The Speedotron fresnel spotlight, which I have mentioned in earlier posts, is excellent for fashion as well as fine arts. It casts a strong light on the model and clothes and creates a dramatic effect well suited to fashion.
The model for these photos, Jing Li, is not only a beautiful woman, but a great news reporter/anchor as well as can be seen by following the link to the youtube video. I was lucky to work with her.
Japan Day in Central Park was at the end of May. There were stage performances, displays of crafts, and free food and bottles of iced green tea. It was a really friendly scene with Americans and Japanese sharing a sunny day. I bought a beautiful t-shirt showing a flight of wild geese -- the proceeds from the sale are going to be used to plant cherry trees around the Central Park reservoir. I'll be able to see sakura each spring even if I'm not in Japan.
I met my friend Li at the festival and held the videocam for her while she interviewed the Japanese ambassador/consul-general. As Li set up, I spoke briefly with the ambassador. He was very patient as I rambled on about how much I'd enjoyed my last visit to Tokyo and how great I thought Japan was.
I was in the West 80's and too far uptown. The fireworks barely broke over the rooftops far to the south. All the technical data is the same as in the post below.
I was on the roof of a building on Columbus Avenue about 9:00 pm hoping to photograph the July 4th fireworks. Turning to look behind me, I saw to the east an almost full moon rising. About ten minutes later, the fireworks still had not begun; but by then the moon was positioned directly behind the Beresford's northwest tower. I shot a five second exposure with the Nikon 18 -200 DX lens open to f5.6 and the D200 (mounted on a Tiltall tripod) set to ISO 100.
I haven't been posting the past few months and have no excuse other than sheer laziness. Fortunately, I have at least been working on my photography.
I began using my fresnel immediately after my last post and have gotten dramatic results with it. I find the fresnel creates a much more dramatic light than I had previously achieved using only softboxes. The lighting I get now is much more theatrical and works very well with my style. Bringing it close in gives a very harsh effect that requires burning in on the final print. Keeping the spotlight further back, and placing it immediately in front of a softbox, gives a much more nuanced effect. The light is particuarly useful when photographing portraits.
I picked up at B&H today a Speedotron 4.5 fresnel spotlight. I got it because I'm interested in recreating the lighting for early b&w Hollywood glamor portraiture, especially that of Hurrell. I thought that the 4.5 would be a good choice for me because my shooting space is rather small. Also, the 4.5 has a 2400w cable rather than a 4800w. I think the 4800w, even with the "isolate" switch thrown, would be too overpowering in such a small space.
When I had called Speedotron, at B&H's suggestion, to check availablility, I found out that the 4.5 is being discontinued. It seems the 4.5 is built on a Lowel 650 chassis which Lowel has already stopped making. Speedotron only has a few left in stock.
Finally, great customer service by both B&H and Speedotron.
This past week, I experimented with split toning Slavich paper sepia/blue. I found that the Bromportrait 80 glossy embossed "silk" surface (above) sepia tones beautifully but does not hold enough of the blue to make use of that color practical. On the other hand, Unibrom 160 matte surface split tones very well, often more subtly than in the example shown below.
I started printing today for the first time since summer began. I tried Slavich Unibrom, which is available with a dead matte surface, and got great results. The only drawback is that paper is very slow and so would be difficult to use with infrared negatives. Today, I printed Bergger 200 negatives. Tomorrow, I will try the same paper, but with a silk surface, to print the nudes I did with Angela; those photos were also shot on Bergger 200. Then I want to experiment with split toning both papers sepia/blue. Both papers are available from Freestyle in LA.
Using a soft focus filter under enlarger lens
The most important thing to remember about using a soft focus filter under enlarger lens is that it has the opposite effect of a soft focus filter over a camera lens. When the filter is over the camera lens and exposing the negative, the highlights bleed into the shadows . When the filter is over the enlarger lens and exposing the postive, the shadows bleed into the highlights, visually more pleasing, to me at least.
I photographed my friend and great model Li this past weekend. I have worked with Li for years. She has always been totally professional, as well as beautiful and creative.
I shot six digital exposures of Li on my DX200 as "polaroids," that is, to check the lighting and exposure before shooting the b&w film. There's only a one-stop difference in metering between the digital and the film.
The previous weekend, I photographed with Angela, a very professional and reliable fine arts model from the East Village. Again, I only shot a few digital exposures before continuing with Bergger 200 b&w film.