Decisions on a final product

I've been thinking about a final product for the project. I'm thinking I might mat and frame 10 of the best photos for the year and try to pedal them around time to get shown in various coffee shops, or similar locations. For the sake of consistency, I'll be sticking with the 35mm rangefinders, Canon P and Bessa R, with a 35mm and a 50mm. The shots will be printed as 6x9 images full frame to 8x10 paper, matted with just a little space outside the image.

Developing times

As a bit of sloppy temperature measurement, I processed a bunch of Neopan 400 in D76 1:1 for 9.5 min at 19 C instead of 20 C. Just got done making some prints, and they're beautiful! Here's to a fortunate mistake!

Prints!!!

I'm almost caught up on developing, and I finally made some prints! These are an accumulated effort, so there's quite a few. All and more are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonthomas/sets/72157620841771068/.

Catching up

I'm finally getting to developing the backlog of film. I developed about 9 rolls this week, only my temperatures were too low and my fixer was old. The resulting negs look a little flat and I've spent the day refixing them with fresh fixer. I'll probably have to bump up the contrast when I print them up. I have a few more prints to scan, but just haven't gotten to it yet.

Still backlogged...

Well, I'm still backlogged on developing film. Though I have slowed down, I do have about 10+ rolls waiting to be developed. I lost focus for a bit, but things are beginning to pick back up. The enlarger is up and I've been making prints from the first six rolls. Things are looking pretty good; I'm quite pleased with a number of the shots I've gotten. Rules have been broken; I snuck in a roll from an SLR, I have a new camera I've been shooting, the Bronica RF, and I have a 35mm lens on the Bessa. If there's one thing I lack it is commitment to not make changes.

I've been printing these about 6"x9" on 8x10 paper and I like it. I need to get a Beseler neg carrier for 645 to keep the new negs I've been getting about the same format. (Hey if you have one you need to get rid of ...)

So, here are some prints from the first few contact sheets.

Backlog

I've been out of town for what seems like several weeks. Now that I'm back I just keep putting off developing the 5 rolls I have waiting. Plus I had to take down my darkroom since I will have a guest for the week, so it would take some doing to get it all set back up.

On another note, I'm losing a little steam on this project. I'm not sure what to shoot, and I find I keep going to the same places. I'm not surprised this has happened, but I need to figure something out to keep the project rolling.

Roll 5 & 6: Fourth of July in Pawley's Island, SC

I spent the Fourth of July weekend in Pawley's Island, SC with some friends. Of course they have a parade, and that's where I took most of the shots. Most parades bore me, but theirs diverges from the norm. The requirements to be in the parade are few: show up early enough and get in line. I saw some repeats from last year's parade, and some new ones. It gets quite political at times, but mostly consists of holiday revelers enjoying celebrating the day.

The "dead end band" had multiplied since last year, equipped with a quad and mostly pots and pans. They started their own mini-parade once the official one had concluded. Our group joined in with them as they paraded down the street and then onto the beach. The observers really got a kick out of the band, and some were amused that I was taking photos of them from the parade; some of them, not so much.

Roll 3 & 4: Greensboro

Roll 3 and the first half of roll 4 were taken around Greensboro, mostly downtown one evening around 7-8 pm. I would miss a lot about the town if I did not periodically do photo walks. Every town has a unique feel to it that I would miss if I never ventured beyond my normal routes and destinations. The camera helps motivate me to go out and explore.

Roll 4 finishes up with shots from the fourth of July weekend and continues into the next two rolls.

Roll 2: New Hope, PA & Transformers pre-movie

New Hope, PA marked the second, and final, location on my NJ trip. According to some, it's a place where the whole world unites. Everybody just seems to get along. Perhaps I didn't spend enough time, but I wasn't aware of any special universal kindness there. It was a nice town with plenty to see, and nobody was mean or rude ... so, maybe he's right. There's lots of neat shops, a cigar store with someone who knows the flavors of his cigars, and a great book store.

I'm not sure if the guy in the cigar store was the owner, manager, employee, or something else, but he was a blast to listen to. He could carry on a conversation by himself probably for hours and you wouldn't mind listening to the whole thing (or I wouldn't). He also came into the humidor while we were looking around to provide an excellent description of all of his cigars. I don't exactly frequent cigar shops often, but this is definitely the first one where I have received a good description about the flavors of the product. Mostly I have found middle aged gentlemen that are pleasant to have a conversation with that tell me nothing about their cigars. If I hadn't been planning on buying something, I would have had to after all of his efforts! As it was, on his recommendation and description, I decided on a Tatuaje. His description was right on; it was probably the best cigar I've ever had.

There's also a book store there the standard of which all bookstores should aspire. They had lots of unique selections and the layout made the place feel slightly mysterious and a little disheveled, both qualities I greatly enjoy about good bookstores.

The roll finished off back in Greensboro, NC, my trip having ended, and I having returned home. I went out to get some food with friends prior to seeing Transformers II. I highly recommend it. Not quite as complex character-wise, but a highly enjoyable movie. Sorry, no pictures from the theater.

Goals defined

Through a post on the rangefinder forum I realized that I did not explicitly indicate my goals for the project. I am not merely trying to create a hoard of negatives. I hope to improve my composition and editing. The deliberate practice and evaluation of my compositions should cover the former. The latter should be accomplished through printing two photos per month. By the end of the year, I will, hopefully, have a solid portfolio of 24 photos from my project.

As I define my goals, I have realized that I might have to revisit my end product or redefine my guidelines as the project progresses since I will be using two distinct styles with the two camera-lens combinations I have chosen for the project.

Roll 1 addendum

Some of the shots from roll 1 were taken at a real boardwalk just north of Island Heights. I can't remember the name off the top of my head, so it will remain nameless for now. My first boardwalk experience. I'm used to the beach being lined with resorts; the boardwalk I like better. Much more activity and more interesting views.

Early start

Well, since I have the summer off I decided I should begin my project early. It's going to be easy to shoot a lot over the summer. The real challenge will begin once Fall starts and I'm back to work and taking classes.

The first roll started off with a few random shots, followed by photos I took while visiting James in New Jersey. I've never been to Jersey before; well, I was in Newark airport once, but that really doesn't count. I added a few more states that I can say I have been in on the drive up: Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. For those thinking of driving up north on I-95, prepare to spend about $15 in tolls between Baltimore and Philadelphia. I'm OK with user fees and all, but this was going too far. And if you're going to charge user fees, you really should use them. There was little evidence that anyone is even remotely interested in making I-95 a pleasure to travel on.

I got to Phillipsburg, NJ around 9ish, and did not need to sit inside a house. So, we eventually ended up at one of the plethora of Duncan Donuts that seem to populate NJ/PA exceeded only by the apex of the British Empire. No Starbucks, though.

The remainder of the roll I finished off in Island Heights, NJ. Island Heights is nice, small beach town (actually it's not QUITE on the ocean). There's a nice little walk by the river with Victorian style homes. It appears that there is a sailing school for young children. If you're up early, you should get some coffee at the shop at the northern end of the "boardwark" and then stroll along said boardwalk watching the scenery and people. Lots of people run and there's various other things going on even during the week.

Rangefinder project

I've decided to participate in the one year, two lenses rangefinder project started by several members of rangefinderforum.com beginning July 1, 2009. For my part, I plan to shoot Fuji Neopan 400 in a Bessa R with a 50mm Jupiter 8 lens and Fuji Acros 100 in a Baby Crown Graphic with a 105mm Tessar lens. The Bessa R will be for general use, the Crown primarily for landscapes and cityscapes. I have been moving in this direction anyways. The main commitment of the project is that I will consistently carry a camera with me and that I will shoot at least two rolls of film per week. There are times when I do this, but not so consistently. Through the project I hope to improve my compositions and use of light. For the inspiration, see: http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2009/05/a-leica-year.html.