Dan's blog about Photography and things

I've been wanting to do color large format for awhile. When there were photo labs around the corner, it wasn't hard to do a E-6 process in a day or two. Now that process has gotten expensive and if you're doing sheet film, its even more pain. So my solution... Polaroid! well technically, it should be called "instant film" since Polaroid is trademarked term. I'm using  Fuji FP 100c45. But here's the twist. I wanted a different look. If I want true colors, I wouldn't bother with the cost of 2 bucks per shot.  I also was fascinated with some surface texture that I saw on polaroids.  I recently came across some sites that talks about turning a polaroid into negatives. Its true that Polariod years ago did have those positive/negative film, but they've discontinued all instant film a couple of years ago.   The process is simple. you take bleach and take off the black stuff on the part that you throw away.  Once the black part is off, you have a negati...

A night series that I did. Since I don't like to use tripod, I brought along my Zacuto camera support. This rig was made for video, but I like to use it when I have to shoot 30th or slower. Shot with Canon 5d MK2 and 50 1.2L.  The 1.2 really comes in handy in situations like this. I tried to not go over 1000 ISO because of the noise. I worked the colors to get more of a mood. Hand holding the camera allowed me to work the angles more freely. Click on the image to see the full series.

Took out my Linhof 4x5 field camera out for a spin. Tripod, cable release, focusing cloth, loupe, lightmeter, and film holders! The gang's all here. Linhof Technica III, (circa 1940's) with Fujinon 150mm 5.6 a modern lens design.  Bull Run Park near Manassas VA.The camera is wonderfully made with machined aluminum with German engineering. Like Butter. Working with a 4x5 is a whole different world. It takes long to set up and there are so many things that you can screw up. "Did I cock the shutter? check focus?, meter reading, dark slide out? lock the movements?... There are like 13 different steps that you have to make to take a picture.  So why do it when I can just point my 5d and shoot in easy one two steps?  Reasons may vary, but I do it because of the camera movements. The tilts, swings, shifts. These cameras were made so you can technically control how the image hits the film plane. You can achieve "technically perfect" images, whatever that means.  ...

I love this little camera. Its a point and shoot but it has the micro 4/3 sensor (half size of full frame 35mm). The pancake 20mm 1.7 is the perfect companion to this camera. The field of view is like a 40mm lens on full 35mm format. Yes, you can swap lenses with other 4/3 system lenses. You can put an optical viewfinder on the hotshoe. They have an electronic finder for this cam, but I prefer the 'real' image from optics (no delay).  Sugarloaf Mountain. GF-1 20mm 1.7 Its small enough to fit into a jacket pocket. It shoots 12mp. I've sold images from this camera to stock agencies and they don't even know its from a point and shoot! You can manually focus using the ring. Try that on a point and shoot. I thought my 5d was close to perfect, but the size to quality ratio of the GF-1 is unbeatable. The shutter is pretty loud despite the fact that there is no mirror. One of the few drawbacks. Auto focus is very fast too. If you're a pro or serious amateur looking for ...