Old Photographs Revisted

I have been reading Jason Landry's book, Instant Connections  lately and it caused me to revisit a particular group of images I took back in October of 2009.  It is often said that you as the photographer are your own worst editor, to which I am guilty of, mostly because my circle of friends is rather limited.
When I first got the roll of film back I did what I do every time I get a roll of film back, I gave it a quick once over while slide each strip into its respective slot on the file page, then I wait for a short bit and then I give them a good look at. I usually select the negative or negatives to print based on that initial gut feeling, which was the case in this first photograph.

 
This particular photograph and moment was the one the editors chose to accompany the write up about me that appeared in Fly Rod & Reel magazine after all, so it must be the better moment. Right?

I generally go back over my negatives,months and sometimes years later,  just to see if one that I didn't print was better then the one I did, and reading Instant Connections has caused me to look at the other three moments I took that fall day in 2009.

Looking at the third frame, the following photograph was the first one I made of this angler and scene.

Looking at it now as I did then, I think passing over it was the right choice.  I don't think this photograph  was the right one, the composition and framing just don't work.

 Moving on to the next frame on the roll, is the one, I initially selected,  but when I look at the next frame after that, I begin to wonder, was it really the better photograph.  The differences are subtle between the two photographs, but there are a few, that cause me to wonder.

Can you see the differences?  I don't know how many seconds or so the two are part, but I am sure there are several considering the slowness involved in advancing the film on a Holga.

But then, there is this photograph the fourth and last photograph of this angler and scene.

While this is a completely different moment than the other photographs, I am not sure why I am now just putting it out there for the first time..


I guess it proves that sometimes you have to live with the photographs you take and go back to them every once in a while...
So you tell me, is the first photograph I choose, the better one or are any of the other three better? 

Brian

Holga Macro

It's hard to believe that it is already March and I am just now making my first post of 2014, hopefully the Troutrageous one, or anyone else for that won't quarantine me for lack of activity..
I haven't been out fishing too much so far this year, but I can say that if the fishing I have I done so far, is any indication of what the rest of 2014 will be like, then 2014 will be my best year ever...
That being said, I have done some photography too, mostly some macro stuff of the flies I have been tieing, which I have done a lot of. 
Of all of the things I have done with my Holga, the one thing I have struggled to master is doing "macro" photographs with it.  While I have had success using this technique, I am still working on getting more successful photographs, meaning, photographs that are in focus, and where the object or objects I am photographing are composed well within the frame. 
With that, I leave you with the best of the few "macro" photographs I have made recently; it's of some kebari flies I tied..

Thanks for checking this post out..
Brian

Trees - Or I processed it myself

Late this past summer, I had the opportunity to spend some time in the Uintah mountains, with my family, and I while I don't consider myself much of landscape of nature photographer, there is a lot to be said the artistic quality of a grove of aspen trees. On top of that, I never really planned on posting any of these pics, until recently when I had the opportunity to process the two rolls of film myself. You read that right I processed the film myself, which was quiet a treat, considering that it was something that I hadn't done in more than 20 years. Although I could process my film at home, I am fortunate enough to live in a city there has a small co-op darkroom, at the Salt Lake Photo Collective.  There are even one or two other community darkrooms in the Salt Lake City area, including the one at the Salt Lake Art Center. 

And while the area I did these photographs in wasn't close to the river I was fishing that week, a lot of the places I fish are near aspens, and I think there are a lot of artistic qualities going on with with all of the lines they have and that are created in a large grove.  

I have been using Ilford HP5 film lately and processed the films in Ilford's Ilfosol S and I am not sure if it was the right developer for the HP5, because these came out rather flat, especially the two square ones, the light was flat that day too as I recall.

 Brian

All of this talk about trees kind of reminds me of a poem, one you may have read or heard before...

Trees
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Joyce Kilmer

Published again

Back in August I was asked to do some photography for a local tenkara fly fishing guide company, Tenkara Guides LLC, for a story about them that would eventually be published in  a magazine that is being billed as, "the first print publication dedicated to tenkara in the world". I am pleased, honored and delighted to say that the magazine is finally published and I have four photographs that accompany the article written by John one of their guides and partners.
The magazine is published by Tenkara USA, and can be purchased HERE.
It's 112 pages and has articles, essays and interviews written by tenkara enthusiasts from around the world, many of which  I know personally or through Facebook and other websites.
I thought I'd post one of the four photographs from the article, as sort of a teaser, to see the others you'll have to buy the magazine...

 
This and  two of the other photographs in the article were shot using my 6x12 Holga Pan.

Brian

Portraits - Holga Style

Webster's defines "portrait" as a painting, drawing, or photograph of a person that usually only includes the person's head and shoulders.
I like to make portraits of people, people that I know or strangers that I find interesting; and while my portraits aren't the most formal I think they capture my subject in a very unique way.
For example, at a Veterans Day parade last month I happened upon a fellow Veteran who was playing the bagpipes.  I talked to him for a few moments and asked him if I could make a portrait of him.

Most of my portraits are of people that I know and have known for quite some time before I photograph them, which be usually make it pretty easy to make a good portrait of them. As in the case of my friend Jim, who I had worked closely with for nearly four years before I made this portrait of him.

Although it has been a few years since I made this portrait of my friend John, during a trip to Maine, I think this one is the funnest portrait I have eve made, I think it captures his slightly mischievous and playful nature. At the time I made this portrait of John, I had only known him a few days, but it was a very intense few days at a photography workshop where he was the instructor. 

 Then there are the people that I know very well, and who know me equally as well if not better, as in the case of my wife.  This is a portrait, that I think is probably the sexiest photograph I have made of her. I love the quality of light on this one as well as my subject.

You can check out more of my portraits in my aptly titled Flickr set, "Portraits" some of which were a part of an exhibit I was a part of back in 2007.

Brian

Rockin Cowboy...

Stetsons and Telecasters, not sure there is anything else to say...

Brian

Weather

I fished the Weber River recently and while I didn't catch any fish, I did manage to get this photograph that I feel captured the day well.  It was an early October day and we experienced a number of different types of weather from rain, to snow to seasonally warm temperatures to seasonally cold temperatures.

While I have fished the Weber before, I hadn't fished this particular section, so I enjoyed  fishing this new section.

Brian