troy bradford instant photos

captain...

Jonna and Cap were in town for Pyper's birthday. Really neat being able to capture Cap on some expired Polaroid film...

jumping into 4x5...

Fuji FP-100C test shot...

Fuji FP-100C45...

My first time shooting with the latest addition to my camera family (Toyo 4x5 G View Camera). Because of the cost of the film and the fact that I only have so little of it, I decided to do a test shot with regular Fuji FP-100C in my Polaroid 600SE. I hate it when I like the test shot better than the final. I am really accustomed to framing and shooting the 600SE and it shows compared to the 4x5. The lighting was spot on, but I think I should have had the camera higher. Chalk this one up to practice...

BTW, the actual size of the 4x5 compared to the Type 100 pack film is not accurate above. The 4x5 is really almost the same width as the Type 100 packfilm.

sharing the limelight...

What a special thing for a father and daughter to share the same birth day. It may seem like you have to share the limelight (and she will always win), but it's really something momentous that you will always share together. Finishing the day out with one more Happy Birthday Tyler and Pyper Tyndell...

a sense of belonging...

An afternoon in the Lavon lake bed (minus the water). The evening was approaching and the shutter was slow, but it's still an image with character. And it's my next to last shot of chocolate film. That being said, Tyler looks like he belongs in this scene and in this photo...

white star laundry...

Tried out a camera that I have had for about a year, but hardly shot; a Polaroid One Step Red Stripe. This is a shop downtown Greenville, that I have photographed many time with several cameras...

christian and elaine...

In addition to the 8x10 camera/film from my ealier post, I also got to show off some of the capabilities of packfilm cameras and Fuji FP-3000B film to Christian and Elaine. Had such a great time meeting up with them and getting the chance to shoot in the Makeshift Photo studio and then sit around the table to eat & talk at the All Good Cafe in Deep Ellum. Meeting and getting to know all the people is what this is all about. The photos are just the icing on the cake...

our goofy family...

Finally convinced everyone to get together for a "quick" instant family photo today after lunch. It has become a tradition, since I started my journey into instant photography, to take a photo to start off each new year. A little late, but we got it done. This was the fourth try after three "serious" poses. They all had issues with composition/lighting. Ironic how the goofy pose turned out best...

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...

stratton...

Here are two images of my nephew Stratton taken when we went to Childress over the holidays. The first one was damaged when I peeled the image. I was able to clean the flakes from the photo in Aperture to save the image. Wasn't for sure how the first one was going to turn out so I took the second one when it was almost dark outside. I believe the exposure of the second one was 1 second at f/8.0. In the end, both images are keepers to me. Overall, my goal is to have 8x10s of as much of my family as possible by the end of 2014. Looks like there are lots of trips with my 8x10 in the future...

lighting test...

I have found a new film to love. The new formula of black and white film for 600 cameras is something that I will definitely be stocking up on. I have taken several shots under many different conditions and they all have turned out fantastic. I took this one tonight in my garage with a new "hot" light that Tyler ordered to test out the abilities of the light. The setup was just this one light on a stand diffused with an umbrella. I was about 4 ft from the wall to make sure there wasn't a shadow of me on the wall. I think the shadowing of the wall was more a result of the light fall-off. Overall, the photo has a ethereal feel and I like it...

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...

time for rest...

The perfect end to a wonderful day...

the magic of Christmas...

a Christmas image of Wilco...

finished out the day with some chocolate film...

more of me and Sadi...

the instant version (after ice cream)...

quality time with Pyper...

taking care of sophi…

showing off her fishtail…

soaking her ingrown toenails…

getting a haircut...

dog and cat pants...

Pyper has the coolest pants...

a little introspection...

Spent some time these past few days reflecting on life with very little social media. This included lots of time playing board games with family, spending time with Sherri, watching tv, reading photography books/magazines and rethinking how/why I use my cameras. Honestly, this has been something that I have needed for some time. A balanced life is something we all pursue. I seem to be in constant pursuit of this balance between work, family, spirituality, photography and now social media. Probably not something that I am going to solve anytime soon, but I feel that I have made some great progress...

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...

uncertainty...

When things are not altogether clear, life can often throw us a sharp left turn...

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...

trees...

(warm day)

(cold day)

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...

mapping out an idea...

I am so thankful that I have a son-in-law that is so incredibly creative. He found these maps and set them aside because he knew that they had potential for a photo. I also am so thankful that Tyler is always willing to be part of a collaboration and allow others to benefit from his creativity. You could say that he is selfless with his creativity. He is always willing to share, even if it means that someone else may benefit from his vision. In this case, I think I benefited from his creative vision for these maps. I just knew that I wanted to try a head shot with a shallow depth of field using these maps as the background. These two photos were taken in my garage today using the two maps, my Polaroid 600SE camera on a tripod and lighting coming in the open garage door. In both cases, I believe the subject meets the tone of the map. This is another case where the Polaroid IDUV film intensifies the photo and makes it even better. Not for sure what I will do when I run completely out of the IDUV and 669 film. I took a total of three instant shots today (two IDUV and one Impossible SX-70). These two photos far exceeded what I could have ever expected...

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...

warming up to the Impossible instalab...

This is an image originally taken with my Fuji X100S camera. I tranferred it to the new Impossible 600 film using the Impossible Instalab. To be honest, I have struggled getting the exposure/contrast correct on the Instlab. With the help of one of my Twitter friends, Patrick Clarke, I think I am getting the hang of this. This image was warmed the entire time (under my arm) during development using the Impossible cold/hot clip. I love the red tones that are the result of this warming...

split person (alities)...

An image that I took last winter, but never posted. Ran across it and decided that tonight is the night. I sometimes post photos to document that I get bored and end up driving around and taking pictures of myself and my Land Rover. The curse of photography, as a serious hobby, is that sometimes you just gotta create something/anything.

Not quite a diptych, but it is two pictures that have something in common...