You really don't need a $20k+ scanner

[ohnri]

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Noah, I packed away my Nikon 9000 scanner a few years ago but you and some others have inspired me to give it another go. This time I'll use a dedicated computer and workspace to avoid some of the conflicts that put me off previously.

 

I'll be primarily shooting my M3 and IIIa but I'm really intrigued by MF.

 

Where can I learn how to insure a flat MF negative in my 9000?

 

Also, I really enjoyed your website. I am curious though, what equipment do you bring to such apparently hazardous locations?

 

Thanks,

 

Bill

[noah_addis]

...

Where can I learn how to insure a flat MF negative in my 9000?

 

Also, I really enjoyed your website. I am curious though, what equipment do you bring to such apparently hazardous locations?

 

...l

 

Thanks bill. For 35mm the stock holder isn't too bad. For 120 you'll need the glass carrier. On it's own I found the glass carrier to cause newton rings, even when using the supplied film mask/spacers. I removed the bottom glass and left only the top AN glass. I made thicker masks to act as neg carriers on the bottom. It works pretty well, but you still need to pick your focus points carefully and make sure each scan is sharp in the center and edges.

 

The idea that the places I go are hazardous is a bit of a misconception. Sometimes, as in Rio, the more developed, central areas of the city are more dangerous than the informal communities I spend time in. I feel very safe in most of the communities I photograph because I spend time making contacts and getting permission from the neighborhood leaders.

 

But as for gear, during my three trips to Brazil last year I worked with the D700, M8 and M9. The new Lima work was all medium format. I traveled with two Mamiya 7II cameras and 50, 65, 80 and 150mm lenses. Most days I only carried one body and the 50 and 80mm lenses. It is true that you never know what may happen, I could get mugged on the bus, so I like to have a complete backup kit (in this case a body and 65mm lens) to leave in my room. I made a few frames with the 150mm lens but it's mostly for distant compressed cityscapes and aerial work.

 

While I do carry insurance, it's somewhat comforting that my entire Mamiya kit, purchased used, cost far less than one M9 body...

[jplomley]

Noah, just had a look at your Lima portfolio. For someone unfamiliar with the area and what some of the images are meant to represent, have you considered adding a few sentences under each image? Were a lot of the portraits taken from a tripod, because they look a bit more staged than what I am used to seeing from your work. I think the lack of color saturation really works for the environment, but I'm curious as to why you chose not to shoot some B&W as well? Overall, a nice body of work. Is it complete, or is there more to do in Lima?

 

One thing I will add is that I found your Brazil reportage top drawer. Edgy subject material, very nice lighting, and an overall dynamic feel that I felt was absent in the Lima series. I found the Lima series a bit more pedestrian, but then perhaps that was your intent, in which case you portrayed it perfectly.

[noah_addis]

Noah, just had a look at your Lima portfolio. For someone unfamiliar with the area and what some of the images are meant to represent, have you considered adding a few sentences under each image? Were a lot of the portraits taken from a tripod, because they look a bit more staged than what I am used to seeing from your work. I think the lack of color saturation really works for the environment, but I'm curious as to why you chose not to shoot some B&W as well? Overall, a nice body of work. Is it complete, or is there more to do in Lima?

 

One thing I will add is that I found your Brazil reportage top drawer. Edgy subject material, very nice lighting, and an overall dynamic feel that I felt was absent in the Lima series. I found the Lima series a bit more pedestrian, but then perhaps that was your intent, in which case you portrayed it perfectly.

 

I may consider adding captions, this is my first attempt at a non-flash website and I'm an HTML and CSS novice. But I've been told by a few editors recently that it would be good to lose the flash. Adding captions shouldn't be hard though.

 

There is a statement about the work on the site, and I plan to update it.

 

The portraits were mostly not on a tripod, some of the landscapes were so I could stop down more.

 

To get too much into the actual work would be going way off topic. But yes, the Lima work is intended to be quieter and more subtle. I've grown a little weary of doing work that relies on sometimes false drama and photojournalistic iconography. I made a choice to work in a different way with different goals--to show more context and less intimacy perhaps.

 

I don't mix B&W and color on a project. While I still love B&W and especially the beauty of Tri-X, I have just been seeing in color lately.

 

For a while I was shooting 8x10 color and while it was wonderful in some ways, it was a bit too slow and cumbersome. I'm trying to strike a balance between my old reportage style and my old color large format work. I may not have found it yet but it's an ongoing process.

 

I spent a long time in Brazil over the course of three trips but was only in Lima for 7 days. I will definitely go back, probably I'll return next summer. The (South American) winter is when the light gets beautiful since it's cloudy every day.

[ohnri]

Thanks Noah. Very informative.

 

I love the way you are refusing to dwell only in your comfort zone.

 

Best,

 

Bill

[plasticman]

One thing I will add is that I found your Brazil reportage top drawer. Edgy subject material, very nice lighting, and an overall dynamic feel that I felt was absent in the Lima series. I found the Lima series a bit more pedestrian, but then perhaps that was your intent, in which case you portrayed it perfectly.

 

I felt exactly the opposite, funnily enough.

 

I've seen so much that looks like the Brazil set: edgy compositions, deep shadows often cutting across the frame, saturated colors that don't feel like the way I really 'see', and a general theme that implies that the photographer is 'invisible' - just like the overwhelming mass of reportage photography, in other words.

 

The Lima images have (for me) an epic quality: the participants are 'heroes' of their own imagery, and not just subjects of the photographer's 'invisible' eye. They are more honest because they acknowledge the context of being photographed, and they also give far more dignity to the participants.

 

They are also much more beautiful: harmonic in color and composition, and wonderfully meditative in a way that that the other images simply are not. The Brazil images may have an instant appeal, but the Lima images haunt the viewer far longer. (And I stress this is my personal opinion).