Planet Randy

After seeing the documentary on Julius Shulman (Visual Acoustics) and seeing some of his early photographs of the  LA river bridge makes me want to go shoot downtown more. I love the story on how he photographed the Stahl House “Case Study House #22” – even in architecture photography there are decisive moments. One day I’ll visit this spectacular house. I digress…

Here’s a shot of the tower on 4th street bridge. Next time I hope to get better morning light.

View of the 6th Street Bridge from 4th Street. Maybe one day I’ll be brave enough to go down the L.A. river those power lines do get in the way.

Ugh… I can’t wait to get my dark room up and  running again!

Somewhere off I-10 to Arizona on an 18 hour drive to and from Phoenix to pick up a Durst L184 with a color head. Yes, another Durst and M asked if I was going to buy every Durst I see; I said, “only if it’s bigger than the L184“. Hahaha…

It’s nice to be greeted by this fall after a 1.5 mile muddy hike.

Recent discussions on LFP forum prompted me to play with this image I took coming back from an 18 hour round trip drive from Phoenix, Arizona.

Here’s the view a few yards from our hotel last May. Negative scan for now and by looking at the film density it’s a prime candidate for  split grade printing. Once I get my darkroom up and running I’ll give this one a go.

One early and foggy morning at L.A.’s Sixth Street Viaduct.

Well, I finally decided that a home brewed 5×7 enlarger is just too time consuming to make. So, last month I perused E bay and acquired an old Durst G139 enlarger.

This beast came from a photographer in West Virgina that worked for the Charleston Chronicle. Apparently, his dream of a darkroom basement 10 years ago became a family room and time just kept moving. He decided that his work is more digital conducive.

Shipping this monster was another matter – it cost 6 times more than what I paid for it. I figure it was well worth salvaging and I intend to put it to good use once I figure out how to use it.

Now a surprise came when I opened the film carrier and found this Kodak 35mm slide film still in it. Durst stopped making this enlarger in the 70′s so I think this was the last film that was used on this enlarger. His haircut looks like from the 70′s. The colors are still vibrant and I am able to generate a 20 Mega Pixel image from it – a visual testament on film’s enduring qualities.

I finally got the camera I’ve wanted – shhh… It’s a stealth acquisition.

I got it from Marc Shap for a reasonable price. Now, if I can only get a nice wide angle lens for it. KEH here I come…

Riverside walk near the Temple of Sinawava in Zion National Park sometime in November 2010. Taken with Canon 5D, a little PP in Photoshop (curves for contrast mostly) .

Early morning at Washington’s Silverdale Waterfront right before the approaching fog.

Fujifilm NPC160 medium format, negative scan.

Boy! I sure like surprises. This image from a roll of 6×4.5 film has been incubating in my fridge since last year and I finally got around developing it.

Fujifilm NPC160 medium  format, negative scan.

A Caltech scientist saw us photographing behind the fences. After questioning what was our intent, he let us in and thought the composition would be better if we were a lot closer. He was right!

Fujifilm Superia 200, negative scan.

I still can not get smooth skies on Carbon. I think it’s moisture in the tissue evaporating while under UV. Maybe I’ll throw a fan on it next time.

I finally got to fire up my Jobo – I had a box of Unicolor C-41 chemistry and Fuji Superia 200 roll from Death Valley. I don’t think I’ll do color printing – too involve I think. I like the look of color negative compared to my DSLR outputs.

Scanned with Epson V750: