experiment

     so i just got my first book that i made. it's a small book. i am very excited about this new way of sharing photographs. it only took about a year for me to just sit down and start something. 

     i took a few tips from dan milnor . a very good photographer and book junky and happens to work for blurb, a self publishing company. and he is just an all around cool guy. if your a photographer you will do well to follow his blog. it is never about just taking a picture. there can be real soul in a an image. he adds words or stories to enhance the experience. i am trying to make that part of my journey in photography. 

     i have all these note pages around my desk recording  my developing techniques and times and chemicals. i got sick of it and decided to put them all in one place. a folder doesn't work cause they all get mashed in and mixed up. i saw someone make tiny pocket exposure and developing books, but i didn't need it in my pocket. i rarely make notes of my exposures (which i probably should), but always make them of my developing process. a journal is the next thought. then i came across blurb and their tradebooks and viola! my answer. 

     as personal as it gets. i like the paper quality. it reminds me of oldschool books. kind of soft to the touch. my images are little dull. i will have to do some tweeks, maybe try out some different papers or covers, but we will get it. 

     i will be stoked to offer it to my clients soon. i'll keep you posted on what works for me and what doesn't. 

until later.

i can hear laughter...

   "i can hear laughter..." that is what my wife said when she saw this image on facebook. i thought about that during the day today. she wasn't there when i shot this photo. but she does know what kid laughter sounds like, and it makes her smile. 

   it makes me smile too. there is nothing like kid laughter. a good belly laugh will brighten anyone's day real quick.

   i think that is one of the reasons i like shooting kids so much. to hear the giggles and high pitched laughs; to see them rolling all over. just being themselves. they are so much fun.

   my kids are getting older and i don't hear that laugh as much anymore. but i will start listening closer for it and relishing in it. one day that laugh will be driving and then moving out and then getting married and then (God willing) that old belly laugh will start again with grand kids.

   if you don't have any of your own, make sure you find some to keep you smiling. bye for now.

tech: nikon fm2n, voigtlander 58mm/f1.4 slii, kodak tri-x 400, d76 1:1, epson v500, lightroom 3

washing windows

this may be not too interesting of an image to anyone but me. but it has great meaning to me. it is a little staged, but whatever. 

a few months ago my wife and daughter went to a volleyball tournament out of town.  i stayed home with my son. of course he went to play with his friends, so i decided to clean up the house. the windows hadn't been cleaned in quite a while. matter of fact i am not sure that i had ever cleaned them with any sort of chemical in the 5 years that we have lived there. i didn't notice how dirty they were until i started scrubbing them. when you looked outside...what a difference. 

i realized right there that i had been neglecting my wife. i hadn't been taking care of things that i should have. she had been doing so much for me and the kids and i was just was not there even though i was there. God got my attention through such a simple task. i am glad he did.

she is an amazing woman and an amazing mom. happy mothers day hon!

happy belated christmas?

yeah. i am not great at this blogging thing. i will be more consistent....some day. 

its been a little while since I have developed some film. i just developed some from around christmas last weekend and have only post a few images. some cute ones came out. occasionally i get lucky.some of the other one's I developed a while ago, but never post them.

i am really trying to dial in a film and developer combo for what i want it to look like. i think i am very close.  here is a few.

(most of them are of my nephew. little guys are easy. not like the older ones. too cool. or just over it)

that last one is my dads dog. he is afraid of the camera. so it is really nice when i get a shot of him facing it.

thanks for looking. and a thanks to TJ and her blog for the props and the reminder to keep up on this thing. until next time. 

tech: cameras: Rolleicord Vb; Nikon f3 w/ a cv40/2; Minolta x700 w/ 50/1.7; film: Tri-x 400@1000 in Acufine developer; Delta 400@800 in D76 stock; scan: v500; lightroom3

all in the family

i love my dog. i love taking pictures of her. she is my most willing subject. my kids get so sick of me taking their picture, but maisy...not so much. i wouldn't say she is the easiest model; maybe on the same line as a 4 yr. old, who doesn't mind, but is done when they want to be done. 
those of you who have kids, don't neglect your pets. they are part of the family. of course i don't have to tell you that. take as many pictures of them as you would of the kids, cause they really are one of your kids. 

 here she is waiting for me to get home from work. she is beside herself when anyone comes through the door.

this is one of her favorite spots. we try to leave the front door open so she can see out and watch what's happening in the hood. she is a great doorbell. we know when anyone comes close to the house-friend or foe.

i think the image above is one of my current favorites of her (even amid the flaws in quality). dogs can be expressive. this is another of her favorite spots too. eyes closed, feeling the warmth of the jotul after a cold night. this one is being printed.

tech: nikon f3, cv 40mm/f2, kodak 125px, v500, lightroom 3.

i'm a slacker

i have only one excuse. school. i am back in school. online. it along with kids sports have sucked up most of my time. I have been shooting a lot though. just personal stuff. no clients. i just don't have time lately.  i will get back to that when i get a chance. 

think i am officially 90% analog now though. I love it. 

i want to experiment with more things too. my hope is to get a hold of a large format camera and a different/new scanner by the end of the year. i have to sell some gear, pay some bills and then maybe i will have a chance. or maybe by a gift of God He will send someone that just gives me one. i can hope.

i have been shooting almost all black and white. and almost all 35mm. some would say that it is a waist, because you can't blow it up so much. it is not always about how big or sharp it is. i like capturing moments.some new film, some new developer to try out. it has been fun. i need to do some serious printing though. and i am going to do a book soon too. add it to the list eh.

i am not sure why the font keeps changing on me, but i am tired of backspacing and writing it over again. but i will stop talking and just show a couple of images for you. talk to sooner than later next time. and if there are capitals i am being ruined by school. sorry.

tech info: cameras: Nikon F3, cv40mm f2, Kodak Plus-x 125@125, Tri-x 400@1000; Minolta x-700, 50mm f1.7, Fuji Acros 100; developer: Kodak D76 1:1

stiring nostalgia

Its been quite a while since I have post anything. I am back in school and it has taken much of my time. 

photographs are so amazing in the way they capture memories.  I am thankful for getting to take photographs. I am glad I was introduced to it my first semester in college. hopefully one day God will allow me to actually make money with a camera, but if He doesn't i have all these captured memories.

There is nothing technically sound about this image. it is a little blurry.  i didn't use the rule of thirds and it is a little dull in subject matter for almost everyone else but me. it is my daughter's elbow  with the sunset behind on lake tahoe. her, my wife and i went there for the day one late summer sunday. it was just a wonderful day. this image, for me, just captures how the day was spent. it makes me smile. 

tech: Nikon F3, Voigtlander 40mm SLII lens, Fuji Acros 100, Kodak d76 1:1 developer, Epson v500 scan, Lightroom 3 edit.