High School Photography II

These are from a roll that was for a portrait assignment...

High School Revisited

My Canoscan 9000f flatbed/film scanner came in the mail late last week - I'll post a review and some comparison shots when I get a little more familiar with its functions and software.  So far I've been reading the manual and scanning a few older negative strips to get the feel for it.  I ended up searching my basement for more old photos where I found a folder with four sleeves of black and white negatives from my high school photography class.  High School Photography taught me how to use a SLR(my Minolta XG1) and really ignited my passion for photography -thank you Mr. Pierson.   

So far I've uploaded a roll I shot of some of my friends hanging out in the parking lot after school(waiting for the buses to leave). I decided not to clean up the scratches and watermarks in Photoshop - I just left them the way they were.  I'm so glad I found these - they're classics. I'm going to scan and upload some of my "artsy" high school stuff soon.

Firestone Morning

I always feel this need to photograph the landmarks around Akron - I think a big part of that is having witnessed the demise of many and never knowing which is the next one to go. This morning I decided to cross the iconic Firestone sign off my list. I found a parking lot on a hill across from it and shot it during the morning "magic hour". The light was perfect. I only wish I had a better lens at this focal length to use.

Tracks

This is a test shot for a 35mm film project I'm working on. I can't wait to post the digital version of the analog idea. Its coming soon.....

Hike

Mid-day Sun, early Spring chill - today on The Schumacher Trail.

Morning Glory

This morning I went for a sunrise walk around my neighborhood. It was quite cold and I only stopped to take a few shots. I really liked the sun flare in the above photo. In the below picture I liked the texture and shallow depth of field.

I also shot some film with my Minolta X-700 which I'll have posted soon. My new film scanner arrived today but I haven't had the chance to set it up yet. I'll post on that soon....

Reflections of Me

This morning when the sun came out from behind the clouds I shot this photo. I used an east facing window as my light source. I liked it because it looked like I took the time to set up and light it with my strobes. It was a 1/4 second exposure at f/4.5 and an ISO of 160(which I've recently discovered is the lowest noise ISO on my 7D). I used my kit lens to shoot this because my Sigma 10-20mm was sent back to NY for repairs - more on that soon....

St. Pat's on Film

On St. Patrick's Day I decided to shoot with my Nikon L35 AF and Fuji Super HQ 200 film. It was a fun camera to use and most of the shots came out pretty well. The film was expired - I bought 4 rolls of it for a buck at an estate sale. I did miss with the auto-focus a few times - unlike modern AF cameras there is no confirmation of the focus(no beep or anything). Most of the auto-exposures worked well too and I forced the flash up a few times for some pretty nice fill-flash(like on the small photo of Lindsey (left/bottom).

I'm glad I brought this - its much better than a few cell phone pics.

Failed Polaroids

I attempted to shoot my Polaroid 600 Plus film that had expired in 1992(as mentioned in this post) through a Land Camera 640. As you can see above the results weren't very stunning - unless you're into shades of brown I guess. Even though I didn't really expect the film to work it was still a bit disappointing. So it goes - I got the stuff virtually for free....

Spring Thinking

Ah yes - the second day of Spring. I got out my chair, took off my shoes, and read some 'Outdoor Photographer'. I know we still have some cold weather ahead of us - but today I decided to pretend like we don't....

South Light Portrait

From what I've read, early photography studios were built on the South side of streets with large north facing windows to take advantage of the soft northern light for portraiture(I believe this started pre-photography with painters). Laura was sitting on the couch tonight and I noticed the pretty light on her face - the sun doesn't shine in our northern windows this time of year so I made a 'South Light Portrait'.

Supermarket Sweep

Its been a busy weekend...so I had to combine two things - grocery shopping and a photo for this blog. That's Laura at Acme No. 1.

Sign of Life 2011

Every year I do this post when the flowers first appear in my yard. I write about how you can't understand the thrill of the first few jacket-less days and a few tiny flowers unless you put up with a Midwest Winter....so here it is again. Bring on the sun!

Happy St. Pat's

This photo is a few years old - I had to work all morning and now I'm off to celebrate - so no new photo this year.

I'm taking my Nikon L35 AF with me - its well built, has auto-focus, and didn't cost me much - if you catch my drift. Its supposed to be sharp too - at least one of us will be......

Close-Up at Cascade Locks

I've shot quite often at Cascade Locks so today I decided to try and get a bit of a different perspective and look. I mostly shot film with my Minolta X-700, but did take these few digital photos. I love this part of town....which is why I've shot here so often.

I remember shooting a roll of 35mm here with my Minolta XG1 not long before they put in the Towpath Trail and really changed the feel of the place. When I got it developed there was nothing on it - the foam had broken inside the film door and the roll was exposed. Soon after I bought my first DSLR and hadn't shot a roll of film again until recently....

Heavy Flow

This morning I decided to beat the rain and go for a hike at The Gorge. Over the last week I had seen some pretty cool photos of the First Energy Dam on the Summit County Metro Park's Facebook Page. With all the snow melt and rain the river has been running really fast and I wanted to shoot it for myself. I got some good photos and I would say its the most water I've ever seen flowing over the First Energy Dam.

A little history from Wikipedia:

"The FirstEnergy Dam was built by the Northern Ohio Traction & Light Co. in 1912 to serve the dual functions of generating hydropower for its local streetcar system and providing cooling-water storage for a coal-burning power plant; however, the hydropower operation was discontinued in 1958, and the coal-burning plant was decommissioned in 1991."

Not a Photo of Our New Tiki Bar

As any regular Zipper City reader knows I love going to estate sales with my beautiful girlfriend, Laura. My goal is usually to find cool, vintage cameras or anything old Akron. But yesterday we found something different that we had to have - a Tiki Bar. Yes, a Tiki Bar. My goal today was to take a really great photo of it with Laura and I sitting at it enjoying a cocktail - but I decided I wanted to get the whole thing set up before I did that(and we both had to work today).

Anyway - you'll have to enjoy this photo of Laura getting ready to slam a Roman Burger on our way back from the estate sale yesterday.

The Tiki Bar photo needs to be done justice....trust me, it will be.

No Matter What

Laura and I were walking the tracks to the grocery store and found this sign - and then this photo had to be taken.

Instant Revival

On Friday night a few friends and I went to Aperture in Tremont to check out the opening of 'Instant Revival'. The show featured Polaroids(and enlargements of Polaroids) from some of the area's best 'instant-analog' photographers. There was some really great work, really great beer, and in general a really great vibe. We had a lot of fun checking out the photos, mingling, and drinking. As I pulled out my Canon EOS 7D I wondered aloud if this camera was excepted in such an analog venue - of course it was - and I shot a bit of the sights...

Red Barns

With everything being completely covered in white today I thought it would be cool to hunt down some color. I started driving towards the valley and then thought about the two barns in Northampton that I have often passed. I've always wanted to shoot these and today they fit perfectly with my plans. I added lots of saturation and contrast in the above photo, but went for a more toned down, ol' timey look in the one below...

Bridge Stitch

I had Photoshop merge these four photos I took a few months ago in Valley View. I didn't shoot shots that were ideal for this - but I kinda like the weird, warped results anyways. I had never done a "stitch" before(besides old analogs ones(taping photos to foamcore board like a puzzle)) and I had always wanted to try it. Now I want to go out and do one with some better planning.

By the way - check out the large version of this - its still less than half the size of the original file(flickr wouldn't take the full size image).

Six-20 Brownie 'E'

This 1947 Kodak is the latest addition to my collection. Its pretty beat up but I got it at a flea market for only 5 bucks. It will never take another photo but it sure looks cool on my shelf...

Eye-Matic

I love these old 8mm movie cameras. I've picked up a few of them (really cheap) over the years at the thrift store. The things are built like tanks - every one I've bought still works like it is right out of the box. I believe film can still be bought for these but I haven't looked into shooting them for real - I don't have a projector(though I've seen those pretty cheap too).

New/Old Bracelet

Between work and some social engagements I didn't get much of a chance to shoot this weekend. The only shots I took were when Laura and I getting some food after going to estate sales and a flea market. In the above photo Laura is showing off here new-antique bracelet I bought her at the flea market - she bought me an old camera there(photo soon).

Friday Fun II

I never really stuck to my idea of posting a simple, "fun" photo on Friday with just a bit of text....but here it goes again. I took this photo of Crash sleeping in my sweater closet a few hours ago - and she is still there as I type this...

Morning Sunshine

This morning I got up early and headed out to catch some of that 'morning magic hour' glow. I had carefully packed my things last night(I knew I wouldn't remember everything in the morning) - my gloves and wallet in my jacket pocket ready to go, my Canon 7D and two favorite lenses, my Minolta X-700 loaded with Kodak Portra 160vc and three MD Rokkor lenses. I had picked out a spot in the Cuyahoga Valley that I thought would make for some great morning landscapes. So there I was driving through the valley, sipping my cup of coffee with my eyes glancing eastward to check on the rising sun. I turned to pull into the lot - it was closed, everything was closed. The Park had shut down everything because of the height of the river - my mind started racing as I started making random turns, "if I got up this early for nothing..." I drove past the glowing Covered Bridge, "been there done that", drove past the Cranz Barns - same deal. I ended up at O'Neil woods, "at least I haven't shot here in the morning," I told myself.

On the Stairs

I hadn't lit a self-portrait for a while so I decided to do one today. I think the stairs are one of the few areas of my apartment I hadn't yet used for a photo - so it was kinda the last frontier. I bounced a flash off the ceiling and used a slow shutter speed for for the lighting. The slow shutter speed also added a bit of motion blur to my arms and head which I liked.

On an unrelated note, I think I'm getting close to a decision on purchasing a film scanner - more on that tomorrow.

Minolta Gear, Polaroid Film, and The River

I scored all of the above Minolta gear at an estate sale on Saturday. The best thing about it was, beside the camera body, I didn't have any of the other stuff. One lens is a 28mm - now my widest lens for my Minolta's and another is a 50mm macro - my only macro lens. I got this all for $45 in a nice camera bag.

Also in the bag was this pack of Polaroid 600 Plus film. I'm debating what to do with it. Its expiration date is a very old 1992. I'm not sure yet if I'm going to attempt to shoot it, leave it as a sealed on display on my shelf, or attempt to sell it "as is". I think it is highly unlikely it will work - but you never know.