noimmunity
scratch my niche
I would like to know of any photographers who have made a theme out of overexposure. I would especially appreciate any information about resources available on the web, but would also love to hear comments about this kind of work and technique in general. I'm thinking about a project that involves overexposure. Thank you in advance.
gns
Well-known
You might want to check out the work of Jean Claude Wouters, a Belgian artist/photographer. A few years ago I saw a show of his portraits and nudes in New York. The pictures are so faint that one can barely make out an image at all. But as you look longer, the images (ghost-like) sort of appear and fade before your eyes. He has a web site....http://www.jeanclaudewouters.eu/... but I don't think the pictures really hold up on the web.
Cheers,
Gary
Cheers,
Gary
FifthLeaf
amateur
Trent Parke has many photos where he overexposes parts of the scene. I'm not sure if this is what you had in mind, though.
http://www.in-public.com/TrentParke/image/1506 (Here's an example, you can check out his whole gallery from there.)
http://www.in-public.com/TrentParke/image/1506 (Here's an example, you can check out his whole gallery from there.)
Belle
Established
Accepting "imperfection" as an art form really help me appreciate and even engage in this genre of photography.
noimmunity
scratch my niche
Those are some interesting leads.
I love the first photo in the link to Trent Parke. It is very close to what I have in mind. Some of his other photos are too stylized for my taste in this particular application. I want something that is mundane, and has high contrast between blown highlights and dark shadows. That combo tends to be quite different from the classic definition of "high key", at least as I understand it. But I love the dreamy sexy look of high key photos.
I love the first photo in the link to Trent Parke. It is very close to what I have in mind. Some of his other photos are too stylized for my taste in this particular application. I want something that is mundane, and has high contrast between blown highlights and dark shadows. That combo tends to be quite different from the classic definition of "high key", at least as I understand it. But I love the dreamy sexy look of high key photos.
JonasYip
Well-known
Nh3
Well-known
Professor Noimmunity, if I may be so impudent to point out that what you're looking for is not exactly overexposure but high contrast, which can only be attained using dodging and burning.
FifthLeaf
amateur
williams473
Well-known
Actually, that Trent Parke stuff is probably well exposed, not overexposed. A properly exposed high speed film developed in a contrasty developer like Rodinal, maybe push processed and then printed using the higher end of the contrast filters (or high contrast graded paper) will get you the same result.
Back in school I remember I did an assignement where I normally processed some Kodak 3600 speed film I shot on a sunny day (contrasty light) and printed at grade 5 and got similar results. In that first image to get that extreme white out of the figure, there probably was also some dodging involved.
Back in school I remember I did an assignement where I normally processed some Kodak 3600 speed film I shot on a sunny day (contrasty light) and printed at grade 5 and got similar results. In that first image to get that extreme white out of the figure, there probably was also some dodging involved.
noimmunity
scratch my niche
darkroom time looming ahead
darkroom time looming ahead
This thread is becoming another reason to convince myself to learn to develop my own...
(and after that, to print my own...)
darkroom time looming ahead
This thread is becoming another reason to convince myself to learn to develop my own...
(and after that, to print my own...)
williams473
Well-known
Yes, definately go for it! Not only will you save a lot of money, but you will learn faster AND have better control over your results, and in my experience, you'll actually have better quality negatives than you'll get from a lab (once you get through the learning curve.) Get an enlarger with a good sharp Nikkor lens on it and set one up. Don't go overboard - you can easily convert almost any room in your house into a room to print in, you just gotta black out the windows while you work - I tape up some thick, black lawn and leaf bags over my basement windows and it works for me. You don't even need water in the room - I fill my trays in the laundry room and carry them into my basement living room where I print. I just use a tray to ferry wet prints back into the laundry room for drying.
If you're near a major city, I'd troll Craigslist for enlargers - people sell whole darkrooms for under $200 all the time. Good luck!
If you're near a major city, I'd troll Craigslist for enlargers - people sell whole darkrooms for under $200 all the time. Good luck!
Nh3
Well-known
Speaking of Trent Parke, he actually uses photoshop for dodging and burning his scanned negatives (forgot the source).
Perhaps you could start with photoshop to practice and finalize the look, then work in the darkroom.
Perhaps you could start with photoshop to practice and finalize the look, then work in the darkroom.