Still-Life Images, 2012

[Ken Lee]

Same setup - 4x5 RetroTonal, with corrections, that is, less perspective information and more form.

Perhaps it was taken from a greater distance from the subject. It not only feels flatter, but compared to the other image, it feels small, slightly out of reach.

A tighter crop alleviates that somewhat, but the first photo was taken from a more pleasant distance to begin with, and that can't be corrected after the fact

(my 2 cents anyhow)

[jcoldslabs]

Some great posts Jonathan !! Look forward to seeing more.

Thanks, Steve. I'm having fun shooting these, and I don't even have to leave the house OR clean the kitchen! Well, not until I want to eat off a clean plate or something....

Jonathan

[Ramiro Elena]

What speed are you shooting these at Jonathan?

[jcoldslabs]

Ramiro,

Do you mean how am I rating the film? I shoot it at E.I. 200. As far as shutter speeds go, the shot of the knife and sponges metered at 1/8 of a second wide open, but since the Speed Graphic's focal plane shutter won't go that slow (as I'm sure you know), I ended up using a three stop ND filter to make it around one second so I could use a 5x7 dark slide held in front of the lens as a shutter, Galli style. I don't like using the "T" setting on the FP shutter because there seems to be too much vibration with the lens racked so far out. This happens to me more often than you'd think with these shots taken around the house by window light. The resulting shutter speeds end up being between 1/15 and 1/4 which the camera cannot do and I can't be accurate by hand at those speeds, so I started using the ND filter.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, the photo of the alabaster box was taken at 1/1000th of a sec. at f/2.5. Same film. Both shots took into account some bellows extension factor, but I didn't note what that was.

Jonathan

[cpercy]

The best thing about having a messy kitchen is that it changes all the time. I can never take the same photo twice in there!

Speed Graphic, Aero-Ektar, Tri-X (expired 1994)




Jonathan

Years ago my grandmother gave me the most lovely alabaster powder box. When diffuse light hits it from behind it is absolutely luminous. Here is a first attempt at capturing that luminosity. I shot some Ektachrome of this same set-up and I'll post it when it gets back from the lab for comparison.

Speed Graphic, Aero-Ektar, 4x5 Tri-X (expired 1994), HC-110 dil. G, semi-stand dev.



Jonathan

Holy Crud Jonathan, These are really excellent.

[jcoldslabs]

Holy Crud Jonathan, These are really excellent.

Thank you so much. It makes sense that, for a homebody like myself, most of my images are made....well....at home! Fortunately for me I don't see that as a limitation but a challenge.

Jonathan

[Ramiro Elena]

Thanks Jonathan, that's why I was asking. I just don't shoot when I get speeds bellow 1/30. The ND filters sound like a good idea, big ones for the AE though.

[jcoldslabs]

Ramiro,

I bought the Jo Lommen (JoLo) lens hood and filter holder for the AE. This allows you to use 77mm filters. I already had a bunch of filters in that size so it was worth the money. I use the hood whenever I shoot outdoors to reduce flare. It works well.

Jonathan

EDIT: I also have two original Kodak filter holders for the Aero-Ektar that attach to the front bayonet-style and were much cheaper than the JoLo stuff. I can use a yellow (one stop) or red (two stop) filter to give me slower shutter times also, but these can alter contrast depending on the scene, of course.

[RoMFOTO]

Condenser by Mr.RJ-M, on Flickr

Linhof Kardan, Schneider 150mm

[Leigh]

Robert,

That's an excellent glassware shot. How did you light it?

- Leigh