Polaroid 250 Land Camera with Converted Lens

Music | Distractions by Zero 7

Great things can come out of shitty situations. I found what I thought was a very nice Polaroid 250 Land Camera, the one with a Zeiss view finder. I was pretty much guaranteed that the camera only needed a battery and I'd be good to go. Well, after getting it powered up, the shutter wasn't working properly. The issue was on the circuit board and well out of my reach to fix it. I did a little research and found I could convert the automatic camera into a fully manual one. I didn't have a lot of money for the project, but being patient on ebay, I found the combination lens and shutter I needed.

It was nice to see how another person was able to convert his 250 and go thru some trial and tribulations for me to follow. It certainly made the project go much quicker. Dremel tool, some grinders and sand paper, screw drivers and some patience was all that I needed. I probably spent a total of maybe 3 hours from start to finish.

I love this camera! The lens I got only had a max 125th shutter, but I can work with that. It opens up to f:4.7, much faster than the f:8.8 of the original lens. Seeing fall off on the Fuji 3000B prints is wonderful!!!


Polaroid 250 Land Camera with Tominon 127 mm f:4.7 lens conversion


Very first image captured by the converted Polaroid. Detail of Cain


Aimée
Having manual controls for this camera is fantastic. Since Fuji 3000B is the film of choice at this point (Fuji will stop making this film all together in the near future...), I can pretty much shoot in almost any lighting condition with the faster lens and various shutter speeds. I got a 39 - 49 step up ring for the lens and a polarizer which cuts light down -2 stops for sunny days.

Françoise Weeks

Music | Cult of Personality by Living Colour

It is great enough to have a muse or 2 to have available when inspiration hits. It is also great when a fellow artist spurs on inspiration and you create art together. I think I have worked with Françoise Weeks 4 times now. Each and every time, I know I have something to add to the special box of work that will speak over and over, loudly to an audience over a long period of time.

This last shoot we did was short notice. We usually have weeks and weeks in advance to think, decide and go over what the plan is going to be. Funny thing is, we usually keep to ourselves and allow the thought process to put it all together. At most, we come up with a theme, maybe mention a colour and go with that... Maybe a few pictures to pass on between us, then go! It is what I love most about working with Françoise. We allow each other the freedom because we know in the end, the result will be what it will be... It isn't to say we have no expectations, but we know the effort put into the arrangement will be interesting and sometimes beautiful.

Hence...






and from Françoise's blog...

Of Beauty and a Rant...

Music | Butterflies by Floetry

I'm all about wanting to capture Beauty. The idea of being able to seize in an image, something that pleasures the mind, to steer an emotion is quite powerful to me. I'm hoping to create not the romantic notion of where fads and pop music comes from. What comes easy certainly moves on easy. And with the vast number of photographic images being created on a daily basis, being able to create a lasting image seems to be more, less and less a priority. Our world is so into the now and not at all about history, which in fact is what photography is all about... Capturing a moment in time and keeping it there - holding on to history... In comparison to drawing and painting, photography is still nothing more than a fetus. I wonder what photography will be like 100 years from now?

With all of the photos we are taking now, making the mundane substantial, grabbing a created facial expression to convey... something, making reality more unrealistic, what direction does one go to photograph something of meaning? I know I get lost in snapping away with my camera phone. Taking a photo is now so accessible.

We all have a right to call what we do photography. Are the lines now blurred so much that snapshots and art no longer exist? I know I have my reasons to do what I do, some blurred and some more focused. I guess if I think too hard about it, I'll stop shooting all together. But like everyone else who shoots, I do so because I want to and in many ways, have to. My search for beauty continues on...


Cain with Floral Head Piece, courtesy of Françoise Weeks">

The Things that Make a Good Person... Be Honest, Humble and Patient

Music | Do I Love You because You are Beautiful by John Coltrane

The process keeps you honest. You have no choice but to be humble. Never have the attitude that things will go well, because soon, something will bite you on the ass and bring you back to reality. I've heard this story from others, and now I know and respect that sage opinion. Only patience will keep you sane and allow you to maybe figure out your problem.



I had to have my friend Brandon over, look over my issues and make quick recommendations. Could have been bad collodion, a lens where the flash did not sync along with other smaller issues. I worked with the extreme problems first and did a few quick tests. By the time Cain, my model came over, I was a little more confident I'd get a nice plate or 2.

This is what I love about Collodion. No fix all button, nothing to save your ass but your own devices, or friends in this case. As I shoot more, I'll hope to have the necessary knowledge to figure out issues that may arise. No matter how much you try and control your process, things will change and the process will need adjustment.

Tri X

Music | Who is He and What is He to You by Bill Withers

Every time I process a roll of film, I"m reminded how magical photography really is...

Black Coat

Music | Durian by Cinematic Orchestra

I've had this long black coat for maybe 15 years. It was a bit over sized for me when I first got it, but I've managed to fit quite nicely in it still. It is one of my favorite pieces of clothing I have and usually only where it on special occasions.

Earlier this year, I was out at North Light II Studio, thinking I could manage the 50º temps we were expecting that day. However, I didn't take into account the temperature in the shade, which ended up being significantly colder. I knew the length and the comfort of the Black Coat was just what my chilly subject needed as we were in between shots. Turns out she looked really good in it so I snapped a few photos, then snapped more. It turned into about a 10 minute session where I got quite a few nice photos...

During another shoot I had a few days later, I purposefully brought the Black Coat to use with another subject I was shooting. With each person that wore it, I told them to wear it anyway they wanted and to just go with the flow.

Here are 3 renditions of the Black Coat...

When the Ending Doesn't Have an End

Music | Induction by Broken Spindles

The exhibition that started this project has selected there artists and unfortunately, I was not a part of the show. Françoise and I had all ready decided we would try and shoot more of the head pieces to continue the project and here are 2 more.


click to view gallery

Though I didn't get into the exhibition with the wet plates, I have no regrets at all in pursuing this project. Having brought myself the opportunity to work with Françoise, Cain and Ray, I have a series of 3 great images to put into the portfolio. It has also initiated me to start printing again, which led me to a few print sales. Working with Ray, I found I may have the opportunity to share studio space where these images were created...

Getting into that exhibition would have been a nice ending to a journey that began when I saw the first show 3 years ago. Though January was when I found out about the Call for Artists, I took on what I thought would be a difficult uphill challenge just to see if I could accomplish something from start to finish. They say the destination is secondary to the journey and I've learned that is correct. I'm not one of the artists that will be in that show, but what I started a little more than a month ago, I'm still walking thru the trip.

Push

Music | Jericho by Weekend Players

Close to the middle of January, I found a Call to Artist for a show that will be exhibiting alternative forms of photography. It is the same show I saw 3 years ago which I appointed as one of the most important shows I had ever seen in Portland. My eyes were opened to the amazing technique of wet plates. It was at that point where my interest became focused.

Last year was really the first time I was able to explore the medium, which I still have not mastered. There are so many variables and so many things to comprehend in order to merely get an image on plate. Throughout last summer, I shot, but came no where near a plate I felt great about that stood up on its own.

With that in mind, I decided to go after this Call, short notice, lack of skills, lack of confidence... Inside my head, I knew I wanted to use this opportunity as a spring board, a new beginning to push me out of where I am into a different way of thinking.

Since the exhibit was about alternative photography, far removed from modern technology, I decided to not only use the wet plate as the medium to my images, but to use subject matter without any modern adornments. What would beauty look like without fashionable cloths, jewelry, material objects...?

I've been wanting to work with Françoise Weeks, one of Portland's premiere floral designers. I knew of her work and always thought I wanted to collaborate with her. This was the project. I was overjoyed that she wanted to meet with me to discuss the project and then work with me.

A muse of many years, Cain was the first person I thought of to be the subject of this project. I'm always assured at least one great image everytime we get together.

I know most of my hurdles from this project are my own mental blocks. Having looked back at this, from the perspective of one day passing since the shoot, I realize that just getting the wheels turning was the hardest part. My hours spent with Cain, Françoise and Ray, who let me use his studio was a ton of fun!

My main goal at this point is to keep moving and push my mental insecurities.

A beginning...

Music | Imhotep by Roy Campbell

Images from my all film shoot became reality today after processing 18 sheets of film. One by one, out of the reels the 4x5 sheets of film came off, into the last solution of chemicals before drying. There is a certain type of joy seeing images, even negs after having to wait for them. The instant gratification is gone, which tends to make me think I'm appreciating what I'm creating with even more gratification...

I'm still finding my way, and not to think I should even have a path at this point (I have to remember that). My mind is still clouded by this event. I imagine I'll be gathering my thoughts throughout the next few days, weeks, into my next shoot... I feel alive coming back... It has been around 10 years since I shot only film, processing my black and white images and printing... Running to and from the lab having my colour images processed... a decade ago...

I've written in a little journal/note pad a list of words that interests me...
-purity
-tradition
-history
-sincerity
-truth
I had in mind also photography and what was important to me - I think the culmination of those words circle my feelings of coming back to film. I'm obviously making the idea of shooting film again a rather monumental event in my life. Maybe, finally I am moving, reaching, yearning to allow photography and my passion for it to take me where I belong...

Anyway, not having a darkroom, I am scanning images and will be printing them with my ink jet printer until I move into yet another phase of photography that I have never before attempted. That will be another post a few months down the road...


Cain has become a muse of mine in the last several months. In her own right, she is also becoming quite a photographer herself...

Clarity

Music | Dawn by The Cinematic Orchestra

With the banter in my brain going from Large Format 4x5 and my 35mm digital SLR, I'm finding it surprising that these last 2 shoots came so easy for me with the resulting photographs very close to what I envisioned in my head. I've been working on shooting solo with Cain for over a year. As elusive as she has been, times where I just decided to give up and move on, somewhere in the back of my head I knew that whenever we got together, we'd come up with strong images in our eventual collaboration. I wouldn't call this shoot a commission, as I wanted to just as strongly want to photograph her as she wanted to be photographed by me. In any case, we got some very strong images in this loosely put together shoot...