This is just a rough draft of what this image will be.

I spent my Sunday catching up on scanning the requisite negs for four different Holgaramas. My preferred method is a flatbed scanner since it allows scanning beyond the edge of the frame. However static electricity causes the film strips to curl while on the glass, which then distorts the scans. So I opted for the use of anti-newton glass today to hold the film flat. However I wasn't paying enough attention and these scans were faced wrong in relation to specific surfaces of glass, etc, etc and hence they are riddled with Newton Rings. I have several past posts explaining my hate for Newton and his rings but I am not going to rehash that stuff. I decided to go ahead and start assembling them anyway, just as a proof of concept. I never know for sure if these Holgaramas will ultimately work til the scans get assembled.

I think my takeaway on this particular one is positive and worth the time to rescan the frames without rings in them.

But this is that draft version. There is an instinctual part of me that rejects sharing such images before they are finished. Guess it is the same feeling magicians have regarding explaining how the tricks are done. But there is another part of me that really appreciates any insight such a behind-the-curtains glimpse can offer. There are many reasons we share photos, or can choose to share photos, and wowing someone with a final result doesn't have to be the main purpose, even if it is a fun one.

Anyhow. Here is the draft. If you look close enough you'll see those aforementioned Newton Rings. Also my blending was lacking serious attention so the sky shows density variations that will get smoothed out in the final. Not to mention overall color and contrast corrections, spotting, etc. I think when this one is done it will make a fine addition to my Holgarama series. This was a tough spot to adequately capture without an extremely wide angle lens... or the use of composite images. Thank you Holga.

PS - I will try to make my next post the rescanned and properly finished version for comparison sake.

Holga 120FN
Kodak Portra 400

Tags:   Holga Faroe Islands Trælanípa Vágar holgarama film

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One of the days we visited Acadia National Park there was a higher than normal surf advisory in effect. This attracted many, including ourselves, that wanted to see some waves. I don't really remember the surf being all that tempestuous but the scenery was certainly beautiful.

Reality So Subtle 6x17
Kodak Ektar

Tags:   Reality So Subtle 6x17 Kodak Ektar Acadia National Park Acadia Maine New England film 6x17 lensless pinhole National Park

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I should be working through my most recent London images but here I am posting something from my 2012 visit. But that really incapsulates the informal relationship I have with my own photos. It is more common than not for an image I make to sit (or maybe rest might be a better verb) for years before getting out of the archives. Meanwhile my priority is generally to go visit a place like London again over spending significant time doing anything with the photos from the previous visit. I do enjoy making photos much more than doing much with photos that are already made. And I am ok with that.

Hasselblad 500C

Tags:   London The Eye Ferris Wheel UK United Kingdom England Britain Europe black & white Medium Format 6x6 film

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I was telling someone just last night about my experience of visiting these islands. I remarked that you can look up all the most spectacular places on the Faroe Islands and when you go they really are quite spectacular, but what you don't realize til you are there is that everywhere in between those places is also spectacular. It took me a couple days of driving around to really become acclimated to this. Every stretch of road was this amazing vista. There were times I felt like I could go nowhere at all and see everything I wanted.

Pentax 67
Cinestill 400D

Tags:   Pentax 67 Cinestill 400D Faroe Islands Kunoy

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The Faroe Islands have so many iconic spots but it was the all the quiet corners of the island that continue to resonate the most with me. There were so many places that I just pulled the car over and got out, completely alone with only the ever-present wind as a companion. I could stand along side a road and not see another car for long stretches of time, or go hike a trail and not come across another soul. It is the thing I keep coming back to from this trip - the solitude one finds here. And I found that so moving, especially when it comes to being in a place and present. You can forget about human dramas, both those of others and your own, and be a miniscule part of a beautiful place.

Anyway, this bend in the road is one of many such spots on the Faroes that I felt thus. I was driving through here to see the view of Risin og Kellingin (seen here in the distance) and stopped here for several minutes. It is weird to remark on the silence of this place because the wind was quite strong and never let up, but I guess I specifically mean silence from all the racket often generated by humanity. There were no cars, no trains, no planes, no people talking, no radios playing, even no sound of footsteps falling if I stood still, which I did a lot.

Pentax 67
Kodak Portra 160

Tags:   Pentax 67 Kodak Portra 160 Faroe Islands Eysturoy Eiði

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