Photography for Dummies

Or rather, photography with a dummy.

I tried out some different lighting arrangements the other day. I shot some black and white film at the same time so I can compare the results after developing the film. The dummy's face is shiny so that creates a glare that I think will be more of an issue with the digital than with the film. I didn't try to correct the color balance with the digital but will probably shoot another series later on and try to do so. The new camera has a lot of features and I want to be familiar enough with them that I can call them up on demand when the situation calls for one of them. I'm so used to having a minimalist approach to photography, this is all something quite foreign.

When I was at Starved Rock the other day, I was thinking I could get some really nice black and white shots on a sunny day before everything leafs out this spring or right after a new snowfall. Traipsing around for a few hours with my 4x5 or twin lens would be a nice way to spend a morning outside. It's amazing the things you can see to photograph just walking in the woods and if you work with a larger format, it forces you to slow down, which in turn lends itself to better photographs, at least technically.

I'm going to try and get a few really good photographs this year. I want to use the 4x5 a little more and I want to try some black and white street photography. These are kind of at the opposite ends of the photo spectrum but I would like to be able to take good photos that only a view camera is capable of and I'd like to be able to just shoot from the hip and have decent results as well. I like the darkroom work but if I'm going to spend all of that time printing I really need some better negatives to work from.

I also added a link for the boxing gym. I don't foresee a lot of activity there but at least once every couple of weeks. We've got an in-house show coming up in February and we're starting to pick up the pace for the Golden Gloves, which starts the middle of March.