New York December NYC Meet-Up

[Range-rover]

That sounds good Cal.

 

[jsrockit]

Cal, you should hand hold an 8x10" camera... on the streets of NYC.

 

[Calzone]

Cal, you should hand hold an 8x10" camera... on the streets of NYC.

John,

Christian is known for hand-holding a Linhof 4x5. In fact I am the proud owner of his old 4x5 Tech IV.

8x10 and contact printing could be in my future, but to annoy people I'll use a tripod. LOL.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

That sounds good Cal.

Joe kinda mentioned sharing prints. I have some negatives from Philly that are interesting. Also some samples of Ferrania P30, Berger Panchro 400, Kodak 5222, and Rollie 400S. These are interesting films. Also I have been testing using Rodinal, DDX, and Diafine.

I'm thinking of using Kodak 5222 exclusively for 35mm because I love the results so much. Thinking of bulking up and bulk loading 5222.

I should have info and smut to share from the "Gallery Workshop" on promoting myself, getting a gallery/representation, and all this stuff that has evolved and changed since the 70's and 80's.

Cal

 

[Prest_400]

Cal, you should hand hold an 8x10" camera... on the streets of NYC.

John,

Christian is known for hand-holding a Linhof 4x5. In fact I am the proud owner of his old 4x5 Tech IV.

8x10 and contact printing could be in my future, but to annoy people I'll use a tripod. LOL.

Cal

For playing PJ with the 6x9 I already got the backlash of a few missed focus shots. On a couple I don't even recall focusing according to the RF.

I got to put back to use the SX70 (given to me by a Canadian RFF'er). Still have a couple packs of IP film that I got on sale refrigerated and never know what do do with it. Also to try the new Polaroid film, which seems quite fine. It feels exclusive but also a novelty at $2 a pop.

IDK if you saw the buzz that was around (I think it was over APUG) about the NegativeFeedback 8x10 "Dickies Campaign shot" uploaded to youtube.
Their process didn't exploit the virtues of LF and the results were rather unremarkable. There was quite a discussion about it!
I'll stick to Rollfilm, mighty convenient it is.

It's 10 days to Black Friday. Unless Delta launches a crazy fare campaign, hard to get to NY. I saw of West Coasters and Hawaiians getting to Europe for $400 r/t.

 

[Calzone]

For playing PJ with the 6x9 I already got the backlash of a few missed focus shots. On a couple I don't even recall focusing according to the RF.

I got to put back to use the SX70 (given to me by a Canadian RFF'er). Still have a couple packs of IP film that I got on sale refrigerated and never know what do do with it. Also to try the new Polaroid film, which seems quite fine. It feels exclusive but also a novelty at $2 a pop.

IDK if you saw the buzz that was around (I think it was over APUG) about the NegativeFeedback 8x10 "Dickies Campaign shot" uploaded to youtube.
Their process didn't exploit the virtues of LF and the results were rather unremarkable. There was quite a discussion about it!
I'll stick to Rollfilm, mighty convenient it is.

It's 10 days to Black Friday. Unless Delta launches a crazy fare campaign, hard to get to NY. I saw of West Coasters and Hawaiians getting to Europe for $400 r/t.

Jorde,

I really love the now discontinued Fuji FP-100. I have 20 or so packs stockpiled in the fridge. Bought it for around $20.00 a pack, but now the prices are steeper. Not sustainable for me.

The Instax is pretty low IQ and not as good as the old stuff. Oh-well.

For me I like roll film. 120 is still affordable and 70mm can be below $3.00 a 120 equiv (ten 6x7's) buy bulking up with Rollie 400S. I found some Kodak Aerecon 3409 which pretty much is Plus X in 70mm for areal mapping that is only $144.00/100 feet, but comes in 650 foot rolls. About $3.89 a 120 equiv.

With the a baby Linhof I figure I will likely have mucho opportunities because I'll be like a tourist attraction and will be able to do many street portraits of people that engage with me.

Cal

 

[Prest_400]

Jorde,

I really love the now discontinued Fuji FP-100. I have 20 or so packs stockpiled in the fridge. Bought it for around $20.00 a pack, but now the prices are steeper. Not sustainable for me.

The Instax is pretty low IQ and not as good as the old stuff. Oh-well.

For me I like roll film. 120 is still affordable and 70mm can be below $3.00 a 120 equiv (ten 6x7's) buy bulking up with Rollie 400S. I found some Kodak Aerecon 3409 which pretty much is Plus X in 70mm for areal mapping that is only $144.00/100 feet, but comes in 650 foot rolls. About $3.89 a 120 equiv.

With the a baby Linhof I figure I will likely have mucho opportunities because I'll be like a tourist attraction and will be able to do many street portraits of people that engage with me.

Cal

Instant film seems to have a damnation over it. IP gets going nicely and approaches the original Polaroid (2016) aaaand, goodbye FP100 by Fuji. Before they killed it, it was an interesting and affordable option.

I have yet to try the new Polaroid Integral, which seems quite decent and maybe comparable to the Pre '08 Polaroid.

The other day I got to read article published at The Atlantic, which said kids growing now are facing some mental health challenges because of Smartphone use while developing. I came to think about the dark part of hyperconnectivity. Even pleased my inner detective by profiling a Stranger, matching data from just the phone number that he gave to me.

Plus I've been preparing for a test which is Computer based, and it plays funny with my mind. I spend more time on screen that I'd like to admit and have some desire of "unplugging from the Matrix".

Am awaiting for a Gold satin 49Ers jacket, which matched with the SX70, may make an interesting look for the street and a bit of an attraction around here. Frankly it's been a while since I've wandered aimlessly in the city and want to do soon. After the test.

 

[Range-rover]

Jorde,

I really love the now discontinued Fuji FP-100. I have 20 or so packs stockpiled in the fridge. Bought it for around $20.00 a pack, but now the prices are steeper. Not sustainable for me.

The Instax is pretty low IQ and not as good as the old stuff. Oh-well.

For me I like roll film. 120 is still affordable and 70mm can be below $3.00 a 120 equiv (ten 6x7's) buy bulking up with Rollie 400S. I found some Kodak Aerecon 3409 which pretty much is Plus X in 70mm for areal mapping that is only $144.00/100 feet, but comes in 650 foot rolls. About $3.89 a 120 equiv.

With the a baby Linhof I figure I will likely have mucho opportunities because I'll be like a tourist attraction and will be able to do many street portraits of people that engage with me.

Cal

That's a real good camera and lens Cal, I like using the rangefinder and
when the light and all is right it's really makes a beautiful picture!

 

[Calzone]

WOW. This Gallery Workshop looks to be intense: 9:30-10:00 coffee and croissants, then 10-5 workshop with 1-2 lunch break on both Saturday and Sunday.

A good part of this is is business which includes sales sheets, market content, record keeping, and contractual obligations. Basically I do none of this. LOL.

Anyways only 3 other guys and 4 gals for a total of eight doing this workshop. I'm the only one without a website. I have to bring a wifi enabled laptop to use Pages and Numbers, the equivalents of Word and Excel of course will be difficult for me. Basically I type with only one finger, because using two fingers for typing confuses me. I know I'm lame.

Anyways I'll be certainly overwhelmed, but it also seems like I will gain insights, and get an outline of what I need to do to advance my photography and put myself out there. Pretty much I spent a decade just concentrating on the work.

"Maggie" got to 259K followers by doing lots of work for free. Basically the payment was either grand exposure, a learning experience, or gifted clothing, shoes, or cosmetics, but now the shift is to payment and cash flow.

I know part of Maggie's success has been my contribution of free photography. Behind the scenes is all this wasted time trying to communicate with art directors, public relations, and project managers. If you let them your life can be taken over by meetings, and corespondance that never ends, and of course everything is done at the last moment.

Pretty much you loose any control that you once had in your life. Not really exciting to me, and I hate it.

All these solicitations begin and never seem to end. An interview leads to, another meeting, and then a photo shoot, so nothing is really simple. It gets exasperating after a while. Even the ICP gig which offers huge exposure, was a meeting with a director, a meeting with a stylist with clothes in hand, and hopefully will end this Sunday with a two hour shoot.

So some interview that was held now leads to a photo shoot, and further intrusion into Maggie's life. Now the generosity gets taken a step further where they want to have a studio shoot, but because it is not for pay, Maggie says I'm no longer working for free as a model.

They still want photos, and Maggie wisely said, Calvin needs to get paid. So I name my price, but I am wise to ask "crazy money" because I know how little they want to pay, and on top of that this work does nothing to promote me or my work. Anyways this VP wanted to "negociate" with me directly, so I responded telling her that I am way booked and busy, and my fee is not negociable. Basically unless it is crazy money I don't want to be bothered. Not worth my time, and I know that these intrusions are never ending, unstoppable, and not ever really worth it. Most of all they advance other people over myself.

It is one thing doing photography for "free" for your girl who is a fashion blogger, but doing photography for free for someone else buys me nothing.

Moral of the story, Set your rates high so you don't get caught in the "work for free" situation. Also don't do work unless it is in your own best interest, or helps your photo career. Most of all do not work for free.

Over the past three years I have had my photo's lifted off Maggie's Instagram, effectively stolen. Only about 15-20% of the time even given photo credit, and then even they misspell my three letter last name, give me photo credit for another photographer's shot, and worse yet give photo credit to another photographer for my shot.

Cal

 

[Particular]

John,

Christian is known for hand-holding a Linhof 4x5. In fact I am the proud owner of his old 4x5 Tech IV.

8x10 and contact printing could be in my future, but to annoy people I'll use a tripod. LOL.

Cal

I’ll be hand holding a 5x7 technika sooner or later, just to prove it can be done. Honestly that camera gets heavy pretty quickly. I do think it is feasible to use it with my chunky gitzo monopod. This camera has a rangefinder, but it is telling that there are no strap lugs.
On the 10th I’ll bring the version 2 of the wide angle camera I built from linhof parts. I’ve just assembled it, and other than some screws I want to swap out, it is ready to use. The next project, or the accompanying project, is a ‘counterfeit Technar’. I have most of the parts, I’m just waiting for the front plate to be lasercut. After that I’ll have a go at cleaning up the 5x7, and making it ready to go.

 

[Calzone]

I’ll be hand holding a 5x7 technika sooner or later, just to prove it can be done. Honestly that camera gets heavy pretty quickly. I do think it is feasible to use it with my chunky gitzo monopod. This camera has a rangefinder, but it is telling that there are no strap lugs.
On the 10th I’ll bring the version 2 of the wide angle camera I built from linhof parts. I’ve just assembled it, and other than some screws I want to swap out, it is ready to use. The next project, or the accompanying project, is a ‘counterfeit Technar’. I have most of the parts, I’m just waiting for the front plate to be lasercut. After that I’ll have a go at cleaning up the 5x7, and making it ready to go.

Christian,

Do you have the tanks and or holders for developing 5x7's?

I am learning that things can get really crazy with the required gear for processing. 8x10 Kodak Hard Rubber tanks are no joke and a dip and dunk line at this point makes sense if I want to shoot 120 like 135. It is really inspiring having a stainless steel rack that can hold 18 reels of 120. Also crazy having three 15 foot 70mm reels.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Been busy writing an Artist Statement, Work Statement, and finally CV/Bio.

I started by just writing the Artist Statement and Work Statement as two discreet elements, and I was dreading the CV/Bio.

After some helpful criticism and review I now see a cohesive package forming where these three elements really are not separate at all and in fact build upon each other. The framework is much stronger as a whole, and a very complete understanding is somehow being conveyed.

This is not an easy task. Anyways at this point I see something powerful and interesting happening. I see a level of maturity present.

All this growth is happening as prep for the December 2d-3rd Gallery Workshop. Interesting to note that my decade's worth of work is not so crazy and kinda makes sense.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Cal

 

[Particular]

Christian,

Do you have the tanks and or holders for developing 5x7's?

I am learning that things can get really crazy with the required gear for processing. 8x10 Kodak Hard Rubber tanks are no joke and a dip and dunk line at this point makes sense if I want to shoot 120 like 135. It is really inspiring having a stainless steel rack that can hold 18 reels of 120. Also crazy having three 15 foot 70mm reels.

Cal

Cal,
I already had the right tank, which is a Jobo expert drum 3006. I got that at a good price to use with 4x5 (it can do both). I was considering trading it up to a 3010, so I could do 10 sheets as opposed to 6, but then I got a 5x7 camera to go with it, so I’m keeping it.
The holders are trickier, as my technika doesn’t have an ‘international’ back. I had to get hold of 13x18 ‘millonfalz’ single sheet holders. I can use them with regular 5x7 film though. I’m going to get some ilford direct positive paper to do some ‘wet polaroids’. The whole setup still needs some work though.
In the mean time I’m looking for a #00 shutter to stick this 47mm super angulon in that I just got for $110. It is for the ‘counterfeit Technar’, and with a horseman 6x9 back and leitz 21mm finder it is a pretty compact package. It’s under 2kg. The 47mm may just cover 6x12, but that could be a stretch.

 

[Calzone]

Christian,

6x12 is very cool. Also under 4.4 pounds is kinda lightweight. LOL.

Soon I will be 60 years old, and since the NYC Marathon I have been hitting the gym. Lost a few pounds already, and last Sunday did some weight training. Today I'm still sore and stiff, but I noticed that my left side torso is more ripped and defined than my right side. Confered with my sister-in-law who is a personal trainer, and the forensics reveal that carrying a camera bag on my left side is the reason for the enhanced definition.

Be careful that you don't become a monster like your cameras. LOL.

"Maggie" now has 262K followers, and now we come to a point where we don't work for free anymore. Gigs have to pay, and it is not about getting gifted or exposure anymore.

So I will be paid now going forward. I kinda made up a crazy rate, not expecting to get my crazy fee, and it seems it got negociated down about 10%. Now I have to fill out a W-9 so suddenly I have to laugh because now I'm a "Pro" instead of a "Ho."

The cold weather is beginning to set in, so pretty soon I should be homebound in lockdown with my printers. I'll be trying this Piezography Ultra High Density Matte Black in my Epson 7800 (Jersey Barrier). Generally I don't like matte prints because the tonal range is not as vast as glossy, but this new blacker black changes all that.

Basically the tonality is now of a glossy print, but without the shine. This means one-pass printing, no need for a second pass Gloss Overcoat, and experimenting with fine art papers with 7 shades of black.

Plan "B" is to change out the Ultra HD Matte Black for a HD Photo Black for glossy, but this means two-pass printing again. Pretty much my old K-7 split-tone, but updated with the blackest black available. I expect less dilution of contrast on big prints and perceived higher resolution.

Taking my printing to the next level. There is a big opening up that happens between a 13x17 and a 20x30. Likely will begin to print 22x33 image size. Pretty much I want to expend my stockpile of K-7 inks and to creat an enhanced K-7 inkset all I need to do is buy either a new HD Photo Black or an Ultra HD Matte Black.

New curves are just a download.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Crazy stuff I can't report.

Pretty much the Gallery Workshop was like a weekend long episode of "Shark Tank."

Lots of good, the bad, and the ugly.

My prints went over well and created an impressive ranting of compliments. This workshop sold out immediately and there are now two sets of waiting lists.

Cal

 

[jsrockit]

Cal, what's with the commercial break / cliff hanger! Outside of the printing....how did the photos go over?

 

[Calzone]

Cal, what's with the commercial break / cliff hanger! Outside of the printing....how did the photos go over?

John,

One of the first questions was, "Why are the prints so big." LOL. This was by Debra, one of the gallery owners. Later on the one-on-one session with Debra this comment was kinda reframed in the context that generally street photography is generally smaller prints, so my impact definately made a statement. I gained a later understanding that my work might be better served in a smaller size and maybe a bigger edition that other artists.

(For those people who have not seen my Piezography prints, printed with 7 shades of black my large prints are 20x30 image size on 24x36 paper, and they can be printed even bigger because even at this size the IQ remains tight.)

Interesting that Darren thought my large prints were a lot bigger than 20x30 on 24x36 from memory during our "speed-dating" session. I can't stress how the prints persisted in everyone's memory. Also know and understand that each of us kinda only had 10-15 minutes to do a "Speed-Presentation" of a body of work. basically we were given a ten minute time limit, and in reality it kinda was really 15 minutes each. The workshop really was all about how galleries work and how the artist should build their career using that system.

The printing deeply impressed these artists, and the ranting of raves over the print quality blew everyone away. I kinda overkilled them, and over the two days the comments, inquiries, and the compliments did not stop over the two days. My vision of letting the prints speak for themselves kinda worked IMHO. My big prints people understood were exhibition sized, and my smaller prints were sized for retail sale.

Kinda funny thing is that one shot of the two drunk Polish girls with "DEVO WEVO" platform heels with the drunk guy in the background I took with you in Greenpoint was an iconic print. Sara the other fellow printmaker in the group of 8 loved that image and wanted that image on one of my business cards that Darren the other gallery owner loved and had in his possession.

So pretty much I'm the low man on the scrotum pole: Darren and Debra are professors at SVA, Sara teaches at Pratt, and another woman also is a Professor in an art school; Jim is a full blown commercial photographer; and all these other artists had exhibitions and sales of their work. Jim lives in Delaware, Inga lives in Colorado, and the woman college professor flew in from Michigan.

Know that Klompching Gallery is the oldest photo gallery in Dumbo, and they have been around for a decade. The are considered mid-tier where the most expensive photo's they sell has a ceiling of about $10K, and the cheapest work they sell goes for $650.00. You need to understand that the costs of selling a $650.00 piece of art and a $10K is the same, so for the best margins it is best to sell more expensive work.

So in this pecking order I'm kind of the only street photographer, and I feel rather humbled. I would later learn that street photography is a nitch market and my bigger prints perhaps are for exhibition and museums. Also I recognize the billboard like effect of my large prints; the smaller 12x18 on 17x22 paper is not only more sellable, but also a more intimate experience.

This was not a formal portfolio review, so content was not covered. There simply was not enough time.

So the rude part is understanding what a gallery supplies to justify a 50% commission. In the seventies it was only 20%.

Also photo's are commodified as art through limited editions, and the business model is kinda like modern automotive manufacturing where just-in-time supply lines are used to fill limited editions that kinda follow print-on demand models. This kinda is supported by digital record keeping and also kinda streamlined by digital photography to the extent that there no longer is a silver wet print premium.

A good part of the workshop involved branding and development that would enable price jumps. A lot also involves media and marketing.

So now I kinda look at my work in a very different way. It is not enough to just be a creative person, but I now have to think of so many things. In a way my concentrating on just my work prevented me from making many serious errors and mistakes that would of damaged my work and reputation.

So for my aloofness lately, the good news is I had to fill out a W-9 and Material's Release to get paid. The pay for using three of my images on-line for a time-limit of 2-years is more than a month's rent on my luxury one-bedroom apartment in Madhatten, the monthly fee in Public Storage, and likely my electric bill combined.

Initially this agency who already interviewed "Maggie" wanted 4 shots for free. Maggie decided that she has to monitize things, and this got extended to me. She had no interest in added promotion, at 264K followers working for free is over, and somehow this got extended to me.

Long story-short, I kinda feel I mugged this agency. Remember they wanted the rights to my shot for perpetutuity for free, and I will only grant them rights for 2-year intervals that can be renegotiated at the end of the first initial two-years.

Also a fourth shot in fact was mistakenly thought to be mine, but was my friend Mike's, the real deal fashion photographer. So I contacted Mike and have been brokering and playing hard-ball with this agency representing a client. In a way I was "just minding my own business," and somehow "act-Sid-dent-ly" became Mike's Agent.

The amount of e-mailing required to fight over money and vague terms that are in contracts. Pretty much this agency and their client wanted to steal from me, but because I got that Brooklyn tough guy attitude I kinda mugged them. I'm not exaggerating that you have to fight for your money. Good thing I'm Cantonese, meaning like a Pit Bull I'm bred to be aggressive and for fighting. LOL.

Also along the way I had to figure out my opponent's business model, and I also had to become a self taught lawyer not to be taken advantage of. Believe it or not this virtual fighting over money over the internet has been going on for two-weeks, maybe more, and it is only fun if you win. LOL. Ha-Ha-Ha...

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Cal, what's with the commercial break / cliff hanger! Outside of the printing....how did the photos go over?

John,

I hope you appreciate the long rant below. LOL.

Getting the work out there seems to be the next imperative. I feel really strongly now I kinda know my work is ready, and I'm sitting on a huge body of images.

Also three good reasons why being in NYC is a benefit: one is accesibility to the media and NYC being the center of the media; two is the biggest museum and collector base is NYC; and thirdly not mentioned in the workshop is having the opportunity to personally deliver to avoid shipping.

Shipping artwork could be a separate one day workshop. Mucho bad things happen shipping fragile high dollar amount items. Expect damage, risk, and loses.

One important lesson I learned is that the idea is to sell out a small edition. This is the ultimate goal. Once this is done you can raise prices.

This workshop was priced at $545.00, but offered a $100.00 discount for early registration for my cost of $445.00. It was not advertised or promoted that there were only eight slots, and in fact when I signed up I was number 4.

This initial workshop got filled almost imdediately, and there is one waiting list that wanted to attend, and now there is even a second waiting list for a third workshop.

I definitely see a pretty dramatic price increase. Again I am a lucky guy. Because I did Photoville, I kinda did research on the Dumbo galleries, and I kinda see a new NYC Photo District is emerging. One thing led to this opportunity. This workshop has been so great to infom me of what I need to do, and how the system works. Really invaluable.

Cal

 

[robert blu]

Wow Cal, it seems your hard work photographing and printing is going to make your life more exciting ! Great things are waiting for you 🙂
robert

 

[Calzone]

Wow Cal, it seems your hard work photographing and printing is going to make your life more exciting ! Great things are waiting for you 🙂
robert

Robert,

What life? LOL. Ha-Ha-Ha...

Anyways Like you I'm figuring out what I want to do as I get ready to retire.

The gallery world and the world of fashion are two crazy spaces that are fraught with challenges. I'm still humble: just a guy with a ponytail; but it does seem that there are some remarkable possibilities happening; and hard work continues.

Also lost about 5 pounds. A few more pounds and I'll be at my fighting weight 5' 10" (5' 9" for shrinkage due to age) and 150 pounds today. My goal is to get ripped like a welterweight boxer. Worked hard my whole life to get to a sustainable retirement where I can do creative undertakings without a day-job.

Done a lot of dumb things, but also some smart ones. This Gallery Workshop surely made me smarter.

Mark Cuban one explained that you need three things to become a billionaire: one is work hard; two is be clever and smart; but the third and last thing he said is the most important-luck.

For some strange reason I get more than my fair share of luck. I wonder if it is divine intervention because early on I had a difficult life.

Anyways just sharing my good luck with others here on this thread. Also the opportunity to make this money only came from all the free work I did for "Maggie" out of love.

Interesting to note that it is really-really good that my fine art work is in B&W, and the work I do for Maggie is in color. Otherwise this could be a bad conflict. It is better to have these two bodies of work be distinguished and separate. Funny how it worked out that way.

Cal