TOMNUTTER

New Adventure

2012-01-19T20:55:00.002-05:00

The Adventure begins this February!

Another Vintage Cheap Camera

2012-01-05T20:04:00.001-05:00

I have come across another interesting vintage camera...a Brownie Hawkeye 620 camera. Internet searches tell me I can run 120 film through it without having to reload 120 film onto 620 reels, as long as I use a 620 take-up reel. I say COOL!!!

Today, I took it apart, cleaned the lens elements and lubed the simple shutter. The shutter seems to work and it has a Bulb setting.

I am hoping to produce a series of figure studies with it and another series with the refurbished Polaroid from my previous post. I will post something when it materializes. Happy New Year...and here's to new old equipment.

Now, I have to search for a new figure model or two.

Retro Freak Anew with Polaroid

2011-11-16T20:51:00.007-05:00

I think it might be a trend right now...not sure what the cool kids are doing these days, but anyway, I came across this Polaroid 215 laying around. You can still get the batteries for it...a three- volt alkaline #532, but you usually have to order them and they are a bit expensive...around $10.00 each.

I did some thinking and figured out an easier way to waste money on film instead of batteries for the "New" toy. I went to my local electronics store, and invested $1.19 in a two-AAA battery case, complete with wire leads installed. A little surgery, and I have a working camera with very cheap batteries that are easy to replace. The battery compartment still closes too, even without 100-mile-an-hour tape.

It's one of the most common Polaroids, from the late 1960's with a plastic lens and a zone-focus type rangefinder where you can guess-timate the focus based on the size of a person's head.

The nicest thing though is that it has a working PC socket, so I can hook it up to some studio strobes.

Cool deal! I'll take it!

Environments - Diptych

2011-10-28T23:55:00.005-04:00

Diptych: environment as record

5 seconds f•45.5 + 5 seconds f• 45.5 -- >> 90mm lens • N-1 development

Environments: One Minute in a life

2011-10-28T13:26:00.007-04:00

One Minute - F•45 - Limit of the lens circle.

Environments -- Evidence

2011-10-27T15:47:00.003-04:00

20 seconds - F•32

Environments

2011-10-17T21:44:00.015-04:00

The picture above is a "sketchbook" image, shot on a pocket digital camera, of a scene that I hope to return to in a few days with my view camera. The scene is extremely interesting because of it's dichotomy. It looks like a picture of nature, but the place is completely contrived by humans. This place didn't exist ten years ago...it was a farmer's field, not an elevated lake plateau. What was it before it was a farmer's field? This is a good question and the answer predates my existence. I suppose I could do some research.

I have been thinking a lot lately about how people relate to the earth and the "environment." This theme has been mentioned before on this blog and it seems to keep popping up in my work. I find it fascinating to think about. Some books I have been reading these days are telling me some very interesting things about how this earth-human relationship may work...... all theories of mere mortals of course.

The books are not about photography at all, and at best, just remotely related to art. This is not a bad thing.

They are books about anthropology, and other stuff, and they make mention about the landscape being a record of human history.....and about how humans create environments for themselves that have an effect on their evolution through time, both culturally and genetically. I have theories of my own to add....and some ideas for pictures.

One's work too, evolves:

If you look through this blog, you see that I photograph a variety of things, and to paraphrase what Steve Jobs said in that Stanford University commencement speech in 2005, I am looking backwards and beginning to connect the dots in order to find faith in the future of my work.

I reiterate that refining vision is what is important and you have to believe it will all come together at some point.

It is important and helpful to be able to discuss your work and the motivations for it, both to help others understand what you are doing, and to help yourself connect those dots.....maybe with some thoughtful input along the way from people with useful comments.

Some of the Technical:

Like I said.... I often use a digital camera to make "sketchpad photos" in order to store ideas for pictures and to conceptualize my images a little, so when I show up with that 20-pound backpack and a bunch of expensive sheet film, it doesn't go to waste. These sketchpad photos are often what end up here on the blog. They are not always perfect and I am okay with that. This blog is about doing work and making progress, not always the end result.

So...for the camera that made the shot above:

Camera: Olympus C5050Z---Old but excellent camera for 4X5 shooters...almost the exact same frame proportions!

Exposure(Right from the File info!!!): ISO 64, BW mode, RAW file setting, 10.5mm lens, F/4.0 at 1/800 sec (manual Exposure mode)

Also of note...Photoshop of course...though I am heavy on analog(in my personal work)...I have been using photoshop to "process" my digital sketchpad images in a way that achieves a look I would like to aim for with the final print....when I re-shoot on film and create my final prints in the traditional method in a wet darkroom.

Holga Lens Test Shot

2011-10-14T21:24:00.009-04:00

This is a test shot using a lens from a Holga 120s camera that was taped to the back of a lens board for my Toyo 45A camera. The lens is a fixed f/8 and it has no shutter of its own.

Here is what I did for this picture, shot two days ago at the Gettysburg Battlefield:

I removed the lens from the Holga, and to get it close enough to the film plane of my Toyo... seeing that I only had a flat lens board available instead of a recessed board... I had to attach it to the back of the board in order to enable focus.

I end up with a 60mm f/8 fixed- aperture lens with no shutter.

I used a 6X7 CM Horseman roll film back and Fuji Acros 100-speed black and white film.

For the shutter, I brought along a dark slide from a 4x5 sheet film holder, and laid it across the front of the lens. I then removed the dark slide from the roll film holder and made an exposure by simply lifting away the 4x5 dark slide and then replacing it in front of the lens after the exposure.

The exposure ended up being about 2 seconds at f/8......it was an extremely rainy and dreary day when I shot this and I was in open shade to boot...I don't think my technique would have worked very well in the direct sun.

I am much more pleased with the result than I thought I would be...the subject was fairly flat, but the image still ended up with decent contrast......albeit, shadow detail is lacking....so more scientific experimentation is in order with proper exposure and development combinations.

I am pleased with the fall-off at the corners and the lack of focus at the edges, which are the primary features I was looking for.

Back to the Landscape -- Fall & Winter

2011-10-09T23:25:00.010-04:00

Some time ago, I wrote about some ideas I had about how I wanted to photograph the landscape. I was, and still am, interested in a minimalist approach to the landscape...as well as in my other personal work too, I might add.

Here is a link to that post from about two years ago:

http://tomnutter.blogspot.com/2009/02/minimalist-photography-and-human.html

As it is...Since I have been harping on nude photography, I think I should get back to some other themes that I have been working on....

I am a firm believer that at some point, these seemingly divergent ideas I have will collide and create something great...as always, work takes time. It will not be so simple as to find a willing nude model and just put her out there in the landscape and say that my work is done, and I have created art. This whole landscape and human influence thing boggles my mind for sure.

I am still reading things...still trying to justify adding my own imagery to the overdone genre of nude art studies, and the overdone genre of landscape studies.....and trying to avoid the cliché of pretty naked chicks out in the woods.

I like the picture that I have posted this week, because it is a cliché...just some trees out in the woods...but it is interesting to me because of how generic it is...and how since the trees, the subject of the image, get so lost in the rest of the woods around them...you can barely discern them...can barely see the trees for the forest....to play on another cliché, if I dare. This picture is symbolic for me because I am trying to make something unique, with my own vision...something I have not yet achieved. I always talk about refining vision in photographs. This picture is symbolic of how much work I have left to do.

Some of the technical:

This image was shot on Fuji Acros 100 120 film in a Horseman 6X7 roll film back on a Toyo 45A camera. I did a little swing of the Nikkor W 180mm/f-5.6 lens to screw around with the focus. I think I used a fairly open aperture, like f11....shutter speed was probably around 1/2-sec. Film was developed normally. This was another "Tom Nutter Scan"...a copy shot done hand-held with a digital camera of the negative laying on a light box. Toning, while somewhat sepia, was totally digital and created in p-shop, I also added some lens vignetting with P-shop as well.

Back Study & Art Model Discussion

2011-10-02T21:41:00.017-04:00

It is a strange phenomenon to photograph a nude model....but I think moreso for those who haven't had the experience first-hand.

I cannot speak for the models or other artists besides myself, but you do worry a little about how you might be received in the world for being involved in it, silly as it sounds.

I'm not terribly concerned with what people think about me though...the people I really care about, and who really care about me know what I am doing. I am extremely open about it. In fact, I discuss it with my partner incessantly...to the point where she is sometimes tired of hearing about it, or of being asked, "What do you think of this model, is there any potential? How about this pose? How about the lighting?"....etc., etc., etc.

The people that matter know also that it is only a small representation of the entire scope of what I do.

As far as the photographing goes, with a naked person merely a few feet in front of me, in the flesh, nothing to the imagination.....I think none of it. I'm so concerned about whether I remembered to cock the lens shutter or remove the dark slide or whatever, that other stuff doesn't even cross my mind.

Sex? What's that anyway? Do I feel differently when it comes to male or female nude models?...don't know...I haven't done any male nudes yet....but I doubt it...the entire thing, at least from my standpoint, is completely non-sexual.

What does cross my mind? ...hmmmm....."Did she move back or forth 3-inches? " "What will I do if she did?.....!!!!...At this aperture, she will be completely out of focus if she moved!!!!!! What to do?.....What's a better way to make sure the shot is technically sound, and so I don't screw up?"

"Did that strobe light fire? Did I remember to set the aperture at all, or did I even close the shutter before I pulled out the darkslide?"

"Will I get the same expression on film as I just got with the digital camera on that test shot?"

....get the idea?

The way I see it is that I have a tremendous responsibility to make sure the model's efforts are made worthwhile, and her willingness to risk embarrassment is justified. Even afterward, there is no secret gratification from the fact that you have seen another person naked. You just hope you have some art.

It's work, plain and simple....and you are trying to do a good job. A naked stranger a few feet in front of you only adds to the stress. The bottom line is that you want to come up with an image that is beautiful and in some way, hopefully.....transcendent of image-making itself.

Some of the technical:

This image was shot in 2010 as a part of my series for a gallery show in Wilmington, Delaware, called "Women: Recent Portraits and Figures." It appeared on the cover of a one-off copy of a catalog I produced for the show through Blurb Books, but decided not to publish.

This particular image is one of those digital test shots I mentioned above. The image appeared only on the catalog and did not make it into the show because the 8X10 black-and-white negatives I shot on my old Agfa-Ansco, all 3 of them, were completely out of focus!!....It's my fault for sure but to add to it, the model was cold and could not seem to stand still. Sometimes photos don't work out. What can I say?

I can't remember the exposure.

Creative Vision and the Torso -- Contrapposto

2011-09-25T16:25:00.038-04:00

Contrapposto is an Italian word describing a posing technique for models that dates to the beginnings of figure studies in art. Probably the most famous piece of art you could think of that uses this pose would be the sculpture "David" by Michelangelo, said to be completed in 1504 AD. The nude figure, and the contrapposto pose, of course, date back much further...all the way to the Greek sculptor, Polyclitus in the 5th century BCE, who has been said by the Romans, to have been "the very inventor of art itself."

I love the pose, as do many, just because the slight "S-Curve" it creates with the torso makes such a wonderful line.

In the sculptures from the classical age, they used a maple leaf to cover the naughty bits...in this two-dimensional media age, I used lighting.....interesting parallel, maybe.

This is probably not the strongest of the torso studies I have done thus far in this series, but I think it is one of the more interesting for me. It embodies so much and walks so many lines.

This pose could also be interpreted as a typical one that a photographer might use to accentuate the female body in such a way which perpetrates what has been coined, "The Male Gaze." It's a term from the feminist movement that suggests images of women, especially nudes, are degrading to women because they objectify them, displaying women in a way that is appealing only to men.

You could say that, but then again, you could use a term like "contrapposto" which implies strength, confidence and heroism. I guess it depends on one's perspective on art and history and gender....and on what argument they are trying to support.

This all gets back to something I have mentioned more than once through this blog. It is about refining vision. Figure studies are a fairly new thing for me as an artist and I have only been thinking about them seriously for the last couple of years. I am still in the process of establishing my aesthetic, or my creative vision, when it comes to the figure.

As far as the technical:

More of the same really: One dynalite was used at camera right, high up in an 18-in diffused beauty dish, about 3-feet from the model. The model was about 5-feet from the black background, and surrounded by negative fill cards. The film used was Fuji Acros 100 in a Mamiya RZ 67 with a 180mm lens....maybe 1/250/sec at f/8. The latent image faced normal development, and was digitized through the "Tom Nutter Method," which is basically laying the negative on a lightbox and doing a hand-held copy with a digital camera...in this case, a Canon 20D...which no I longer own...very unscientific, I am afraid.

Narratives in Portraits --- for Composition

2011-09-20T15:55:00.015-04:00

Willis Phelps is a master Storyteller who interprets stories
from the Civil War era for audiences around the East Coast. This image was shot for the June 2011 issue of Delaware Today magazine, for an article coinciding with this 150th anniversary year of the Civil War, that concentrated on people who are reenactors and historical interpreters from the Wilmington, Delaware area.

Creating a simple narrative is something that makes a portrait much more effective.

This isn't news...and so many photographers have figured this out before me. It became sort of a minor epiphany for me recently though, when a friend was asking me how he could improve a portrait he had done recently of some musicians from a local band where he lives.

One of my ideas for him was just that, to pose the models accordingly, and get expressions that create some sort of narrative.

It was an epiphany for me because it reminded me of something fundamental that isn't always in the front of my mind when I am working on pictures. I strive to simplify my images and make them minimal but still interesting. What better way to simplify an image, than to tell a short story without words?

Thinking about fundamental things... playing with the dials on your camera... looking through custom functions... thinking about concepts... and composition....and the fundamental things... ideas and motives... that got you interested in this endeavor in the first place should constantly be refreshed whenever you get the chance or a reminder.

The idea for this image came when Mr. Phelps insisted on looking for this little creek at our shoot location. He said water was always a concern for black soldiers in the Civil War, and that they were always looking for it to keep their canteens full, while looking over their shoulder...Zulu shotgun, or maybe something home-made, always at the ready.

Technical stuff for gearheads:

Lumedyne battery strobes with a white umbrella, mixed with available light, late in the day....open shade in the overcast woods... Costume was provided by the subject.... Camera was a Nikon d300s with (I think!) a manual-focus 24mm f-2.8 Nikkor prime lens. Some photoshop was done for toning and selective dodging and burning.

Back Study with One Light from Left

2011-09-12T23:47:00.007-04:00

Simple and straightforward is what I look for in the photographs I create.

In the nude studies I have been working on over the past two years, simple and straightforward is still a common objective. This is why I have done so many torso studies with just one light on a plain black background.

At the same time, I like the abstraction this technique creates. At some times it is more pleasing than at others, of course, but this is the process of creating a body of work. Though it seems like the hardest of tasks, you have to keep looking through that camera and keep working through ideas before you can finally arrive at what you are looking for in an image.....and it is a maddening process, because you cannot always articulate what that thing you are looking for actually is.

Tech Specs:

Fuji Acros 120 film, normal development in Sprint chemistry. This is a copy of a 5X7 workprint on Ilford MG paper.

The negative was shot with a Mamiya RZ67 and a 180mm lens....not sure of the exposure...probably f/8.....Light is with a single Dynalite 4040 bare tube head in a medium softbox at camera left with a piece of black foamcore at camera right for negative fill...there was also black paper on the wall and ceiling above and to the left to give better control over the light in my tiny studio space.

This was an amateur female model with a great back for nude studies. I am currently looking for more models who are able to work within an artist's budget.

Need More Ideas for the Figure

2011-08-11T21:20:00.005-04:00

This Image is from the last session I did with a figure model in early 2011.

I think I have said before that I am done with figure studies....I don't think I really am. But before I start again, I just need more ideas. I need to read more books and look at more sources of inspiration so I can come up with concepts that are beyond the ordinary, beyond pictures of beautiful women like Miss Kerri Taylor here.

Some of the technical....White background....Two bare tubes on there....one small soft box above and in front of Miss Taylor, one large white reflector in front of her from below. To get the dark rim around her body, I used black foam core to create negative reflectivity.

Personal Work -- Art vs. Commerce

2011-03-23T00:29:00.037-04:00

This diptych of model Kerri Taylor illustrates
the two concepts I am working on simultaneously
in my latest personal photographs.

Currently, my personal work has been concentrating on the figure, especially the female figure. I am calling them Torso Studies, which seems overly technical, and also, I am calling them Figurative Portraits, which causes me to be cautious of cliches as I work.

This work is quite a departure from the work I do from day to day..... a lot of environmental portraiture, head shots and event photography, shot largely on location. Photos are much more matter-of-fact, instead of conceptually driven.

The personal images are all being shot in a studio with careful control of the lighting and composition. They are on a necessarily low budget, and the work is slow-moving. There is a larger, though somewhat elusive rationale at work.

I do believe that personal work is extremely important because it can shape the future of your professional work. Sure you do the jobs you have to do to stay afloat in this competitive business, many of which are unglamorous, to put it politely. Creating personal work that pleases you shapes your vision and creates a self-fulfilling map of where you might go next professionally. I'm hoping it will eventually get me more work I want an less of the work that doesn't help my vision. It's all about refining vision on many levels.

Why the nude? Why such an age-old subject? Why women? Why must my nudes have no adornments or draperies present in the image? Why so much darkness in so many of the images, and why, though nude, is so much left to the imagination in so many other images? I can't give a clear answer to all of these questions yet. I am doing research. I am reading. I am searching for a way to articulate what the gray-matter in my head already knows, that makes this body of work important. Again...refining vision.

At the end of this, I plan to fill a gallery with my images of torsos and my figurative portraits, but for now this is a work-in-progress that is expanding my creative mind, my ability to relate to people and my technical ability as a photographer. In the philosophical end, you find that people grow in many directions at once without really knowing where they will end up or what kind of person they will be when they are finished. You sometimes detect positive signals that say things are going right.

Some of the Technical:

Both of these images were shot on black-and-white film with a Mamiya RZ67 camera and a 180mm lens. Fuji Acros 100-speed film was used and developed normally.
Dynalite studio strobes were used for both images: At left, one light was used with a diffuser and several black (negative fill) cards. At right: one head with a diffused beauty dish was above, a silver reflector below and several black (negative fill) cards were used on the sides. Two heads with barn-doors were on the backdrop, an off-white, painted roll of muslin.

The only digital retouching done was to remove dust from the scans and to simulate sepia-toning.

Not Camera Phone Art #4810492

2011-03-10T14:33:00.005-05:00

Diptych......age 81.

Melancholy just seems to come naturally for me.

Again....I JUST LOVE available light.

Not Camera Phone Art #0473

2011-03-08T22:04:00.004-05:00

Figure Studies -- All shapes and sizes....big fan of available light!

Lighting Test Shot -- Model Kerri Taylor

2011-03-03T16:57:00.045-05:00

This is a test shot from a quick studio session with excellent model Kerri Taylor.

The light is fairly expressive, as is the pose, thanks to miss Taylor. I gave her very little direction. I just told her that I was trying to capture some sort of quiet drama. The light is fairly hard and from a fairly extreme angle. I like that. The angles of her body lend themselves to it as well.

I worried for days about how I should photograph Miss Taylor, who is a very experienced model for sure. In the end, I decided simplicity was best, as it usually is.

I look at pictures a lot when I think about what I want to do in a studio session. Often the images are from photographers who had their heyday back when Tri-x was the standard. I have piles of dog-eared monographs that I refer to and pore over like volumes from the reference desk.

I once had an art director tell me that my style of photography is in danger of becoming dated. This was an opinion from someone I didn't really know, and whose judgment, regardless of their accomplishments, has not been proven, at least to me. I have taken that comment into consideration, but not as gospel. The answer I come up with is that while my style of photography is very classical and deliberate, it is not static. Instead, it is always changing, so how can it be dated?

What it amounts to is that you have to decide how you can be true to yourself creatively, and then do your best to live up to that standard. It is probably higher than that of those around you anyway. Your own creative vision is the clearest sight for you. Advice from others and guidance can be welcomed and helpful, but you must still have the self-confidence to trust your own judgment. Eventually, if you are perseverant, you will arrive at something that is uniquely yours and uniquely new.

As I said, this is one of just a few test-shots done with a digital camera in my tiny studio for an art portrait. I also spun about ten rolls of black-and-white film through a beat-up RZ67 in this session. The images there are still latent for now.

There were two Dynalites on the background. There was one way above her and a reflector in front. Her figure was surrounded by negative fill, which subtly accents her shape. It is important to control light carefully.

The background was not pure white. It had texture and light did the rest.

Not Camera Phone Art #3629

2011-02-26T20:45:00.005-05:00

Not Camera Phone Art.......Fetish 2

Derivative of David Levinthal perhaps....except I don't have a 20X24 Polaroid laying around.

This fetishistic plastic icon of American bravado has been floating around with my camera gear since college, where the little killer played a part in a major class project. He helped me earn the only "D" I ever got in a photo class.

He has resurfaced from my past, demanding another portrait. Here it is.

I was going to say something in this post about reconciling assignment work with my own creative impulses....more about that later....

New Study -- Thinking About Film

2011-02-22T00:39:00.016-05:00

This is another figure study of Angelique...sort of a Bob Carlos Clarke feel, I think....or maybe a touch of Robert Mapplethorpe -- Both are photographers I think about.

It wasn't intentional. I didn't like this "digital capture" in color, so I turned it into black-and-white, then toned it, added some brooding contrast and some grain-like gaussian texture. It's all so easy in Photo-Shop. I shot some real film of her as well. It's time to go into the darkroom and see if I can take off from this digital sketch and make tangible art.

Photography Journal -- Nostalgia

2011-02-20T21:19:00.015-05:00

So, you spend your life photographing people...making portraits for assignments, portraits of your friends, and of strangers. If you are fortunate, you sometimes end up befriending the people after you photograph them. Sometimes you hope to forget everything about them.

You file these pictures away in boxes, and now on cd's and hard drives. At some point in your career, you no longer remember every single image you create, though you swore you did for decades.

Eventually you pull out some of these boxes and are blown away by what you find. You are also blown away by how important some of these images have become, though when you created them, they seemed completely insignificant.

Photography is nostalgia...there is no getting around it.

I wonder if that is what drives people to become photographers...so they have an excuse to record everything they do and everyone they see...so they can perpetually second-guess. Maybe it's faces from the past they wish they had dated, or memories scribbled on a friend's kitchen wall so many years ago...gone now. Or maybe they are people who will end up only past friends, but who you still remember, bittersweetly.

The expressions on their faces often cause me long moments of quiet contemplation. I wonder not only what they were thinking at the time, but also where they might be right now. And if I see them again, how will their expression be different?

Figurative Studio Portrait 2011

2011-02-14T12:26:00.016-05:00

I have figured out why I so often make portraits with the model so tightly compressed into the frame. Not just a matter of shooting a lot of 35mm in the film days, it's matter of space----In my tiny little studio, there is just simply not enough room to do wide shots with arms flailing, hair blowing in some wind machine....drama, drama, drama. I think this is pretty dramatic though....sometimes you make success out of the limitations you have.

A bit of the Technical: This model was photographed with Canon digital cameras, Dynalite studio strobes, and some home-made light modifiers, like black foil, White foam-core and satin diffusers. The focal length was about 105mm, effectively. Exposure....hmmm-f/8 1/250 sec. or thereabouts.

Old Acme Shutter Woes

2011-01-25T23:26:00.005-05:00

An update to the Acme Shutter saga:

I was able to finally get the little post that broke off the shutter speed controller soldered into a relatively correct position with enough solder to hopefully keep it from breaking off again.

I successfully extracted the broken shaft of the tiny brass screw that held the time-exposure mechanism together and I was able to find a suitable replacement screw in the old DV video camera I stripped apart.

I also eventually found a light-enough coil spring in the DV cam that, with some modifications, made the shutter speed governor (Controller) work sufficiently.

I tweaked the main spring yet again with some pliers and worked out the hang-up with the time-exposure mechanism arm that was slightly bent and getting caught.

I now have a functioning shutter again, with a full-range of speeds from 1 second to 1/150th sec. plus Bulb and Time-exposure settings yet again.
Albeit----1sec might actually be about 3/4 sec instead, but all-in-all everything is much snappier.
In addition....it's amazing what a little lighter fluid will do.....

Also, since I tweaked the flash-sync mechanism and added a little lock-tite to the screw that held it all together, that mechanism is much more reliable now as well.

Woo Hoo...Guess now I should keep my grubby mitts off the thing and actually use it.

Taking A Little Breather

2010-12-13T01:33:00.009-05:00

I am on a bit of a hiatus....deciding what to do next....deciding whether to continue......with the figure studies....with art photography....just wanted to get past that Halloween pic....Stay tuned. I will be updating the website soon as well.

Thanks for tuning in....and by the way..I am no longer on Facebook. Email is the best way to contact me.

UPDATE FEB-2011: Still on Facebook, still working, still producing personal work, commercial work & Figure studies....

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-14T18:37:00.002-04:00

....my pespective on modern photography...Happy Halloween!

Not Camera Phone Art #14

2010-10-12T17:40:00.002-04:00

Natural light...late afternoon....always fleeting....always my favorite.

Glass Light

2010-09-28T20:57:00.003-04:00

Light passing through glass is always beautiful...even with a cheap point-and-shoot.

Not Camera Phone Art #10--Contemplating Michael Kenna

2010-09-26T16:23:00.010-04:00

This is from the on-going series of snapshot art I am posting to my facebook page....digital sketch pad images not created using a camera phone....

Thought Process

2010-09-25T17:33:00.006-04:00

This is another study of something I have walked by a thousand times, wondering about how I could make it interesting to look at. It is an unfinished mill stone from who knows when laying on the edge of a man-made pond in a local park.

Is is interesting to me as part of a series of photos for an essay I have been thinking about for some months. The essay has to do with humans and their relationship to the earth and their futile efforts to somehow separate their fragile lives from the natural order of the world, and how it may very well end in self-destruction.

The Earth, as we all know, may very well be indifferent, or perhaps even proactive in removing the human parasite. There are cultures that see the Earth as a living entity unto itself.

I'm still considering how to approach this daunting, abstract subject. I have touched on it in past projects, namely a portrait series of people in the state of Wyoming, which was inspired by A book I read by John McPhee, called "Rising from the Plains." I photographed Native Americans, miners and farmers.... all people with definite ties to the earth and its resources.

Looking at things like the mill stone above, makes me ask questions about things we do. I wonder why it was left there, and who left it. I see it as evidence that people are not so far removed from the days when everything was not available in a corner store, and when our basic needs, which truthfully, have not changed in a million years, were much more obvious. The consequences of not having them met were clear and not prolonged.

EMAIL ME: tomnutter@tomnutterphotos.com

Study for Upcoming Landscape Series

2010-09-24T23:36:00.009-04:00

This image was shot digitally with some vignetting over the edges of the lens to mimic the look of a Holga toy camera.

As I persist, some say obstinately, in my use of analog tools for my personal work in photography, I am coming to a realization that since it is very likely analog, film-based photography will become increasingly impractical, I have to find a way to make myself more comfortable with the idea of putting away my film holders.

I've decided to do this by incorporating the digital camera as an integral tool in the process of creating my analog images. I can do all of the experimenting, location and time scouting, lighting tests, testing of gizmos, and everything else, virtually at no cost. This will hone my skills with, and build my trust of current technology in preparation for the inevitable. At the same time, this allows me to know exactly what I want when I return to the scene with the sheet film and view camera.

I don't have to stop at the camera either. One of the arguments for analog photography is that it must be better because everything digital is an attempt to mimic the tricks of analog. I can use photoshop to try different things like selective focus or skewed film plane, and again, with a clear Idea of what I want, return to the scene with a clearer vision of the final product, and enter the gallery with a self-affirmation that I got it in-camera.

This process will make me find the limits of both mediums, and hopefully help me gain more control of the mechanical part of my creative vision.

This may seem crazy to some. I realize there are photographers out there now who have never touched a piece of film, but the process of thought leading to the creation of a final image is important to me. I believe that initial experimentation is important, but the final image should be a deliberate exercise. My traditional sense of things tells me that capturing an image then turning it into a refined photograph in post-production is a backward process.

I realize this backward process, as I call it, is pretty much the way digital photography works and I cannot yet reconcile that with my way of working, but struggling to adapt a new process into your work is how innovative things come about.

This transition between digital and analog will be well served as I proceed through the Fall and Winter months exploring the evidence for a theory I have about how humans and all of their technology are actually losing the battle against nature. I will be participating in a personal evolution of thought while pursuing my theory about the evolution of the world as it relates to humans.

In the News---Christine O'Donnell

2010-09-21T12:43:00.007-04:00

This is a photo of the now well-known Senate nominee from Delaware, Christine O'Donnell. This photo was made for the the May 2004 issue of Delaware Today Magazine, before the Tea Party movement, and before anybody, including me, knew much about her.

It seems I may have a slightly unique image here--- I haven't seen too many studio photos of her, but I haven't searched extensively either.

The cover ended up being a photo-shopped piece that featured O'Donnell at center flanked by two other up-and-coming politicians, including Delaware's current Attorney General, Beau Biden and another member of the Republican party, John Clatworthy.

More Experimenting--Film Making

2010-08-25T23:35:00.017-04:00

I have started my minimalist video production experiments again....this one is live action, edited in IMove with special effects. An about-face to my affinity for analog photography, the films are all-digital. Here is the higher-quality version:

Tom Nutter Photos YouTube Channel

--OR-- Vimeo, where I recently started a membership:

Tom Nutter Photos Vimeo Page

The subtly melancholy, nostalgic mood is much easier to pick up there. I hope you like it!

Look for more three-minute shorts soon!

Trying to Find My Way

2010-08-15T01:15:00.009-04:00

---Another image from my torsos series...shot in medium format with a wonderful model named Kristen.

I am mostly interested in analog photography....with film, old cameras, a wet darkroom and all the weird gadgets to go with it. I do not live in a void however.....ALL of my non-personal work is done digitally, and because I maintain this blog and a website, I must of course resort to digital technology to get my personal, analog images out there.

I don't own a scanner, so when I want a digital copy of one of my film images....usually something on 6X7cm roll-film or 4X5-inch sheet film, I simply lay the black-and-white negative on a light box and snap a copy shot of it with the trusty digital camera. If I am really excited about the image, I may even shoot a pic while the film is still hanging in the darkroom, drying.

Doing this, I have come across a strange phenomenon, and an interesting look that I have decided to try to mimic though analogue...HA HA!... go figure....Finding inspiration for analog through digital....

Somehow, when I snap one of these really low-brow copy shots of a very-fine-grained film image with the digital camera I have, it seems to amplify the grain of the film in some way....in a very pleasing way. I then tone the image in Photoshop and have a very vintage look....almost a Salt-Print or Gum-Bichromate look. The result is often varied, but the picture above is a good example of the look I am interested in.

I have been itching to try some kind of alternative analog process, but have been both too lazy, and also too opposed to the current trend of alternative chemical processes.....it seems nobody makes a straight silver print anymore....however, I think I can make it a goal to work toward a certain "look" with a series of images or two. I think the the images in the Torsos Series I have been photographing lend themselves to this and make a great starting point.

I'll keep you posted, for sure!

Test Shot

2010-07-30T22:57:00.007-04:00

This is a shot from a test-roll of Fuji Acros 100 black-and-white film, run through my "new" horseman 452 6X7cm roll-film back that fits my large-format 4X5 field-camera, making it into a medium-format camera with swings and tilts .....such the old-camera-photo-tech geek.

There's just nothing that beats the crisp snap of a well-functioning mechanical leaf shutter and the soft shuffle of the film advancing through a mechanical film-advance.

By the way---no surprise----the images were spot-on sharp. I used the sunny-16 rule and was free.

The more the world gets digitized, the more I look for the discarded technology that was once great, always mechanical, and is not-quite-yet useless, though it's real value may very well be quite esoteric.

From The Torsos Series--ongoing in 2010

2010-07-23T00:47:00.007-04:00

This is one from a series of studies in black-and-white, using one light source on a black background.

Picture of the Day--June 19, 2010

2010-06-19T00:01:00.007-04:00

Criminy....spent all that time yesterday constructing a special gizmo, and it barely looks like I USED a gizmo.

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The Picture of the Day....sort of a daily journal of creativity to keep me thinking about photography. I come up with most of the concepts right on the spot.

Picture of the Day--June 11, 2010

2010-06-11T12:39:00.002-04:00

New Jersey Turnpike, soon after dawn... I plan on taking this trip many times in the coming months.

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The Picture of the Day....sort of a daily journal of creativity to keep me thinking about photography. I come up with most of the concepts right on the spot.

Picture of the Day--June 7, 2010

2010-06-07T02:57:00.001-04:00

Video killed the radio star...so to speak.

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The Picture of the Day....sort of a daily journal of creativity to keep me thinking about photography. I come up with most of the concepts right on the spot.

Picture of the Day--June 6, 2010

2010-06-06T00:38:00.005-04:00

This is sort of a double Pic of the Day, I guess.

D-Day-- June 6, 2010

2010-06-06T00:07:00.001-04:00

I'm not overly patriotic, but my Dad was a veteran of a forgotten war, there is a war going on right now that not many people think about and it's the 66th anniversary of D-Day....some things simply deserve a little thoughtful reflection.

Picture of The Day--June 5, 2010

2010-06-05T01:20:00.006-04:00

One light and complimentary colors.
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The Picture of the Day....sort of a daily journal of creativity to keep me thinking about photography. I come up with most of the concepts right on the spot.

Picture of the Day--June 4, 2010

2010-06-04T00:09:00.000-04:00

...don't have much to say here either...except that she's uniquely amazing!

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The Picture of the Day....sort of a daily journal of creativity to keep me thinking about photography. I come up with most of the concepts right on the spot.

Picture of the Day--June 3, 2010

2010-06-03T00:06:00.003-04:00

Subtle, subtle, subtle narrative... you can make up the story.

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The Picture of the Day....sort of a daily journal of creativity to keep me thinking about photography. I come up with most of the concepts right on the spot.

Picture of the Day--June 1, 2010

2010-06-01T00:08:00.012-04:00

Okay people...The party is over.....Get back to work.

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The Picture of the Day....sort of a daily journal of creativity to keep me thinking about photography. I come up with most of the concepts right on the spot. Incidentally, this is day seven.

Picture of the Day--May 31, 2010

2010-05-31T00:01:00.001-04:00

Memorial Day (Observed)....Thank you Dad....for everything.

Picture of the Day--May 30, 2010

2010-05-30T00:10:00.001-04:00

I can't think of anything too witty to say today, but I have been a little frustrated lately....

Picture of the Day--May 29, 2010

2010-05-29T00:01:00.005-04:00

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania....I didn't see any Orbs, but I envisioned this.

Picture of the Day--May 28, 2010

2010-05-28T01:29:00.000-04:00

Our most precious resource.

Picture of the Day--May 27, 2010

2010-05-27T01:40:00.000-04:00

1975 Pictures of the Year Winner, portraitist, all-around excellent photographer, artist and mentor to me... Pat Crowe.

Picture of the Day--May 26, 2010

2010-05-26T04:00:00.002-04:00

Breakfast of Champions!

Picture of the Day--May 25, 2010

2010-05-25T15:35:00.004-04:00

Okay, this is not a new Idea....but it it is new for me..... The Picture of the day....sort of a daily journal of creativity to keep me thinking. HaHa! Let's see how long I can keep this one going!

More Ideas Upcoming

2010-04-30T21:59:00.007-04:00

When I first began photography in earnest, I was thinking of it in terms of artistic creation. As I went along and learned more, and wanted to find a way to make a living in the industry, I discovered photojournalism and portraiture. These later days, some 20 years into my exploration, I find myself again heading more toward an artistic journey.

This series, just barely begun, of abstracted torsos, is another move in that direction. I don't however see this or the also on-going 8X10 project , which is a series of figurative portraits, as a finality either. I'm not interested in spending the rest of my days doing figure studies specifically, but photography. Figures are another means of exploring the medium.

I stop short of calling myself an artist. I study light a lot, even without a camera. I look at a lot of pictures, I compose a lot of pictures in my mind. I think about pictures all of the time. I think about my career as a picture maker and wonder often, what will become of it all. It seems to me that the photographers I respect most are also respected as artists, not just photographers. I hope to achieve that some day.

For this project, I often ask an embarrassing question: Do you pose Nude?

I justify it with more pictures and talk of avoiding clichés. I discuss the higher purposes of art, and the virtues of working in film in this digital age, and the importance of a hand-printed silver print. The worst thing is that I am completely serious about it.

Detroit

2010-04-20T19:33:00.006-04:00

I just spent a brief time in Detroit, and I have discovered it's photographic potential, despite it's reputation. It is a very colorful city with wonderful light.

Classical Beauty

2010-04-10T01:16:00.008-04:00

A friend recently asked me if, for my current project, I only photograph women who are classically beautiful. I could not answer the question clearly. It may be a cop out, but all women are beautiful.

I don't think I can say what classical is. Figure studies have, as we know, been around since humans figured out how to make art and the ideal has changed constantly. The classical beauty, in my opinion, comes from the creator of the image and their study of artistic history, not the subject. It comes through perception, lighting, pose, styling, and confidence. Confidence is essential both on the parts of the photographer and the model. Through confidence comes the beauty.

This image was a test-shot, created as part of an on-going series of figurative portraits I will be shooting with an 8X10 view camera over the next months. I plan to have an exhibition of these images after they are created. The venue has yet to be determined.

I intend to overcome cliché by addressing it directly. I will ignore accusations of perpetuating the "Male Gaze" by letting the female subjects, through the language of pictures, speak for themselves without apology.

I will concentrate on quality of light, pose, and composition. We will then have beauty.

Come Out and See the Show

2009-12-10T23:38:00.002-05:00

Creek Study #3

2009-10-07T23:16:00.007-04:00

Michael Kenna has said that he often revisits some of his landscapes to get more intimate with them and listen to them speak to him. This is the umpteenth time I have visited this little spot along the White Clay Creek here in Delaware, and the fourth time I have photographed it. Every time I photograph these two trees, the rock and the stream, the light, the time of day, and time of year are different. I forever come away with a different image. For a reason I have yet to fully discover, this little spot speaks to me. I believe this is my most successful record of the subject to date. I used a 6X7cm SLR camera and a 65mm lens for this negative. I deliberately overexposed the film, both for effect-- to use a longer shutter speed for the water to smooth out, and also to render the best shadow detail I could get. I developed the film at N-1 to hold back the dappled highlights, which gave me a well-balanced negative with good tonal range.

Photography can still be fun

2009-09-26T15:33:00.002-04:00

Shot with a Rolleiflex from the hip in Times Square Summer 2009

I forgot what fun shooting street photos can be. I used to do it quite regularly with quite a bit of intensity.

This shot was done with a Rolleiflex and a Nikon flash this past summer. I just developed the film, and like it sometimes happens, shooting from the hip yeilds a pleasant surprise on film.

Montaged Image

2009-09-21T14:36:00.008-04:00

This image is running double-truck on page 84 of the October 2009 issue of Delaware Today Magazine.

This is a composite image. Due to the busy schedules of all the parties involved in this photo, each person was photographed separately on different days at the same location with the same lighting. The three men were then montaged together into one desolate and ominous beach landscape, whch incidentally was shot in Battery Park in historic New Castle, Delaware on the shore of the Delaware river, while families strolled by and Salem, New Jersey nuclear plant loomed across the water on the horizon.
The picture was stitched together and made to look real by Delaware Today's talented Creative Director, Kelly M. Carter.
You can read the story of three explorers with ties to Delaware here:
http://www.delawaretoday.com/Delaware-Today/October-2009/The-Explorers/

Actor Headshot Packages Now Available

2009-07-18T13:20:00.003-04:00

Take a look at my website, and contact me for more info and pricing.

http://www.tomnutterphotos.com/headshots.html

Looking for Portrait Subjects

2009-05-21T22:38:00.006-04:00

I am working on a series of Black and White portraits shot on REAL film. I am looking for a variety of people who have an interest in being photographed. The theme is very open at this point. Sub-themes are in my mind and will materialize as the work develops. If you are interested, please contact me with a short description of why you are interested in being photographed.

Transition Takes Time

2009-03-11T11:55:00.004-04:00

This image is all about transition for both the subject and its photographer.

The subject of this picture is in the midst of facing the unforeseen gravity of deciding to move 500 miles away from her family, alone, to take on graduate school for two years. It is a huge transition from the previous ten years of her life.

For me, the photographer, this image also represents a change in thinking about my work as an image maker. I spent over ten years as a freelancer in newspapers and photojournalism. I never manipulated images or made up content. I never used tricks to adjust the mood of the images, nor did I direct the subjects of my images in order to make things clearer.

The image above has elements of that. It is a real moment of reflection, not directed by me and certainly not posed, but it is a transitory image for me, because it is highly manipulated with photoshop tricks to enhance the mood and perhaps the message.
I removed things from the stark white wall at right to make it more brilliant, and less distracting from the subject. I played with the color and tonality to enhance the feeling of melancholy and to play up the stark reality of her decision.

As I transition to a different kind of work, work that is more illustrative than documentary, I realize that I must master a new set of skills. I must learn to control the elements of my images more carefully. I must realize that I now have creative freedom and complete control of my image making. This realization is powerful; it is almost an epiphany.

Minimalism in Portraiture

2009-02-21T15:17:00.024-05:00

Minimalism doesn't necessarily mean simplicity of construction or concept, especially when it comes to executing an idea for a portrait.

Achieving a minimalist effect in a portrait, while still creating something interesting to look at, becomes an argument of creativity. It takes meticulous planning and much presence of mind to successfully use minimalism in photographs. What works in thinking about minimalism, is in preparing your mind to think with clarity and purpose, about ideas for interesting images that communicate subconsciously. Shadow and light become everything. They are meticulously placed for effect. Extras only become artifice.

It is often said and taught in classes that successful portraits tell the viewer something about the subject of the image. A portrait is most successful for me when it becomes ambiguous to a point that it makes the viewer start a mental dialog about what is going on, even if that dialog creates questions that are hard to articulate in words. The subject may be interesting, but the real questions have nothing to do with that person specifically.

Using minimalist styling helps get rid of distractions that keep images on a superficial plane, and helps create much deeper, sometimes emotional reaction to the image. At the same time, it frees the creator from having to adopt a specific point of view in the dialog, because the ambiguity in the image transfers that responsibility to the viewer.

Some would argue that minimalism cannot exist in portraiture because portraiture is itself an act of representation. This may be true, but concepts of the Minimalist or Reductivist movements can be adopted and utilized to simplify a portrait and encourage broader thought.

Minimalism in Photography

2009-02-14T20:18:00.003-05:00

I shot this image several months, if not more than a year ago. It has been floating around my hard drive ever since. Occasionally, I would think of it and take another look, not knowing exactly why it was so appealing. It's partially a stylistic thing--The little digital point-and-shoot I used to create it, when set at a high ISO, low-quality and black-and-white-only, pixelates images in a way that resembles coarse film grain. Think of T-Max P3200. I find it appealing.

Call it post-rationalization, but the real reason finally hit me after I began thinking about minimalism as it relates to photography. This might be the image that got the wheels turning. This rendering is photography in its purest form; It is only shadow and light. The subject is open to interpretation, or else non-existent, according to your point of view. Viewers are confronted only by a record of incident light on a random day. There is no context, but there is plenty of mood, or at least tension.

This image causes my mind to stir. It is a reaction I have, perhaps emotional, or perhaps only aesthetic, and I believe the image transcends mere representation in a conventional sense and finally becomes art.

Minimalist Photography and Human Influence

2009-02-08T14:22:00.007-05:00

I am discovering that I am interested in two things with my latest photographic explorations.
I am interested in getting back to basics with my images, trying to create interesting images with minimal elements.
I am also becoming interested in the pervasive, yet often all-to-subtle influence humans have on the landscape and the world. Our perceptions are jaded by this bombardment of human-created environments, whether it be trash in the gutter, powerlines throughout the land, or even adornments, such as tattoos on our own bodies.
This image may be a beautiful seascape, but is it beautiful because the influence of humans is present here as a compositional vehicle? Would it be as interesting if the worn-out pilings were naturally occurring, or if they were not there at all? Is there tension, not because of the composition, but because this cultivated swimming beach seems to be taken over by nature once-again?
I ask myself if I should find comfort in knowing that other humans have left evidence that they stood at the same location as me. I ask if I should instead fear mother nature is trying to erase evidence that humans were ever there.

Creek Study

2009-02-04T18:35:00.006-05:00

I've been to this place along a local creek countless times. Usually there is no one else around.
I find trying to photograph it successfully more interesting lately,
than any of the many peoples' faces I have photographed.
I always found people and portraits to be my most challenging subject.
Now after so many years, I am interested in something different.
I cannot quite decide why just yet.

Delaware Today December 2008 Top Lawyers Issue

2008-11-19T19:15:00.004-05:00

I have the cover of the December 2008 Delaware Today Magazine and the lead feature--Top Lawyers.
Take a look, and thanks to The Creative Director, Kelly Carter, for the assignment and the great layout.

Never Disregard Latent Images

2008-11-14T00:49:00.005-05:00

Years ago I gave a box of random Junk to a photographic buddy. In this box, among other things, there were various rolls of film, some exposed and some unused. Years before that, I had been making several trips to New Orleans to work on my street photography portfolio.

Periodically, this friend of mine develops a roll from this box, the contents of which I have all but forgotten, and lets me know what he has found. This image is from a strip of Ilford HP5 Plus he handed me the other day. It was shot at Preservation Hall in the French Quarter with a Leica M6 and a 50mm Noctilux, f 1.0 using maximum aperture, and a hail-mary shutter speed. I only had the lens for a short while and I sold the rest of the Leica stuff about three years ago. My feeble mind tells me the image must have been sitting undeveloped on that little strip of celluloid for about ten years.

Smoking Cigarettes in the Darkroom

2008-10-01T10:39:00.006-04:00

This image was created on a 4 X 5 Field camera using
Polaroid T-55 positive/negative film near the end of the film's run.

In my opinion, the process of creating photographs is sort of like smoking cigarettes. .....I mean simply that you develop a habit and get used to things like the smell of the chemicals, handling the curly strips of negatives, cleaning the dust off the loupe, leaning over the light-table, taking sips of coffee in between looking for fleeting glimpses of genius on your contact sheets, and handling fresh prints with clean hands. The habit turns into a mild addiction, just like smoking.

Ever since going digital in my commercial and editorial work, I have been fighting a sense of disinterest in the process of photography. Let's face it, most of us who got interested in photography before the digital age didn't do it because we envisioned long hours of sitting in front of a glorified television set. Every press of that mechanical shutter button and the buzz of little springs meant adventure.

Okay, here comes the silly nostalgia I guess, and I am not saying making photographs with a digital camera has to lack adventure.

I will say though, that digital photography lacks the tactile quality of craft, which is a perceived form of adventure. I am as guilty as the rest, and I acknowledge the advantages of photoshop and the little tv screen on the back of my camera, but this sense of adventure is largely gone. Looking at those thumbnails on the back of the camera to check lighting and focus and leaving a situation where you know you only have one chance to get it done and that you can SIMPLY fix problems in photoshop kills it.

I bet Robert Capa wished he had digital on D-Day in 1944, but then again, his media would've been obsolete by now.
It used to be a badge of achievement to have the most beaten-up Nikon f3 in the room, now everyone can't wait to be the first to upgrade.

I almost sold my view camera the other day, but I had a sudden change of heart. I feel like I'm not finished with it yet.
I've recently read some positive things about the photo-film industry. Film sales, especially to professionals, has stabilized, and new medium format film cameras are entering the line-ups of some manufacturers. Now all we need to do is resurrect the polaroid t-55, which used to be instant proof in about 90-seconds.

Point-and-Shoot Digital

2008-08-22T23:54:00.003-04:00

A point-and-shoot digital camera, even an inexpensive one, makes an excellent sketch pad for photo ideas, studies in light and instant feedback. I've been a photographer for quite some time, and I must admit that the impulse to be creative with a camera can be elusive when you do it as a job, especially when you think about everything that goes into creating an image. This image was created with a digital pocket camera that cost less than $200. Since getting it a few months ago, I am much more apt to carry it with me and take advantage of interesting light like this. It has a minimum of controls, but the limitations enhance creativity---no fumbling with lenses, meters, strobes or other gadgets that let the moment get away. The satisfaction is truly instant-even faster than the 90 seconds it took to develop a polaroid in a life passed.

Hello

2008-08-21T18:54:00.000-04:00

This is my brand new blog. I'm not sure what I will do here yet, but for now, you can see more about me at my website: www.tomnutterphotos.com

Also: I have the cover of September's Delaware Today Magazine