The second shoot from this past Saturday for Bethany Gilbert was more an ice queen motif, so the cold weather and the snow left on the ground was an added bonus for the shoot. Naddya, our model for the ice queen was also a natural in front of the camera making for another enjoyable shoot.
You can view the entire set here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/axle81401/sets/72157626379019960/with/5570588841/
I once again had the honour of working with the very talented Sheridan student Bethany Gilbert for another portfolio shoot. This time working with Wedding makeup for a bride. The results were spectacular. I now realize what an amazing place Sheridan College’s SCAET building is to shoot in and work with strobist (off camera lighting using speedlights) techniques. The model, Christine was also wonderful to work with, she was a natural in front of the camera.
You can view the rest here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/axle81401/sets/72157626246169751/with/5567348473/
Taking advantage of a bright sunny day and a weekend in Niagara Falls I decided that it would be the perfect place to try out one of Kodak’s new Film Stocks (yes, Kodak has this year alone released two new film stocks). The film of choice is Kodak Portra 400 (Born out of the Portra 400NC and Portra 400VC stocks). I was very impressed with this film, the colours are spectacular, and the grain for a ISO-400 film is very fine. So what better place to test it out than the tourist trap that is Cliffton Hill. Filled with bright lights, flashing signs, buildings, and lots of people. Well the results speak for themselves.
(I had to end it with a photo of the Falls)
Next Week, is still using Portra 400 but in Medium Format.
Contax G2/Carl Zeiss Biogon 2,8/28 T*/Kodak Portra 400
Week Ten already! The start of week 10 was a wet one, but on the suggestion of the lovely and talented Sarah I took to the wet streets of Toronto. And despite smelling like a wet sheep afterwards (wool great coat) I had a blast!
Water on Glass
Reflected trees in Queen’s Park
St. Patrick Street. If you’re ever in this area, just one street up is McCaul, there is an excellent pub called Sin & Redemption.
The old Magazine over the head trick to try and stay dry.
No one is sitting here today
Bloor
And at the last my personal favourite from the roll, just a quick shot off the hip of this child in their rubber boots and umbrella over their face contemplating the grate.
Nikon F3 – AI-S Nikkor 105mm 1:2.5 – Aristia Premium (ISO-400)
Churches is the theme for week 9, and what better way to capture churches especially the big ones in Toronto by slapping on my 14-24mm lens onto my Nikon F4. I grabbed churches in Toronto, Milton, and one that was partly under restoration in Whitby!
St. James’ Anglican Cathedral – Toronto, ON
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church – Toronto, ON
Metropolitan United Church – Toronto, ON
St. Michael’s Roman Catholic Cathedral
Restoration Church – Whitby, ON
Knox Presbyterian Church – Milton, ON
Grace Anglican Church – Milton, ON
Nikon F4
AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm 1/2.8G/AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm 1:2.8G VR/AF Nikkkor 50mm 1:1.4D
Kodak Ektachrome E100GX (ISO-100)
There are probably a lot of people on here who have much longer and fonder memories of this magically slide film called Kodachrome. Kodak canceled the long running film in 2009 along with all support and additional products needed to run the K-14 process. Introduced in 1935 Kodachrome became the first commercially available colour films. It featured bright colours, and long lasting stability. The reason for this was at its very core Kodachrome was a black and white film, with each emulsion layer sensitive to a different colour. Then during the process the dyes were introduced and stuck to the layers to bring out the colours.
I came into Kodachrome far too late.
At the beginning of 2010 Dwayne’s Photo in Parsons, KS announced they would be continuing to process Kodachrome but only will accept orders for processing until December 31st, 2010. The Race was on. Having shot three rolls to this point, those three being major disappointments (poor storage), I went hunting on both Ebay and within the local photographer population and managed to secure myself six more rolls. Living in Canada meant that I had at least a month turn around for my photos.
These photos are from that last roll that I shot on December 18th, 2010. I went along King Street for the most part in Toronto, a street I hadn’t really explored that much with the camera. After I finished the roll, I mailed it off that same day.
This was the very last frame I shot, the building is the City of Toronto’s First Post Office (4th Post office for the City of York) it was shut down after the Rebellions in1837 when the postmaster was framed for aiding the anti-government rebels. It was restored and reopened in 1983 and serves both as a full service Post Office (I mailed the roll off that day from the post office to Dwayne’s) and a museum.
Contax G2 – Carl Zeiss Biogon 2,8/28 T* – Kodachrome 64 (KR)
For all my Kodachrome shots (Including the first failed rolls) you can visit my Last Days of Kodachrome set on Flickr
But fear not! As I mentioned previously, Kodachrome is at it’s core a black and white film, so several people have been experimenting with processing the film in normal b/w chemicals! The results, spectacular! So don’t ditch those spare rolls (if you have any) laying around! Sharp Photo does a good job as does Blue Moon Camera. (If you don’t want/need them, you can always send them to me…)
Over the family day long weekend myself a several friends took a trip out to the Ottawa area for a weekend of exploring and pubbing (which does really only require two nights in Smiths Falls, since there are only two good pubs in the town, the Kilt and Castle and the Rob Roy both are excellent). And well you who know me well knew that this week was coming, the theme for week 8 is Abandoned…(the truth is you’ll probably see this theme pop up a couple more times over the course of the year). The subject, is an abandoned prison, opened in 1949 and closed in 2004, it served most of its life as a low security prison where inmates would learn farming techniques, but then it switched to a medium security prison and the population was made up of mostly sex offenders and drug addicts. The only regret I have is using up most of the roll in the boring support buildings of the jail instead of the cell block.
Pentax 645/SMC Pentax A 645 35mm 1:3.5/Kodak Ektar 100