NY_Dan
Well-known
The story behind my latest Blurb book -- IF YOU SEE SOMETHING
Since Feb 2012 I've done 7 Blurb books. The first 6 were shot with Rolleiflexes -- 2.8f, 3.5f, Rolleiwide, a little Rollei Tele, lots of Rolleinars, lots of vintage #25 flashbulbs, 95 percent black and white Kodak film -- Tmax (which I prefer because it's on a thicker base & now costs less) and Trix. The small percentage of color was Kodak Portra 400.
From September 2013 to the first week of January 2014 I decided to change things up and shoot with my first camera a Kodak Instamatic -- given to me on my eighth birthday. I shot with out-dated Kodak Kodacolor Gold 126 cartridges -- the most current date being 2001. I also scored some old Fujicolor C-41, and 2 rolls of Solaris. By the way, it's possible to adapt an empty cartridge and use 35mm film -- see instructions on YouTube.
The Instamatic has one f/stop -- f/16 and one shutter speed -- about 1/125th sec. If you insert a used up flash cube the shutter speed is supposed to drop to 1/40th sec. Therefore, I tried to shoot in bright daylight. For lower light levels I was able to buy NOS GE or Sylvania Flashcubes. These work well from 5-9 feet range. (Make sure you get the correct base opening -- for me round -- but for some newer model Instamatics you need square).
You can see the results of my efforts on Blurb: http://www.blurb.com/books/4995346-if-you-see-something
I scanned the photos with my Nikon 9000 Super Coolscan, and used the 120 glass carrier which I masked off to fit a strip of 126 film. What I found appealing about this process was the ability to scan and include the area bordering the frames. Best of all was the ability to create diptychs and triptychs by scanning multiple adjoining frames.
Moving forward I'm going back to the Rolleiflexes for my next book -- which I have a few months of shooting stockpiled. It was great switching things up. I want to wrap up the next one quickly to switch again -- I'm thinking of shooting with an anamorphic lens or maybe my Nikon F / M3 or go infrared.
For those interested in Blurb books, here's my advice -- all files srgb (not grayscale) 8 bit jpegs. Make photos about 20 percent brighter than normal so they don't block up in printing. For color increase saturation. Print one small book as a test. I like the pro uncoated paper option -- it's thicker and has a nice tactile feel. Sometimes black and white will print with a green or magenta cast -- take a few iPhone photos and submit a support ticket to Blurb and they will reprint. Use the bad copy for purposes of registering copyright if you're so inclined. Before hitting the order button Google "Blurb coupon codes." They always have a coupon around, and often you get a big discount when you order a second copy on the same order form. For $9.99 or so you can order an eBook for your iPad and iPhone -- these are really nice.
For most books, and especially the larger sizes, it's too expensive to expect anyone to purchase -- Over $120 on the cheaper stock is a lot of money. But, an eBook is relatively cheap. And of course if you want people to see the photos, and that's gotta be the number one goal, just put the whole book on public preview. Some people only put the first 20 or so pages, but then many more people won't see it.
I view these books as an exercise, a way to see where you're at, where you want to go (with your photography) and an archive of your favorite photos. It's great to help hone editing skills too. Start with 250 or more of your favorite shots and whittle it down to 125, then put them in some sort of order, whittle some more...
Since Feb 2012 I've done 7 Blurb books. The first 6 were shot with Rolleiflexes -- 2.8f, 3.5f, Rolleiwide, a little Rollei Tele, lots of Rolleinars, lots of vintage #25 flashbulbs, 95 percent black and white Kodak film -- Tmax (which I prefer because it's on a thicker base & now costs less) and Trix. The small percentage of color was Kodak Portra 400.
From September 2013 to the first week of January 2014 I decided to change things up and shoot with my first camera a Kodak Instamatic -- given to me on my eighth birthday. I shot with out-dated Kodak Kodacolor Gold 126 cartridges -- the most current date being 2001. I also scored some old Fujicolor C-41, and 2 rolls of Solaris. By the way, it's possible to adapt an empty cartridge and use 35mm film -- see instructions on YouTube.
The Instamatic has one f/stop -- f/16 and one shutter speed -- about 1/125th sec. If you insert a used up flash cube the shutter speed is supposed to drop to 1/40th sec. Therefore, I tried to shoot in bright daylight. For lower light levels I was able to buy NOS GE or Sylvania Flashcubes. These work well from 5-9 feet range. (Make sure you get the correct base opening -- for me round -- but for some newer model Instamatics you need square).
You can see the results of my efforts on Blurb: http://www.blurb.com/books/4995346-if-you-see-something
I scanned the photos with my Nikon 9000 Super Coolscan, and used the 120 glass carrier which I masked off to fit a strip of 126 film. What I found appealing about this process was the ability to scan and include the area bordering the frames. Best of all was the ability to create diptychs and triptychs by scanning multiple adjoining frames.
Moving forward I'm going back to the Rolleiflexes for my next book -- which I have a few months of shooting stockpiled. It was great switching things up. I want to wrap up the next one quickly to switch again -- I'm thinking of shooting with an anamorphic lens or maybe my Nikon F / M3 or go infrared.
For those interested in Blurb books, here's my advice -- all files srgb (not grayscale) 8 bit jpegs. Make photos about 20 percent brighter than normal so they don't block up in printing. For color increase saturation. Print one small book as a test. I like the pro uncoated paper option -- it's thicker and has a nice tactile feel. Sometimes black and white will print with a green or magenta cast -- take a few iPhone photos and submit a support ticket to Blurb and they will reprint. Use the bad copy for purposes of registering copyright if you're so inclined. Before hitting the order button Google "Blurb coupon codes." They always have a coupon around, and often you get a big discount when you order a second copy on the same order form. For $9.99 or so you can order an eBook for your iPad and iPhone -- these are really nice.
For most books, and especially the larger sizes, it's too expensive to expect anyone to purchase -- Over $120 on the cheaper stock is a lot of money. But, an eBook is relatively cheap. And of course if you want people to see the photos, and that's gotta be the number one goal, just put the whole book on public preview. Some people only put the first 20 or so pages, but then many more people won't see it.
I view these books as an exercise, a way to see where you're at, where you want to go (with your photography) and an archive of your favorite photos. It's great to help hone editing skills too. Start with 250 or more of your favorite shots and whittle it down to 125, then put them in some sort of order, whittle some more...
