Print day, vol 2. This stunner of @ivysublime.bsky.social was captured on Leica Monopan 50 and holy frak - the grain is so fine and subtle that even at 8x12 it is only distantly apparent. It’s a damn shame the emulsion is a PITA to work with, because the results are stunning.

Print day! Technically, a quick print to test an old paper stock and to see how my film scans look at 8” x 12”. I must say they look smashing, but then again @ivysublime.bsky.social does elevate every medium.

I call this one, "Green is the Stupidest Color, Gah! (2026)." I think green is hella overrated on the best of days, but in black & white it's just this flat mass of blech. #PhotographyHotTakes Maybe there's a reason why landscape photography never really clicked for me.

Chiaroscuro, Tri-X style (oh, and a Leica M6 + Voigtlander 35mm Nokton 1.4 II).

Today was a really good day to be an Arsenal fan. Leica M6 + Kodak Tri-X 400.

Adventures in Home Development, part 236: Last night I accidentally developed Kodak Ultramax 400 alongside my Tri-X. And yet I got perfectly usable scans! Thanks, Universe! I was feeling like an idiot while they dried.

We’ll get back to the nudes and lewds momentarily, but first: a derelict race car at Occaneechee Speedway.

Moody blue vibes with steve_summerell_photography (IG credit) at The Fruit in Durham. #artmodel #fineartphotography #fineartnude #moodyportraits #figuremodel

The great big balls of grain you get with Ilford Delta 3200 sparks joy. Claire and I are very pleased with how these turned out, even if, like cookies, 3200 is a sometimes food.

Me, shooting digital: “Gah! I cant believe I missed focus! WTF?” Me, shooting film: “I missed focus, but this is pretty damn good given the exposure triangle was never going to be in my favor!”

I hadn’t visited NASM’s Udvar-Hazy Center in nearly a decade and the last several visits were as a contractor, not a visitor. So I was thrilled when I found myself in the DC area with an afternoon free AND a roll of Tri-X in the bag.

It’s my birthday today, so here’s a very recent capture with @chrisubik.bsky.social where I am staring out the window contemplating life while death watches from over my shoulder. Grateful for all the adventures life continues to freely give me.

1) Testing to see what label moderation slaps on THIS. 2) Photogs, post your self portraits.* And if you’re an art nude photographer who is NOT exploring what life is like on the other side of the camera, get on it! It’s an empathy builder. *this was taken many years/pounds/tattoos ago 🤪

Two more rolls developed. I’ve come up with a neat trick for dealing with the high cost of film and chemicals: never ask for the receipt at checkout. Voila! This hobby is suddenly much more affordable! I really do need to cut back, though 🤪

Serendipitous art, or “WTF, Monopan 50? Just load on the fucking reels already!” Monopan 50 does not play well with Paterson reels and I trashed a roll in the attempt. I eventually got it to load on stainless, but the damage was done. @ivysublime.bsky.social totally rescues this image.

There is something about being forced into a square format that instantly makes me think of triangles. Rollieflex 2.8C Xenotar Ilford HP5 

I’m having mixed feelings about my 1st foray into medium format. Try as I might I can’t seem to get a sharp scan from my Epson V600. More experimentation is in my future. Rollieflex 2.8C Xenotar Ilford HP5 Plus 400

Medium format, fuck yeah! I just developed my first roll of 120 ever and the results look hella promising. I really need this to hurry up and dry so I can start scanning. The film stock is Ilford HP5+ 400.

Sometimes a simple, straight facing portrait of @ivysublime.bsky.social is what the universe is calling for. Good job, universe. Nikon FM2N Nikon 50mm 1.8 Series E Leica Monopan 50

In May of 1987 I was gifted an EOS 650 for my high school graduation. It was a revolutionary camera for the time and what eventually happened to it is lost in the mists of history. Today I took possession of a 650 in spectacularly good condition. I can’t wait to see how the test roll turns out.

Claire + Ilford Delta 3200.

She’s baaaaaaack! I went home for lunch and a surprise was awaiting me: my CLA’d OM2n, courtesy of John Hermanson of Camtech. Now I’m back at work and kicking myself for not taking the rest of the day off.

Leica Monopan 50: for when you want to shoot film, but also want digital-like results 🤪 The grain is seriously fine. With the lovely and talented @ivysublime.bsky.social Nikon FM2n Nikon 50mm 1.8 Series E Leica Monopan 50

Claire in natural light. Nikon FM2N Nikon 50mm f/1.8 E Series ILFORD HP5 Plus pushed to 800

ILFORD Delta 3200 + Claire = 🔥 Nikon FM2N Nikon 50mm f/1.8 E Series ILFORD Delta 3200

I made a liar out of myself regarding the earlier post: I got up early and did a handful of test scans before starting my trip. Here is one that, despite some dust and water stains, I totally adore. Being a portrait of one of my favorite people helps. Nikon FM2N Nikon 50mm f/1.8 ILFORD Delta 3200

Two more rolls down. Unfortunately I’m traveling this weekend and won’t be able to do any test scans until Sunday.

Natural light portrait with @ivysublime.bsky.social. We shot 3.75 rolls on Saturday with an almost 50/50 split between natural and artificial light. I’m developing the ones taken with strobes tonight. Pray for me. Camera: Nikon FMN2 Film: Kodak Tri-X 400

Hello, fellow Bluesky-ites. The world has been a dumpster fire since my last post and I haven’t felt like being on social media. HOWEVER, I just had a bonkers session with @ivysublime.bsky.social that we did on film and it seems like a good time to jump back in.

Hella proud to be invited to participate in this exhibition: Au Naturel 3rd Annual Group Exhibit Celebrating the Nude in Art Opening Reception & Last Fridays Art Walk Friday, April 26th, 6 - 9 PM Artist Reception & Last Fridays Art Walk Friday, May 31st 6 - 9 PM

It’s print day! This lovely action shot of Ivy Sublime is printed on Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308 gsm. Fine art paper stock will be my photographic undoing. The texture! The weight! The feel! <swoon>

John Waters looking like he wants you to buy Iggy for $500, but you only offered $350.

Here's a fun exercise: which image was captured with a Sony A7R III with an Olympus Zuiko 85mm f/2 and which was captured on an OM System OM-1 with an M.Zuiko 45mm f1.2? 42mp vs 20 mp. f/2 vs an equivalent of f/2.4. The only changes were to normalize the white balance and exposure.

The hell, BlueSky? I get the need for slapping a label on images that don’t have one, but i added a “nudity” content warning before posting.

In which TWBAANP drops a deuce. Uh…I mean…a pair of images from my first outdoors duos session. This was only about 15 months in the making. Many thanks to Jo (L) and Claire (R) for nudging me out of my Ace comfort zone and challenging me to balance two nudes at once.

Natural light photography that looks like flash! I captured this with Jo in late 2022. It was a partly cloudy day with a solid canopy overhead, but the stars aligned* and spotlit this particular tree in a most delightful manner. *Well, one star, at least.

Ok, I've done gone did it: I bought a (cheap) adapter to allow me to mount my lovely, vintage Olympus Zuiko 85mm f/2 on my Sony A7R III. As you can see, my test subjects are thrilled with this new photographic development. I can't wait until I can point it at some people this weekend.

“Trust” is handing thousands of dollars of camera to a decidedly damp and slippery model so she can review images. Eh, Ivy invited me to her wedding. She can dunk my camera if she likes.

TWO blog posts in a week!? I don’t even know who I am anymore! Enjoy as Jo and I figure out just exactly what kind of lighting you need in a small, reflective space. ubikphotography.com/2024/03/the-...

Hair flip photography with the delightful Ivy Sublime. It’s a goofy thing we do every couple of years and it never fails to produce a dramatic, dynamic capture or two.

Every photographer has an image in their mind’s eye that they’re hoping to one day capture. It is always just out of reach, and yet there is a certainty that with learning, practice, and patience you’ll grasp it. This weekend I realized mine. Many thanks to Ivy Sublime for an amazing session.

I'm doing my best to break my new A7R III's Eye AF, but Sony's reputation for accuracy and stickiness is well deserved. Dirty mirror? Bad lighting? Deep-set eyes? Not looking into the camera? Doesn't matter. Eye AF tracks locks on and does a surprising job at staying locked on.

Hey, I remembered I had a blog! ubikphotography.com/2024/03/oh-b...

A 20” beauty dish and C-stand were cumbersome as heck in my small master bath, but the results speak for themselves. The grid was key to crisp, directional lighting without spill. Those white walls throw light everywhere 😬 With the lovely Claire.

Of course, there is no substitute for my traditional crispy black and white. Fads are fun, but no one ever said, “That Paul Strand would look so much better through 3 inches of dirty glass.”

I hear matte, split toned, cinematic processing is still a thing, so here are two works in that vein with Claire from last Friday. It’s not my usual processing, but it works here. #OMSystem #OM1 #MZuiko

I’m an OM System/Olympus fanboi and the thing that excites me most about the OM-1 MkII is that the OM-1 is about to become an unbelievable value on the used market. If you want a stupidly capable camera that’ll let you take shots like this (1 sec., handheld!), take an OM-1 for a test drive.

This one, maybe not so much 😏 Fujifilm X-T3 XF 33mm f/1.4 1/250 sec | f/5.6 | ISO 200