I apologize for the derth of posts over the last couple of weeks — I was away shooting at Bosque, and then preoccupied with work and holiday shopping. In any event, I’ve finally had a chance to start seriously editing the 5000+ images that I captured at Bosque Del Apache earlier this month. Based on my initial review, I’m pretty sure that the image above is my favorite from the trip — and I made it about ten minutes after I set up on my very first day. The rest of the trip was somewhat anticlimactic.
I have been hankering for a large format camera for quite some time (though admittedly, the precise reason for this desire is obscure, even to me). Something about the simple, low-tech hands-on nature of the beast appeals to me I guess.
Enter the Bulldog DIY camera kit from Camera Bellows in the UK. £151.57 (about $220 US), an assemble-it-yourself view camera kit made mostly of MDF. Add about five hours of applying glue and tightening screws, and voila, a usable large-format camera. Just add lens (likely to cost more than the camera) and some film holders.
Though the kit is not a lot less expensive than buying a used field camera on eBay, and MDF won’t look as nice as a cherrywood Tachihara, there is something appealing about building one’s camera. I just may order one of these kits.
Intentionally blurred images certain are in vogue this year. Master landscape photographer Alain Briot has posted a lovely portfolio of intentionally blurred images on his website. Though the technique is largely the same, it is interesting to note just how different Alain’s images are from William Neil’s images that I blogged about previously.
While I am on the subject of Alain Briot, I must say just how depressing (and motivating) it is to view his work (and to read his essays). Every time I think I’m getting better at photography, I view his portfolios or read his essays on the Luminious Landscape and realize just how much further I can progress as a photographer. Not to copy Briot’s images or his style, but rather to have the technical control and aesthetic sense to make images that reflect my style and vison as effectively as he does.
The following from the Online Photographer review of the new Nikon D700 got me thinking:
You digital people are so lucky. And what do I mean by “digital people”? Michael Reichmann mentioned, in the course of his new Panasonic G1 review, that he encounters photographers these days who never shot film. So do I. It’s an amazing if inevitable development in the hobby. Anyway, I often don’t think you digital people have any idea how lucky you are.
I am one of the people Mike is talking about. The only film camera I ever owned was a Kodak 110 Instamatic, and the last time I exposed some silver halide was in my father’s Minolta SLR. When I was eight. And I definitely feel lucky to have come to photography during the golden age of digital. But I wonder, what might I have missed?
It is something of a personal embarrassment that I live in close proximity to Colorado’s hordes of (largely tame) elk but don’t have many (read: any) great elk photos in my portfolio. Part of the problem is that elk are so common and are photographed so often that it’s difficult to make an original, captivating image of them. Just think of how many captivating pigeon images you’ve seen. Exactly.
Anyway, with my elk shortage in mind I made a quick trip to Rocky Mountain National Park on Sunday to make some elk images. The weather was awful — howling winds, and, eventually, heavy snow –and the light wasn’t that great either. Fortunately, I found a group of bulls that alternated between grazing and sparring. (I’m told this is the product of a second “false” elk rut?) In any event, I made at least one image that I’m happy to add to my portfolio:
