This was another part of Oaxaca that I wanted to shoot at night. The market was very nearby, and the nightlife carried out into the streets. I really wanted to capture a Beetle while I was there as well, since they are such a part of Mexican culture and are common throughout. Needless to say, I was happy to see one pull up and park near where I standing while taking a different photo down the street. So happy that my ‘other’ Sputnik has sharp matching lenses, it really helps to get the shot right! Shot on Fuji Provia 100f film.
Category Archives: FolioA
Nighttime Zocalo, Oaxaca, Mexico
I wanted to get a shot of the zocalo (or center of town) at night. There was a lot of activity in Oaxaca at nighttime, and it is such a large part of the overall culture of Mexico. It felt very safe to walk around with a tripod and camera. Not many people paid any attention to me, which was exactly what I wanted. The wind was doing me a favor in making this image a bit more interesting. Shot on my Sputnik, with Fuji Provia 100f film.
‘Chillin’ in the shade’ – Monte Alban, Mexico
Just outside of Oaxaca is Monte Alban. They are Aztec ruins, said to be over 2,000 years old. Very neat place to go and very easy to visit while in Oaxaca. I came across this gentleman hanging out under the shade of one of the few trees within the grounds. Thought that it captured the overall sense of the heat that day. Hit at least into the 90’s, but coming from cloudy Seattle, it was a welcoming sun exposure for me. Shot on my Sputnik, Provia 100f film.
Botanical Gardens, Oaxaca, Mexico
I recently went on a trip to Oaxaca, Mexico. Such a lovely place to visit, and I can see why it is such a popular destination. This was my first out-of-the-country trip since Covid hit in 2020. I brought along my ‘other’ Sputnik, the one that I usually would leave at home as a backup. My main Sputnik never could focus properly after two attempts of repair, and started to eat film for breakfast. So, needless to say, I was pleased with the overall quality of the pictures I got with the other camera. I just feel that I could have exposed a little better, too bright for my taste. Maybe I need some ND filters next time? This is the backside of the church of Santo Domingo, located in the botanical gardens in the heart of Oaxaca. Nice place to visit if you are ever there. Shot on my Sputnik, on Fuji Provia 100f. 
The Finally Part 2
End of the fireworks show where the pyrotechs pull out all the stops
End of the fireworks show where they pull out all the stops.
There is a strange set of blinking lights running through the middle of the photo. Maybe a drone?
Hosta Study
Hosta leaf patterns in black and white
Busy Pollinator
Close up shot of a honeybee on a dahlia
Keep it down up there, Willya?
Keep it down up there, Willya?
One of the reasons I wanted, and built, this Macrobox was to capture shots of Tess in MF3D. I knew it wouldn’t be an easy pursuit because the moment I started doing something she would be all over it. “No, Tess, I want you *in front* of the camera. Not *on* the camera.” That sort of thing.
I was able to catch her in a quiet moment when the camera and strobes had been pre-set for her position. I like to think that in this shot she is hollering at some kids upstairs to be quiet. In fact I caught her in mid yawn.
Sunset Log, Big Bear Lake, CA
Running out of daylight, but time for one more shot so I grabbed this sunset with the near silhouette of the log along the frozen shoreline of Big Bear Lake in February of 2022. You can see across the big part of the lake in this view and most of the lake is not frozen, just the end where we were. It was a satisfying journey to get out of the cabin and run along the nature trail and get back before the temperatures dropped to single digits. The next day would be great skiing.
Kids on the Log, Big Bear Lake, CA
The kids enjoyed a little climbing adventure on this log. Eventually we settled down into this arranged pose for the cha-cha shot on my Fuji GA645w. It was getting cold and the sun was going down fast. Glad to have this memory of my kids, who are 14,12,11,9 in this picture.
Kids at Frozen Shore, Big Bear Lake, CA
Lucky for me, I was able to encourage and coach my kids into being avid runners. We suited up and ran out to this frozen shoreline of Big Bear Lake before sunset and they were happy to take a break and pose for this cha-cha shot with my Fuji GA645w. I was fortunate the winds had died down and the lake water was still, allowing me to capture this moment from our 4 mile run.
Frozen Log, Big Bear Lake, CA
For ‘Ski Week’ over President’s Day I took my family up to Big Bear Lake for some local skiing. We were lucky to catch a storm and some fresh snow. The weather was cold in the teens and this side of the lake froze over. I got in some running before sunset and took my Fuji GA645w with me. This cha-cha has some nice light and no water movement, so it worked out well. This was also my last roll of Fuji Provia 400x, a favorite film stock of mine. When I got home I looked on eBay and was shocked to see the sky high prices. Those 2D shooters don’t deserve this film; it should be reserved for us 3D people. My 2 cents.
Nik Sekhar A32 Submission
[This post was created by Ian Andvaag on August 2, 2023 to create a place for people to leave comments on Nik Sekhar’s slides. It has been dated to February 4, 2022 which is when Nik had the folio.]
[Flowers Close-Up]
[Front Yard]
[Nik’s Son Holding Cat]
[Star Wars Birthday Cake]
Ray Dillard – Some old, some new, some that didn’t work so well
I continue to experiment with multiple exposures. I had some failed attempts at indoor shots; somewhere my math went horribly wrong! I will continue to work on the math and measurements and make more attempts at indoor multiple exposures.
This first image I have included, titled “Angles”, is a look at shooting not only multiple exposures, but a variety of camera angles. I was interested to try and create a combination of vertical and horizontal lines among obviously diagonally skewed lines. I was also interested in the skewed lines being confused further by clearly being objects that should NOT be skewed. I plan to do more experimenting with this angular approach to multiple exposures. This is from a recent set of experiments. Five exposures on my Sputnik, handheld, with Fuji Velvia 100.
“Angles”
The next image is titled “Global Focus 3”. This variation of an image posted in a previous pass of the folio utilizes a slightly different alignment of the multiple shots. This variation is presented as it solves some of the issues commented on about the original version, while having other issues that worked better in the earlier version Global Focus presented a few years back. Thus is the nature of experimentation! I am a musician who has found experimentation to be a primary element of my 40+ year career of music making. This is just an extension of that reality. Two exposures on my Sputnik with Fuji Velvia 100.
“Global Focus 3”
Metal sculpture by Canadian sculptor Roy Hickling.
The third image I have included is “The Incursion”. This is also an earlier shot where I attempted to carefully place an object in a specific part of another object using a quadruple exposure. It is close to what I had hoped for, but size, perspective, alignment and exposure is a massive set of variables to deal with! Same sort of challenges as found in “Angles” above. Three exposures on my Sputnik with Fuji Velvia 100.
“The Incursion”
Metal sculpture by Canadian sculptor Roy Hickling.
Thanks to Steve Lederman for scanning these images for me!
Steve also developed some of the film for me in his home-basement-lab and used his superior skills to aid in some of the mounting.
Stereoscopic Creatures And Beasts, Or Where To Find Them
“BAR BAND“
Another pinhole picture, to the delight of some, and much to the chagrin of others. This is the mighty Heavyweights Brass Band entertaining a throng at Toronto’s Rail Path, an activity that started with the COVID 19 lockdown. The band decided to rehearse outdoors; a crowd soon gathered and threw money at them, so they made their Rail Path get-together into a weekly ritual. Seen here are Tom Richards, sousaphone, Lowell Whitty, drums, and Paul Metcalfe, tenor saxophone. Not pictured; John Pittman, trumpet, and RJ Satchithananthan, trombone. The image was a bit difficult to mount with the 3D World mounts – the step at the bottom left juts out on the left image more so than on the right image. I did try to use a cardboard close-up mount, but then a good portion of the image was lost. Just don’t glance down at the bottom left hand corner and you’ll be fine.
Captured with Clint O’Connor’s Limited Edition Stereo Flyer (#11 out of 100), on a Gorillapod, 2 second exposure, expired Fuji Provia 100F. Processed in my JOBO unit.
“MONOCHROME LAKE“
This was shot in a remote region of Northern Ontario, situated on Monochrome Lake, not to be confused with Black Lake, Mono Lake, Grey Lake or Gray Lake. The dumping of nuclear waste in the region caused the vegetation to devoid itself of its photosynthetic pigments, chlorophylls a & b, resulting in its inability to preferentially absorb light. This manifests as foliage with a very grey appearance. Monochrome Lake has experienced its fifteen minutes of fame – it was used as the location for the incredibly popular “Creature From The Black And White Lagoon” 3D movie franchise. It has also been featured in some episodes of the television series “Black And White Mirror”, currently streaming on one or another of those television streaming services that streams television. I guess that’s technically more than fifteen minutes of fame, as those “Creature” movies are well over an hour each. But I digress. Just in case you think I’m trying to hand you another one of my tall tales, I shot this image on Velvia 100 to prove that the area really looks like this in person. There. I knew that would convince you.
Captured with a Sputnik, handheld, on Velvia 100. Processed in my JOBO CPP2 unit.
“BEWARE OF DUCK“
I wanted to obtain some sunflowers, as one is wont to do, and was shadowed by a highly-trained, very aggressive Attack Duck. It was a situation most fowl! I was operating on a wing and a prayer as it tried to egg me on! When I finished gathering the sunflowers I told it to send me the bill!
Captured with a 3D World TL120-1 modified with a Thurston lens board and Mamiya 55mm lenses (TL120-55) on EGGspired KoDUCK E100G, sunny 16 (Sunflower 16) rule, processed in my Jobo CPP2 unit.
“SCREAMING HEADS TWO“
A wide angle cha-cha experiment. The lower left hand corner has an issue, so don’t glance down there. I’m sensing a theme! I shot this handheld, so perhaps it’s time to invest in a slider bar. From my similar submission to the recent Dragon Folio loop:
“Every year, Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day falls on the last Sunday in April. It is an excuse for my daughter and I to spend a day together photographing various locations in Ontario using pinhole cameras. I will usually pack a “lensed” camera in addition to my pinhole camera(s). On WPPD 2019 we visited artist Peter Camani’s residence which hosts his grand scale outdoor art exhibition. There are various shapes of cast concrete screaming heads situated throughout his 310-acre property near Burk’s Falls, Ontario, each sculpture being in the 15-20 foot tall range. On this occasion I had packed my Hasselblad SWC, and I can’t remember if I was consciously trying to capture a stereo cha-cha image or not. In any case, I found an uncut roll of film with three pairs of images that looked like they might work as stereo pairs. Despite some anomalies between the left and right chips, my brain can fuse these images into a stereo image. Hasselblad SWC, yellow or orange drop-in filter, expired Kodak Aerochrome film, home processed with a Jobo CPP2 unit.”