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Thanks, Peter and Jesse!

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8711/28641937264_1180f1c325_b.jpg
lily and madeleine by Ben Rains, on Flickr

Century Studio 10A w/8x10 back
Goerz Dagor 14"/7.7
Ilford HP5 Plus / Adonal 1+50

Here's a link to the article-
http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Without-40-000-priceless-1906-S-F-quake-photos-6205223.php

Thanks, all! And I don't really sell prints as my traditional darkroom printing skills aren't up to scratch. (My digital printing skills are top notch though.) Someday maybe.

Definitely inspirational. Whenever I see work I really admire, after enjoying it, my second impulse is to start reverse-engineering the lighting setups and camera angles. :)

Hah! A sharp eye; doubly so because there's only a small bit of it in peeking out in that photo. It's a 2252B. Not quite as old as my camera, but still pretty old.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8698/16279273563_0139948a8b_b.jpg
morgan by Ben Rains, on Flickr

Century Studio 10A w/5x7 back
Wollensak Vesta 14"/5
Ilford HP5 Plus / Adonal 1+50

I think commercial studio strobes have only been around since the 1950s, so there's also the 100 years or so of portrait photography that precedes electronic flash to give you plenty of ideas of the...

FWIW, I didn't think the original observation/question was rude or inappropriate. I also stopped paying much attention to what other people think of my work years ago. I'm just doing my thing...

If you look a bit more carefully at the image you'll notice that the fern fronds in front of the model as well as the texture of the plaster wall behind her are in focus--aside from some softness...

http://40.media.tumblr.com/13c29a32d86502eb9f30e7576f63c30b/tumblr_nlkmq3DBC91qz8bxwo1_640.jpg
sharnayla by Ben Rains, on Tumblr

Century Studio 10A w/5x7 back (image cropped)
Wollensak...

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8741/16880876931_50458474dd_c.jpg
morgan by Ben Rains, on Flickr

Century Studio 10A w/5x7 back & cropped
Wollensak Velostigmat 12"/4.5 (w/ modified soft-focus...

This one is intended to be a recreation of a Alfred Cheney Johnston image. It's reasonably faithful, except I don't have anywhere near as nice or large of tapestries and rugs to work with, and her...

http://40.media.tumblr.com/f56e9f6bd8a2c3b5f2c09c2b2da02ca9/tumblr_nl9l6pwwSo1qz8bxwo1_640.jpg
sharnayla by Ben Rains, on Tumblr

Century Studio 10A w/8x10 back
Wollensak Vesta 14”/5
Ilford HP5...

These are both fantastic! She's got a bit of a Minnie Driver look about her as well.

http://36.media.tumblr.com/521fc1e849ce1bb9ca4c1b8083e2a007/tumblr_nlbeipJ1LE1qz8bxwo1_540.jpg
morgan by Ben Rains, on Tumblr

Century Studio 10A w/8x10 back
Wollensak Velostigmat 12"/4.5 (w/...

According to wikipedia, Lillian never had any children (and there's nothing mentioned one way or the other for her sister Dorothy.) My guess would be no, unless they're distant cousins. But then,...

https://drscdn.500px.org/photo/101463863/m=900/f6f683ef2b66b2a526b95222e1bb60b4
sharnayla by Ben Rains, on 500px

Century Studio 10A w/8x10 back
Wollensak Vesta 14"/5
Ilford HP5 Plus / Adonal...

Sophia, a fierce and radical friend who will smash your state.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7653/16782155631_57d44e80b6_c.jpg
sophia by Ben Rains, on Flickr

Century Studio 10A w/8x10 back...

With this one, I think the lower contrast works because the light was very low and even and there's still enough side-light hitting her face that you get some separation of tones. Another factor is...

https://drscdn.500px.org/photo/101332681/m=900/85312b6efcbc9a90febfd721d64a4d9e
morgan by Ben Rains, on 500px

Century Studio 10A w/8x10 back
Wollensak Velostigmat 12"/4.5 (w/ modified soft-focus...

Sharnayla with homage to E.R. Richee.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8742/16149349483_3e8fd6413b_c.jpg
sharnayla by Ben Rains, on Flickr

Century Studio 10A w/8x10 back
Wollensak Vesta 14"/5 ...

I love this!

Thanks! No LF photos from the quarry shoot though. It was too cold to deal with live models and the slow pace of using a big camera. We've plans to go back once the weather warms up.



It was...

Thank you.



Thanks!



Yes, I wish her leg weren't cut there either, but I ran out of space and was pressed up against the opposite wall of my studio. I always wish I had another 1-2...

Thanks!



No, I haven't. Although I nearly did when Yahoo! first took Flickr over and basically ruined the site with their "improvements". It's gotten a little better since then. The main...

https://drscdn.500px.org/photo/98574373/m=900/9573529f9f0c61cde738da8de3b995b8
morgan by Ben Rains, on 500px

Century Studio 10A w/8x10 back
Wollensak Vesta 14"/5
Ilford HP5 Plus / Adonal 1+50

This is meant to be a portrait, and I find my subject's hands to be second only to the expressions on their faces. Quite often I place emphasis on the hands of the people in my portraits.



The...

https://drscdn.500px.org/photo/98387929/m=900/d051c70712e4b64c1b1346ef1c095a1a
morgan by Ben Rains, on 500px

Century Studio 10A w/8x10 back
Wollensak Vesta 14"/5
Ilford HP5 Plus / Adonal 1+50

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7442/16295038430_73455dd2a5_c.jpg
sharnayla by Ben Rains, on Flickr

Century Studio 10A w/8x10 back
Wollensak Raptar 11⅞"/4.5
Ilford HP5 Plus / Adonal 1+50

They're just tattoos. :)

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7419/16271949870_7b0a5f183f_b.jpg
morgan by Ben Rains, on Flickr

Century Studio 10A w/8x10 back
Wollensak Raptar 11⅞"/4.5
Ilford HP5 Plus / Adonal 1+50

Thanks Randy! It's not terrible, still interesting enough to share.




Yeah. It disappointing when I pulled it out of the fix. The shoot was brief and last minute with just 8 sheets of film,...

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7556/16300936206_46e968b5a1_c.jpg
kara by Ben Rains, on Flickr

Deardorff 8x10
Rodenstock Sironar-N 300/5.6
Ilford HP5 Plus / Adonal 1+50

This one is really spectacular. Well done!

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8642/16131184349_a5fd88d016_c.jpg
kara by Ben Rains, on Flickr

Deardorff 8x10
Rodenstock Sironar-N 300/5.6
Ilford HP5 Plus / Adonal 1+50

Thanks! It's all natural light with the curtain covered picture window in the background as the sole source of light (with some reflection off the interior walls acting as a fill.) This was a "hail...

Shot a while ago, but I only just finished it this month.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7519/15999085681_e5d902eb08_c.jpg
rachel by Ben Rains, on Flickr

Century Studio 10A w/8x10 back...

Thanks Will! (Given all the construction in recent years you'd probably have a hard time recognizing the city.)

Selina's mystery. This is from the summer, but I only got around to printing and scanning some of the images this past week.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8644/15883361205_a829a43461_c.jpg...