Cemeteries

[Corran]

Thanks.

I think that the whole discussion would be an interesting discourse that I would love to read in, say, the Style/Technique sub-forum.

As you can see by my ramblings, I'm obviously highly interested and pursue technical perfection in my craft. I have studied the Zone System, read all of Ansel's books, and work/shoot vigorously to perfect my shooting and development techniques/recipes to further my artistic vision, whatever that my be. Landscapes, as these, are of course the #1 type of photo that might benefit that, and I intend to print one or two of these in my darkroom, hopefully as a 10x20, bringing my pre-visualization of this scene to the final print.

You'll have to excuse my snap posting of post #152 regarding perfect framing/focus, I was merely being facetious. The Polaroids are a completely different medium and different intended output. I think the technical qualities of the photos are at a sufficient level to convey the real message and purpose of the photos as vignettes of the convention and geek culture (which in fact the Polaroid camera/film reflects in and of itself within the subcultures of steampunk/hipster/what have you). Of course I understand that some (many?) on this forum may regard them as useless because I cut off the tip of someone's elbow or whatever, but that's okay. I am sure many of my generation would honestly rather look at the Polaroids than these landscapes!

Just my 2 cents, or 2 dollars with inflation.

[jcoldslabs]

And here is the scan of that same image, shot the next day. I used FP4+ 120 film in the Horseman 6x12 back. The best shot ended up being one I shot at EI 32, developed in Rodinal 1:50 @68F for 6:30. I metered and placed the shadows at Z3. I guess technically I shot it at EI 64, with the darkest shadows at Z2, at least that's how it looks. I need to print it in the darkroom to see how the tones place naturally, scanning doesn't really tell me the whole story, what with digital manipulation.

Anyway, here it is:


And here's another shot from this location, shot at EI 80 and metered to place the shadows at Z4. I think this'll be my N-2 "backlit" scene standard. The SBR was like 12 zones. Excuse my rambling, I'm trying to codify my developing strategy and make notes:

Bryan,

Wonderful quality to the shadows in these 6x12s. I'd say your metering and processing are working well, and the compositions are well done. Having said that, I still think I like the first version of the first photo. The deepest values seem a bit dark, but the contrast on the foreground headstones and their shadows adds more drama. And I like the sun being blocked by the tree branch in the first one instead of peeking through. There, now you have my $.02. (I miss using my old typewriters because they have a "cent" symbol!)

Jonathan

[C. D. Keth]

Having said that, I still think I like the first version of the first photo. The deepest values seem a bit dark, but the contrast on the foreground headstones and their shadows adds more drama. And I like the sun being blocked by the tree branch in the first one instead of peeking through.

I have to agree. Shadow detail isn't everything and the feeling of the glowing backlit foliage when the sun isn't visible is just breathtaking.

[Corran]

Thanks for the thoughts. I will have to think about which one I would like to print. My main contention with v.1 is that I massaged it with PS to be a usable image, and I don't think my darkroom technique is good enough yet to salvage that negative.

Looking at them again my position was further to the right on shot #2, which I think was less strong. As for the sun, what I wanted was a radiant point/star, but it's still not quite right. However, in the first, the glowing foliage was really due to all the water that was still in the branches of the tree, so that was a lucky break...

Perhaps I need to shoot it again . Learning experiences and all.

Thanks, I need to think about it!

[threefoot]

Middle Village Cemetery, Good Hart, Michigan

Made during Photostock, June, 2012 - Northern Michigan

Wet plate collodion - 4x10 inch black glass ambrotype

[Corran]

Wow!!! Speaking of shadow detail being not everything...

THAT's what I call "radiant!" Great shot threefoot.

[threefoot]

Wow!!! Speaking of shadow detail being not everything...

THAT's what I call "radiant!" Great shot threefoot.

Thank you very much Corran!!

- Charlie

[jcoldslabs]

My main contention with v.1 is that I massaged it with PS to be a usable image, and I don't think my darkroom technique is good enough yet to salvage that negative.

This is what I worry about much of the time. I'm not all that good with PS and don't make drastic corrections to my photos, but my darkroom skills are rusty and when I finally get my darkroom built I wonder how my prints will look via a vis my scans. In general I think they will look better, but there are some instances where the computer makes things incomparably easier (dust removal vs. spotting, for instance). I hope I don't get in the darkroom and find that the subtle fine tuning I have gotten used to will not be replicable in the analog world. We'll see.

All that's to say I can see what you mean about your scan of v.1 being adjusted in a way that would be difficult to duplicate under darkroom conditions. Just today I shot an expired type 55 shot that could NEVER be printed the way I intend to scan it, partly because as a negative it kind of sucks but as a sort of hybrid solarized print it looks neat. We'll see. The learning process continues....

Jonathan

[jcoldslabs]

Wet plate collodion - 4x10 inch black glass ambrotype

That looks great, Charlie! Are the halos around the highlights because of halation (even with black glass I would guess some light bounces back through) or because of the lens you used? I've never seen a wet plate image with that look before. Very nice.

Jonathan

[threefoot]

That looks great, Charlie! Are the halos around the highlights because of halation (even with black glass I would guess some light bounces back through) or because of the lens you used? I've never seen a wet plate image with that look before. Very nice.

Jonathan

Thank you Jonathan!

Actually that morning it looked like the crosses were really glowing like that. We got there fairly early in the morning and the cemetery is bordered by trees, the sun just got up over the trees and the light was hitting the crosses and really making them pop! I knew what shot I wanted and was able to make two plates before the light changed.

Needless to say I was extremely happy that the plate captured what it did...