Light and Shadow (Film on a Friday)
I started out with my roll of Fuji Neopan 400 (a black and white film) in my film camera at a bit of a loss as to what to do.
Now, that's not to say that I'm uncomfortable with black and white. On the contrary, I love it. Black and white calms things down, filters out distractions, and makes a moment feel timeless.
It's elegant.
But choosing which color digital photograph to make black and white is not the same thing as visualizing a picture that has to be all in shades of gray.
I worried about my subjects, about contrast, about blown highlights and blocked shadows and everything being the same shade of dull gray . . . . I made a hobby out of worrying. And the roll of 36 exposures seemed to stretch out in front of me forever. I was always going to have that dang roll of black and white film that I didn't know what to do with in the camera.
But I thought of a few tricks. One of them being, patterns of light and shadow. That always looks good in black and white, right?
And I think it kind of worked out. I don't love all of them, and I feel kind of like I'm missing the midtones, but I am happy with the feel of the images.
I also purposely kept a 35mm lens on the camera the whole time, as another constraint for my creativity. Mostly I think it was a good idea, but the types of scenes I envisioned with a 35mm (bustling street scenes, moody portrait shots), for most of these I was too unsure about the result to go ahead and take the picture. So I don't know if the focal length was the right call after all.
Anyway, if you had a roll of black and white in the camera, what would you take photographs of?
Now, that's not to say that I'm uncomfortable with black and white. On the contrary, I love it. Black and white calms things down, filters out distractions, and makes a moment feel timeless.
It's elegant.
But choosing which color digital photograph to make black and white is not the same thing as visualizing a picture that has to be all in shades of gray.
I worried about my subjects, about contrast, about blown highlights and blocked shadows and everything being the same shade of dull gray . . . . I made a hobby out of worrying. And the roll of 36 exposures seemed to stretch out in front of me forever. I was always going to have that dang roll of black and white film that I didn't know what to do with in the camera.
But I thought of a few tricks. One of them being, patterns of light and shadow. That always looks good in black and white, right?
And I think it kind of worked out. I don't love all of them, and I feel kind of like I'm missing the midtones, but I am happy with the feel of the images.
I also purposely kept a 35mm lens on the camera the whole time, as another constraint for my creativity. Mostly I think it was a good idea, but the types of scenes I envisioned with a 35mm (bustling street scenes, moody portrait shots), for most of these I was too unsure about the result to go ahead and take the picture. So I don't know if the focal length was the right call after all.
Anyway, if you had a roll of black and white in the camera, what would you take photographs of?
On Film
So my first roll of black and white film was really hard to shoot. It was hard to figure out what the heck to take pictures of, and really hard for me to visualize what they would look like without knowing the nature of the particular film (Fuji Neopan 400) and its peccadilloes.
Still, this is the first photo of the roll, and I think it turned out pretty well! Marin has beautiful eyes (she's been compared to a young Jodie Foster, and I agree).
I'll show you some more from the roll later this week, and talk about what worked for me, and what didn't.
Do We Look Like Zombies in Our Passport Photos?
You can be honest. I won't mind.
(Just following the passport photo guidelines, which you can find here. Evan and I opted to take our own. I wish they'd get rid of the "neutral expression" requirement - it makes it very hard to take a flattering photo.)
More from the San Francisco ACC!
What with getting married and all the hoopla surrounding it, I took a few weeks off from photographing at the shelter.
I went back last week, and boy was it great to be back.
I love those cats! All of them are so sweet, and even when we're herding them around on the white paper background, they're pretty patient.
This one's Perseus. Check out those blue eyes!
And this is Chico, who loved having his chin scratched.
This love bundle is Ness. Really playful, with gorgeous yellow eyes and a cute little half-tail.
This is Ace, who was very friendly but refused to leave his kennel. He knew what he wanted, and that was to stay put. Plus a warm lap.
I also got the chance to photograph my first parakeets, Harry and Holly. They were certainly a challenge! They flew all around the cage, never perching where I wanted them to.
And then of course there were the kittens, who were heart-meltingly cute.
This is Cosmo, who was a sweetie but a bit shy.
And this is Carolina who completely got into chasing the toys. Black cats, kittens as well, always take the longest to adopt out. I can never quite figure out why, they're so dapper looking.
Ellis was our last kitten, with the cutest little sleepy eyes. He started out a bit shy but then he warmed up. Here he is with Christina, having a little powwow before the shoot.
Kitten belly!
Find all of them and more cute adoptable animals on Animal Care and Control's website.
I went back last week, and boy was it great to be back.
I love those cats! All of them are so sweet, and even when we're herding them around on the white paper background, they're pretty patient.
This one's Perseus. Check out those blue eyes!
And this is Chico, who loved having his chin scratched.
This love bundle is Ness. Really playful, with gorgeous yellow eyes and a cute little half-tail.
This is Ace, who was very friendly but refused to leave his kennel. He knew what he wanted, and that was to stay put. Plus a warm lap.
I also got the chance to photograph my first parakeets, Harry and Holly. They were certainly a challenge! They flew all around the cage, never perching where I wanted them to.
And then of course there were the kittens, who were heart-meltingly cute.
This is Cosmo, who was a sweetie but a bit shy.
And this is Carolina who completely got into chasing the toys. Black cats, kittens as well, always take the longest to adopt out. I can never quite figure out why, they're so dapper looking.
Ellis was our last kitten, with the cutest little sleepy eyes. He started out a bit shy but then he warmed up. Here he is with Christina, having a little powwow before the shoot.
Kitten belly!
Find all of them and more cute adoptable animals on Animal Care and Control's website.
Random Flower Photos
No matter what I do, I can't seem to stop taking pictures of flowers. Yes, I know, everyone photographs them. All the time.
But when they look like these lilies, how can you resist?
Or these fuschias? (A flower particularly close to my heart, as we always had them in the yard when I was growing up.)
Heck, I don't even need flowers. Give me something green and I'm almost as happy.
So anyway, I'm just saying. Expect more flowers. Don't say I didn't warn you.
But when they look like these lilies, how can you resist?
Or these fuschias? (A flower particularly close to my heart, as we always had them in the yard when I was growing up.)
Heck, I don't even need flowers. Give me something green and I'm almost as happy.
So anyway, I'm just saying. Expect more flowers. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Shadows
I took this during our weekend in Chico. I love strong shadow shapes, but with the way the light generally is here in San Francisco (soft and diffuse) I rarely see them like this.
A Few From Today
I don't usually post these on the blog, but here are a few froma shoot I did today for a property on Turk. It was a lovely place!
They're Coming For Me
We walked past the bush on the Chico State campus, and I could smell it. Something delicious.
So I turned and looked, and saw a bush laden with gardenias. Heavy with them. Now I don't know about you, but that's not an everyday sight around here. I've seen a small gardenia bush (my mother has one, and she treasures every blossom). It was the largest group of gardenias I'd seen outside a wedding or a flower stall.
And they were gorgeous, and perfect, and did I mention? They smelled like heaven.
So, I did what any normal woman would do in the same situation. I lost my head (and my ethics!) and I stole a gardenia. And not just any gardenia, I found the most perfect,unblemished one to take with me.
It sat in my lap for the whole four hour drive back from Chico. Now it's in my kitchen, perfuming the room. Every time I walk in I take a deep breath. So, maybe it was wrong to pick the flower. But I don't regret it for an instant.
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