August 2013 Portraits

[benrains]

Musical sisters...


lily and madeleine on the moon by Ben Rains, on Flickr

Century Studio 10A w/8x10 back (image cropped)
"Hot Wasabi Peatzval" (a modified Seroco Portrait Lens Series II 6½x8½ f-5)
Ilford HP5 Plus / Adonal 1+50

[Bazz8]

Cool shot they look like they are enjoying the experience too
regards
Bazz8

[SergeiR]

That is one hell of the studio prop, for sure (although that smile used to creep me out.. and still does to some extend)

[vinny]

My daughter. Ilford xp2 4x5, expired 1995.

sophie by vinnywalsh.com, on Flickr

[Michael Graves]

Makes you wonder what that old moon is thinking as he looks at those pretty young girls.

[Otto Seaman]

My daughter. Ilford xp2 4x5, expired 1995.

sophie by vinnywalsh.com, on Flickr

Like +1

Ben - Sorry to criticize but constructivly... if you're going keep having girls in shorts sit on the moon seat why not do something to raise their butts up a little so their thighs don't flatten out? And watch the fingers. You could have a nice series of Depession-era wholesomeness but you still want them to be complimented and like their photos - women especially are sensitive to things like that. Personally I'd probably want to find as neutral clothes and styling as possible so you make people question the dates of the images myself. I find the clash between modern and the 1930s vibe to be not quite enough or just enough to ruin the feeling.

[benrains]

Cool shot they look like they are enjoying the experience too
Bazz8

The big moon set has a tendency to delight people when they see it. If I had more space I'd probably build a fake ship, a hot air balloon, and maybe an old airplane. ...someday.

That is one hell of the studio prop, for sure (although that smile used to creep me out.. and still does to some extend)

It's sort of intentional, to the extent that I modeled it after the design from a vintage moon I've seen in old photographs. Most carnival and fair imagery, and especially older turn of the (19th and 20th) century stuff, inherently is kind of creepy. The Méliès brothers' motion picture work offers good examples of that.

Makes you wonder what that old moon is thinking as he looks at those pretty young girls.

I'm sure it's because he's a fan of their music and pleased to know they've a full length album coming out this autumn.

[GSX4]

Here are a few from yesterday.... I had an amazing opportunity to photograph one of photography's greatest Friday evening.. Sid Kaplan. it was also great to share the wet plate process with him, as it was something he had never seen being done before...

[benrains]

Here are a few from yesterday.... I had an amazing opportunity to photograph one of photography's greatest Friday evening.. Sid Kaplan. it was also great to share the wet plate process with him, as it was something he had never seen being done before...

This second one is my favorite of the series. Really nice work, and Sid looks like quite the character.

[Pete Watkins]

GSX4,
They are really nice!
Pete.