Last Night's Batch

[ksmattfish]

Here's some prints from last night's printing session. They were all taken on Arista BW 125 film, Speed Graphic w/150mm, tripod, no filters.

Moonflower

Taken this summer. This plant's flowers uncurl everynight at sunset. They look like giant, white morning glories.


Phog

This is Phog Allen, legendary college basketball coach. What I'm trying to get here is "Phog in the Fog". Unfortunately, the fog that was pea-soup thick 15 minutes before I got to the location is already fading fast by the time I got the pic. Oh well, try it again next time.


Rock City 1

Most of central and western Kansas was an ocean long, long ago. These are remains of ancient sea floors.

 

[doxx]

the moonflower is WOW! it jumps out of the screen... I can imagine how the print looks like :shock:

 

[MDowdey]

i agree with doxx, the moonflower is AWESOME!!!!!


md

 

[Chump]

The moonflower blows me away.

What are the specs you shot that with?

Steve

 

[ksmattfish]

The moonflower blows me away.

What are the specs you shot that with?

Steve

I didn't take notes at the time of the shot, but the flower bud doesn't start to uncurl until the sun is pretty much at the horizon, so the light was fading fast. Guessing I'd say f/16 ( because I rarely open up more than f/16 with the 150mm on the Speed Graphic) at 15sec+.

This plant is very interesting. The buds look like rolled up green cigars, they bloom at sunset and attract bees and moths all night, then when the sun rises the flowers wilt, and the next batch gets ready for sunset. The leaves are a dark green with tiny white fuzz and white ribs; they contrast nicely, and I didn't have to use a filter like with the Hostas. In the print the texture of the leaves and the flower is really nice. After the flowers fade they are replaced by thorny seed pods about the size of a plum. It is a member of the Datura family; supposedly eating the seeds will twist your mind well into next week. Oh, and the holes in this one are not typical; a caterpiller must have gotten to it while still rolled up.

 

[voodoocat]

It is a member of the Datura family; supposedly eating the seeds will twist your mind well into next week.

Datura is a horrible experience from everyone I have talked to that has done it. and anyone they knew who did it.
Solanaceae Datura
COMMON NAMES: Jimson Weed, Devil's Apple, Thorn Apple, Stinkweed, Mad Apple, Devil's Weed, Malpitte, Moonflower, Witch's Thimble. I've read Carlos Castaneda and it didn't have a horrible effect on him, but he also had a "guide" for the experience. A guy I worked at said his experience was quite frightening. Being chased by a evil female entity that pretty much told him not to use the drug ever again. Crazy hippy

Anyway, the shot is beautiful. Wish I could see the print.

 

[ksmattfish]

Datura is a horrible experience from everyone I have talked to that has done it. and anyone they knew who did it.
Solanaceae Datura
COMMON NAMES: Jimson Weed, Devil's Apple, Thorn Apple, Stinkweed, Mad Apple, Devil's Weed, Malpitte, Moonflower, Witch's Thimble. I've read Carlos Castaneda and it didn't have a horrible effect on him, but he also had a "guide" for the experience. A guy I worked at said his experience was quite frightening. Being chased by a evil female entity that pretty much told him not to use the drug ever again. Crazy hippy

Anyway, the shot is beautiful. Wish I could see the print.

I have heard the same. When I was younger I might have been interested in it's psycho-active properties, but these days I just appreciate the blooms.

 

[vonnagy]

wow, i missed this one. Thats really awesome!
thanks for the little lesson the 'medicinal uses' of the plant too

 

[craig]

Always a great job ksmattfish! Rich tones! The composition and lighting Immediately draw my eye to the subject of each frame. Was rock city also shot in color? That may be the way to go for that photo. Does the Speed Graphic have front lens movements? Have you ever tried hand held with a flash? I have always been intrigued by that camera.

Last summer we planted moonflowers that got close to 8' tall, but produced only a handful of flowers. With any kind of luck they will be even stronger this coming summer. If you get bored PM some tips.

 

[ksmattfish]

I have shot rock city in 35mm color. It is awesome; dark red, orange and beige rocks with bright green lichen. But I have to leave the color for my photog buddy Edward.

The Anniversary Speed Graphic that I have been using has front rise, shift and a drop bed that simulates a forward tilt (or a swing if the camera is on it's side). I did try some hand held flash photography with it. Both times I had problems with flash exposure and focus, but I think I would be able to do a better job these days.

Right now I have a used Super Graphic on the way. The Super has a pretty good range of front movements, and a top mounted rangefinder and focus guide. I'm excited about trying it out hand held.

The moonflowers will produce more blooms with more water. Deepsoak to encourage a deep tap root. This will mean less water will be needed later, and they will always come back in the spring from the taproot.

 

[craig]

With all due respect, do not tell me you shoot only BW.

Just great. Now I am really intrigued! How do you mean rangefinder focus? Certainly it is not split image like a traditional rangefinder? Does it have a hot shoe or do you need a particular Speed Graphic flash unit?

I will definitely try and soak those critters. Here in the high country water can become a scarce commodity fast. Not to mention the lack of "rich" soil, that is found in places like Kansas and Iowa

 

[ksmattfish]

I shoot BW pretty much 99%, unless asked to shoot color by a client.

On this particular Super Graphic there is an "uncoupled" split-image rangefinder. Uncoupled means that it is not hooked up to the focusing, but it can be used to determine distance, and then the focus is set. They don't always come with this.

All Supers have a focusing scale on top of the body though. All speed graphics have a focus scale on the rails, but it's small and hard to read in low light. Plus it's kind of out on the front of the camera. So the scale on top of the body is very convenient. One downside is that every different focal length lens has adifferent focus scale, so you have to aquire or make little metal cams that work for a particular focal length

Most Speed Graphics will take a Graflex flash, but of course they use weird old batteries and flash bulbs. Fortunately almost all LF lens/shutter combinations made after 1950 will have a standard PC sync, so you can use most modern electric flash units with a flash cord. I have a heavy duty flash bracket that I bought for my MF cameras, but it works well with the Speed Graphic too. A Speed Graphic in good condition will still have it's leather hand strap, but I like the bracket handle.

The light sabres from Star Wars were originally made out of old Speed Graphic flash units. If you ever see one you'll recognize Obi Wan's light sabre.

 

[ksmattfish]

Here's a few that I printed this morning. These are from my family vacation to Oceanside, Oregon.

Black Wall, Tillimook Co., OR

Hanging Wall, Tillimook Co., OR

Arista BW 125, Anniversary Speed Graphic w/150mm
trpod, no filter

scanned from 8x10 Ilford glossy FB

 

[craig]

Fantastic shots of OR. Maybe open the snow on the first one? The last time I shot BW was...was... Let's say more than 5 years ago. Color or BW? No one will ever win that argument. Maybe just shoot what film the situation would work best in? I do know that I should shoot more BW. Mostly because "it important to use all mediums in art". Plus (as you have demonstrated) nothing can match the tonal values of black and white film.

For future reference: If I post that I bought a Speed Graphic, please do not tell my wife.

 

[ksmattfish]

How I justify the Speed Graphic with the wife is I tell her I could have bought any other 4x5 field camera, which would have been at least three times as expensive.

I love BW for many reasons, but a big one for me is my home darkroom. I've done color printing, but it's more than I want to deal with at home. As soon as high quality digital finally settles into film camera price points I'm sure I'll start shooting more color.

And that's sand, not snow, in the first one.