Post Your Photos Made At Close Distance

[Dan Quan]

Some people have a special talent for creating beautiful scenes which feel natural, but when I try to arrange things they tend to look stiff and contrived.

I don't own any lights and don't have a studio. I'm an amateur and haven't had any training in those areas. My training from Fred Picker consisted of walking very slowly around cemeteries, barns and river beds, using a viewing filter with attention to precise camera placement. I suspect he got the same training from Ansel and passed it along intact.

In my house there's a small pantry with a glass door nearby. That's where my wife stores tea pots, dinner ware, a large ceramic pitcher, etc. On snowy days I have found that the light is very nice for this sort of subject: her pantry becomes my "studio".

Everything we do is staged and contrived. In the sense that I chose the camera placement, the teapot photo was staged too - but for me it was a discovery, no different than if I had been climbing over rocks at the beach and stumbled upon a promising arrangement.

I think I could appreciate the tones and curves more if the outside reflections were less defined and focused; if you altered the highlight with a silk, either inside to remove or outside to keep the window panes.

[Ken Lee]

Pitcher, March 2015
Sinar P, 180mm Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar
4x5 TMY, D-23

[Vaughn]

A couple of older images -- solarized Type 55 negatives contact printed.

[Dan Quan]

Pitcher, March 2015
Sinar P, 180mm Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar
4x5 TMY, D-23

I can see the lines much more clearly and to me this is approaching feminine. I been thinkin about this alot. I love the that you left the table reflection in, and the way it curls around to the handle, it's almost "pregnant" with seduction. I love the little chiaroscuro at the focal point and the way the rim echos the curve of a woman's hips and thighs.

[blueribbontea]

Excellent images Vaughn.

[blueribbontea]

,
A couple 5X7s done with my 2D and Protar VII lens.

[blueribbontea]

Another, done yesterday on Ektascan with an ex WA Wollensak 6 1/4 inch, and the neg revealed a light leak from the lens board.

Currently processing ektascan in D-23 in a BTZS tube.

[Dan Quan]

I can see the lines much more clearly and to me this is approaching feminine. I been thinkin about this alot. I love the that you left the table reflection in, and the way it curls around to the handle, it's almost "pregnant" with seduction. I love the little chiaroscuro at the focal point and the way the rim echos the curve of a woman's hips and thighs.

Edit: I want to substitute the word "intimacy" for "seduction".

[StoneNYC]

I love macro and close distance images and I love night time long exposure lighting, this is a crap image but I kind of like it for some reason, I guess I just love the details of the leaves.

210 Graphic-Kowa, Acros100 4x5, f/22@5 seconds, Rodinal

[Vaughn]

How about something near and far?

Mistaking the Map for the Territory
Yosemite National Park
16x20 Silver gelatin print

Gowland PocketView 4x5, 150mm/5.6 Caltar IIN, TMax100/HC-110, Ilford Gallerie/Dektol
Taken while backpacking one fine Memorial Day Weekend.