Wednesday, December 30, 2015

The Long Island Sound

  Having grown up and living minutes away from water most of my life, it's often that the privilege is taken for granted. I only recently started to go back, more and more due to my interests in photography. 

  Recently, I came into the ownership of a vintage Polaroid Land Camera and just fell in love with the format. Learning more about the history of instant photography, and how it ruled the market for consumer photography for almost half a decade, was absolutely fascinating. It revolutionized picture taking in the way that you can snap and see the results in mere minutes, instead of going to a film developer and finding out in two weeks if it was exposed correctly. 

  Today is all about instant gratification. It is the click and delete, spray and pray till you get it right, "I'll edit it in post" generation of photography, and the room for error is much larger than a pack of 10 or roll of 24.

  Welcome to the age of digital photography. 

Polaroid Land 250, 3 min exposure, FP3000b Film, Scanned
  I came home from work one day and noticed that the fog and sky were exceptionally interesting. Deciding to shoot, I thought it would be interesting to capture a murky long island sound on real film. As I was in the middle of my shot, a couple had stood behind me in anticipation to see how it came out. When I opened the exposure, the woman fell in love with it. I gave her the photo and said happy holidays. I didn't even think about it in the moment, and honestly it felt great to make someone that happy over something so simple. 

  This shot was taken shortly after. I covered up the light sensor for 3 minutes and painted the foreground with my cellphone flashlight. 

  FP3000b is on it's last production apparently, and most of the film sold in stores is expired. Even though this film is soon to be extinct, I'm going to have my fun with it while I can. 

Cheers for now,
-Rob

Thursday, November 26, 2015

First Time Caller, Long Time Listener...

So, post nĂºmero uno... awkward.

  I've been thinking about doing this for some time, starting a photography blog, and wondering what my first photo would be. I didn't really know what I wanted it to be until it dawned on me, maybe I'll just keep this as a photo journal. I really don't care if no one sees it or people read it every single day.

  On to the lonely photo. The idea is to have one photo per post, we'll call it "the best of the night," or in reality, maybe it's the only one of the night. Doesn't really matter, we'll just say that I love a good project and it's a way to keep me shooting. Now, what the hell am I going to shoot? I kinda figured that it would just come naturally. I didn't know what my first picture would be, though it seems fitting that I find what I want on Thanksgiving.

Nikon D5100, 1/125", f/20, 200mm, ISO100
  The last couple of nights I've been noticing a crystal clear sky; all the stars were perfectly visible, and there was no need for a flashlight because the moon was  full and bright. It was a bit blinding and distracting, even when I'm trying to fall asleep.

  I noticed again tonight that it[the moon] had the same glow to it, and so after getting situated at home I took out the camera and decided to test my Tamron 70-200mm under some moonlit conditions. I have to say, it came out pretty well, but I'd like to get more detailing of it. The moon itself looked better IRL, as usual.

  Bare with me on my skill, or lack thereof; I learn as I go. Stacking images will be my next photo project, I think.

  I haven't decided if this will be a weekly, biweekly, or monthly type of project. I know it will continue as long as time allows me. I want the range of my posts to be from night and day, wild life, urban, and even my experiments with Polaroid. This should be interesting, or at the very least funny. I know I love a good laugh.

Cheers for now,
-Rob