The Photography of Neil KestersonPhotos, comments, information, and anything to do with photographyPolaroid Set 2
Using my "new" Polaroid Automatic 450 with Fuji 100c pack film. Along Military Pike in Fayette County, KY. The second picture is being used in a documentary I'm producing. The shot calls for a classic and timeless America.
Evening at Ashland
An evening at Ashland, Henry Clay Estate, Lexington, KY. All shot on a Bronica ETRS using Kodak Ektar 100 film.
Camp Nelson
Three shots from a trip to Camp Nelson, Jessamine County, KY. All shot on my Bronica ETRS, 6 x 4.5 medium format camera. My fav is the two flags. Shot just as the sun was starting to sink below the horizon. The polarizer (at 90 degrees from the sun) made the flags really pop out of the darkened blue sky. You can see the flags' shadows in the last picture (which was actually shot before the flag picture.
Hamilton Prop
Another shot from the Agfa Isolette III. This one was the first time I realized the rangefinder focus was off. I looked down to see what the rangefinder said, and didn't believe the"20 feet" it told me. I paced off the plane just in case and used zone focusing. The single-layer coating on the triplett lens, combined with the bright cloudy sun overhead, contributed to the washed out look. This is actually a quasi-HDR shot. I scanned it at about 3 stops difference, merging them in Photoshop. When this Apotar lens isn't challenged with stray light, I think it's pretty darn good.
Jet 59
Taken on an Agfa Isolette III, a 6x6 medium format folder uncoupled rangefinder from the mid 1950's. I had to rebuild parts of it. The rangefinder was totally frozen, as was the focus. Both were due to the grease hardening up into a stiff green substance. While in there, I cleaned the shutter mechanism. I took the folder along with me to the Dayton Air Show this summer to shoot the first roll. It was while shooting that I discovered that the rangefinder was misaligned. So...I shot it old-style: zone focus. I stopped down to about f11 and metered the scene (trusting the shutter to be accurate). Voila! It worked! After I got back I adjusted the rangefinder easily. An "uncoupled" rangefinder is one that has a non-connected rangefinder on top of the camera. You focus the rangefinder, look at the distance setting, then adjust the lens focus to that number. A little bit extra work, but it allows you to shoot more accurately than without a rangefinder. And if you're a fan of bokeh, you can focus less than 3 feet (1 meter) with this camera as well with more wide-open aperture to get dreamy, out-of-focus backgrounds. A non-rangefinder folder would be harder to control, because you're usually shooting more stopped down (f8-f22) to ensure your subject is in the plane of focus. Therefore, everything from about 6 feet to infinity is in relative focus. These usually make boring shots. I know this camera needs a lens shade as it's an average triplet lens. I don't know if it's coated or not, probably only one layer, because I can see a little bit of purple dull reflection. All in all though, the f4 85mm Apotar is not too bad. I'm curious to see what it can do once I fit a decent lens shade to it.
Viva Polaroid!I replaced my Polaroid Automatic 210 (which replaced my J66) with an automatic 450. Not an ordinary Polaroid camera. It has a Zeiss-Ikon glass lens and rangefinder. Using Fuji 100c pack film, I'm back in business. (I've got a pack of 100 B&W in the frig waiting, probably for winter shots. Those produce a B&W paper negative that can be scanned and reversed for great moody B&W shots.) I think the focus is a bit off on the rangefinder, so I'll align that later. I'm going to try a new process with these - bleached negatives. I saved the peel-away negatives for most of my shots. Later, I'll tape them onto a glass plate and bleach the processing chemicals off revealing a negative that I can scan. The negative will be thinner and have muted colors compared with a traditional color negative. However, from scans I've seen from other folks, these are sharper with wonderful pastel colors. I'm stoked to see what these reveal. These shots were taken at Camp Nelson Cvil War historic site in Jessamine County, KY.The Nikon F StoryInteresting video about how the Nikon F came to be. It explains how the design and engineering went hand in hand, including the triangle that influences every F camera since (the red triangle logo). Be sure to watch both parts and in full screen mode. Sweet Ray Laurel Session #4
Matt on keyboards in the studio.
The goofy "ghost" picture was a happy accident. Mara's annual picture at the Cemetery
We've been taking her picture in the same place for 19 years now - at the mausoleum in Lexington Cemetery. The tree is still there, but they've moved the park bench that she used to sit on to somewhere else. The year after they moved it, I moved it back to take the picture and forgot to put it back. The next year it was chained the to other tree. I guess I'm a vandal. Other changes: they built the mausoleum out, encroaching on the space I used to set up my camera (I've since changed angles); and the field behind Mara in these pictures used to be an apple orchard (in city limits!) and is now more cemetery land. The thing that hasn't changed is the peacefulness of the place.
Gray's Arch, Red River Gorge, Kentucky
Lugged the medium format camera up (and down) to Gray's Arch this summer. Trying out Ilford Delta 100 film. It's been years since I last used it, and it's everything I remember it to be. I remember switching to Kodak T-Max films because the Ilford was hard to get in those days. Plus, I'll always be a sucker for T-grain films, so it was a natural fit if Ilford wasn't available. I've predominately shot Kodak black-and-whites since the 70's. Mostly because that's what the local newspaper and high school bought (I was a photojournalist for both throughout high school). But I remember one the stringers (free lance photogs) like to use Ilford. I was captivated by the rich detail, and admittedly a little by the fact they were produced in the U.K. These days with the internet and all, it's quite easy to get the film, and I'm glad for that. The film base seems a little thinner than Kodak, but I've noticed it doesn't seem to attract as much dust. These negs required little to no touch up. If I ever get my darkroom up and running, these will be a good candidate for wet printing, on Ilford paper of course.
Unjoined Rocks. Red River Gorge, Kentucky. (Bronica ETRS, Ilford Delta 100, Ilfosol 1:4) S-Curve. Red River Gorge, Kentucky. (Bronica ETRS, Ilford Delta 100, Ilfosol 1:4) Angled Rocks. Red River Gorge, Kentucky. (Bronica ETRS, Ilford Delta 100, Ilfosol 1:4) Gray's Arch. Red River Gorge, Kentucky. (Bronica ETRS, Ilford Delta 100, Ilfosol 1:4) |
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