Author Archives: Bob Venezia

Edison In Repose

by Bob Venezia

Edison in repose

Our cat Edison abiding on a comfy chair.

There have been numerous entries playing with camera distance from subject, and with varying results. I love the idea of getting in close, but I would want to limit the depth of the scene so my background wouldn’t be difficult to fuse. Some years back I purchased a macro box from master 3D photographer John Hart of Colorado. At the time I was using it with my digital cameras, but it’s mostly sat around unused. Last year I decided to have a go with the Hasselblads. I was happy enough with the results, but the whole setup was a total PITA to use. Trying to get both cameras to the same settings, focus them both, capture an image, and then wind them for the next image (without knocking them out of focus or position in a cramped macro box) was an exercise in frustration. Plus there was a lot of experimentation with flash sync. Anyway, I do have an example of using the setup to capture a portrait of our cat Edison.

I do plan to continue this pursuit, but it will involve rebuilding the macro box to accommodate two motorized Hasselblads that can be triggered wirelessly

This was shot with flashes. I’ve mentioned before that I’m a fan of the strobist blog. If you are interested in learning about using portable flash units, go there and start with Lighting 101. I can’t recommend it enough.

I like the eyes and whiskers of course but I especially love the hairs in Eddie’s ears. They remind me of fireworks trails.

Bubble Star

by Bob Venezia
Bubble master Tom Noddy displays the extremely complex Bubble Star

Bubble master Tom Noddy displays the extremely complex Bubble Star

My friend Tom Noddy came over to my house so I could capture some of his amazing creations in 3D. The back wall is draped with black velvet. DOF is pretty narrow. Shot with TL-120, Provia 400x, and flash units aplenty.

The Bubble Star is a very complex bubble and takes some time to build, So by the time it’s finished it will not last long. Something is going to pop.

Tom was presenting once in Israel (he does a lot of science museums) and you can imagine the reaction he got when he presented this.

The Finally, Part 1

by Bob Venezia

Independence Day fireworks over Lake Union in Seattle

Independence Day fireworks over Lake Union in Seattle

The process for getting these shots has been talked about in other posts, but this is shot with twin Hasselblads outfitted with 150mm lenses and separated by 40 feet. They are taken from the roof of a building owned by one of my best friends, and I have the roof to myself. That’s helpful because the cameras are tethered by a wired remote and I wouldn’t want someone tripping over a cord and killing 2 Hasselblads. That wouldn’t do.

The cameras are aimed into the sky during the day. This usually works out well, but last year I got burned. The cameras were aimed normally high but the fireworks were set off abnormally low. So I got almost nothing. This year I’m planning to shoot with a wider lens to capture more of the entire scene, and I’m in the process of running tests on those lenses to see if they match.

Reflection Lake Star Trails #3

by Bob Venezia

Long nighttime exposure, with star trails, of Mt. Rainier from Reflection Lakes


My best guess is this is from 2010. This is a one-and-a-half hour exposure at f16 from 2 Hasselblads. These would be the 50mm lenses, and the film is Provia 100F. I don’t remember if I’d planned it this way, or if I later determined I’d gotten the exposure very wrong, but I ended up pushing the film 2 stops which was clearly the right thing to do. (I may have taken a test exposure from another film magazine to make the determination; just don’t remember). I probably had some children’s socks tied around the lenses, with handwarmers inside, to keep the lenses from fogging.

I’m impressed with the color and how blue the sky looks. Well, it is sunlight after all, it’s just getting to the scene via a large reflector in the sky. The moon would have been pretty full here. The challenge with these shots is to get enough light on the trees on the other side of the lake without blowing out the top of the mountain. I do like the reflected star trails in the water.

Fantastic Bursts

by Bob Venezia

Independence Day fireworks above Seattle's Lake Union, July 2017

Independence Day fireworks above Seattle’s Lake Union, July 2017

One of my best all-time fireworks shots thanks to all the “sparkly shit!” There’s something special about the depth in this shot, which got a lot of ooohs, ahhhs, and long looks at the 2017 NSA Convention. Shot with Hasselblads separated by 40 feet and outfitted with 150mm lenses.

This year (2018) I aimed my cameras high based on the height of the fireworks from last year. That turned out to be sub-optimal, as they put on a “low show,” and I didn’t get nearly as many shots as I might have. I’m thinking next year I may try to go wide and capture the whole scene, with the barge and city background.

Galactica Bubble

by Bob Venezia

Tom Noddy blows a Galacitica Bubble

One of the stalwarts of the Moisture Festival is my good friend Tom Noddy, who does an act with soap bubbles. Yes, you read that right. Tom performs all over the world and his act can include caterpillar bubbles, yin yang bubbles, tornado bubbles, a carousel bubble, a bubble tetrahedron, a bubble cube, a bubble dodecahedron, (long time members of the folio have probably seen a number of those!) all delivered with a patter that he’s worked for probably 40 years. When Johnny Carson had his anniversary special with highlights from the last 25 years, a clip of Tom was included. Here he’s creating a “Galactica Bubble” in my living room.

Moisture Festival Finale

by Bob Venezia

Seattle’s Moisture Festival has grown to be the largest comedy/variety festival in the world. (Perhaps if they had known that when they started, fifteen years ago, they would have given it a different name.) It grew out of a collaboration of performers on the left coast vaudeville circuit and other performers from around the states and around the world. One of the inspirations for the festival was a cabaret run by the great German clown, Hacki Ginda.

I was once part of that vaudeville circuit, and many of the folks in this shot are friends of mine. This was shot a few years ago at the end of the festival, and that’s Hacki Ginda at center stage. Also pictured in the back, sporting a beard, is the great American clown Avner Eisenberg, aka Avner the Eccentric, who years ago did a one man show on Broadway to critical acclaim. The Moisture Festival has very little money to pay performers and yet they come from all over the world to participate.

Rocket Bursts

by Bob Venezia

This was from the first year I successfully shot hyper firewords bursts from my twin-rig setup. I only got a couple of shots that year, but the results were good enough to keep me trying. I used a formula I got from Don Lopp to calculate the stereo base, and I came up with 22 feet. After Don looked at the shots he said, “You know, since you don’t have anything *behind* the fireworks you could double the base. Ive been shooting with a 40 foot base ever since. Shot with twin Hasselblads fitted with 150mm lenses.

Alpine Lakes Wilderness

by Bob Venezia

AlpineLakesWildernessTaken on a backpacking trip to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, also known as the Enchantment Lakes, or just The Enchantments. I think that’s Lake Leprechuan on the right. My first major outing with my Don Lopp-modified Sputnik. When the larch are turning golden it’s one of the most breathtakingly beautiful spots I’ve ever visited.

A Fine Bouquet

by Bob Venezia

AFineBouquet_L as Smart Object-1One of my favorite fireworks shots, especially for the fineness of the light trails, and the color. I shared this image with someone who told me it made her feel like she was on top of the magic castle at Disneyland — one of my all-time favorite responses to a 3D slide.

Shot with twin Hasselblad 500Cs sporting 150mm lenses. Approximately 40 foot separation (based on the half mile distance between me and the fireworks, and the fact that we don’t discern any details behind the firworks — otherwise the 40 foot separation would be a problem).

Carousel Follow Pan

by Bob Venezia

WSF_Carousel_2_225x190This was another experiment to do something a little different with a stereo image. I tried following the ride as it was moving to get a crisp subject with a streaked background. Can’t claim success, but I’m encouraged to keep a’tryin’. One of the challenges was the lighting, which was a combination of fluorescent and tungsten. The original film I got back was awful to look at — super saturated ugly yellow-orange where you should see white. With some experimentation I settled on two filters stacked — one fluorescent and one blue. I think it was an FL-B and an 80A. If I remember right, the ideal exposure would have been 1/15th of a second but I couldn’t get there with my filters, even with pushing the film. I think these were shot at 1/8 second. I could probably get there with a flash that’s gelled for tungsten and fluorescent. Maybe next year! I’m not sure if this is the exact same image that’s in the folio (I sent some images in by mail and didn’t note exactly which scans they matched!). TL-120 with Provia 400X pushed to the limit.

Aspen Abstract

by Bob Venezia

AspenAbstract_5_225x221This was a ‘proof of concept’ experiment in creating an abstract 3D image. It isn’t all I had hoped it would be, but it isn’t discouraging me either! Taken with the TL-120. Don’t recall the settings (I’m writing this after the slide was sent in, so answers could be on the mount!). Probably something like a quarter or eighth of a second exposure. Camera is swept down, hopefully level, and the shutter pressed when already in motion. I also don’t know if this image is the same one as the slide in the folio, but it’s in the same spirit.