The Good Light - A Photography Diary

A good picture needs.......

noreply@blogger.com (Leon) — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 17:38:00 +0000

I just got back from an afternoon in the darkroom; listening to some hits from the 1970's. Today I found out that I'm really a "retro" kind of person...... . That doesn't mean that I promote love and peace or drive a 1974 Porsche 911 Turbo..... .

It's more that I found out that all you need to take a good picture are your eyes, your brains and a camera. Even a simple one will do. I happen to take all of my photographs with a mechanical camera without light meter. I use my brains to "meter" the light and it's quite accurate still...:-).

This means that I'm able to shoot faster when light changes and there's no need to point a light meter at my subjects.

When I come home I develop my negatives and print them with an enlarger from the 1950's!

60 years have passed since this was state of the art technology but it all still works like a charm.

This just goes to show that a good picture can be made without all the gizmo's and geeky stuff that you will find on today's digital cameras.

I would say that 90% of the options on these modern cameras are quite useless. Your best camera are your eyes and brain!

noreply@blogger.com (Leon) — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 15:31:00 +0000

I sometimes find myself looking for extraordinary or exotic subjects to photograpgh, when obvious/ simple subjects communicate the message in the same if not, a better way.

It's like the tourist visiting Rome and photographing all the sightseeings like the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, The Vatican etc., just to show that he/she was there....

I wanted to do the same but in a different way.... . This picture is very simple but I think it communicates the message in a stronger way.

I cropped this print a little but the original shows the typical Italian facade and stones of the building. Combined with the greeting cards, it leaves no questions as to where this was taken and at the same time it's not your obvious "hey we visited the Colosseum, look at us"- kind of tourist picture.

In printing this, it was really difficult to get good deep blacks in the iron postcard stand, so I had to do several exposures before I got it right...

Arriverderci!

My prints for sale: www.etsy.com/shop/fastfassie

noreply@blogger.com (Leon) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:31:00 +0000

I've decided to put my prints up for sale at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/fastfassie

René Burri and Che Guevara

noreply@blogger.com (Leon) — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 07:45:00 +0000

Sometimes I wish was born somewhere in the 1930's so I would have been in my twenties by the 1950's and I would have been able to be part of the birth of B&W photojournalism. Among my friends I would count Cartier Bresson, René Burri, Robert Doisneau, David Douglas Duncan......but the reality is that this is 2010, I'm in my thirties and all of these masters were already working when I was still part of the cosmos. So no chance. But that's why they are museums!

Yesterday I went to the kunsthal in Rotterdam to see an exhibition of Swiss photographer René Burri. The exhibition is called "Retrospective" and shows many of his most famous photographs made over a period of more than fifty years. Burri is famous for his portraits of famous people like Che Guevara, Richard Nixon, Alberto Giacometti and Pablo Picasso.

What I like about Burri's photographs is the human touch or the gentleness in his pictures if you like. Tragedies are not shown in a direct visual "in the face style". No dead bodies, no blood or misery is shown, as opposed to the pictures of people like Capa or even Salgado.

What remains is a gentle distance to his subjects, showing the world around them and letting the viewer interpret all that. I couldn't really find a specific style in his work but I guess his style is that he has no style, making his portfolio very diverse and attractive, both in colour and B&W.

This man definitely has the eye and his retrospective of work is no less than impressive imo. Go and find out for yourself if you have a chance!

Trapani - Processione dei Misteri

noreply@blogger.com (Leon) — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 21:37:00 +0000

I just got back from Trapani (Sicilly) and photographed the preparations for the "Processione dei Misteri"; a catholic religious procession in which the holy story is represented in a theatrical way. The procession takes place from holy friday through saturday and is visited by people from all over the world. I will upload some photographs asap.

Some Color please!

noreply@blogger.com (Leon) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:53:00 +0000

Right, some I'm back after many months of not posting here.... Shame on me! Another year's almost over and we're heading into 2010. So how's the year been for you in terms of photography?
At least my freezer is full of undeveloped film waiting to be developed and then printed in the darkroom. People often talk to me about the hassle of having a tradtional darkroom, the work that goes into developing, printing, developing, adjusting, prining again. Honestly, I don't care and I wouldn't want to change to digital photography at this stage. Working in a real darkroom is so much more fun than sitting in front of a screen imo. It's much more rewarding. In any case I added a picture I took in Germany some years back. It's in color, shot on Fuji slidefilm. The scan's not really good I think... .

I normally don't do a lot of color but for once I thought it was nice to conclude the year with. To your health and wish you a great 2010!

Here I am!

noreply@blogger.com (Leon) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:18:00 +0000

It's been a while but I was occupied with the important and serious things in life you sometimes don't want to spend time on. As you may have noticed, the finishing of my darkroom has been delayed but I'm quite sure that it will be finished by mid-spring this year and then I will be posting much more regularly and upload many prints. Keep coming back!

Peter the Great

noreply@blogger.com (Leon) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:13:00 +0000

In this picture you see Peter the Great watching out from a Rotterdam dock. He was born in 1672 and died in 1725. Peter was tsar of Russia from 1682 to 1725. I took this picture on Kodak Tri-x rated at 200 iso and developed in Rodinal, which gives the grain. I intentionally overdeveloped this picture which created the contrast and killed some of the detail in the highlights (especially in the water). I don't mind the grain. What do you think?

Statue and Palm

noreply@blogger.com (Leon) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 18:07:00 +0000

I took this one in Caltagirone, on a beautiful hot summer day. No thoughts behind this one really.... I liked the composition. This is a scan from the actual print I made in the darkroom. A bit of brown toning would do this picture good imo. What do you think?

Boys playing football

noreply@blogger.com (Leon) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:29:00 +0000

Sicily is fascinating. I haven't come across a better place to take photographs. The mystery, the romance, the ancient world...it just all falls into place perfectly. You only need to wait and good photographic oportunites can be found almost anywhere. I came across these boys in Palermo on a scorching morning. The sun was torturing me but these kids didn't seem to care. I think it's people that make a picture interesting and want to focus on photographing more people and less objects. The picture is a scan of the original print.

Tri-X, Rodinal and Ralph Gibson

noreply@blogger.com (Leon) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:03:00 +0000

I love the work of Ralph Gibson. The way he works with highlights and the way he lets shadows become an integral part of a picture is nothing short of amazing. In an attempt to figure out how he makes his highlights "shine" without bowing them, I did some research on the internet. It is said he develops or developed, most of his pictures at 20 degr. C for 11 minutes in Rodinal dilluted 1:25. That's what I did in this picture also. I like the grain, which is finer than I expected and even if the highlights are a bit blown (which I expected and accept) I like the overall tonality of this picture. I developed another roll earlier this week, using the same technique, but it has a lot more grain. I'm now trying to figure out how come. In the picture of the dog I did not agitate for the first 1.5 minutes which might have contributed to a better perceived sharpness. This picture is pretty sharp around the edges. So far I just love Tri-X in Rodinal.

I came across this chap (o wait, I think it's a she) in a shopping mall. Shot with the 35 mm Summicron at f/4.

TGIT !!!

noreply@blogger.com (Leon) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:54:00 +0000

That's right folks! TGIT!! Thank god it's thursday! Just one more day to go and we can say TGIF!! Here's some religous wind-down just before the weekend.

These pictures were taken in Berlin in the fall of 2006. It's the splendid interior of the Berlin Cathedral or Berliner Dom . The roots of this cathedral date back to 1465 and the cathedral, as it is now, was finally completed in 1905. The main altar dates from 1850. Inside it's a really impressive structure and I still wonder how human hands could have built all this... .

The pictures were shot on good old Kodak Tri-X 400, at iso 400 and souped in..... I have no idea! This is from before I started to develop my own film and I have no clue of what developer it was souped in. In any case; have a good weekend and don't drink too much ;-).

A Photographer's Dilemma

noreply@blogger.com (Leon) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:02:00 +0000

If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough. These were the famous words of war- photographer Robert Capa. Pretty easy right? Just move in closer, poke the camera into somebody's face, trip the shutter and you're done! Well....if only it was that easy. Unless you're shooting trees and plants, it can be somewhat difficult to put Capa's theory into practice. Many people do not want to be photographed from close range and then there are many photographers who don't have the guts to move in really close and I'm one of them, I have to admit. So what'a ya do? Well, you either shoot them when they are pratically dead, what Robert Capa did here OR (imagine the sound of drums in a circus before the canonball flight is peformed..) you shoot them when they are sleeping :-). That's what I did in this picture. This man was enjoying his siesta and I happened to be around with my camera. The lighting was pretty good and the original print shows a lot of texture and detail. This was shot with a 35 mm lens on (you guessed it right) Rollei Retro 100. Location: downtown Palermo, Sicilly.

Oh and by the way: I promised you to upload some recent shots... . Well I haven't had time to develop the film so I'll be posting them later.

Some more Sicilly

noreply@blogger.com (Leon) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 14:44:00 +0000

The picture you see here is actually a scan of the original wet print. This was printed on Ilford RC paper. Since I'm waiting until the real darkroom is ready, I had to revert to the old trick of blacking out the windows and putting my enlarger in a less than comfortable position. Anyway I think it worked out nicely. The print's got some nice tones and it wasn't at all a difficult print to make; I nailed the correct printing exposure rightaway. The story of this picture is that I was walking with my camera searching for subject matter, when I noticed this old abandoned Fiat 500. It was so old that I wonder if it could even be driven anymore. It was raining a little that day and you see the drops of water in the dust that's on the car. Maybe I should have cropped the picture in the camera a little more but that's up for debate. I thought I should print full frame. Picture was recorded on Rollei Retro 100, which is my favourite 100 iso film.

Print Service

noreply@blogger.com (Leon) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:13:00 +0000

I've decided to offer any of the pictures you see here for sale, in the form of beautifully handcrafted prints on either FB or RC paper. All prints will be printed with either the Leitz Valloy II or Focomat V35. This will ensure high quality and richly detailed prints. I'm now thinking of creating a special folder or post where more work will be available, but more on that later! To start with, the standard size will be 20 x 25 cm (or 8 x10 inch) other sizes on request. Shipping is worldwide and payments can be done through PayPal .

IMPORTANT: please note that the pictures shown on this blog have been scaled down to fit these pages and the quality of the print(s) you will receive will be many, many, many times superior to what is shown here. The pictures on this blog should be considered impressions of the real prints and....well it's like comparing a rusty old bike with the latest Ferrari 575 Maranello or.....deepfrozen cake to your grandma's apple pie, or yin to yang. The bottom line is; they're complete opposites.... (just in case....you know :-) ).

If you're interested, go to the Start Page and at the top (center) you will see a link with my e-mail address. Simply drop me a few (or a few more) lines and I will get back to you with a price quote. Forget about those inkjet prints!! This is proven technology! This is the real thing!!

Sending in the lens and here's another shot!

noreply@blogger.com (Leon) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:30:00 +0000

That title covers it all huh?! Not much to say tonight really. Oh yeah, I'm sending in the enlarger lens and here's another shot! On a serious note; I was contacted by Ken Ruth of PHOTOGRAPHY ON BALD MOUNTAIN and he offered me to repair the focotar at a good price. Much cheaper than the other self proclaimed specialists, so I'm sending my little Focotar over to California!

Then I have some undeveloped film which I will probably be developing this weekend and hopefully can show you some of the shots here soon.

The picture that comes with this post was taken in Courmayeur, high up in the Italian Alps. It's kind of a "postcard- shot" imo and I like the way the 35 mm Summicron lends itself to this kind of photographs; not too far and not too near. I once considered to sell my Summicron and buy a 50 mm and it's only now that I begin to appreciate the qualities of the 35 'cron. Picture was again taken on Rollei Retro 100 and I must have developed in Diafine.

Palermo

noreply@blogger.com (Leon) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:25:00 +0000

During my trip to Sicilly last summer, I came accross this man, sitting in front of the Palermo city hall, begging for money. The writing behind him says: "Without a job, without a house, without food. Mr. mayor help me". Pretty heartbreaking to see this in western Europe in 2007! I guess I could have taken a better picture had I come closer. I kept my distance however, out of respect for this man. Someone on photo.net commented on this picture: "The subject of the shot is the wonderful likeness of the head of the chap on the ground to that of the herm; which would have been better not cut by the frame". When I took this picture, I didn't even notice the relation between the head of the man and the head of the herm. That's why I cut off part of the herm's head while framing. Anyway, I'm quite satisfied with this picture; not because it's great but at least it tells something. Could it have been techically better? Oh yes! Again this was shot on Rollei retro 100 film, rated at 100 iso. I developed in Agfa Rodinal Special.

Villa Romana del Casale, Piazza Armeria, Sicilly

noreply@blogger.com (Leon) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 18:13:00 +0000

I was quite amazed to see this last summer. I knew the Romans were an advanced civilization and they did practice sports but did their women wear bikinis in 300 AD? You bet they did. Picture was taken on Rollei Retro 100; the lighting was not great.

New enlarger lens

noreply@blogger.com (Leon) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:51:00 +0000

I'm now in the process of finishing my very own darkroom and hopefully it will be fully operational by this summer. Through the last year I've been purchasing all the hardware needed and the last thing I will do to finish this "purchase cycle" is having a Focotar enlarging lens cla'd. I've been thinking of buying a Nikkor or Schneider lens but in the end the good reviews on the Focotar convinced me enough to keep it. I already sent it to Leica in Solms but they could not repair it since there were no more spare parts available. I will now most probably send it over to the States to have it cla'd. Hopefully it will re- gain some of its old glory. They say the modern enlarging lenses (Nikkors, APO- Rodagons) beat the Focotar hands down but I don't believe it.... . Even if they do, it will hardly be visible in my 20 x 25prints and by the way, why would a great lens of yesteryear all of a sudden not be good enough anymore? The technology of enlarging a photograph hasn't changed and I already made some superb prints with my second Focotar (yes, I have 2 :-) ). Scientifically, they could be right but photography is more an art than a science.... to me at least. To be continued!

Snow

noreply@blogger.com (Leon) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:34:00 +0000

Snow...what's better than having snow and a camera to record it? Since we don't have too many days of snow anymore, it's just great to take your chance when the white stuff is on the ground. That's what I did! Not sure if I really like this picture, it's a bit grainy and well, I should have shot it at 200 iso instead of 400 and maybe even develop a bit shorter. Nonetheless I have good memories of that saturday morning when I went out with the Leica. I will have to print this negative in the darkroom and see how it comes out. As you may have noticed, the scan is bad because blogger doesn't allow high resolution files to be uploaded. I also noticed a "snail trail" over the negative, probably caused by excessive use of photoflo. Who said that the road to succes was a rocky one?

Welcome to....me!

noreply@blogger.com (Leon) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:47:00 +0000

It's monday evening and this is my first post! It's my intention to post here regularly and keep myself and the world up to date on my thoughts on photography. Let's see what will come from it...