My New Website featuring Bronica RF645 Diptychs

[SDK]

Hi Guys and Gals,

I've finally finished the latest revision of my photo website. Over the last year I have been shooting a lot with my Bronica RF645 and printing two frame diptychs on a single sheet of paper in my tiny color darkroom. Most were shot in downeast Maine or Boston, Massachusetts. The link to my site is <http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~keirst>.

I was inspired to use this format when I took a History Of Japanese Art class under Dr. Tanya Feretto Steel in Harvard Extension School this past spring. Many famous Japanese paintings are multi-panel works done on folding or sliding screens, and some of my favorite Japanese prints are multi-sheet triptychs from the first Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War.

On the home page, you can mouse over the English text on the left or Japanese kanji on the right to see the central image change to a preview image of each portfolio. By clicking on the text you are sent to the first page of the portfolio, and can go back and forth through the images with the arrows on the sides.

I have also kept a lot of my previous work in a subsection, some of which was shot with Leica M cameras (especially the photojournalism section).

 

[ChrisPlatt]

Very nice work.

Chris

 

[vdonovan]

Hi SDK, nice pics. Your thoughtful framing makes the concept work very well. Mind if I ask how you hold the negatives in the enlarger to print? Is it a glassed 4x5 holder or something like that?

 

[SDK]

Hi vdonovan,

Yes, I am using a 4X5 glass carrier with the lower glass removed and a jury rigged mask made of black matt board with mylar around the edges to hold the top and bottom edges flat. I also am deliberately blacking out every 5th frame as I shoot now, so that I have a broad support of film on both ends to keep the film relatively flat when printing. I use either a 105mm or 135mm Rodagon enlarging lens depending on how large I print.

I recently got an used Pentax 645n and 55mm/2.8 and 150mm/2.8 lenses to augment the Bronica and allow focusing on closer subjects. I plan to keep at it and will soon add some photos from an expedition to Rockport, Massachusetts.

 

[vdonovan]

Thanks for the details. Blanking out a frame is freaking clever. Well worth it. It must save you hours of hair-pulling in trying to get your diptychs alligned in the carrier.

Again, nice work.

 

[Ali Riza Kutlu]

Nice work, thanks for posting. I really liked the idea of putting photographs together on one page. All the pictures and colours are beautiful... I am on 15 inch laptop so I am having problem that the website is not centered on my screen; so I have to scroll from left to right and up to down. This makes your website bit weak in my opinion... and simple websites are better way to go, when I want to see pictures I don't need to same infos and big title above the pictures, and do you really need huge arrow???? Pictures were cool but busy website makes them dissappear from my mind.

Good luck,

A

 

[srtiwari]

Very nice work SDK. My favorite is 'Sunrise over Herrick Bay'. I, too, have a Bronica RF645, but have not used it in this way.
Subhash

 

[Cron]

interesting work!

 

[Tuolumne]

Hmmm...it's kind of like a pseudo-panorama. Panoramic, but not. Interesting idea. I'll have to cogitate on this for a while...

/T

 

[Michael P.]

The landscape photog Robert Glenn Ketchum used to do diptychs and triptychs shot with his Pentax 6x7. I think he's since move on in style, but you might be interested in examples of his earlier work if you can find them.

 

[Morca007]

Beautiful images, I love the concept, the frame change and slight shift from one to the next really clicks.
Island Marine Const. is my favorite, but I don't think I saw one that I didn't like.

 

[SDK]

Thanks for all the feedback. I am going to be submitting these for some exhibitions.

Ali, I will be reformatting slightly to make the site more friendly to small screens, but I have a lot of other things to do first.

 

[dannynono]

It's beautiful body of work so far. I'm curious to see how these progress as you keep working this concept. I find the shots where the left/right images are nearly seamless to be easier (ex. the homepage images used for water or land) to be easier to read and enjoy up front, but the shots where the angles/coverage (homepage edifice image) are more rewarding in some ways.

For me, Falling Leaves and Warehouse are winners.

 

[infrequent]

@sdk - can you explain how you actually do it? shift your position for the next shot or just the camera? using a tripod to keep the horizon straight etc? either way wonderful results. i really appreiciate the amount of thinking and craft that goes into each piece.

 

[SDK]

Hi infrequent, I compose in camera shooting the Bronica left frame then the right, so that they will be correctly placed on the negatives for printing both at once. I used to do them all handheld, but wanted to be more precise, so now I usually use a tripod with a Manfrotto geared head (3275) or the lighter magnesium head (3437). These heads have degrees marked on them, so it's easy to keep the frames from overlapping they also have built in bubble levels. Sometimes I use a monopod when a tripod isn't convenient.

The main viewfinder and the 45mm finder both indicate less than you actually get with a full frame print, so they are a rough guide only. For the 45mm lens you need to rotate the camera 50˚ between frames, and the 65mm needs 35.8˚ rotation. I also have one of the rare 135mm lenses, which only needs 17.7˚ rotation. You rotate the camera 1/2 the total width in degrees that will be captured by a particular lens, basically the field of view of one frame. I use the 45mm the most and the 135mm least.

I recently added a Pentax 645n (a great evil SLR) with 55mm/2.8 and 150mm/2.8 lenses, and for shooting this way on a tripod I will have to shoot in the opposite direction, right frame then left. That's because you have to go in the same direction that film is advanced to have the frames aligned in the middle. You don't want to have the middle of the scene on the outside! The Pentax has its vertical position tripod mount on the opposite side of the film than the Bronica, what will be the top of the film when developed and printed. Rotations for the Pentax 55mm will be 41˚, and the 150mm will need 16˚change.

Of course sometimes I have tried more creative framings, which can work well with architectural subjects.

Hope you find this helpful.

 

[pipal]

Hi Steven,
thanks for sharing all that with us. I usually don't like much other formats than 3:2 or 1:1, with the exception of these (6x7 or 645) in portrait orientation. And you even pushed that much further. I am very glad to see your diptychs, you made my day. Well done, sir! Thanks and keep up that good work.

Martin

 

[lns]

These are excellent, thanks. I especially like the quiet of the Morgan Bay Estuary shot, with the movement from green gold to blue green, from tightness to expansion. I also like how you are kind of working around the vertical format, while still taking advantage of it. Thanks for the inspiration.

 

[SDK]

Hi RFFers,

I have reformatted the web pages to be more friendly to small screens (1024 x 768 pixels).

I now have a small number of nice big prints on 12x18" paper. Unfortunately, my Fujimoto print processor has gone wonky and needs to be sent to Maryland for repair, so I won't be printing more for a while. Price for 12X18" size prints is $175.00 US, plus postage, and I will consider trades too. If anyone is interested the big prints are of these images:

1) Otter Cliffs, Acadia National Park, Maine 2007, Printed 2008, Type C Print, Image c.17” W x 10.7”H.

2) Island Marine Const. , Benjamin River, Sedgwick, Maine 2007, Printed 2008, Type C Print, Image c.17” W x 10.7”H.

3) Cousins-Conservation Land Boundary, East Blue Hill, Maine 2007, Printed 2008, Type C Print, Image c.17” W x 10.7”H.

4) Boulder, McHeard Stream, East Blue Hill, Maine 2007, Printed 2008, Type C Print, Image c.17” W x 10.7”H. (Left half only)

5) Wooden Boat School Dock, Brooklin, Maine 2007, Printed 2008, Type C Print, Image c.17” W x 10.7”H.

6) Blueberry Field in Late Summer, Brooklin, Maine 2007, Printed 2008, Type C Print, Image c.17” W x 10.7”H.

7) Canary Cove, South Blue Hill, Maine 2007, Printed 2008, Type C Print, Image c.17” W x 10.7”H.

8) Shore Rocks, Herrick Bay, Brooklin, Maine 2007, Printed 2008, Type C Print, Image c.17” W x 10.7”H.

9) Morgan Bay Estuary, Surry, Maine 2007, Printed 2008, Type C Print, Image c.17” W x 10.7”H.

10) Sunrise, Herrick Bay, Brooklin, Maine 2007, Printed 2008, Type C Print, Image c.17” W x 10.7”H.

I will be showing some images at a gallery in Sudbury, Massachusetts opening on Saturday, March 29, 2008.

 

[naruto]

wonderful stuff. It reminds of some work by a Japanese photographer who did panos and wide angle cityscapes. I believe he took years to photograph one city, thus documenting it's evolution. Very minimalist approach. 🙂