - like using a 90 on a 35mm camera.

argos33
2-Nov-2010, 23:02
Christopher,
I noticed that your first example says "double scan" - are you using Silverfast's multi-exposure for your scans? I ask because I am wondering if it is worth upgrading for that feature or not. Sometimes getting the shadow detail can be hard with the 750.

Thank you (as always!) for taking the time to explain some of your techniques and ways of working.

Evan

cjbroadbent
3-Nov-2010, 00:02
... "double scan" ...
Evan
I'm not sure what that Silverfast feature would do. I just fix the high and low level limits on the scanner then do one scan with the gamma pushed up a bit, followed by another with the gamma pushed down. Nothing excessive. The real work of balancing the files is done with 'tonemapping' in Photomatix.

mdm
3-Nov-2010, 00:04
It is all theatre, and as the man said, contrived photography - and an irritation to the purists who are the majority among us. But it is Large Format after all.

I think all photography is theatre and none more so than the landscape. The typical landscape is a failed attempt at the most theatrical of theatre, perhaps an opera. It works well, but only if you are Pavarotti or Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. Or Ansel Adams.

David

eduardtoader
23-Dec-2010, 01:51
Back to kitchen-table photography. Lunch on 5x7 Ektachrome with a little bit of help from a mini flash behind the balustrade (plywood, painted over with glue and sawdust, sanded and and painted again in gray and worked over with colored chalk).



Thanks for share this great images, and your tecnique, Christopher. I see here a lot of work, a lot of imagination and full of kindness..

I read in one post that you descrived here in LF fotrum about how to do a groundcover. I would like to try it. Can you put a link?

Thank you

cjbroadbent
23-Dec-2010, 04:30
Eduard, Number 15 in this thread, I think. Cheers.

eduardtoader
23-Dec-2010, 04:44
Big brush on a stick? I´m not shure if mr´Google show me the correct definition. Is that thing the girls use to curve her eyelashes?

Thanks.

Ramiro Elena
23-Dec-2010, 06:08
Eduard, Christopher uses a big brush for wall painting (brocha) tied to a stick (palo de escoba) to work with a degree of perspective.
A good way to do it is to lay a bedsheet on the floor and start with a light gray, then add black paint little by little to obtain a darker gray to darken the edges (or wherever you think looks good)
You can add hints of color too.
The one I did following Cristopher's tips was done with a sponge instead of a brush and I only used black and white since I don't plan to shoot color. I also used a paint roller (a large one) to work faster.
I'd start with a 100x70cm sheet to get practice. I made a lot of mistakes with the one I did. Next will probably be better.
The info is all in this thread. I copied all the usefull info on a text doc ;-)

eduardtoader
23-Dec-2010, 09:21
thank you Elena.