November 27th, 2007
While most people have found themselves deserting film for digital in the world of photography, there are some of us that are walking this path in reverse (some are even running.)
Digital photography has it’s benefits. It’s in the long run cheaper. No cost of film or processing. No need to go back and forth between home and the lab. For those that are DIYers, there’s no need to maintain the space and gear of your own darkroom which in turn leads to less exposure to chemicals. And the biggest plus for many is that you can experiment endlessly with processes and techniques once you own a copy of a program like Photoshop. You can always revert back to your original copy. And you can do this all very quickly.
Digital photography also has it’s down sides. You need a computer and lots of hard drive space. You need a backup drive for when your main drive dies (which it will.) And once you have a backup drive you need to remember to backup. And then there’s what really gets me. I like working with my hands. With my hands I feel like I have more control over the process, and it feels like more of an art than when I’m on a computer. I feel closer to it and like I have more of an influence on the outcome. In addition, I end up at a computer for most of the day anyway, so I really like to avoid it whenever possible when I’m not doing my day job. Oh yeah, and I love the darkness. That’s one reason I get such enjoyment out of taking night photography, and also the darkroom.
I’ve always gravitated towards certain types of art. Towards paintings and photographs with certain textures, tones and moods. As far as digital photography has come, it’s still not film to my senses. Some will argue that, but I’m not trying to start and argument or debate here. I’ve heard everything on both sides of the extremes. It’s not just the feeling of the result, the moodiness of the tones, the feeling of the film and paper in your hands, or the grain that comes with film photography that wins me over right now. It’s all of it. There’s definitely a place and time for digital photography for me, but it’s on a different day than when I’m looking to create the art I create when working with film.
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September 5th, 2007
I was down in southern Oregon at Lake of the Woods over the weekend camping during the meteor shower. We got up at 4am Saturday morning and headed over to the nearest meadow about 1/2 mile away. When we got there there was a couple leaning against their car watching the sky. We knew why they were there.
We got out of the car, I walked in the field a bit and looked up. The meteors were spectacular. The best way I can explain it is if you imagine your average shooting star and multiple everything about it by about 300. It’s brightness, intensity, the distance you see it travel, the length and brightness of its trail.
Although the shower was expected to peak at 4:50 or so, I think it peaked earlier. By about 4:30 we weren’t seeing many meteors. It’s okay, we had a good 10 minutes of amazement. The bummer is that I didn’t capture any meteors in any of my shots. I did however get these:
Posted in Digital, Night photos, Photos | 1 Comment »
August 30th, 2007
This was taken with a Canon 5D in February in National Park, New Zealand.
The manipulations are my first real attempt at making a photo inspired by the mood and style of the photography of Mark Tucker in Nashville.
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August 30th, 2007
What is non-photography you ask? Well, it’s some of the coolest photography out there. According to Nitsa, it requires:
no special gear (too heavy).
no instruction books (too boring).
no calculations (too calculated)
I’ve had this site open in my browser for over a week now. I can’t stop exploring it in search of more. The photos, the writings. Do yourself a favor and check out what Nitsa has going.
http://www.nonphotography.com/
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August 29th, 2007
For anybody out here in the “far west” get your alarm clocks and cameras ready:
Far-western states favored
On Saturday morning, September 1st, in the hour centered on about 11:37 UT, Earth should encounter the trail of dust released from Comet Kiess.
That moment (4:37 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time) favors the far-western parts of the United States, where the constellation Auriga will be about two-thirds up in the northeast sky around the time morning twilight begins. If you live in Portland, San Francisco or Los Angeles, you’ll be in perfect position to view the meteors.
More info/history here.
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August 29th, 2007
Copyright 2007 Mac Martine
This scene was found on my walk to lunch in NE Portland on the sidewalk in front of someone’s yard. Taken with a Holga.
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August 29th, 2007
A couple of nights ago we had the second lunar eclipse of the year. I threatened the following work day to stay up until 5a.m. to see it and to photograph it but I don’t have a lens that would have captured it well from where I am. Of course I didn’t get a lot of sleep because I wanted to make sure I saw it. I’m glad I drank tons of iced tea before bed so I had to get up and pee a lot throughout the night. I regret not just putting a pinhole, Holga and 5D on the roof when I saw the eclipse at about 2:35a.m. It was so beautiful. At the time it was just a sliver. When I saw it about an hour later the whole thing was orange. A little while later it was all black with the exception of the top left portion which was bright as can be.
Having not captured these views, I’m glad that Jan Klier did. Check out his great shots.
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August 28th, 2007
Here’s a shot taken on a a very cool old boat called the Hummingbird outside of Watch Hill, RI. This was taken with the Zero Image 6×9 taken in square in black and white.
Copyright 2007 Mac Martine
My favorite camera shop in the whole world, Blue Moon Camera and Machine have asked to include this in their customer show in December (in Portland, OR.) I got back 19 rolls of film all from Holgas & pinhole cameras that day so it was interesting knowing which one really stood out.
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August 27th, 2007
Fridge and piano in an abandoned house in Taumarunui, New Zealand. 2007.
Copyright 2007 Mac Martine
Posted in Abandoned, Photos | 1 Comment »
August 25th, 2007
Isn’t it beautiful? She made me get out of bed at 6:30am this morning and take it for a walk. Having gotten one earlier this month I’ve average over a roll a day with it. A love it when a camera not only captures the world in an emotional way, and is built like a rock, but is also fun to hold, look at and use. It can take 6×4, 6×6, 6×7 or 6×9. I’ve been doing some color 6×9′s but mostly b&w squares. I can’t believe this is my first pinhole. I can’t remember how I first heard of it, but once I did I keep staring at them on their website. Finally during one of my trips to Blue Moon Camera and Machine I asked about them. I asked the right person. Autumn told me she got one recently and has been shooting with it everyday since. She said everybody in their shop uses one. There was no going back at that point; I knew I had to get one. I’ve been into night photography for a long time, and I love it for many reasons and one of them is what you can capture with a long exposure. The effect and the mood it has. It preserves not only one moment in time, but a period of time into one frame. Each teeny tiny moment is squished into one long moment. Pinholes bring that to the daytime. I’ll definitely be exploring more pinholes but I have a feeling I’ll never stop carrying this one around.
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