The Razzle in Action (Portraits)

[jetcode]

Ash, I'm impressed that you used a 4x5 hand held in this type of situation.

Personally I have no idea what Frank is ranting about. Issue #1, who cares if you use 4x5 or 35mm, the images either speak or they don't. Issue #2, I am getting good contrast and solid blacks on my calibrated monitor. What's the problem? Issue #3, Because your in art school this means you have to "take it"? I get that crap at work where the inbred crowd (I'm a contractor) think every piece of communication has to start with a swift kick in the ass. What a colossal waste of time and energy. If art school is about becoming an asshole, no thanks. If it's about improving your game great, but leave the ego, emotional instability, and control games at home, thank you.

Ash, I like your work. There are a couple of images here that are striking and some that are ordinary, and so it goes. The point is that you took the initiative to make this happen and I think you did well.

Frank, you are a master at portrait work. The last images you posted in the portrait section were pretty amazing. I respect your talent and wisdom but that tone is one of the reasons I didn't enter images in the second book you put together. Who needs it?

Now I suppose a good ass kicking opens new doors but what's wrong with straight forward communication without the edge? I guess that's the game, the initiation.

[Daniel_Buck]

I agree, it seems like an odd combo to shoot street photography, but what does it matter? They turned out great, and if you are scanning the images as apart of your printing process, I would much rather scan 4x5 sheets than a 35mm strip, that's for sure! And he mentioned, "It was surprisingly easy to use.", so why not use it! :-)

I like the photos, I'm not much of a street photography person myself, but I do enjoy the images, thanks for posting :-)

A quick auto levels might do before you post them, a few of them seem a bit lifted in the dark levels and maybe not bright enough in the highlights (where others seem just fine). A quick auto levels would even them all out, as others mentioned. Doesn't bother me with out the levels though, it's just a web image :-)

[Frank Petronio]

Pfft... I thought my comments nuking the Middle East into a sea of glass was a bigger turn off ;-)

Ash and I talk outside this forum, if he wasn't cool with it I'd know.

But OK, no more opinions or criticisms...

Frank

[rls]

Hi Ash,

Just a few quick words of encouragement. It's been fun watching you make progress, and this is the best work you've shared to date--at least that I'm aware of. As with most pursuits there will always be more to learn, and more things to improve upon. Keep embracing that (as you obviously have been doing) and you'll be well on your way to finding your own personal excellence. I think the feedback you receive here can be very helpful, but remember that it's important to make sure that you're happy with the work first.

On my color-calibrated monitor the blacks look pretty darn good by the way.

Keep up the good work!

Cheers, Rob

[Asher Kelman]

This is the one I like best! The "priest" (the guy with the white hair), does seem to be a careful and thoughtful fellow! That shot hand held is so impressive! The image is outstanding. The cutting person of the last guy, gives us the feeling of more people to come. I hate to use the word, but "wow!"

Asher

[Ken Lee]

There's no reason that dark tones have to reach 0 % brightness - especially under overcast skies. Most of these images feel like light.

Subject matter aside, many of the images have a lovely quality.

It makes me want to get one of these cameras !

[jetcode]

But OK, no more opinions or criticisms...

Frank

I'm completely fine with opinions and critiques, it's how I learn. I happen to think you are an interesting character with lots of color and experience. I wouldn't want to change that. My rant targets an attitude in humanity that I've never been comfortable with. As Lemmy from Motorhead says, "Good manners are free". I'm not pointing fingers I'm just saying that to remind myself.

Joe

[Ash]

Woah that's a lot of comments!

Right well first of all, the levels are ALWAYS off for some. With monitors, the images look fine on my own monitors (mum's Sony Vaio attached to 35mm scanner, and my old ibook G4, and the college's iMacs connected to 4x5/10x8 scanner) but I think IBM compatibles look a bit different. I don't spend forever with levelling on the computer, as these are going to be exhibited in digital form, they are a representation of the negative for those who might never see the physical version. When I print, my negatives Do have a full tonal range from black and above.

So responses to crit, my choice in tones are due to the fact that a vast majority of the people in the shots are black. I wanted to get shadow detail with them, that meant the contrast suffers a little. Of course looking at http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y43...uffc-006sm.jpg you can't complain. The film is pushed and the image quality doesn't suffer at all.

Using that same image as an example, I can compare it to an earlier shot on 35mm, http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y43...tled-18a-1.jpg a much worse shot for many reasons. The composition isn't as good, I wouldn't be able to enlarge it very far without loss of quality, the old lens on my leica flares, even with a hood.

As for using it instead of a smaller format. I took 9 shots on LF, out of a total of 12 possible shots - 6 DDS's (to answer the other question, no readyloads, usual DDS holders). I enjoy each of the shots and probably would print 2/3 of them, if not all for various reasons, even down to criticism for the sketchbook/research book work. I took two or three rolls of 35mm and wasn't impressed with any really. Possibly the film choice, but they were lacking in many regards.

With LF I HAD to slow down and concentrate on whether the shot was worth taking. I also gained a greater view. I could possibly enlarge 3 sections of a crowd for separate images with no loss of quality compared to a smaller format. I shot without a lens hood (forgot to put it on) and the images are reliably sharp and little or no flaring. The camera WAS heavy and slow to use compared to 35mm, but that didn't bother me for all the above reasons.

I used RF focusing and f/8 (fairly shallow on 150mm for this type of event) so focusing was critical. This is still a lot faster than using a pro-slr in either 35mm or mf format.


If I've missed any crits let me know and I'll respond.

As Frank stated, I'm absolutely happy to receive a horrible response, so long as it's well founded and I can respond in a similar academic sense. Encouragement is great as it boosts my confidence to go and DO it, but crit forces me to consider what I'm doing wrong and act on the advice.

Of course, I never bother acting on the advice with digital images and levelling, I just have a bad habit of putting my digital versions lower contrast!

[jetcode]

For those who are having problems with black check the brightness/contrast levels. On two machines now the black has been excellent. When I print with Septone anything below 30 cannot be mapped to a monitor; i.e. it all appears black and in fact the image is rendered useless for visual display on a monitor.

[jetcode]

I had a teacher who would never tell you how your photograph failed directly. He would ask questions in a way that led you to a new viewpoint, a new understanding.