The label on the back says, in part, R16 (Canada) / 5, but also says it was taken on the University of Texas campus on July 1, 2003. Apparently I had some film to use up after a 2003 trip to Canada. I usually think of GSB as meaning Graduate School of Business in the context of UT – Austin, but that doesn’t jive with my memory of which building had this rock collection outside it.
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The label on the back says, in part, R16 (Canada) / 6, but also says it was taken on the University of Texas campus on July 1, 2003. Apparently I had some film to use up after a 2003 trip to Canada.
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Shot at Camp Mabry in Austin, Texas. It seemed like a good opportunity for a “through the window” MF3D image. I used these jets for shooting test rolls in Sputniks that were, to one extent or another, “fixed up” for sale via RMM. I don’t recall whether this was from such a test roll or something I shot just for fun. Might or might not even have been a Sputnik.
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Shot at San Diego’s Balboa Park in my early years of MF3d.
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TL-120 with Ilford Pan-F processed by DR-5. I miss DR-5, just about everything I ever sent them came out looking amazing.
Photographed with a TL-120 with Vivitar 285-H fill flash. One minute at f22. It wasn’t possible to shoot a hyper of the view here so I wanted to figure out some way to get an interesting stereoscopic image, fortunately it was possible to get the foreground and background to both expose well. The flash froze a few ghosts within the blur.
Photographed at a car-show in Bolingbrook IL in July 2024. TL-120 with Vivitar fill-flash. Provia 100F pushed one stop.
Photographed with a TL-120 using Provia 100-F film. This is a monument to Irish nationalist leader Daniel O’Connell (1775-1847). I believe this was 20 seconds at f16.
A couple years ago, we had a new bike race organized in my home town of Charlottesville. I like this subject matter for the challenge of capturing the essence of the sport, though it is also a bittersweet experience to stand on the sidelines with a camera, as I have several decades of bike racing experience, and I do miss participating (my last racing was ten years ago, and I’m fairly sure I finally quit for good).
I knew this shoot was going to be “low yield,” but I love these kinds of dynamic images in 3d. Few people have shot this style in MF3d, and it’s no surprise, because getting a good shot – where at least a few parts of the image are not blurred – is basically a crapshoot. Indeed, out of four rolls shot with two spuds, I got at most three or four images that meet that standard! For more backstory (and images) from this shoot, please visit my patreon page about it here.
There are several races during the day, but only two of the races have large fields of experienced riders, riding tightly packed, which is the most exciting. Thus, I shot with two Sputnik cameras, because during any given race, there’s no time to reload the camera; that gave me twelve exposures for each of those two races. Even before I started shooting, I tried a couple of different ways to aim and pan. I discovered very quickly that trying to look down into the mirror finder was not going to work – too confusing! I shot about half the material with my eye at the camera, looking through the “sport finder,” and the other half with the camera more or less at arms length, held out in front of me, aiming by “feel” – I felt this helped me keep the panning motion of the cameras very smooth. I used shutter speeds of 1/10 and 1/25 second, which was about right for the camera apertures of f32 and f22.
(For those unfamiliar with it, here’s the “sport finder” mode in the Sputnik. Note one hazard of using the sport finder: because you are not using the middle lens to aim, you have no feedback about whether or not the lens caps have been removed;-)
A couple years ago we rented a cottage with another family for spring break in the Outer Banks, NC. This image was made one evening, about twenty minutes after sunset. Shot at the usual f32 with my sputnik, on Fuji Provia, requiring about thirty seconds of exposure. This was my goal: to blur the waves into a fog. I’d like to find another opportunity someplace to make an image like this, but with bigger waves! (taller fog)
I had brought a bunch of film, and had hoped to make more MF3d images whilst in “OBX,” but ended up with so much other family related stuff to do, that this motif was the only one that ended up on MF film.
I shot this in 2023 with a damaged Sputnik. On my way to the location, I was doing something with my camera bag, and it suddenly inverted, spilling out both my spud and my (brand “new”) Heidoskop onto the pavement of the parking lot. I soon discovered that the fall caused the Spud shutter to become partially inoperative – I had to close the shutter manually… it behaved like a bulb setting (actually worse, I had to push up on the cocking lever to close the shutter).
I shot this scene with the Spud, timing the exposures around 1/2 second by the “seat of my pants.” The Heidoskop had worked better, it didn’t appear to have suffered any damage; but I later discovered it had developed a large light leak, because of a broken seal in the custom roll-film back – so none of the exposures from that camera were any good.
Just goes to show: even a busted Spud can make good images!
P.S.
In the interim, I’ve not had much success with fixing the Spud shutter. My efforts on that front are detailed in this Patreon post. Last year, Bob Venezia was kind enough to send me several Spud lens boards/shutters, to help me fix this thing, but alas, I’ve not yet gotten into it deeply enough to succeed with the repair.
Sloane lights up whilst “bathing” in the tub. I think my goal was to depict some kind of debauchery – as if she’d fallen into the tub half-clothed at a party? Not sure… I do know I wanted that flimsy, translucent night-shirt on her, because it would partially float and give definition to the surface of the water. Of course I have other images out of this session showing smoke, etc., but I do also like this one of her firing up the lighter.
Shot with my twin-rig Mamiya 6, on Fuji RAP Astia film, a half second exposure to capture the lighter’s flame, and a strobe flash to capture everything else:
The Great Mosque of Sousse is a great place to check out in Tunisia. Located near the Medina of Sousse, it was built in 851, and is now the oldest mosque in the city as well as the oldest prayer hall in North Africa. I wanted to get some night shots while in Tunisia, and chose the mosque as a great backdrop along with the moon. Not far from the main part of the old section of Sousse, it was only steps away from our hotel and a really fun place to smoke at a hookah lounge. Sousse is on the coast of Tunisia, and unfortunately is known as the place that had terrorist attacks in 2015 that damaged the tourism in Tunisia. Although still trying to recover from those days, Sousse is a good place to visit and Tunisia as a whole. The city is rich with history and was definitely noticeable all around you at every turn. This was shot with my Sputnik, on Provia 100f.
Duomo di Orvieto, is a gorgeous church in the heart of Orvieto, located in the Umbria region of Italy. My wife and I explored Umbria and Tuscany in 2022 by car, and in doing so, got to visit many different little towns off the beaten path. Built between 1290 and 1591, it is an amazing place to visit. Similar to the church in Milan with it’s black and white stonework throughout, it is a sight to see. Personally, I recognize myself as agnostic, but I am still always fascinated by religious structures throughout the world. This one was no exception. As to getting the shot, I managed to have a tiny tabletop tripod that is maybe 3 inches long, and has a quick release system. I slap that on my Sputnik and then find some railing that I can ‘pinch’ it on as I take the shot. I tried the string to foot method in the past, with little success. So, by not being able to use a proper tripod in churches, this is the best I could come up with. Shot on Provia 100f.
Khoa San Road is a very popular area of Bangkok. Those who have visited may have stayed near there, or are at least ‘in the know’ as to it’s existence. It was once, and still is, a backpacker’s hub (since the 1970’s) with tons of little shops, eateries, street food, and chaos. We happened to stay in this area of Bangkok for the first time, because it is known to be loud, crowded, etc. However, we managed to find a great hotel nearby that was on a much more quiet backstreet and was steps away from everything. Great experience! We happened to be there during Halloween last year and I wanted to get some night shots. As you can see in the photo, there are red streaks of light about head height in the image. Those are lit up red devil horns that people were wearing all night. Glad I captured at least part of that. This exposure I believe was about 20 seconds long. Shot at f16. Shot on (the now hard to get) Provia 100f with a Sputnik.
