My thoughts for the New Year? Continue to take care of myself physically, mentally and spiritually and avoid people and things that don’t add anything to my quality of life…which I graciously extend to you and yours throughout the New Year…
Tag: Hasselblad
Winter [indoors]
In winter, afternoon light can be very strong, very intense. From 13:00 to 15:30, I chase light and though I love winter, there are just some days when I sense a foolhardy notion to get outside. However, on those days, the sensible part of me says to chase the light indoors.
“It’s Hip to be Square”
With respect to Huey Lewis and the News for their song of the same title—and to rebels, romantics and nonconformists of my generation—photographers have long known of the practical beauty of a square image. It’s symmetrical and requires no effort to turn a camera to a vertical position, then back again to horizontal.
The square is neither in landscape nor portrait mode. It just is.
Dusk Spring
Decompression Area
The flexibility to stand or sit at my desk is very helpful to me, but there are days, moments, concerns et al, when I need to remind myself that, “If it doesn’t add to the quality of my life—or someone else’s—then jettison it.”
Spring part 3
Obsolete Film, Interesting Images
It doesn’t take a whole lot to keep me entertained. While on vacation I took some photos using outdated medium format film [120 Fuji NPH 400 color negative].
It is true that using film cameras can slow you down, but that’s not a bad thing if you want to slow things down a bit. Shooting medium format film—to me anyway—can be relaxing. I have to think, be immersed if you will, because everything is manually and mechanically accomplished: shutter speed, aperture, exposure, film advance, loading/unloading and so forth.
Call it nostalgia, but I get a lot of pleasure controlling my cameras versus having cameras control everything right up to when the shutter is pressed.
Using “obsolete” photo gear
Of late I’ve been using an “obsolete” system and getting some incredible results. To wit:
- Hasselblad 553 ELX
- Zeiss Sonnar 150mm f/4.0 CF
- Imacon Ixpress V16 digital back
- Imacon Image Bank [tethered hard drive to back]
This photo is an enlargement of the top left-hand corner. I was checking for focus and didn’t realize the scale of magnification I was using in post production. I was astounded to say the least. [click on photos to enlarge] Can you read what’s written on the Jersey barrier? Can you see the name of the front loader on the left? Notice the pile of stones to the right of the frame…
Untitled
As much as I do like shooting digital, I admit a soft spot for all things analog. My roots are in film photography so that has something to do with all of this fascination for the old. I hope film never goes away; wishful thinking, but such is the march of technology. For now, wherever I can find film—some reasonably priced—then I’ll fetch a couple of rolls or so. Outdated film is fair game as they produce a different feel altogether. I think we get too hung up on histograms and color balance so much so that we dampen our feelings for what photography can bring to us.
With winter’s short days, I get pulled into the boldness of both light and shadow. And when the weather is just uncooperative—really windy, extremely cold, etc.—I’ll get involved with film, a light meter, a medium format camera and sometimes a tripod.
Carlo Centeno 