Now and then - Photoblog by Vance Cox

Fun with Infrared Photography (special thanks to Joe, Tom and Frank)

Vance Cox — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 23:33:48 +0000

These are from recently found 35mm infrared color slides that I shot when I first arrived at Emory & Henry College, in Southwest Virginia, in the Spring of 1973. Scanned into Photoshop, I have pumped up the color a bit but it remains reasonably true to the original. There was also some fading from time as well. I was originally put off by the sprocket holes that probably occurred from my lack of loading or unloading skills. Infrared film must be handled in total darkness when loading or unloading the film! But I now find the sprocket holes charming as I appreciate the sloppy, happy accidents that can happen in film photography. The film was Kodak Infrared color with an E-6 process. Kodak discontinued the film in 2007. I’ve heard that color infrared is still available from a small German manufacturer in 120 format. These images were shot with either a Canon 35mm FTB or TLB. Filters? Beats me!

Click on any photo to view it on my zenfolio site in full-screen, high-res splendor

Joe in the Graveyard 1

I’m not sure what Joe was doing here (sampling pine needles…mmm!) but we were great pals and he was always a willing photo subject. More shots of Joe to be found on my zenfolio site in the “rogue’s gallery”. Click any photo to get to the site and navigate to the gallery of rogues.

Joe in the Graveyard 2

Campus Swan

Love the color of the Swan’s beak…non photoshopped!

Chippie the wonderdog

Our official dorm dog. When his owner Steve graduated, Chippie wore a little cap and walked with Steve to pick up his diploma and got the largest applause of all graduates.

Hippies on the roof

Claytor Greybeal and myself on the roof of McKenney House dorm playing to the birds. Clay is playing my Gibson ES-175 that I still play. Photo by Joe perhaps?

John Thompson in a pensive mood

Primarily blue from window light.

My brother, Thomas Cox, also a photographer, actually knows what he is doing with digital black and white photography. He uses a Digital IR Sigma SD14 w/IR filter. Click on the image to see a slideshow of his B/W digital infrared photography (also located at zenfolio, link to his site also located in my blogroll).

Boston North End Graveyard by Thomas Cox

I think my original interest in Infrared color came from it’s use in various album art at the time. The cover of Zappa’s Hot Rats is my all-time favorite infrared shot.

: Frank Zappa’s Hot Rats 1969

Photo by Ed Caraeff, who has taken many classic photos of rock and roll greats. Album design by Cal Schenkel. I found some info online with recollections by Cal Schenkel who said the woman in the picture was Christine Frka, a member of the GTOs (Girls together outrageously, occasionally, etc) produced by FZ. Christine also babysat for the Zappas. Cal states that she died of an overdose sometime in the 70′s. The setting for the picture was a lilypond in a burnt out Beverly Hills mansion.

Here’s another great example of infrared photography in the Rock world…

: Are you Experienced Cover photo by Karl Ferris

According to Wikipedia, Karl was the man in demand for British Rock “psychedelic” photography. He also did cover photos for Donovan, Cream and others. In the mid-60′s Infrared was then only used for specialized aerial photography. Kodak wanted to broaden its market and noticed Karl’s work and had him use infrared film and were so pleased with the results that they gave him a one man show at their London gallery.

Other resources

Film/supplies : Freestyle photographic. Mailorder greats. Good selection of films (including infrared B/W), chemistry, tech notes, Holgas, inspiration and more.

Unintentional Double Exposures

Vance Cox — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 02:19:07 +0000

Remember film cameras? I do. This is what happens when film cameras misbehave, film sprockets get lazy or the photographer forgets to wind the advance! But sometimes the camera justs “knows” better and introduces a bit of spontaneity into a photo.

Click on the images to view in my zenfolio site where you can purchase or view the image full frame.

Buzzard tree and DC Building: I found a creepy old tree close to colonial “Evan’s Farm” restaurant in McLean, Virginia where dozens of buzzards were hanging out — they heard the food was THAT good! At about the same time there was an anti-KKK rally in DC. I think the buildings are from that event. This is what happens when you don’t rewind the film completely into the film cassette after shooting.

Buzzard tree and DC Building 11/1982

The next two images are from a roll of 120 TMAX I shot on my last trip to Paris in 1997. I don’t know what my major malfunction was, perhaps due to changing lenses on my Mamiya C220. I particularly like this first one that married two images; one of the beer glass in a bistro outside of the Pompidou Centre and the other from inside the Picasso museum. I couldn’t have done it better if I planned it that way.

Picasso museum and Wine glass at an outside bistro - Paris, 6/97

Priest parade and Notre Dame - Paris - 6/97

The next one comes from a portion of a 35mm b/w negative of friends Richard Gans (seated), Marty Harvey (pants in upper left corner) and myself (hands).

RM Gans, Marty Harvey (MLH3) and me 7/81

And here’s an interesting one I recently unearthed from a stack of unfiled negs. Good pal and ever-willing model Joe Lawson from college days at Emory and Henry. This is when my old Yashica 635 twin lens was in its death throes.

Joe Lawson gets a Pepsi - Emory, VA 1974

Closing notes

I’ve been threatening to do some film photography and “intentional” doubles might be a fun project. I’ll post if I do.

I’m doing a bit of spring cleaning on my zenfolio site. Click on one of the images above to get there — and leave a comment or two should you be inspired to do so.

Happy (late) Birthday to Chuck Berry

Vance Cox — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 21:51:38 +0000

Happy late birthday to Charles Edward Anderson “Chuck” Berry (born October 18, 1926).

Chuck Berry Fixes a Hot Dog, San Diego 1970

This is a photo I took when I was 16 or so at the San Diego Civic Center’s Rock n Roll revival show circa 1970. Chuck Berry played with the Coasters, Bill Haley and the Comets and Bo Diddley who I would later meet at the Atlanta airport — more friendly than Chuck!
Anyway, I took a break from the show and saw Chuck Berry fixing a hot dog. Frickin’ Chuck Berry! So I asked him if I could take his picture and he grunted something possibly profane and I took his picture. One shot. With my old Yashica twin lens 645.

Tales of the Floating World – Kibyôshi

Vance Cox — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 13:51:19 +0000

Kibyôshi - two books side by side - Attributed to Utagawa Kunisada (1786 - 1865).

This posting is a bit of a departure from the “photoblog” theme, but being the old ex-Art major that I am I’ll probably venture into non-photographic excursions from time to time.

Hokusai, The Great Wave

My sister in law has a good eye for art and a weakness for eBay. Fortunately for me! She shared some (ok a lot…thanks Melissa!) recently and a couple of antique Japanese comic books were included. These were printed by woodblock around 1850 in the genre called Ukiyo-e. The fellow she bought it from claims these to be by the artist Kunisada (who was generally irritated by my question when I contacted him — how dare I doubt him!). In my not-so-extensive Google research I found that Kunisada was a younger contemporary of Hokusai (1760-1849), the artist of the most famous Japanese woodblock print with the awesome as well as gnarly wave framing Mount Fujiama. In his time Kunisada was more popular than Hokusai.

Click here for Volume 1 (issuu - view)

Click here for Volume 2 (issuu - view)

I wanted to scan the documents to further study the fragile booklets. I found a great way to show the documents, using a service at issuu.com, that takes PDFs (and a couple of other formats too) and converts them to a very slick online document that simulates the page turning of an actual document. This functionality can be integrated into wordpress.org blogs, but alas, not the free wordpress.com blog such as this one. Regardless — click on the links to the side to check out. Once you click on the link you should also be able to fullscreen the view. It’s pretty intuitive. Let me know if you have any trouble viewing.

When I first saw these books I thought, “oh, early manga”, but most sources I found said otherwise.

Here are a couple of modern video takes on Ukiyo-e (the floating world), the tradition that these books come from. The first (sublime) a very well done montage of Ukiyo-e images, the second (ridiculous) of a pachinko game with Ukiyo-e imagery. Cheesy but fun!

Sublime

Ridiculous

References and more information

The Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III)

A History of Manga – by Matt Thorn

A History of Manga – Wikipedia style

issuu.com – A great free way to post and view documents.

Charm, Beauty and Creativity

Vance Cox — Thu, 20 May 2010 04:41:20 +0000

Prooving once again that good things come in three are some different versions of the 3 graces. Based on the same version by Antonio Canova. All of these images are available in high-res splendor at http://vancecox.zenfolio.com/

This first image is one I took in Maymont Park in Richmond, Virginia. The original of this print had an interesting creation. First I used a 35mm Canon F1 (F1s Rule!) and took a slide. Probably Ektachrome of some sort.

3 Graces - Maymont Park, Richmond, VA

Then I placed the slide in an Enlarger (remember those?) and created a paper negative on b/w paper, probably Ektalure — my all time favorite paper for the rich tonalities…but I digress! Then I made a contact print of that paper b/w print negative, again on Ektalure. Super rich tonalities! Very dark and moody. In other words, just right. I’ve tried to approximate that effect using Photoshop and I think it’s quite good. Now, far be it from me to be simple with my approach to Photoshop, so this picture involved, scanning the original slide, color correcting so it looked pretty authentic. Then using a black and white filter and then tweeking so the sky was strong but not too much so. A couple of other actions, then going “quadtone” with a warm touch.

3 Graces - Maymont Park, Richmond, VA

For the version above, I used an old — even by mid 80′s standards — Speed Graphics 4 x 5 camera. I really didn’t use the camera too much because it was plainly too much damn work. But the greyscale tonalities are incredible, so here’s an example, again my favorite 3 models at the time, the 3 graces in nearby Maymont Park in Richmond.

Halfway around the globe (ok, maybe a third) I found the Chicks de Trois yet again in Stuttgard, Germany while stopping off on my way to Athens for some secret squirrel meetings that amounted to a really great excuse to visit to the Black Forest and nothing more. Best waste of tax payer $$$ ever! I took these in an Art museum that I think has moved to another building.

3 Graces - Stuttgard, Germany

Here’s a shot of the girls from another standpoint in the courtyard of the museum. Looks like mom is keeping a watchful eye on them.

3 Graces (in background) - Stuttgard, Germany

Here’s the wikipedia short description of the 3 graces… “Charites, known in Greek mythology as The Three Graces, goddesses of such things as charm, beauty, and creativity. In Roman mythology they were known as the Gratiae. They are a huge theme in art and it was fun to see all the different versions online.

Resources

Original version in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg

The 3 graces, all sex and disco’ed up in an ad for jewelry.

3 Graces – Kate Ship, Music – Kumo: experimental film with some fun images. I like the busy beat!

Portrait of Joel Peter-Witkin

For a far-out version of the 3 graces by the photography world’s original outlaw badboy google “The three graces” and “Joel-Peter Witkin”. You might have to turn off those family friendly league of decency image filters. At least it looks like he’s using live models this time! For those of you familiar with Joel-Peter Witkin, he needs no introduction but for those who are not you should be forewarned — you are entering nightmare land. In a previous time he would have been burned at the stake or at least locked up. But there is great beauty in his images as well, that is, if you can distance yourself from the disturbing aspects of his work. A fiendishly clever aesthetic! Not for the squeamish!

Portrait of Aldous Huxley

Lastly, Aldous Huxley had a short story by the name “Two or Three Graces”.

Life in the South – Mulligan du Jour (flickr, twitter and other site updates)

Vance Cox — Mon, 17 May 2010 14:29:18 +0000

Mulligan’s in Marietta, Georgia has updated its monthly incendiary. Pressing the limits of free speech once again. Click on the photos for greater detail.

Mulligan's Monthly. May, 2010 (coming)

Mulligan's Monthly. May, 2010 (going)

Site Update!

Alert viewers will notice that there have been some updates to the page that I think are improvements. Such as a new template that looks pretty swell. Along with the new look are some new “widgets” that add some functionality.

flickr I’ve added a link to my flickr photostream (a fun vertical strip of photos in the left column) where I’ve started to load a “picture of the day”. These are low res but will probably have a high res version on my zenfolio site http://vancecox.zenfolio.com Link also available in right column of this site.

Twitter I’ve also added a Twitter link in case you want to follow my updates on Twitter. I fought signing up for twitter for a while but it’s got some great possibilities. Not to mention a vast audience. There is also a twitter thing called “twitpic” that makes it very easy to upload a picture and release to the masses. It’s pretty amazing. Immediately after I upload a picture, before I can even add any keywords, 7 – 10 people have viewed it! I’m still learning about twitter. I should find a 14 year old to tell me all about it.

Behold the mighty Moto!

Vance Cox — Fri, 07 May 2010 12:08:45 +0000

This posting features digital photography gone WAY low-tech. Pictures from my endearingly lowly (yet cheap) cellphone. I call these “Motofotos” after the “Motorola” cellphone I use. This is no iPhone, which actually take reasonably good photos. Motofotos are a Holga’s equivalent of the digital set. The mighty moto is only good for 640 x 480 pixels. The old “less is more” aesthetic. I take them into Photoshop where I use every trick in the book to squeak out some acceptable images. They are quite small although I use a Scott Kelby upsizing trick to bring the images to about 5 x 7 inches. ”Rule breaking Resizing for Poster-sized Prints”, page 168, from his “Photoshop CS3 book for digital photographers”. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Even 5 x 7 is pretty small for an image so it forces you to be more “graphic” (communicatively more simple). A fun little aesthetic excercise…and I always have it in my pocket at the ready.

Behold the mighty Moto!

This is not a motofoto, but the beauty shot of the “camera”. Dig that sexy mood lighting! Taken with my Canon S3is — since the Canon 5d was busy.

Checkin' out the rear view on Freedom Parkway, ATL

Shot recently while sitting in traffic and a perfectly framed vignette of the ATL skyline – in glorious sunset mode – came into view.

And a couple of shots at Pike’s, a local nursery.

Psychedelic ball at the nursery, Self-portrait

Not Pot

Neighborhood piggie

I came home one day and found this little pig who strayed from his owner’s yard. I lead him back home and managed a couple of shots. His owners, Arthur and Natalia, get the most interesting neighbors award. Their other pet is a cockatoo named Muffin. I must photograph Muffin.

Big chicken composite

Where would Marietta be without the Big Chicken? We would have no landmark and be constantly lost. This is a composite shot of 2 or 3 pix combined.

After the rains (Forest maidens)

Forest maidens are a composite of two images.

Honeysuckle

Ah, life in the south. Shot yesterday.

References

Scott Kelby’s Blog If you’ve had anything to do with PhotoShop for the past few years you’ve probably heard of this guy. Also check out his PhotoshopGuys on iTunes and elsewhere. He has some great info and tips given with a heapin’ helpin’ of Kelby humor. His guides, while high priced, are worth it and will get you up to speed in no time.

Black Slim Devil – Roll number one

Vance Cox — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 02:29:51 +0000

The “Black Slim Devil” is a fun camera I found out about via photojojo…my favorite internet/facebook photography page. This is strictly a no-frills point and shoot. Literally. Just put film in, point it at something and pull the trigger. The camera has a really cool wide angle of 22mm! This camera goes in the Holga category of toy film cameras. The darling of the art student set. You get some interesting lens flares, but other than that it’s pretty straightforward. For this first roll of film (only took me 4 months to process!) I used the 800 ASA Kodacolor print film that came with the camera. 400 or 800 is recommended, but most of these shots are of the “Sunny 16″ variety. The sunny 16 negatives looked pretty good density-wise. I wouldn’t go any lower than 800 ASA/ISO for film.

For this test I had the film processed into prints, scanned basically automatically without much tweeking on my Epson 4490 Photo and no photoshop finagling to speak of…no color balance, exposure, etc.

I did notice a little bit of either camera or processing scratching, but will give the film rollers a clean before the next roll. Ah, the romance of film!

Click any of these photos for a closer look.

Here’s my beauty shot, below, of the Cobb Energy Performance Centre. A striking new addition to conservative little Cobb County.

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Beauty shot

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, specular highlights

The shot above showing some fun specular highlights. Nice prismatic effects too!

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre

And for something different, a nice sunset for you. You’ll notice the heavy grain structure. This negative is very thin but the results aren’t too bad. This would not be so noticeable if using some noise reduction software. I use Imagenomic Noise reduction software for just about everything I shoot and it does a great job (also smooths skin for portraits!). This is kinda the sweetheart software choice for pros.

A lovely sunset

And in keeping with total disclosure (you’re not likely to see it again here!) here’s the film index. Pretty even results. Except for those three of my cat. Pretty thin! Super dark, no detail in the shadows.

Black Slim Devil, Print index, roll number 1

In closing I think 800ASA Kodacolor is pretty good for outside sunny day stuff. I will try Fujicolor, my favorite color print film, next time. I’d use a higher ASA/ISO for cloudy or less light conditions. This camera is fun! Small enough to fit in your pocket. Perhaps I’ll have to dust off my old F1 (Canon F1s rule!) . I do have a really sweet 17mm non-fisheye Tokina wideangle lens for it.

Additional info

photojojo.com : They put the “fun” in “funtography”! Hey, I should copyright that. Go to their store page for info about the Black Slim Devil. They also have a “White Slim Angel” model for less devious artists. The camera came packaged with a couple of toy dinosaurs. photojojo is the best!

holga : The most fun art student toy camera. Uses 120 film. Available either with or without flash. Infamous light leaks and unexpected shots. If this doesn’t bring out your spontaneous nature, nothing will. You don’t have to be an angle-headed hipster art student clad in black, but it doesn’t hurt! Beret not included. More on holgas if I post any holga-pix.

imagenomic : Noise reduction plug-in for photoshop. Also standalone package available. There are free evaluation copies available. Worth the hundred bucks or so.

sunny 16 : The rule that if it’s sunny outside, when your f stop is set at 16, the shutter speed is determined by the asa of your film speed. So if shooting 400 asa/iso film on a sunny day, set the f stop at 16 and the shutter will be 1/400th sec. Pretty neat! Also the name of an EP by Ben Folds.

Earth day Special Edition, Washington DC 4/1990

Vance Cox — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 01:14:40 +0000

Here are several shots from Earth day at the Mall, Washington DC. Includes one of my all time favorites…”The CIA is poisoning my food”. Shot with Canon F1 (F1′s RULE!!) on TMAX 400. Click the photo for greater detail.

Earthday, Washington D.C 4/1990

The “CIA” shot is from a high quality scan, courtesy the fine folks at Tommy Cat Scanomaniax. High res reprints available on my zenfolio website if you’re interested.

Uncle Sam, Earth day, Washington, DC 4/1990

Uncle Sam, Earth day 4/1990 Washington, DC

Statue of liberty skeleton - Earth day, Washington DC 4/1990

Bang a drum - Earth day, Washington DC 4/1990

Blind Bunny - Earth day, Washington DC 4/1990

Marietta drive-bys 4/18/10

Vance Cox — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 02:19:33 +0000

I went out today to buy some guitar strings. Here are a couple of drive-by shots along the way to the music store. First up, some photos of a local ultra right bar that always have incendiary comments on their sign. Coming and going. Click on images to zoom in.

Mulligan's 041810 - Side 1

Mulligan's 041810 Side 2

Mulligan’s also got in the news for a t-shirt depicting Obama as Curious George. Below is a video from an Atlanta news station report.

And on a lighter side, here is local artistic luminary Mona after a day at the spa. I have been following her work. Please visit previous Mona post for comparison. She is much prettier yes? Will post again if she “transitions”.

Revitalized Mona 041810

And in closing…