Fireworks | Jonny Clarke

I’ve always loved how fireworks stands come to life at night. Driving past them on the few days a year they are open, I find myself staring at them like a deer in headlights. The bright lights and colors just pop out of the darkness.

Being a fan of Todd Hido’s ‘House Hunting’ had inspired me to shoot buildings at night on the east side of Austin. I worked on medium format and loved the way those shots turned out, so I wanted to do something similar in this series. I had a good grasp on nighttime exposures from doing that too. 

I was hesitant to approach the first stand, and did so without my camera, there were no customers around so I couldn’t get away with just setting up my tripod and shooting. The owners were really cool and allowed me to photograph the stand and even a few portraits. Luckily, they knew a few owners of the other stands in the area so I approached those with a good reference.

After the first night and three locations, I ventured into a different part of town and shot three more the next night. I plan to shoot more in this series leading up to July 4th. 

For this series, I shot on Bronica SQ-Ai and a mix of Fuji 400H and Portra 400. The Bronica is great for long exposures; it has a mirror lock-up and I use a cable release to fire the leaf shutter which doesn’t allow for any camera shake. Shooting at F8 and using mirror lock up has given me the best results shooting at night. I wasn’t particular about what film I was going to use for this project, I just knew I wanted to shoot color.

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Film photographer Jonny Clarke is based in Austin, TX. See more of his work on his website, and connect with him on Instagram.

Thoughts on Large Format | AJ White

These are my current and updated thoughts on the Large Format Camera and its process.

The current camera I have is the Burke and James: Watson Field view 4x5 camera purchased from our resident Mad Scientist, Kelly-Shane Fuller. The camera itself came from a friend of his that was selling it.

I bought it on my trip up to Portland in Feb of 2017, when I went to visit Kelly-Shane for a weekend trip. The lens is a Zeiss ikon Jena 150 mm (15cm) f4.5 that was purchased from Blue Moon Camera. It took me almost two and a half years to get into wanting to use this camera. So glad I did! I will admit I was hesitant to use it, like all newbies learning a new craft..it gave me film sweats. I knew and really know now that it isn’t cheap to waste film...depending on what stock you use. But without trying and failing you don’t learn. Yes, I even loaded the film wrong after watching a few YouTube videos on how to load it. Plus I made many many mistakes with developing, and had some cheap film issues.

I am mainly working with 4x5 for now. The images that follow were all shot on a 4x5 camera made in 1940. That’s 80 years old folks. Funny story: the first time I used it when I got it back home. I was carrying it by its straps and one of them let loose. The camera hit the ground. Timed slowed down for me and I yelled a few expletives. Needless to say, the camera is fine. But I was freaking out; thankfully there was no one around when it happened. I was embarrassed.

Cavern Theater

Ilford HP5

Now keep in mind: these are my opinions and my opinions only. I do not know everything there is to know about working with large format at all. These are just my observations thus far.  

The cameras come in various sizes, makers, and configurations to be had by all, and especially for certain applications in the field that you may be in or want to go into. 

You may ask why I decided to delve into Large Format. Well, the reason is very simple. I needed more of a challenge for my creative side, more than Medium Format and 35 mm were giving me: the chance to have to really think about a shot before you take it and be very methodical. Let's face it, you only have as many shots as you have film holders; this is a lot less than any other format. So you have to invest in more than one film holder and hope you never get that client that wants 30 images from a large format session. So for me this was the obvious choice; for the wife, not so much.

Bergger

Learning the movements has been the biggest part of the learning curve for me, which I do appreciate even more. The look I have been able to get with shifting the focus to one point of the subject is something I have been wanting to do, without having to do it in any post work. The Scheimpflug principle is an interesting thing to learn. Mind you I am not really photographing buildings that often, but it does make it fun to use for portraits and still life.

Atomic X

Ilford FP4

Okay, so now on to why I think photographing with large format is better.                                                            

1. More resolution translates into more data to work with when editing. Let's face it, even film images were photoshopped back the day before there was photoshop.

2. No screen to look at afterward. More interaction/connection with the client or subject you are photographing.

3. Better dynamic range. Able recover more in post unless way underexposed. This applies to even digital photographs. With the advent of new software…it can possibly be fixed, but it’s better to get it right camera first.

4. Let's all face it, we have reduced noise on a digital image and it looks too soft or creamy. No one needs barbie skin.

5. Printing, which I haven’t even gotten into yet. But from all the podcasts I have listened to, videos I have watched, and articles I have read, it is probably the best way to print your negatives and share them. You can truly get some very large prints with gorgeous results.

6. The group of people I have encountered and met through this particular medium are some of the most interesting folks I have met to date. Just seeing what they do with this medium and taking it further than I realized is just outstanding. This in no means discounts the amazing photographers in the Medium and 35mm formats whatsoever.

There could be many more reasons I could type in as bullet points, but why? The best thing to do is just try it and explore the world with it.

Ektachrome 100X

Not going to lie, I don’t think I will ever be done with this at all, and there is so much more to learn that I can see this as just not a serious hobby, but something I am truly passionate about and pass on to my children and others who want to learn.

Finally, it just makes me appreciate what came before digital, and shows how we used to create images rather than just taking or snapping them.

Bergger

I just want to take a few lines to thank the people who have helped along the way. Maybe not in talking with, but with just inspiration of their work as well.

The Film Shooters Collective

Kelly-Shane Fuller

Amy & James Jasek

Simon Forster

Andrew Bartram

Greg Obst

Wayne Setser

Sandy Phimester

There are so many more I could thank, but that would take forever. But thank you to all that have gone down this road and choose to share your work.

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Connect with film photographer AJ White and see more of his work on his Instagram.

A PLACE TO BE | TIM HEUBECK

My name is Tim Heubeck and I am a photographer based in Germany. I run a website and Instagram channel; all under the name of wasteoffilm. Photography, for me, is less about what the things we are familiar with look like and more about everything that lays under the surface; everything we cannot express and fail to see in our daily life. Working on long-term projects and focusing on black and white film photography has enabled me to bring back the physicality of art, and revealing the only true way of showing a photograph: through print. Since 2015 I have exclusively focused on self-publishing books. To date, six publications have resulted; spanning work from nearly a decade of constant observing and photographing.

In this article, the aim is to share more insights into the thought-process of creating my latest and sixth project “A Place To Be”. This is one that took me years to produce and is the result of many sleepless nights, both while creating the work and producing the final book. Without further ado, let’s jump into this article.

A Place To Be - A Journey To Solitude

There seems to be a time in everyone’s life when one just needs to be with oneself. For me, this time came shortly before I turned twenty and the years following. The need to escape from reality, at least for a while, grew stronger and stronger until it had conjured up to a point, where I finally needed to head away from home; completely alone. Japan promised to be as far away from everything I have grown accustomed to. It seemed like the ideal escape.

Upon first setting foot in Japan, I had this strange sensation of having arrived in some different kind of world. A world where no-one knew me; a world where I could be whoever I wanted to be; ultimately, a world where I could fill my days with whatever came to mind. Setting out every single day with my camera in hand, I decided to wander around with no clear goal or direction in mind, with the aim of capturing everything I happened to see or be interested in.

The first days felt like a rush; pressing the shutter of my camera in what seemed like every minute of the day. There was so much to take in, so many different things happening at the same time. It seemed like I was the only one noticing those things; the only one amidst millions of other people surrounding me on the busy streets of Japan’s metropolitan areas. After spending quite some time in Tokyo, I began to embark on a train-journey down to, among others, Yokohama, Nagoya, Nara, Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe. In Nagoya, joined by a family-friend, we drove around Japan’s countryside, visiting many of the more remote towns and shrines. The days began to blur, the weeks began to pass and I had to return home. But I was sure this would not be my last escape to Japan. It was, in fact, the beginning of a deep love for a place.

A few months after this first trip, I booked a flight to Tokyo again. I just felt like I needed to. And this is when it clicked inside my mind: This is the place I can run to when everything feels like it is getting too much; when I need to discover a new truth, one so far from everything I knew to this day. Finding solitude was the purpose of these journeys.

The starting point for all of these journeys was always Tokyo, from where I made my way through numerous of Japan’s prefectures and islands. Over the years, the train has taken me to various larger and smaller cities of Japan; mostly traveling south of Tokyo. Finding myself in Nagano, Toyama, and Ishikawa prefecture as well as on Kyushu island - where not many western people make their way - I was far removed from everything I was familiar with. It was exactly during these times, when I got so caught up in just being, that I nearly forgot that this was not my regular life, and that there will come a day when I need to return back home.

Once in a lifetime, I feel, everyone needs to go on his / her own journey to solitude in order to filter out all of the noise that usually surrounds us. This quest will certainly be hard, especially getting used to be surrounded by only yourself throughout most of the time. Nevertheless, once you are beyond a certain point, where your thoughts, fears, and everything you have been holding back during all of those years finally begin to surface, you will begin to realize the reason and importance of such endeavors. Maybe this break from the mundane life is necessary once in a while, to be reminded who you are and what it really is you want from life. Maybe our modern-day life just does not allow us to discover this truth anymore. Maybe we have lost a part of ourselves by making us somewhat numb to our true inside.

Over the course of my travels to Japan, I have met many strangers, seen many intriguing places, shot hundreds of rolls of film, and traveled many thousand miles through the country. Ultimately, these journeys have enabled me to be the person I am today, by realizing who it is I am. After developing and viewing all of the photographs taken throughout my travels to Japan, it feels like they were taken by someone else, in a different lifetime. I do not seem to be able to remember many of these moments. Some days, I began to doubt that it was even me who took these photographs in the first place.

My sixth publication “a place to be” ties these journeys together; it is a document of what I saw, or maybe what I wanted to see during this time of my life. Putting this body of work together, I realized that it was a necessary closure. This period of my life is ultimately over. Still, I know for sure: There will come a time when I will feel the urge to escape again. And Japan will be this place for me to go to; my place to be.

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A Place To Be - Tim Heubeck | Self-published, January 2020, 130 photographs on 188 pages You can find more information about and contents from the book here. Copies of the book are directly available through Tim’s website. Connect with him and see more of his work on his Instagram.