6x6 - The One Roll Series

I started a little project this weekend, where I drew up a variety of sometimes divisive or controversial topics on signs, and asked people to write their short opinions on them. I was really hoping for some more incendiary positions, but the closest I got to conflict was Scott's daughter calling me a clown. Check out what others had to say about my topics in the photos below.


Without the benefit of autocorrect, this was supposed to read "Coffee is... an aphrodisiac"








Small writing, but it says Jesus is... 'A Superstar'






Mr. T describes our Premier as he describes everything, "Notley is... A Fool"


Marriage is... never closing the washroom door






And Tubby demonstrates his disdain at how this entire project interferes with his feeding time.

These were taken yesterday as part of our "6x6 - One Roll Series" project, whereby we agreed to all shoot one roll of 6x6 120 format B&W film over the course of the day. All shot with the Hasselblad 500CM and 80mm Planar on Ilford HP5+ 400, souped in Ilfosol 3, 1+9 at 68 deg. F for 6:30. If you're interested in partaking in some of our film photography shenanigans, get in touch in the comments below.

A sucker for all things camera

And in another episode of "More proof that George is a SUCKER for all things camera", see exhibit 327: A vintage camera themed stationery holder. I don't actually need this, but that didn't stop me from spending 15 bucks on it (in USD too, so close to a million CDN at our current exchange rate). What do you think? Cool? Stupid? or maybe, 'where do I get me one of those?'...


In case you're a camera enslaved sheep like me, you can get your very own here.

Go Big or Go Home - Film Camera Snobbery

A group of us got together for some film camera geekery this morning, with the theme being BIG cameras. It turned into a little bit of an absurd "Mine's bigger than yours" display at our coffee shop table. It also reminded me of a conversation I had with Anita: she uses an iPhone 6 plus, so when she recently borrowed my smaller iPhone 6 to check something, she said "It's so small". ... I thought you said it was a good size?!

Anyways, I digress.



I ran a few sheets of Ilford HP3 film through my war era Speed Graphic camera, and despite the film being 60 years expired, it still processed with a good tonal range and contrast. With the advanced age, I shot them as if they were ISO 50, and stand developed in Rodinal 1:100 for an hour, using the taco method in a Paterson tank (4 sheets at once).








This would be a great group photo if only I didn't suck at getting stuff in focus.

Papercraft Nikon F

Check out this sweet new camera of mine (on the left). Another fine picture making machine... crafted entirely of fine polished paper and gluestick. Oh, and it doesn't actually take pictures. Marc sent me a papercraft kit for a Nikon F a long time ago, and I finally got around to putting it together.


Left: Papercraft Nikon F. Right: Nikon FE.


Left: Nikon FG. Mid: Papercraft Nikon F. Right: Nikon FE.






Details, right down to the strap lugs on the side.

Beer and Cameras? Okay, TAKE MY MONEY, DAMMIT!

Beer? Check. Camera? Check. Okay, TAKE MY MONEY, DAMMIT! This beer practically has my name written all over it. New Belgium Brewing has combined two of my vices into a 6-pack of irresistible temptation. They had me at the camera on the label, but then they went and brewed a delicious unfiltered wheat beer to go inside the bottles. New Belgium - 1. My Wallet - 0.







The camera featured on this label is a Kodak Instamatic 104, from the early 60's. I don't own one, but I feel like I need to now. Damn you, New Belgium Brewing!!!

_my name is George and I am addicted to cameras_

Hello my name is George and I am addicted to cameras. The first step in the path to recovery is admitting that you have a problem, right? Unfortunately, I've been stuck on this step for a while now.

We popped into The Camera Store this weekend, and they know me well enough to immediately point to a beautiful bulky Pentax 6x7 camera in their used gear counter. I already own one of these bad boys, but this one was listed for an insane fire sale price of $200. It would have been a crime not to buy it.

Anita's reaction was a not unwarranted eye roll, mostly because our conversation while heading to the store involved her predicting (correctly) that I would buy a camera, despite my pleas and reassurances that all I wanted was to 'look'.


Left: P6x7, 105mm f/2.4 lens, and NPC Polaroid back. Right: P6x7, 55mm f/4 wide angle lens.


These bricks are H-E-A-V-Y, and serve a dual purpose as blunt weapons in cases of need.

Photo Transfers - to Aluminum Foil?!

My third attempt at photo transfers, but this time to an unlikely medium: ALUMINUM FOIL! I wasn't confident this was actually going to work, but amazingly, household aluminum foil holds up quite well to the transfer process if you stretch it out taut over something. I got lazy, and just wrapped some foil around cut pieces of cardboard without bothering to make them nice and square. Not quite as nice as real Wet Plate/ Tin Types, but still pretty cool looking (much more so in person than via these photos).




Chernobyl (actually, Pripyat, but close enough).


Santiago


Ho Chi Minh


Paris

These photos are actually reversed, because I forgot to flip them before printing, so when transferred they are mirrored from what they originally look like.

Photo Transfers, Part Deux

These are my second attempts at photo transfers, this time onto 1" blocks of maple and pine. The images transferred much cleaner than my first try onto MDF, partly because I let them set for longer, but quite possibly also that wood is just a more suitable material?

Now if only I had some proper carpentry skills to cut the wood straight, and plane the edges down smooth…


Street scene from Prague. Transferred to 1" thick block of Maple.


Inception-esque double exposure of Marseille. Transferred to 1" thick block of Pine.





And the original photos:

Taken with a Holga on Kodak E100G slide film.


Taken with a Kiev 88CM on Ilford XP2 Super 400 B&W film.

Photo Transfers by George, First Editions

I've been looking into printing my photos onto alternative surfaces recently (metal, acrylic), but hadn't quite worked up the fiscal motivation to actually follow through ($$$$$). So when I discovered the cheap and magical process of DIY photo transfers, I quickly hit up Home Depot to pick up some MDF and a circular saw. And I didn't even hack off any of my fingers cutting the pieces down to size! WIN!

These are my first two photo transfers (first editions, yo!), from pictures taken in Chile and Portugal. Clearly, I don't have the quality down yet (the larger transfer is peeling), but I still really like the raw look and feel of photos on mdf. Next up, photos on beautiful grained wood.






And here are what the actual transfers look like, scanned in full resolution, alongside the original photos.

Tripping the Streets Fantastic - Exposure 2014 - Fluevog!

We went to check out the opening gala for Chris Tait and Julie Vincent's Tripping the Streets Fantastic: New York City, at the Peanut Gallery (downstairs, John Fluevog Store on Stephen Ave). A few of you likely know Chris as a former purveyor of photographic plunder at The Camera Store, and possibly as a talented street photographer with a penchant for getting punched (seriously, ask him about that time a peeing elf gave him a good knuckling).

Anyways, you should go check out their exhibition and see the interesting divergence that these two take stylistically as they showcase their street work from a recent trip to New York. Nice work!


Mr. Tait, obligingly posing beside some of his framed 'bathroom turned makeshift darkroom printed' photos.




Cody - Whiskey, Leicas, Guitars, Cigarettes, and general belligerence.










Jessica - Cody's sister. Has 'Kimchee Fried Rice' tattooed on her arm. In Korean. Awesome.




You know you're doing something right when you elicit this reaction.


This isn't what it looks like. Unless of course you think this looks like Cody jabbing his keys into the back of his Leica to unjam the film leader. Cause that's exactly what this is. Insane.ity.ishness.iance.ology. Yep.

And because we all know if I put a link to the website for the exhibition on the Exposure Calgary page, you'll be too lazy to actually click on it, here it is. I saved you the effort.

THE PEANUT GALLERY
Lower level, Fluevog
Tripping the Streets Fantastic:
New York
February 1 to March 30

New York City is the subject of the second year of Julie Vincent and Chris Tait’s five-year project looking at life and moments on the streets of big cities internationally.
Following on their 2013 London exhibition, Julie and Chris travelled to New York City in May, 2013. New York is a decidedly different city from London. The inhabitants of New York echo the bigger-than-life, loud, ebullient culture and history of their city, from its wild highs to its devastating lows, to its in-yourface approach to everything about itself. Join us for a walk through the streets and alleyways of one of the oldest cities in the U.S. New York City is the second in a series of four cities. Two other international cities will be presented in 2015 and 2016, with the artists’ presenting a retrospective of their work in 2017.
207 – 8th Avenue S.W., Calgary
T: 403-265-1970

OPENING: February 8, 5 – 7 p.m.
CLOSES: March 30