justin and the beard...

Met up with Justin today at my house to get to take this 8x10 before he shaves the beard. I would have to say that I am envious of a man that can grow a beard like this. The beard deserved to be captured on 8x10 before it was gone. I took several different instant and 35mm photos, but this one was the one that I was looking for. Thanks Justin for stopping by and spending your lunch with me...

bailey - double take...

Got the opportunity to take a couple of 8x10 portraits of Baily while he was in Texas helping out Tyler with a wedding. Took the photos in Dallas in an area where I couldn't use the processor. I was afraid of a divot ruining one of the photos, so I took two. The first one was taken with the new Impossible film and the second one was taken with an October 2012 batch. Luckily both of them turned out better than I could have ever expected. If I had the choice of only one instant camera, I would trade in all my others to keep my 8x10. I am so hooked on this film...

8x10 Self Portrait...

Of course this blog image will never do this photo justice. I have said multiple times that it is an amazing thing to see an instant 8x10 image of yourself. It really never gets old. That being said, I really don't like images of myself, but part of the process of photography is satisfying the urge to create. Some days, you just need to create something. Yesterday was one of those days. I used up one of my two exposures of 8x10 Polaroid 809 film. I am saving the other one to take a photo of Sherri that matches this relative subject size. Looking forward to sorting through these images years from now and reminiscing at how great we really had it...

albert...

I have found out a few things in this venture with instant film. It is never cheap and no matter how much you think you know, the results can still be unpredictable. I have some 8x10 film with a manufacture date of October 2012. It has been cold-stored, but time has taken it's toll on the chemicals. The lesson learned here is to use more film, more often to avoid the divot results that you see above. My brother-in-law Albert and Sherri's sister were staying with us a couple of days. This photo was a last-minute, go-get-the-camera-out type of photo. The sun was setting fast and we were all in the back yard getting ready to start roasting some marshmallows for s'mores. The composition and exposure were spot on. I guess I have to embrace everything about instant film, including the divots. That is why I ultimately decided to post this photo. Made me think that instant film is much like us as individuals. Sometimes we just need to put our flaws out for everyone to see. In the end, I am so glad Albert let me take this portrait...

shawn roller...

Shawn is another one of "those people" that I met on Twitter and ending up meeting in real life. I messaged him last Friday night and ended up meeting downtown McKinney for some coffee, coversation and a portrait. The coffee at Spoons Garage was excellent, the conversation was definitely the highlight of the morning and we ended the time with a few portraits. I slightly overexposed the 8x10 and evidently somehow produced a light leak. My guess is that I didn't compensate for the film being so cold. I think that I redeemed myself with the Fuji FP-100C portrait taken with my latest acquisition (a Polaroid 180 Land Camera). Will have to give the 8x10 another try to show Shawn what the Impossible 8x10 film can really do...

a moment in time...

Here is a portrait of Sadi that I shot today before she left to go back to college after spending her Spring Break with us this past week. What at great week it was! I am so glad that we still get these opportunities to spend time together as a family. 

As I become more intentional with my family photos (both analog and digital), I have come to realize that every picture has the potential of becoming an important moment in time. I try to take as many candid snapshots as possible, but the occasional posed shot is just as important to stop that moment in time when you were exactly who you were at that moment. I want my kids and grandkids to have tons of printed analog images to occasionally sift through and have the opportunity to talk about the moment that they were taken. I want each and every portrait/candid to be something that I remember, but more importantly something that they will remember much later in life...

matt ronan...

Had the opportunity to photograph Matt again today. As always, it was a little difficult to actually meet up, but it worked out in the end. In my opinion this photo made it all worth it...

christian and me...

Was able to meet up with Christian and Elaine today in Deep Ellum to get a chance to shoot an Impossible 8x10 of him and let him shoot one of me. This was his first chance to get to shoot the 8x10 camera and all things considered, I think he did a great job. If anything, I think we didn't compensate correctly for the bellow extension and it underexposed the image slightly. Most of all today was about meeting up and having time to sit around and talk. In that sense, today was a total success. It was a great time to get to know a little more about Christian and Elaine. Had seen both of them at several previous polawalks, but never had time to really talk with them. Plus it gave me an opportunity to give away another packfilm camera and some film to reduce my hoarder status...

tommy...

Was able to take a couple more family photos over the past weekend while visiting in Childress, TX. Tommy just happened to still have his "santa" beard so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to capture it on an 8x10 Impossible print before it was gone...

rita...

Rita was another one of my volunteers on Thanksgiving day. I am definitely glad that she let me photograph her. What a solemn pose! When I told her to "hold that pose and expression", I know that she didn't realize how long she would have to maintain it. Everyone seem to just sigh after I clicked the shutter and told them I was done. Rita was no exception there...

the stare...

Here is another case where Tyler allowed me to collaborate with him and show up to take an 8x10 photo during an engagement shoot (even using one shot of his color film). In the end, this photo wasn't the best composition because I angled the camera down too much and created some un-appealing angles on the vertical planks of the building. That is probably being overly picky, but I seem to focus on that now when I look at the image. One thing is for certain, the only way to learn on 8x10 is to make mistakes. Because of the cost involved and the rarity of the film, you really pay attention from that point on after you make a mistake. That being said, in my opinion the warmness of the image and the couple's pose makes up for the composition. Because of that, I couldn't help but post this image. There is still nothing like an 8x10 Impossible color image... 

kendra - closeup...

I shot two images of Kendra. This one was taken as a closeup at an angle and focused on her nearest eye.  I absolutely love the focus falloff that you get with the 8x10 camera at large apertures...

keith and debra...

Taken as the sun was setting on our Thanksgiving gathering at Kathy's house. I am so glad that Keith and Debra let me take this portrait of them...

the one and only Simon Ponder...

Was excited to hear that Simon was coming to Dallas to go on a Polawalk in Deep Ellum. I have followed his brillance on Twitter for some time (plus he is a fellow Texas Tech alumni), but this was our first time to meet in person. I would have to say that sharing the 8x10 process and fascination of Impossible 8x10 film with fellow photographers is becoming one of my favorite things to do...

a portrait of Matt Ronan...

Had the pleasure of meeting Matt Ronan, in person, today. He came to Greenville to pick up some film that he bought from Tyler. Since he drove over an hour to get here, I felt I should at least ask if he was willing to do an 8x10 portrait before he left. Fortunately, he was up for it. In all practical terms, the day was definitely a bit too warm to be taking portraits outside at 1:30 pm (right at 100 degrees outside), but we found a shade in downtown Greenville and set up the behemoth of a camera and proceeded to take this portrait. Definitely glad we did! 

Another testament to the whole community of instant film. So much interest in giving back to each other and such an emphasis on meeting one another. Just like holding a physical print in your hand, there is nothing like meeting someone in person, getting to talk face-to-face, shake their hand and take an instant photo...

the beginning of something new...

What better way to start a new school year as a photography teacher than to have your photo taken (on instant film) on the day before class starts in the classroom where you will be teaching students how to use instant film...

a proud dad...

I have been planning on a color 8x10 of Maci and Sadi all summer. Just hasn't worked out... Until today... Kinda a last minute, but still a bad time, happens to be the one day this summer it rains, I gotta get one before Sadi leaves for college kind of picture. All of the imperfections aside (both in the picture and in our sometime disfunctional lives as a family), I stare at this image and realize that I have lived a truly blessed life and had the honor of helping my incredible wife raise two absolutely beautiful girls.  It is moments like this where I honestly couldn't be more proud to be their dad...

8x10 Color Test Film - Take Four...

Took the picture of these textile spools using available afternoon light coming through the window. A little bit over-exposed in the highlights, but still very colorful and super sharp. Large format cameras rock when it comes to nailing the focus exactly as you want.

pictures of me...

Had a great time over at the Makeshift Studio in Deep Ellum. The main purpose of the meetup was to judge the entries in the Instant Film Society scavenger hunt. Lots of great entries definitely made it hard to pick. Justin will be posting all the winners on the IFS website here.

Afterwards, Justin asked if I wanted to play around with some double exposures on Impossible 8x10 film. Justin had the idea of taking a picture of a person taking a picture of themself. I had my camera and some film with me, so we started the process... 

We discussed and tried to incorporate as many details as possible. The camera that I was using was actually my camera mounted on my tripod. The bellows are the right length to provide proper focus on my face at that distance. I intentionally smiled as the photographer and had a straight face as the subject. I made sure that my eyes were focused on my "other" face. Lastly, we positioned the cable release on my camera facing Justin's camera so that it was obvious that I was taking a picture. One item to note; I am taller as the photographer. I had the stand on a stool to see the ground glass so we felt like I should be that high in the photo.

The outcome was a incredibly neat photo! Thanks Justin for working on this with me...

8x10 Color Test Film - Take Three...

Wanted to see how the film handles highlights and shadows. I metered on the actual sunlight coming in. The film definitely has a very narrow exposure (as it said in the instructions). I nailed the exposure on the side of my face with the sun. Any more (trying to get details in the shadows) and it would have blown out the highlights.

Overall, I think this is a great image. You could say that my flaws are somewhat hidden by the shadows. This film is great stuff!

And yet still more to come...