SAD304: A Rangefinder Walk

SAD304 - Konica Auto S2 - Hexanon 45mm/f1.8 - Lucky 100 SHD - October, 2009

At this point in the Rangefinder experiment, things were not looking good for my long held grudges. I decided to run some tests, to settle the issue once and for all. But first, Jes and I took a walk.



I am still much slower with a Rangefinder. I don't know if this has to do with the somewhat antiquated design of the Konica, or if I'm just not used to it. The question is: Is it worth getting used to it? Are there real benefits, or is it just hype?

I'll post the test results in a couple of days. But first, happy halloween.

SAD303: @ Mammacitas

SAD303 - Konica Auto S2 - Hexanon 45mm/f1.8 - Portra 400VC - October, 2008

SAD302: The New Guy

SAD302 - Konica Auto S2 - Hexanon 45mm/f1.8 - Portra 400VC - September, 2009

Things were not looking good. I had spent a week shooting a rangefinder camera and Kodak films. All of a sudden it was as if I had listened to everything they told me in photo school. I could hear a chorus of I-Told-You-So's wafting across the internet from the RFF and photo.net.

"Maybe I can just pretend I always used a rangefinder," I thought to myself. "I'll just go back and doctor all the SAD posts. And the posts about how Tri-X is for sissies."

Unfortunately, I think the LUGgers have already filed me under H for Heretic. My anti-rangefinder sentiment is documented as far back as SAD061.

To make matters worse, laypeople actually commented on the Konica when I was out and about. I mean, not hot girls or anything, but a few people actually did mention how cool it looks. And one of the things I really love about it is the "notch" in the frame. You can see it in this photo right beneath the right side of the shirt pocket. A quirk of the manufacturing process. The opportunities for nerdy camera worship abound. How did it ever come to this?

Oh well. At least I'm not on Pnet arguing about which camera has the smoother film advance.

SAD301: The Rangefinder Experiment, #5

SAD301 - Konica Auto S2 - Hexanon 45mm/f1.8 - Portra 400VC - September, 2009

SAD300: The Rangefinder Experiment, #4

SAD300 - Konica Auto S2 - Hexanon 45mm/f1.8 - T-Max 400 - September, 2009

DarkTopo's Greatest Hits

Alright, folks, DarkTopo has been going for almost three years. In that time, I've produced a daunting amount of content, and I worry that new readers will be a little overwhelmed by all the recent nerdiness and miss out on all the old nerdiness.

DarkTopo has been nominated for "Best Art/Photos" and "Best Writing" in the Asheville Blogapalooza Awards (VOTE HERE!!!), so I reckon the time has come to give folks a rundown of the best DarkTopo has to offer: The posts that made you laugh, cry, and wonder how much fixer you have to inhale before you end up like me.

So here they are, in no particular order, the Top Ten Best DarkTopo Posts EVAR!!!!1

10: Zombies

9: The Long November

8: Rodinal

7: Two Hour Delay

6: Sarah Palin in Asheville

5: Carriage Return

4: Senate Rejects Cooper as Secretary of Photography

4: Photography Paper Excerpts

3: Ektar 100: The DarkTopo Film Speed Test

2: Sam Abell: The DarkTopo Interview

1: The Wolf, the Snake, and the Bear






Yes, I know there were two 4's. I'm running for Best Art, not Best At Counting.

SAD299: The Rangefinder Experiment, #3

SAD299 - Konica Auto S2 - Hexanon 45mm/f1.8 - T-Max 400 - September, 2009

SAD298: The Rangefinder Experiment, #2

SAD298 - Konica Auto S2 - Hexanon 45mm/f1.8 - T-Max 400 - September, 2009

SAD297: The Rangefinder Experiment, #1

SAD297 - Konica Auto S2 - Hexanon 45mm/f1.8 - T-Max 400 - September, 2009

Vote for DarkTopo!

Oh please oh please oh please vote for me in the 2009 Blogapalooza Awards! Last year I lost to some blog about some socially conscious something or other. It was a bitter defeat of photo nerdiness by meaningful content. Let's make sure that doesn't happen again!

I'm nominated* for Best Art/Photos and Best Writing.

VOTE HERE!!!








*And by nominated I mean "self-nominated." Wish there was a category for "Shamelessest Self Promoter."

SAD296: Uh oh.

As you know, I decided to give away my stash of film. I had shot through all of my color film as well, even the freebies sent by Kodak for reviewing Ektar. All I had left were a couple of rolls of Tri-X, which I figured would be good for testing shutter speeds in disposable cameras or something.

It looked like the end, folks. I'll be honest: With the SAD Project drawing to a close, and my bank account already at a close, I could see myself parting ways with film. With the little cash I could get for my SLRs, I could probably afford to have that "I(heart)Ilford" tattoo removed, with a little left over for a second digital body.

But, oh, the webs we weave . . .

During my fight with the Leica zombies, I spent a good deal of time on the Rangefinder Forum. At some point, their chanting must have started to sink in, because I did have to admit that there might be actual advantages to "the rangefinder way."

I decided that if I were going to give up film, I should at least give rangefinders a try. If it really is all about the results, and if I really care nothing for the process itself, then what could it hurt? Right?

So I emailed my dad, ever the source of good photo gear, and asked to borrow a rangefinder. I specifically asked NOT to borrow his Leica, because I am hard on cameras, and because I'll never be able to afford one even if, ha ha, I did happen to like shooting a rangefinder. I picked up the camera at lunch and loaded one of the rolls of Tri-X, feeling very much like I was writing a check with a crayon. On the way home, Jes and I stopped at the used bookstore and I blew through the roll, shooting most of the frames at 1/15 or 1/30. I souped the film in the kitchen that evening.

Pulling the negatives off the reel, I literally froze, and said: "Uh oh."


SAD296 - Konica Auto S2 - Hexanon 50mm/f1.8 - Tri-X - September, 2009 [Click to view larger. It's that good.]

Let's go over the mantra again. A rangefinder camera allows the photographer to hand hold at slower shutter speeds because of the lack of mirror slap. A rangefinder camera allows the photographer to see his subject during the moment of exposure. A rangefinder's optics are sharper and better corrected because they can sit closer to the film. A rangefinder is easy to focus in low light. A rangefinder is quiet.

It never occured to me that the best place to test all of these is a bookstore. But in the following shot, I saw Jes turn her head as the shutter opened. You can see her face is not sharp. But the book she's putting back on the shelf . . .




[Click to view larger.]

This was no good. No good at all. I popped the loupe out of my eye socket and started feeding negatives into the scanner. I'd still have a shred of dignity as long as the images weren't nice and snappy while still retaining a full range of tones. I might like rangefinders, but never tuh-tuh-Tri-X . . .



. . . Uh oh. Photographic identity crisis in 3, 2 . . .

SAD295: A Chance Encounter

SAD295 - Nikon FM2n - Nikkor 50mm/f1.8 - Ektar 100 - August, 2009



Photos from the frustrating shooting experience that led to my fight with the rangefinder Pharisees about the Leica M9.

And the winner is . . .

The winner of the DarkTopo film give-away is New York street photographer Mike Nika.

I saw three things about Nika's work that made me choose him: Passion, skill, and opportunity. Commuting into NYC five days a week is an adventure in itself, and Mike is up to the challenge of documenting it.

This whole thing was much harder than I thought it would be. There were several close contenders. I'm announcing the winner three days late because I wanted to confirm with Mike beforehand, and because it took me an extra day to decide. I got so anxious about it that I had to take a break and come back a day later to re-evaluate all the entries.

Thanks to all who participated!

SAD294: The Dollhouse

SAD294 - Nikon FM2n - Nikkor 50mm/f1.8 - Fomapan 400 - 2008

SAD293: "You want it,

SAD293 - Nikon FM2n - Nikkor 28mm/f2.8 - Fomapan 400 - October, 2008

you take it, you pay the price."

Somewhere south of Columbia, I-26.

SAD292: Stripes

SAD292 - Nikon FM2n - Nikkor 28mm/f2.8 - Fomapan 400 - October, 2008

Vivian Maier

This blog is unbelievable. Be sure to read the "About" section on the right.

SAD291: The Bachelor Party, part III

SAD291 - Kodak Disposable Camera - September, 2009

SAD290: The Bachelor Party, part II

SAD290 - Kodak Disposable Camera - September, 2007





This is the infamous Rock Max Wouldn't Jump Off Of. Apparently a fear of heights that I developed from falling off a train trestle isn't justification enough: I am still being ridiculed for backing out. On the other hand, at least I'm not being ridiculed for failing to work a one-button camera.

SAD289: The Bachelor Party

SAD289 - Nikon FM2n - Nikkor 50mm/f1.8 - HP5 - September, 2007

The boys told me to grab my gear and be ready to go. They released no details about the plan, except that we'd be sleeping outside. You can imagine how I felt about that.





When morning came, they told me we'd be whitewater rafting. It was a lot tamer than the other ideas that were running through my head. But nothing could prepare me for the toothless raft guide.


SAD289c - Kodak Disposable Camera - Sept07

Only a few hours left . . . !

Alright folks, anybody who's interested in the DarkTopo Film Give-away better post some comments fast! The deadline is midnight tonight! I'll announce the results tomorrowish.

SAD288: At the Top of Triple Falls

SAD288 - Nikon FM2n - Nikkor 50mm/f1.8 - Ektar 100 - September, 2009

SAD287: The Writer

SAD287 - Undisclosed Camera/Lens - Portra 400VC - Sept, 2009

Nikkormat FT2

I'm cleaning out. Of the things that I'm able to get rid of, this is the hardest. Larry White gave it to me. I've never put a roll through it, and to my knowledge, neither did he, but it sat on his desk for all four years I was in the art department.

As jaded as I am about film and gearheads, I can't help but feel that something of the past should be preserved. And I know Nikkormats aren't exactly museum pieces. Neither are Time-o-Lite enlarger timers, but I have one of those on my mantel.

It's all about the vision. Unless it isn't. Then it's about something else. Every time I went to Larry's office with a tray full of wet prints, I'd sit there with fixer dripping all over me and think how freakin cool that Nikkormat was.

The thing is, the coolest features are the ones that are most obsolete. The Nikkormats are possessed with a complete disregard for ergonomics that, like the Zeiss-Ikon Contaflex, make the camera so hard to use but so damned cool. And most of that, I think, comes from the knowledge that this camera was a step in the evolution of a process that I'm still carrying on. It's very easy to imagine a college kid in the 1960s feeling toward a Nikkormat the way I felt toward the F100. And decades from now, the same thing will be true: Gosh, those F100s are so useless, but so freakin cool.

SAD286: Happy Birthday DC3!

SAD286 - Nikon FM2n - Nikkor 50mm/f1.8 - HP5 - October, 2008

SAD285: WTF?

SAD285 - Nikon FM2n - Nikkor 28mm/f2.8 - Fomapan 400 - Spring, 2009

SAD284: Stupid.

SAD284 - Nikon FM2n - Nikkor 28mm/f2.8 - Fomapan 400 - Spring, 2009

Asheville Greenworks on Merrimon

If you're an artist, you're supposed to think that graffiti is raw and vital and somehow transcends property rights in the name of vision. Whatever. If you're an Ashevillian, you're pretty tired of it. It's one thing in the River District, where there are actual artists painting on spaces reserved for graffiti. It's another when every third wall downtown has the same stencil hastily applied by kids wearing Che Guevara shirts they bought at the mall.

There are certain notable exceptions. I enjoy Chicken Alley. But in any event, real painting is hard work, and the Asheville GreenWorks crew is pretty serious about it.

SAD283: Rush.

SAD283 - Kodak Disposable Camera - August, 2009

SAD282: Cpt. Hook and the waterfall

SAD282 - Kodak Disposable Camera - August, 2009

Best drawing ever, never, ever, never again!

Last night my smoking hot and incredibly patient wife and I went to the bookstore. Of course, I ended up in the photography section, which happens to be right between the "Gardening" section and the "How to Draw Manga" section.

Displeased with photography's place in the Barnes & Noble nerd spectrum, I picked up one of the manga books with every intention of scoffing at it. Much to my surprise, it was full of naked womenz! There were naked womenz lounging on pedestals, posing with swords, and even practising archery. No wonder manga is so popular.

Now, you'd think I'd be in full support of hot naked girls posing with weapons, and you'd be right, but the book did dredge up some hastily buried memories of my college life drawing classes. ClassES, plural, because I kept failing them.

Most people think being an art major means you get to lay around all day and draw pictures of naked girls laying around all day. And that's kind of true, if by "girls" you mean "overweight retired hippies and weird young college dudes." Call me a prude, but it always seemed odd that public nudity is illegal, erotic nudity requires a license, and academic nudity is requisite for graduation.

So it's ironic that I STILL get a million hits on The Memory Remains, my post about my best drawing ever, and that Google believes my drawing is the best ever . . . like, in the universe.

In a totally unrelated observation, I've noticed that the only emails I've gotten about my exhibit this summer have been about "The Unlocked Door," my photo of a topless woman standing square-shouldered in front of a dark door. And I get a lot of comments on the naked girls in the Ozzfest essay
as well. I figure this is because my drawing has become such an icon in our culture that people are reminded of it any time they see boobs.

With that in mind, I decided to take better photos of the Universe's Best Drawing Ever, so I could preserve it before crumpling it up and stuffing it back in the closet. I've thought about revisiting the medium and giving it a better chance, but really, when your drawing is known universe-wide, where do you go from there? It's hard to top the culmination of 20,000 years of drawing.

So here it is, the Best Drawing Ever, digitally remastered for you DarkTopo readers. Take a good look, because not even hot naked archers could drag me through this again: