Uploads from underthewaves, tagged 7977

Lunch Room, Kelso Depot

nobody@flickr.com (underthewaves) — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 12:04:40 -0700

More desert F2B. I'll probably close out 'Roid Week that way as well. Hoping I actually get a chance to explore the pool some today!

Another one that needs to be rescanned...

Non c'è neppure solitudine fra i monti.

nobody@flickr.com (underthewaves) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 08:19:07 -0700

underthewaves posted a photo:

This is just screaming out to be in the Polaroid Waste Land. But, for now, a temporary title.

I love Joshua Trees. I love them so much.

I suppose I could have cleaned the desert dust, but something about it I like. So it stays.

A jamais nous réunit.

nobody@flickr.com (underthewaves) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 08:29:28 -0700

underthewaves posted a photo:

It's probably not great to start off 'Roid week with something scanned so poorly, but I'll rescan and replace after work when I've got some time on my hands. (In addition to the transparency being lifted slightly from the back - creating those ghostly double image looking issues on the left side - the colors are all off. I'll probably try to come up with a better title as well. Or maybe remove that all together.)

Back to the desert, back to Fade to Black - still my favorite film ever, I think. I know I tend to change my mind on that count a lot, but I've had so many pictures I love so much with that film. I like the feeling of adventure when shooting it too.

This was shot around 5:30-6 in the morning. I'm a bad sleeper and I was even worse on this trip, which meant morning solo walks/hikes. I'm fine with that. I shoot better when I'm by myself. This was by far the winner of the pack - underexposed slightly which seems to be a good call with F2B. Can't believe there were no dry spots. At all.

I'm not even going to pretend like I'm sorry about my lack of Flickring lately. I miss y'all, but life is busy and good busy and takes precedence over the internet, you know? I am hoping that 'Roid Week gets me back in the photo editing saddle, but we shall see.

HAPPY 'ROID WEEK!

Hélas Avril en vain № 3

nobody@flickr.com (underthewaves) — Fri, 06 May 2011 12:59:02 -0700

underthewaves posted a photo:

It's like ATZ. I cannot get over it. And that orange-red, to die for!

Maybe more of a description later. Maybe not.

Pas si simple. (Aviation)

nobody@flickr.com (underthewaves) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 11:43:07 -0700

underthewaves posted a photo:

I clearly have not been Flickring much for reasons I'd just as soon not get into, but hi! I'm sure I've missed you. :)

With this latest batch of Impossible film, I'd say we instant enthusiasts are well on our ways to getting back to what we like to do. The PX 680 Beta film is gorgeous. Tricky, sure, but not nearly as tricky as the previous versions. And so freaking beautiful. I've taken about twenty shots of it so far. Really wish I'd ordered more. Ah well. Will be waiting for the final product. And loving it.

My main issue with it is that I seem to keep overexposing - which I realize is on me - but gosh when it works is it fabulous. Those little white specks are just so darn cute. They look like my desert dust, without the mess!

This is an Aviation - Hendrick's, Maraschino, lemon juice, and crème de violette (though properly Creme Yvette, I'd imagine). The traditional garnish is actually a cherry and I know I make mine more violette heavy than most (here, mostly for the color on the film!), but these are darn tasty drinks. In my top five of non-fancy-bar cocktails for sure. (Martini, Sazerac, Negroni, Aviation, Gimlet, in case you were wondering. And favorite fancy bar cocktails? Laphroaig Project - B&B, Jaliscan Monk - Era, & Vida Vida - Zero Zero. Smoke, citrus, Chartreuse.)

Some day, I'll order a bigass print of this and But the twinkle in your eye is gone. for to hang in The Starlite Room. But mostly so everyone will stop teasing me about the lack of decoration in my apartment!

I'm sort of getting back to cocktailing and keep thinking about how nice it would be to shoot 'em all on 'Roids of various sorts. I have a crazy huge light tent and take super clean, well-lit product shot type photos, but that is soooo not me. Instant film + booze = two of my most favorite things. Clearly.

"feeding / A little life with dried tubers."

nobody@flickr.com (underthewaves) — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 08:58:03 -0800

underthewaves posted a photo:

"APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers."
- 1-7, I. The Burial of the Dead

Cobwebs in the way.

nobody@flickr.com (underthewaves) — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 09:31:23 -0800

underthewaves posted a photo:

As I've whined a lot in my recent uploads, ATZ that has made it this far degrades. It degrades a lot lot lot. I mean, it's been expired, I don't know what I expect from it. All the creamy beautiful pastel tones find themselves yellow/green and flat in a few days time. For most images, the medium completely obscures and perverts the message. I think this is the one time that the rotting has served me well.

This image is one that went from flat and dull to moody and haunting and I love it. The tones and darkness remind me a lot of F2B. (Which I really really need to shoot! Ack!) I was really struggling to find a way to shoot Joshua Tree and I don't think I was alone in that. It was difficult. The light was harsh. It was probably the wrong place to go. Death Valley would probably have been a better destination. I shot mostly film there, so I'll be interested to see how that turned out. (Portra 160 VC in my Nikon SLR and some Ektar in my Rollei. Had the Velvia. Couldn't pull the trigger. I very rarely shoot slide film because slides scare the crap out of me.)

If you're interested, I would suggest looking at this large or original size. I ended up going 1200 dpi on the scan - the others from the trip have been 600 - and I'm glad I did. There is just so much to this image. And no cheesy textures this time either! All natural film perversion. I do have to say that a tiny bit of a fill flash might have been nice, but as the SX-70 has no PC socket...

The whole time we were out there, I was in a Kyuss mood, but didn't have any on my phone. Next time I'm out in the desert, I'm going to have to make a point for that not to be the case. I'm making up for it by lifting titles from their songs. This one is from "Demon Cleaner," off their fantastic Welcome to Sky Valley album. It almost feels too literal to listen to Kyuss in the California desert, but damn if it doesn't suit the surroundings.

You'll be strange, you'll be far away.

nobody@flickr.com (underthewaves) — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 14:37:24 -0800

underthewaves posted a photo:

I hesitated to put another sign photograph (and Polaroid, no less) up right away, but I LOVE this shot. And it is so very different from the last one, in mood, in tones. Edge cut ATZ. Shit does not hold up, but the instant it's developed it is so gorgeous. So so so gorgeous.

Do portable scanners exist? Because I think - as long as I have Polaroid integral film left - I'm going to need to look into something like that. I can't believe how quickly and how drastically it degrades. I may as well be shooting F2B. It's a bit of a moot point, in as much as I have but one shot of Edge Cut ATZ left. (Makes me want to cry a little bit.)

When I shoot vintage signs, I like to do it on instant film. I'm not alone, I mean there's a whole group for signs on Polaroid. Something about the aesthetic just seems right. It's hella trite. It's not making artistic progress. But it's nice to look at, and sometimes that's what photography is about.

But just sometimes.

Anyway, the title is from one of my favorite songs, "Rowboat." I always thought I liked Johnny Cash's cover more than Beck's original, but I've come to the realization that I like both equally, albeit for different reasons. It's just a well written song.

Geotag-wise, I'm pretty sure I'm not wrong about where this was shot. I know it was after Mecca and before Bombay. Yes, our roadtrip was through the Middle East and Asia. By which I mean the Salton Sea area has creative city names.

And, yes yes yes I need to stop treating Flickr like a blog. I'll get there.

CYCLONE

nobody@flickr.com (underthewaves) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 19:44:30 -0700

underthewaves posted a photo:

Camera: SX-70
Film: ATZ

Happy Happy 'Roid Week! As mentioned, I'm in more of a baseball state of mind. So it goes. Well, there are the MiLB Brooklyn Cyclones. There's some baseball for you.

I'm a big believer in classic coasters, my favorite being the Jack Rabbit at Kennywood (the Giant Dipper in Santa Cruz is a close second!), but I've only ever been on the Cyclone once. It wasn't a bad ride by any stretch of the imagination, though I do wish it'd been better maintained over the years.

It's very much the bellwether of the area. When times were good, the Cyclone was a jewel. Now, even Astroland is closed. It's enduring, but hardly thriving.

All that gunky texture looking stuff? Just film. Yay.

Skin the Wire

nobody@flickr.com (underthewaves) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 13:49:57 -0700

underthewaves posted a photo:

Coney Island is simultaneously one of my favorite/least favorite places in Brooklyn. It's depressing. Beyond depressing. But I love the storied past and the gritty present and precarious future. Plus, it's an amazing place to be a photographer.

I made the crazy decision to leave the MII and the Rollei home that day. Just me, my brother, my SX-70, my penultimate pack of ATZ (not counting the one box of edge cut and two - yes two!! - boxes of F2B I found in the back of the fridge), and some impossible film. And the pictures were glorious, but September was busy and by the time I got around to scanning them...

Let's chalk it up to the fact that the film's been expired for a long time now. If anything, it's good that this happened because now I'm all resolved to shoot my 669 before it goes all rotten on me as well.

Anyway, I decided to do something I've never done to my 'Roids and that is PHOTOSHOP. Yes, it's evil and whatever. But the images - these images - are so much more important to me than the medium. So I'm doing what I have to do. I'll be using the exact same adjustments on each of the 8 ATZ 'roids I shot that day. In the end, I found this monochromy look the most appropriate. I'm telling the story I want to tell. And that's my damn right, film or not. So there.

That said, these are just tone and lightweight contrast fixes. This isn't going nuts. I didn't put any textures or bullshit fake lightleaks or anything like that on top. Massaged Polaroids.

And please let's not talk about the Devil Rays.

Up Around the Bend

nobody@flickr.com (underthewaves) — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:54:22 -0700

underthewaves posted a photo:

Impossible Project PX70 First Flush + 1 stop ND filter + yellow gel; scanned after 3 days.

I don't know how much you non-PX70 folks will appreciate this - due in no small part to the scan quality - but these colors are pretty amazing. The sky is blue, the gravel is gray, the trees are greenish. It's almost like super low contrast ATZ. Sort of. (Okay, not really at all, but still - these are actual different colors! And not just shades of blue!)

Right now, I'm contemplating throwing a graduated ND filter into the mix, but I really need to craft some sort of frame for the filters (probably could just tape some gels into the accessory holder). I've been carrying around uncut gel samples and it's getting ridiculous.

I think another half/full stop's worth of ND filter more would have been just peachy. The film doesn't like midday light as much as I do. And, man, were the shadows harsh that day. My digital shots were nothing but contrast.

In other news, it's a full three weeks and one day to the next D&S Photowalk! Seems so far away this time. September 10th, Dogpatch! Hope to see you there.

Mr. Bing's Cocktail Lounge, Summer Fog.

nobody@flickr.com (underthewaves) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 08:53:13 -0700

underthewaves posted a photo:

My scanner can be really uncooperative at times. I did kind of a crap job at scanning it (it's not actually that icky yellow tone. I'm so lazy.), but in the end, I love this 'Roid.

I need to buy a new one anyway. I'm thinking one of those multipurpose flatbed/neg scanners. I realize that the negative scans won't turn out as well as a dedicated negative scanner's scans would, but my technique for 120 neg scanning was killed by the demise of one scanner, so I need to be able to do that somehow. Anyone have any scanner recommendations? (I have more 120 negs sitting around - just waiting to be scanned - than I'd like. And also I'm pretty sure I didn't need to type the word "scan" and its various forms that many times.)

Who loves dive bars? I do! Yay Mr. Bing's. There were just so many photogs in there. It was kind of hilarious. That last D&S was kind of more massive than I expected. Not a bad thing, just unexpected.

Also? Whole first page of my stream? Instant film. Yay buddy.

As though dead, in life.

nobody@flickr.com (underthewaves) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 22:47:54 -0700

underthewaves posted a photo:

This was supposed to have been posted this morning. Alas.

Yo y mi fantasma.

nobody@flickr.com (underthewaves) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 07:37:31 -0700

underthewaves posted a photo:

Out of focus. With a floppy hat. Under a Joshua Tree.

And, yet, something about it still that I like.

La porte des morts.

nobody@flickr.com (underthewaves) — Thu, 05 May 2011 09:25:12 -0700

underthewaves posted a photo:

It was too meta to resist, an integral-film-shaped window, reflecting a scene that I would have been happy to 'Roid myself. Every now and then I chance upon something new in the neighborhoods I frequent and I am always delighted.

It's a grand city.

And, more importantly, it's a grand grand film. A grand grand film which you can go buy right now on the Impossible Project site. And you should, because it's RAD. I haven't had this much fun with a new film in a long long time. It kind of reminds me of the feeling I got the first time I received a roll of Portra negs. Instant love. (Bad pun.)

So cheers to the entire Impossible team. Y'all make me immensely happy.

Hélas Avril en vain № 2 et 1.

nobody@flickr.com (underthewaves) — Mon, 02 May 2011 09:56:10 -0700

underthewaves posted a photo:

I don't want to get into it on here, but it seems frivolous to pretend otherwise, so let's just say that the world I shot this in was different from the world I posted it in. And hope for a better tomorrow.

Okay.

So. I defy you to come up with a more pretentious and ridiculous title for an image. Defy.

I've said it more times than I ought to've, but just in case you never heard me say it: I hate the Golden Gate Bridge. I know I should feel bad about it and people are always trying to tell me the error of my ways, but I don't care. I hate that bridge. I do not like it. And I don't have to like it.

I don't even think it's all that photogenic. Except Friday was beautiful and the bridge is colorful and my penultimate pack of PX 680 was burning a hole in my pocket. I was headed up thataway anyway, so I figured if ever there was a time to make nice and snap some shots...

I was shooting into a 669 box, but there still seem to be some crazy light explosions all over the place. And I forgot to turn the wheel to darken on "Hélas Avril en vain № 2" (that would be the top image) which lead to a positively expired-669-y sky. So it goes. But, yeah, those colors in "Hélas Avril en vain № 1" just prove to me that instant film is baaaaaack! Thank you thank you, Impossible Project.

Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war.

nobody@flickr.com (underthewaves) — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 13:22:20 -0700

underthewaves posted a photo:

Shot while meandering the Tenderloin with my favorite visitor and a couple of brotogs.

Every once in a while it's fun to experiment. This film is pricey, so it isn't always fun to experiment... but every now and then. Unshaded + underexposed = apocalypse, yay!

I really oughtn't've let the building on the left usurp as much of the frame as it did, but so it goes. This is an absolutely ghastly image and I love love love it. I will say, though, that it very much needs its border. That much hellfire ought to be properly contained. The SX-70 viewfinder used to feel perfectly natural to me, but I've been struggling with it more than usual lately. A shame.

Still falling breathless, and on again.

nobody@flickr.com (underthewaves) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 11:59:23 -0800

underthewaves posted a photo:

My last shot of Edge-Cut ATZ. And a super meta shot at that. I'm still surprised at the purple-redness of the tones. This was certainly one of the shots that most clearly demonstrated its edge nature. There it goes. I'll miss it, but we had a good run together.

Over the weekend, I had a long and productive talk with my friend Chris Rusak - a fantastic artist who also happens to dabble in photography - about photography and art and where I'm going with all this. It was a thoroughly helpful and surprisingly reassuring conversation. Going into 2011, I think that's going to be something that I will focus on: creating a real and productive dialogue with artists and friends whose judgement I value. Chris and I pulled out the vast majority of my Polaroids. It was incredible to see them all like that.

I don't look at them enough. I don't touch them enough. I scan, upload, file them away.

One of the things that I love most about Polaroids is that they are so real. You take a picture and you have something physical to show for it. No negs, no JPEGs, a real, physical photograph. And while I tend to regard the image as being more important than the Polaroid itself, I'm beginning to think more in terms of the 'Roid. For instance, if I were to do a Polaroid show, I would want to make prints of scanned and enlarged Polaroid images... but I think I would also want to somehow find a way to incorporate the source.

It's something to puzzle, certainly. On a related note, I've gotten back to the practice of emulsion lifts. This time, though, I'm working with PX100 shots. The process was interesting. I learned a lot from my first lift and am looking forward to round two of that. Lots to be learned. The emulsion was a little more fragile than I expected and I'm going to have to work more quickly that time.

Right now, SFMoMA is running a Cartier-Bresson exhibit. I'm always a bit on the fence about him because, on one hand, he had a fantastic eye and truly mind-boggling body of work. On the other, he had a lot of disdain for the process of photography - particularly the darkroom. It really does bother me that he didn't make the majority of his prints. His commitment to non-cropping also annoyed me quite a bit, up until recently. I get it now. I think that's as good a reason as any to include the Polaroid frame in scans - no cropping, no faking, this is it. This is the image, as I created it.

Darlin', can you tie my string?

nobody@flickr.com (underthewaves) — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 08:36:12 -0800

underthewaves posted a photo:

I worry that I overthink my Polaroids. That I try too hard to make them count. It's not an unreasonable action - film scarcity and cost being what they are - but I fail to capture a certain whimsy that's (somewhat) present in the rest of my photography. And certainly the whimsy and playfulness that's present in me.

Ocotillo Wells is a town near the Imperial County border and a popular spot for vehicular recreation, as it were. There was a Thanksgiving carnival at the RV park and I couldn't help but stop to climb a fence (but only part way - I was wearing a skirt and didn't much want to derail the trip by getting in trouble for trespassing first thing) and shoot a bit.

I wish it had been open. I'm sure there would have been some great opportunities for portraiture and moody night shots. I love carnivals. I'm endlessly enchanted by all the lights. And easy to please, apparently.

This particular Polaroid was, like many on the trip, love at first sight for me. Such lovely tones and a nice amount of contrast. I'll have to scan it when I get a chance. It certainly didn't hold up, but it's an adorable little image still, all the same. All those little white specks are desert dust, alas. And jeez, I am totally overloading my ♥ set with #hoboroadtrip-age.

It really doesn't feel like it's only been a week since I drove home. It really feels like I've been through two lifetimes since then. Hard livin' in fog city.

In other news, I can't say I'm displeased about the Tumblr outage. My "Ain't nothing but a stranger in this world." got tumblred. And reblogged. And reblogged. To the tune of 400 notes on the damn image. I get it - that's how Tumblr works, that's how the internet works - but that picture is so special to me and that knowledge doesn't make it bother me any less.

The art of fiction is dead.

nobody@flickr.com (underthewaves) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 16:27:23 -0700

underthewaves posted a photo:

Camera: SX-70
Film: ATZ. Decrepit ATZ.

I lifted the title from one of the best sports quotes of all time. That was actually a description of Bobby Thomson's famous Shot Heard 'Round the World, the most important home run pretty much ever.

I wanted at least one Polaroid of a world series game and, silly me, I didn't even think to bring the Spectra. The shot would have been better. I'm not crazy about big scenes with the SX-70 and the Spectra's wide format would have been cooler. I can't believe it's been a whole week since a saw a winning freaking world series game. Crazy crazy crazy.

And, of course, I had to go and smear the title. Sheesh.