The place: Bear Creek Park in Houston.
The year: around 2003
The weather: sunny and nice
The camera: Lopp-fied spud
This is a popular park about 8 miles north of where I live. Taken in the winter as evidenced by the naked trees. Not much more to say about this.
The year: 2005
The place: Buffalo River National Park, Arkansas
The weather: very foggy and smoky.
Established in 1972, Buffalo National River flows freely for 135 miles and is one of the few remaining undammed rivers in the lower 48 states. Once you arrive, prepare to journey from running rapids to quiet pools while surrounded by massive bluffs as you cruise through the Ozark Mountains down to the White River.
It is a spectacular place. However, the area was in drought conditions when we took our trip. People who were canoeing had to portage their craft in many places. No motor craft is allowed on the river. Also, there were wildfires in New Mexico with the smoke traveling northward. Most of Arkansas was smoke shrouded that summer. We did not do a water trip and saw very few people in canoes. We had a good trip in spite of the weather conditions.
The Buffalo River is connected to the White River, which is connected to the Mississippi, and laps up on the beach of the Gulf states.
The image was shot with the Lopp-ofied spud.
Many acronyms have been created for the letters in “Ford”. Most of them are unflattering. I’m a big Ford fan, so I’ve created a positive acronym for F.O.R.D. – “Forgotten Old Relic Discovered”. This old Ford is resting peacefully by the side of the road in Crawfordville, Florida. I bought some infrared filters for my TL-120 and shot a few rolls of Kodak Aerochrome on that trip. This is one of the results. This particular strain of Aerochrome can be (and was) processed in E6 chemistry. The film is rated at 400, and I took exposure readings through the TL-120’s meter. The metering lens also had an infrared filter on it. I much prefer to photograph old wrecks and decaying cars over restored vintage vehicles (even though I do appreciate restored vintage vehicles). It’s been said many times, but if only these old rust-buckets could talk!
I had my TL-120 down at Toronto’s waterfront and I was attracted by the myriad of shapes, textures and colours (or colors, if you happen to reside in The States) that were migrating towards the shoreline. I kept a tight composition with the intent of creating a sort of in-camera collage. I wanted to fill the frame with as many of the various and sundry debris as I could, illustrating the contrast between man-made and natural debris, without necessarily establishing an indication of their location. This was shot on Velvia 100 using the TL-120’s built-in meter.
We used to live in an old Victorian house in downtown Toronto. Access to the garages was via an alley, and that’s where I found the door in this photograph. The door served as an entrance to someone’s garden, and I was drawn to the textures of the weathered wood, tarnished metal, and peeling layers of paint. This might’ve been one of the first shots I took with my TL-120, or it might’ve been shot with my Sputnik – I’m not too sure. What I do know is that around this time my local lab stopped processing AGFA Scala, and I wanted to determine where I should send my Scala rolls in the future. I shot a few rolls and sent a couple to dr5, and a couple to Mainphoto. This is one of the shots from a Mainphoto roll. Washed out, not a lot of contrast. I think it has a vintage aged look to match the textures on the door. It would have been a very different shot had dr5 processed it. Not necessarily better, but different.
Logs, Squamish, B.C.
On the Sea to Sky highway between Whistler and Vancouver, B.C.
Tried to get the through the window effect.
Kensington Market, Toronto
Spire St. James Cathedral, Toronto
TTl 120 camera
1853 – New Gothic Revival Cathedral opens for services on original site
1865 – Bells installed
1875 – Spire completed
The Stars and Stripes and the US Seal are subtle signs of the US Consulate close to Quebec City’s Chateau Frontenac: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_Frontenac
The Consulate is witness to two centuries of friendship between the US and Canada following the war of 1812. I am playing in the early morning light with a mirror to juxtapose adjacent objects in new ways.
Original slide shot October 10th, 2011 with a tripod-mounted Sputnik using Provia 100P exposed at 1/25th at f22.
A large statue of Samuel de Champlain stands beside the Chateau Frontenac, in honour of his founding of Quebec City over 400 years ago:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_de_Champlain
In this early morning light I am playing with a mirror creating a picture within a picture, juxtaposing adjacent objects in new ways.
Original slide shot October 10th, 2011 with a tripod-mounted Sputnik using Provia 100P exposed at 1/25th at f22.
A historic building of old Quebec City is juxtaposed in the mirror onto the green fields surrounding the Citadelle, the city’s fortifications:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citadelle_of_Quebec
In this series I have played with a mirror to juxtapose adjacent objects in new ways.
Original slide shot October 9th, 2011 with a tripod-mounted Sputnik using Provia 100P exposed at 1/25th at f20.
The green leaves in the oval mirror are in striking contrast to the red of the Burning Bush. It is ironic that the shrub is called a Burning Bush as it sits in front of Quebec City’s Armoury that burned in July 2008: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_City_Armoury
In this series I have played with a mirror to juxtapose adjacent objects in new ways. I am bothered by the softness of the image in the mirror, probably caused by the wind moving the mirror, but my wife likes it the most of the four and asked me to include it anyway.
Original slide shot October 9th, 2011 with a tripod-mounted Sputnik using Provia 100P exposed at 1/25th at f20.
This is my first effort with DR5 processing and 
I’m extremely pleased with the results. I’ve been very happy with the sharpness I get with Provia 100, and reasonably happy with the sharpness with Provia 400x, but with Ilford HP5 at 400 I can see the grains of sand on the rocks. It is expensive to process, but I hope to shoot some more HP5 next year.
The cave below the Crack of Doom, persisted for at least three months. I first visited it in August. This image was made in October. The ceiling was higher and the space more open, but the cave was still there. This is almost the same vantage point as Streamside Snapshot. The rise in the very center of this image is off on the right side (and touching the ceiling) in Streamside.
Tripod mounted TL120-1, Ilford HP5 at ISO 400, DR5 processing
Back in August, I had found an awesome cave at the edge of the ice. I had been under the ice for about 30 minutes trying for some images of the stream running at the bottom of the cave. The light level was low
and I was having to guess at 1.5 or 2 second exposures while the melting roof falling all around me. These two ladies climbed and slid down to where I was and asked if they could take a few pictures without disturbing me.
“Sure thing!”, I said. They weren’t going to interrupt my process, and I really wanted some pictures of them against the blue.
While they took each others’ pictures, I tried to advance to advance the film, open the aperture enough to get the shutter-speed down to a more realistic number, compose a new image, and focus for the shallow depth of field. I think I got off three exposures before they were done and ready to climb out and head home. This is the only one which is close to useable, and it’s still too dark. I really need to carry a small flash and learn how to use it 🙁
This is in the same cave in which I made Crack of Doom. I’m turned 180 degrees and thirty feet farther in.
Tripod mounted TL120-1, Provia 400X, un-recorded aperture and shutter.
I used to travel to Upstate New York quite frequently. My friend Erich Hadfield has over 250,000 78 rpm records piled up in two barns about 20 minutes apart there. After I purchased my TL-120 I started taking it on my record buying trips instead of my Realist. This photograph is one of a series of shots of an old abandoned boarded-up school house. On the side of it is a large pentagram-type star. I was drawn to this school house because of all of the history, memories and stories it contains. I tried to imagine what this place was like when it was operative and thriving. I like the depth between the viewer and the school house, but I’m not crazy about the soft foreground grass. I’m considering re-mounting this one in a cardboard landscape mount (if I can get my hands on one) and masking out as much of the soft-focus grass as I can. I shot this on Ilford Pan F Plus, and it was processed by dr5. I shot the roll at whatever ASA his site suggests for this film.