The Portrait

The formal portrait study, it will get you everytime.

So these were taken with an 8 by 10 view camera, for those of you who are new to the area of photography this camera is massive. It's essentially the height and width of an 8 by 10 inch sheet of paper, while it can be as deep as 3 feet. Just moving this camera takes concentration and a good deal of effort. The focal length is very shallow and since I was shooting portraits I had to be set at an f11 or f16, thus decreasing the depth of field more.

I used a dyna light kit which has two strob heads, and can fire up to 1000 watts at a time. It's bright but not as powerful as other light kits. I enjoy working with this lighting system, since it's small and can easily be carried on and off of set. These being the first chromes that I had ever shot, I was really meticulous with my light readings.

I have printed two of these to 4 feet by 5 feet, and there is still no evidence of grain, exciting.

My friends are always generous, when it comes to sitting in for me. So thank you Jill, Kerry, Mary, and Sara.

So These are some old pieces that I have done. These were from last year, when i just began this industrial themed project. I was using a Hasselblad medium format camera, and shooting with both Kodak 160 NC and VC film. I was dealing with the compositions and the color relations that were being formed by these large industrial land scapes.

Shooting in these locations was always interesting. I was constantly finding my way into strange surreal places, most of them never seemed to safe. It's interesting how much safer I feel when i position myself behind a camera. The place at which I took the photographs of the salt mines, was about a 2 hour bike ride from my apartment, and it was about 30 degrees out, good times.

Any way here are just a few samples from this large body of industrial landscapes.