Dinner at the Mach Household/ Photographing the Pupils - Part XI

While we were preparing dinner last night, Anita whispered '...love you very much.' I smiled, and then turned to give her a kiss, only to discover she was talking about the frozen package of shrimp she was defrosting. I kid you not. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or be jealous that she was whispering romantic sweet nothings to a 1 pound frozen block of home-wrecking prawns, while I was clearly within earshot. Sigh... at least I know what to buy her for X-mas now.

Anyways, I taught my last photo class of the year the previous week, and a few of my students volunteered to sit for a set of portraits, shot with the Hasselblad 500CM on Ilford HP5+. It now seems appropriate for me to say that "I love these so much."

And if you're curious to see what the 'love you so much' prawns were used for, scroll to the bottom to see the clam and shrimp paella we feasted on.
















I call this: Home-wrecker Paella.

Photographing the Pupils - Part X

Last night my shoulder was screaming bloody murder, so I went to bed, in hopes of escaping the inexplicable pain. But the slightest movement trying to find a comfortable sleeping position would hurt, and then when I finally fell asleep, I'd have recurring nightmares of suffering from an injured shoulder, which would jolt me back awake... to more pain. DAMMIT JIM! Being 90 sucks. Someone prescribe me some powerful narcs, stat.

Anyways, here's my latest group of students that graciously sat for a quick portrait. Sadly, this is the first and only roll of film I've shot this year, thus far. Motivation and inspiration has been severely difficult to come by as of late. Shot with the Hasselblad + Zeiss Planar 80mm, on Kodak Tri-X 400. Souped in Ilfosol 3, 1+9 @ 68 deg. F for 7.5 min.

Photographing the Pupils, part IX

The day after flying home, we went straight back to work (to conserve our precious vacation time), and then I was teaching classes that same evening. You know that saying about being so familiar with something that you could do it in your sleep? Yeah, that was literally me that first class, as the jet lag set in.

These are portraits of my latest three students who sat for me.
















And me, taken by one of my students.

All photos taken with the Hasselblad 500CM and Planar 80mm f/2.8 on Kodak Tri-X 400. Developed in rodinal 1+24 for 7:00min at 68 deg. F.

Photographing the Pupils, part VIII

And here are the latest portraits of my victims... er, I mean, students. I just wrapped teaching a small DSLR class, and these folks patiently sat for me during break time for these film portraits, shot with the Rolleiflex 2.8E on Kodak Tri-X 400. Souped in rodinal at 68 deg. F for 7:00min. The negatives turned out grainy as all heck, but I love them. Some of my favourites to date, for sure.


This is probably one of my favourite portraits of a student I've ever taken. I love the stern expression.






Sadly the film advance crank wasn't cooperating, and I ended up partially double exposing this shot.

Photographing the Pupils, Part VII - A Party of Photography and Politics

A crony of my riding's PC MLA came by today to solicit my 'support' for them. All I wanted to do was shout obscenities at him, but I couldn't bring myself to even say anything impolite, and instead just asked him to move on. What's wrong with me? Talk about failing to seize the moment... But it pleases me to no end that Prentice got his ass handed to him during the leaders debate last week. If I were to write a tagline for what happened, it would read "Prentice, prick PC Premier, performs pompously; party polls poorly."

While teaching a class on Saturday, one of my students asked me what I thought of the debate. I was a little wary of how to answer this, because talking politics can either forge bonds from the hate for a common enemy, or ignite fireworks of righteous indignation and sour relationships. Luckily we were very much on the same page, and we all agreed that Prentice is an out of touch and arrogant expletive deleted. Haters unite! Get out and cast your ballot on May 5, and stick it to this cockface!

And here are my students from said class. Photos taken with the Hasselblad 500CM, on Ilford Delta 400 film. Souped in Rodinal 1+24, for 9:00min at 68 deg. F.














Note to students: pay attention to your composition - a shoot through umbrella should not be part of your final portrait.

Jet Lag and Photographing the Pupils, part VI

What a beautiful Sunday morning. Warm, sunny, and it's only NINE A.M. What a great way to start my week... Oh what?! Daylight Savings Time?! FAAACK, now I'm going to be jet lagged for like a week!

This is about the only time you'll ever catch me saying, "Boy I wish we were more like Saskatchewan." Saskatchewanianites like to claim the world revolves around them, hence they don't need to change clocks, but I think it's really because deep down, they're all a bunch of simpletons. :) Honestly, how else do you explain this Phenomenon?

Alas, the show must go on. May I present the latest in my ongoing Photographing the Pupils series of portraits. These students graciously agreed to sit for me during our class breaks, over a couple weeks… I love how they turned out.




















Me, as shot by one of my students.


I had one extra frame left on a roll, so I shot a quick snap of the school's security dude as well.

All photos shot with the Kiev 88CM and Arsat 80mm f/2.8 lens on Kodak T-Max 400. Dev'd in Rodinal 1:25 for 6:30min. This will likely be the last roll I shoot with this camera combo, as it requires some repairs, and I maaaay have added something new to my kit yesterday... :\

Selfie Sundays, and Photographing the Pupils - Part V

It's taken a week, but I've started to emerge from the thick cocoon of jet lag. Sorry, phishing telescammers, you had your chance to take advantage of me while I was lost in the fog of timezone disorientation. Too late now, that free cruise has sailed...

I had a couple of frames left on a roll of film to burn, so I shot a couple selfies with the same camera used to shoot the student portraits shown further below. Selfie Sundays!





Rather than ease myself back into the routine, I flew straight to Ottawa a day after coming home, and after a week of meetings, I flew back home to teach a DSLR course. Here are some portraits of my students, taken with the Kiev88 and Arsat 80mm f/2.8, on Kodak Tri-X. Developed in Rodinal 1+24, @ 68 deg. F for 7:00 min.