Contents of ‘Blog’
Be sure to check out the current Henisch Collection exhibit in the library, and if you’re in the area this afternoon head over for the gallery talk at 4:30.
One of the images in the exhibit is from my collection. I bought it as a glass negative in Lewisburg a while ago – on closer inspection I noticed that the photographer was a woman!
I built Allergen four years ago. I rebuilt it twice. I never took a picture with it. This is the first test shot.
Niiiiiice.
This weekend I bought a bit of a junker lens. It was fairly old, pretty tarnished, and was held together with low-temperature solder. That’s right, big ugly chunks of the soft silvery stuff gooing off of the housing and holding a flange that looked a bit like a oft-kicked trumpet. I didn’t even bother taking a picture of it.
Some torchwork, tapping, sandpaper, and alcohol and it looks downright purty 
.
I have been working on improving my 4×5 camera, Allergen for use in a potential tintype project about tailgating, a tradition that I do not understand. I originally built the camera almost four years ago after having minimal experience with 4×5 cameras in a daguerreotyping workshop. Since then I have come to understand that my solution for focusing and carrying the camera were very inefficient, and difficult to use with any accuracy. I have removed most of the monorail focusing capabilities, and added a 19th century brass-barreled lens with rack and pinion focusing. I replaced the monorail with a block of padauk, and have added brass spacers between the standards to prevent camera shake. The front and back are still able to tilt, but swing, rise, and fall have been disabled.
Because I am allergic to the wood it’s made of, I tried to minimize my exposure to the sawdust. When working with the leopardwood I wet the material so it’d make a paste rather than sawdust. I’ve had a minor reaction, but nothing nearly as bad as my initial reaction when I found out I was allergic to these woods.
* When will all of the photos be online?
Most of them already are online. Some of the rapids take longer to go through; I expect them to be up by June 24th. In the meantime, feel free to browse the last four years. Also please take a look at Laura’s blog, www.artcraftlifebydesign.com. She will be making a post with photos from the sojourn.
* I paid to go on the sojourn, and you want me to pay for photos. Why do I have to pay for downloads and prints? Why do they cost this much?
As glamorous as the title may sound, the position of “trip photographer” is unpaid. I get a trip from the organizing group in exchange for use of my images. All money I make is through print and download sales.
* Why aren’t you offering CDs/DVDs anymore?
I offered CDs and DVDs when I started photographing these trips, and I learned a lot of things doing so. When I offered them I spent huge amounts of time burning CDs, printing labels, shipping CDs, answering questions about printing, troubleshooting problems with CDs not being read, and all kinds of other things I enjoy far less than photographing. I now use smugmug, which offers professional printing services and excellent customer service. They do what they do best; I do what I do best.
* What is the difference between the different download sizes? Why are they different prices?
I offer downloads in three different sizes, and those different sizes are good for different things.
Low resolution downloads are fine for sharing online or making small (4×6″) prints. 4 megapixel downloads are more for desktop wallpapers and 8×10″ prints. This year I am photographing with a 21 megapixel camera; that’s the full-resolution download. I regularly make 40×60″ prints with the full resolution files, so you can use those files to make large prints.
Big files are also good because you can crop them. If you get a file size that is good for 4×6 prints and you want to crop it, you won’t be able to make the full-sized 4×6 print.
* So if I bought a file for 4×6 printing I could make as many of them as I want? Why would I want to order prints through the website?
When you order prints through the website I individually review each order to check color, cropping, and make any other relevant changes. You can also crop photos you order, and the website processes them from the full 21-megapixel images. Essentially, prints you order through the website have a higher level of support from me and my printer, and a greater chance to end up high-quality photographs. If you want to save some money and have prints made elsewhere, you are welcome to purchase files.
It has been a while since I’ve posted here, and I have a ton of things going on. Here’s a brief rundown :
That’s not nearly all, but I’m going to try to be better about updating. Promise.
Friday morning I was on the film crew covering the master class that Eileen Ivers taught at Penn State (as well as shooting a short interview for the E-learning Institute). After a brief conversation about trying to see her play many years ago at a PA Ren Faire Celtic Fling (their irish/celtic music festival), she asked me to cover the night’s performance for her. Here are some of my favorites* :
For the photo geeks among you, these are all shot at ISO 3200-4000, f2.8.
* sorry for the funky borders – I’m halfway through writing a new action to add my information to the bottom of images, so it’s still a bit rough around the edges
These are four of the six one-of-a-kind posters that I’m making to advertise our upcoming wet plate workshop. The plan is to print each of them out life-sized, then actually attach the real wet plate with the information about the workshop where it is in the photo. At some point I expect most of the plates to be stolen, so the photo will still have the “plate” with the important information once the actual tintypes are gone.
