Covid Road Trip #1 was submitted to loop d24 of the Dragon Folio.
As soon as the borders to the US opened, I booked tickets for “The Presidents’ Heads”. My visit there took place in November of 2021. I met a lot of nice photographers at the Heads. A pair of them told me about this site that would eventually become COVID Road Trip #2 in April of 2022; “Old Car City” in White, Georgia. 4700 vehicles from 1918 to 1972 slowly being reclaimed by nature. It’s well-documented on YouTube.
“Twitter Barn” – Ever wonder where Elon Mollusk got the inspiration for his inventive re-naming of the Twitter platform? It was from this very barn, somewhere near the border of two States, on the way down to Georgia. TL-120-55, and some expired colour film. Could have been Provia 100F.
“Old Car City – Ford Detail” – I think this is an emblematic example of my work. Sputnik, Superpan 200.
“’50 Buick OCC” – I love the 1950 Buick. GM only made that grill style for one year. Sputnik, Superpan 200.
“’50 Buick Old Car City, GA” – A different 1950 Buick. Shallow depth of field, scratch on the film. Sputnik, Superpan 200.
Tag Archives: Fuji Provia 100F
Barber Shop – Syracuse, Sicily 2022
As we walked through the main palazzo in Syracuse, I noticed a barber shop and knew that I had to take a 3D shot of it. The barber was in the middle of shaving someone, so the composition with the mirrors and lighting was amazing. We were headed to another location and I took note of the shop as we passed by to come back to it later. Upon my return, it was of course closed, the barber was gone, and the lights were shut off. Regardless, I put my Sputnik up to the window and as you can see me in the shot, I took the photo. Still a fun shot to take but having the barber there working would have been much better. Shot with my Sputnik on Fuji Provia 100f.
Roman Amphitheater – Syracuse, Sicily 2022
Just outside of Syracuse is a collection of Roman ruins within the Neapolis Archeological Park. Within the park there are many sites to check out, including this Amphitheater built around 212 BC. It is the 3rd largest Amphitheater in Italy. It was in much disrepair and had been used as a quarry at some point by the Spaniards. It was just a shell of what it used to be. I tried to get the best viewpoint to show it’s size from the upper level. Having shot it in 3D, this does give it some of that ‘depth’ that it requires to show it’s true size. Shot with my Sputnik on Fuji Provia 100f.
Hanging Medallions – Pompeii, Italy 2022
Pompeii is an incredible place to visit. Not only do you feel like you have stepped back in time when you are there, but you are also essentially walking through a gravesite. It’s eeriness combined with the story of that fateful day in 79 AD, makes it all the more profound. One could spend hours walking it’s long narrow streets, peering into the empty shells of homes, and imagining the horror that would have flowed through the town that day. It really sends chills down your spine. This shot was one of my favorites that I took on this trip, however the only personal ‘beef’ that I have with this shot is that it’s a little underexposed. The medallions, I’m sure are ‘new’ and were placed there not long ago. However, I don’t know for sure, since there were no markers to say otherwise. There are many hidden gems in Pompeii, from tiny scribbles on the walls by children, hidden brothels, and splendid mosaics in hallways or doorways. Worth a visit if you are ever in the neighborhood. Shot with my Sputnik, on you guessed it, Fuji Provia 100f.
The Tourists – Palatine Hill, Rome, Italy 2022
Just outside of the main Roman Forum and Colosseum is Palatine Hill. This is where alot of the senators and statesman lived, amongst some of the most prestigious and wealthy Roman citizens. The views of the surrounding area, and it’s natural beauty made it an ideal spot for such folks. Walking around it’s remnants of the past, I noticed a couple sitting not far from us, trying to shield themselves from the afternoon sun. I knelt down and captured their ‘break’ from the heat. Shot with my Sputnik spy camera, on (the now coveted) Fuji Provia 100f.
Bee There in the Golden Hour #5
Generally the best of the macrobox images are ones in which a bee is in mid air yet still in focus. I’ve gotten some very nice ones—this here is an excellent example. This Dahlia variety is called Golden Hour.
Honeybee prepares to land on a Golden Hour Dahlia
Trio
One of the better captures from the Seattle Lake Union fireworks display this year. The pano mount helps to concentrate on the most pleasing part of the image. Approximately 40 foot stereo base.
Independence Day fireworks over Seattle’s Lake union, July 2023
Ian Andvaag D25 submission
I’m a bit short on time, so my comments on my submission are a bit sparse, my apologies. My first two submissions this round are from Narrow Hills Provincial Park. I wish Fallen Pine was a half stop darker. What’s your technique for metering? I have a Pentax Spotmeter V, but I don’t think I had very good technique as many of my slides were overexposed when I used it. I mostly use a Gossen Luna Pro F nowadays, but I would like to up my game and learn how to spot meter properly. If any of you have tips or resources, I’d be glad if you’d share them with me.
Jade Lake Ridge. Tl120-1, RDP III
Fallen Pine, TL-120-1, RDP III
Next is Cattle Gate, from Grasslands National Park. There is an exposure mismatch that I can detect in the sky, not sure why this is as this was on my TL-120. Maybe the batteries where getting low? Has anyone else experienced this? I don’t think I’ve noticed it on other shots I’ve taken since.
Cattle Gate, TL-120-1, RDP III
Finally, a photo from the Saskatoon Exhibition. I don’t think this is as good as Bob and Timo’s slides of the fair, but I did enjoy going and taking some nighttime photos of the rides a few years ago. I wish I could control the lens flare a bit better, but I guess it comes with the territory when you shoot directly into bright lights.
Mach 3 & Water Race, TL-120-1, RVP 100
Scrutinizing Sharpness (Ian Andvaag A33)
For this loop, I wanted to get some feedback on sharpness. I’ve been working through some of Mike Davis’ spreadsheets and trying to determine if I’m leaving a meaningful amount of sharpness on the table by using a TL-120 or Sputnik. As I understand it, Mike’s contention is that it is not possible to get critically sharp slides with appreciable depth using standard 60-65 mm stereo base and normal FL lenses. I’m rather surprised by this contention after having seen many fantastic slides taken with TL-120s and Sputniks, but I know it’s easy for one’s eyes to be fooled, and I would guess that 95% sharpness looks close to 100% sharpness. I will say that I was particularly struck by David Lee’s Yosemite Fall slide that was included by John Thurston this loop, which seems impossibly sharp, and was not taken with a standard stereo base. I believe the proper way to investigate sharpness would be to shoot some scenes with resolution test charts at various distances and then to side by side A/B comparisons with the resulting slides in a viewer. I wish I could ask Don for advice, I know he occasionally did tests like this 🙁
With all this in mind, I picked out several slides which I personally believe to be quite sharp, and I would appreciate any feedback from others about any perceived lack of sharpness. Cloud Inversion should probably be considered as the “base case”. I believe the nears were around 50′ and I focused around that point, shooting at f/16 I believe. I believe this should secure more sharpness than the eye is capable of detecting in a standard viewer. I don’t really know anything about a cloud inversion, maybe this should better be called thick fog that settled into the valley. Anyway, it was rather unexpected and interesting to see when I woke up to photograph at sunrise. There is a bit of retinal rivalry in the clouds and shadows as this is a chacha with a tripod and it takes some time to set up the tripod and adjust the framing. Apparently quite a few dinosaur fossils have been found in these badlands.
Cloud Inversion
I perceive Gem Lake Reflection to have a high degree of sharpness, however I don’t think it is objectively sharper than any of my other standard TL-120 slides. I believe the perceived sharpness is largely due to the adjacency effects caused by the high acutance first developer, along with the fairly visible grain.
Gem Lake Reflection
Bryce Hoodoo, yes this is a Sputnik shot, and there probably is some falloff in sharpness towards the corners, but I’m not sure I can detect it! Maybe the pine needles at the far right are a bit soft. This is a pretty “easy” shot to secure sharpness as the deviation is quite low, (the nears are rather far away) but I would be surprised if I changed the aperture off the default f/22 hyperfocal setting. I do think the rock and ground appear sharper than the objects in the far distance, but I’m suspecting that this is more due to the haze and lack of high spatial frequency information in the distance rather than the Sputnik having overly relaxed hyperfocal markings, although it could be both!
Bryce Hoodoo
Camping Breakfast was shot at f/22 using the standard hyperfocal markings on the TL-120 and I used the entire range (the near distance was 3 meters). I might be able to detect the smallest lack of sharpness in the specular highlight on the blue water bottle, but I’m not sure. I think the exposure was 1/8 of a second, so the people are probably not perfectly sharp. Yes it was posed!
Camping Breakfast
In my opinion, Cloud Inversion does seem ever so slightly sharper than the others, but I’m not entirely convinced it is because of the more conservative DOF tolerance, but rather that the size of the plants at this distance provides a fairly high frequency subject and the low angle of the sun provides fairly high contrast, while non-hyper shots typically have inherently less high frequency detail.
So what do you think? Do you use the standard hyperfocal settings on your lenses? Or do you stop down one extra stop? Or some other technique? Ok, enough nerd talk. Sorry to ruin a perfectly good post with all this talk of sharpness! I certainly don’t think it’s the most important aspect of a successful MF3D shot, but it is fun to discuss.
Paul Gillis d24 submissions
Willow in the West Virginia Hills
This crooked old tree is near the Smokehole Gorge in Pendleton County, W. Va. It’s right behind an old farmhouse that my caving club has used as a field house for many years, about a mile up a very rough gravel lane from the South Branch of the Potomac. All 4 of these slides were taken with my TL-120-1 on Provia 100.
Hillside Shack
Not really a shack, but a storage shed, very close to the willow tree above. Late afternoon in the fall.
Neptune Fountain
In my opinion, Washington’s most impressive fountain. Officially called “The Court of Neptune”, it is in front of the Library of Congress’ Thomas Jefferson Building, facing the U.S. Capitol. The bronzes were sculpted by Roland Hinton Perry, and carvings on the masonry of the grotto were done by Albert Weinert. Perry was inspired by the Trevi Fountain in Rome. It was finished in 1898, shortly after the Jefferson Building opened.
A Nereid Riding a Hippocamp
One of the two sea nymphs riding mythic sea horses in the Neptune Fountain.
Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul
Last year was our 25th wedding anniversary. Those of you who were in the original MF3D Folio II might remember my honeymoon stereos from Ireland. For this trip we went to Trenton, NJ, where my brother-in-law (who married us) is currently a Bishop of the Episcopal church, so Liz could play the pipe organ there. And then it was on to Philadelphia.
This Roman Catholic cathedral was opposite our hotel in Philadelphia. We hadn’t really thought to try and get in see the organ here. We did see the Wanamaker Organ, but I didn’t think I could get a good exposure without a tripod.
My slides in this loop show a walk on a nice day in Philadelphia to City Hall.
This was taken with a handheld (string monopod) Sputnik on Fujifilm Provia 100F.
Swann Memorial Fountain
This is Swann Memorial Fountain in Philadelphia. Several of Philadelphia’s museums are located around this square.
This scan shows the least intrusive vignetting I had from my lens shades on this trip. Luckily the 6×4.5 mounts allow me to crop it out in this case.
This was taken with a handheld (string monopod) Sputnik on Fujifilm Provia 100F.
Love Park
This is Love Park in Philadelphila. The statue in the foreground is very similar to ones I’m more familiar with seeing back home in New York. The traditional Philadelphia Love statue can just barely be seen on the other side of the fountain. It faces the wrong direction to get City Hall in the background.
This was taken with a handheld (string monopod) Sputnik on Fujifilm Provia 100F.
City Hall
This is the Philadelphia, PA city Hall. Unfortunately, due to trouble with the lens shades I use, this is the only photo that was usable.
This was taken with a handheld (string monopod) Sputnik on Fujifilm Provia 100F.
Bagan Myanmar
Bagan Myanmar – this was in late 2015. I’m not sure if I would be able to get this shot again as climbing on these stupas has since been restricted and there was some earthquake damage in 2016.
Photographed with twin Mamiya C220s with 135mm lenses. It was quite a feat hauling that rig around Myanmar, I’m not sure if I could do that again either. Provia 100F pushed one stop.