Monthly Shooting Assignment: January/February 2015 "H20 Isolation"

Monthly Shooting Assignment: January/February 2015 "H20 Isolation"

I was so excited to be chosen by the previous winner Bert (or Twin-Berts as it might have been) which can be seen (there was a url link here which no longer exists).

I've been pondering what I could inspire people to shoot, I really didn't expect to win so I hadn't given it much previous thought! I won this once before and I didn't quite get it right, many participants had trouble finding a way to shoot the subject matter I had presented so I wanted to give something that could be easily gotten by all. It's been a rainy day, and for me a somewhat rainy previous year (2014) so I've thought a lot about water. This inspired me, I'll be challenging myself to shoot the subject and share a few after the end of February.

"H20 Isolation"

The theme is about water, but not just about water, about the isolation of water, this most likely means a lot of shallow depth of field use, or some creative depth images.

I really want to challenge you guys to focus on the water itself on not the objects that surround it, hint it does NOT have to be water in liquid form only... but the water should be the focal point of the image.

Please Read the (there was a url link here which no longer exists) before participating. Most notably...

1. This has to be a NEW image, shot and developed and printed (or scanned is ok for color film) within the January-February time frames, please do not post old work.
2. This has to be made on non-digital medium from start to finish (again with the exception of color film which can be scanned), this can include anything from standard B&W film and prints, to Collodion work, to Autochromes... no pressure... and no digital intermediary which means no digital cameras and no hybrid printing processes like digital negatives that are then contact printed, etc. OBVIOUSLY the final print will need to be scanned to be presented. Also please list as many details of your process as you feel comfortable sharing (i.e. Film/Paper/Dev/thought process/etc.).

Sorry for the long diatribe but there's often confusion on this and I wanted to cover all the potential questions in the first post.

Feel free to get really creative, I know I will!! The ultimate winner will most likely be an image that is both photographically beautiful, but also evokes emotion, it does NOT have to be technically perfect by any standard, but should inspire feeling as those tend to draw me in.

So that's it, I hope I covered everything and I really hope this challenges you and inspires you to shoot something new. Good luck and be well!

Hi Stone,
This is an interesting theme. That's what I like about the MSA: every time something new to catch on film.
Water as the focal point of the image should trigger quite some interpretations, won't it?
I've got some ideas so lets see if I can put it to practice.
Thanks,
Bert

I like this theme Stone - and with rain in the forecast for the coming week I may actually be able to shoot something for this round!

Stone, not everyone prints B&W. Scanned B&W or colour negs, as long as they are not suffering from photochopping, have always been accepted in the MSA, and on APUG.

Rain making lots of noise on the roof. General sogginess predicted for the week.

Monthly Shooting Assignment: January/February 2015 "H20 Isolation"

Ok I'm being told that printing isn't a requirement and that scanning of B&W film has always been allowed in the MSA, so I will accept that.

If however anyone CONUS who would like to make a print, who has already shot the image and wants to make their first print, I will ship you FOUR sheets of 4x5 paper (just plain old RC paper) and 3 test strips and enough developer to make a very small developing tray in a Tupperware container (about 250ml worth of print developer once mixed) absolutely free to encourage people to make a contact print, (limited to the first 11 people).

Someone said a 35mm contact print might be boring, but I think there's enough detail in a 35mm contact to make it interesting.

Sorry I can only make this CONUS because I'm not financially able to ship out to other countries, and at that point it would be cheaper for you to buy the chemicals and paper yourself.

I will only ship the developer, I will assume you already have stop and fixer if you're at the stage where you're ready to make your first contact print (if you really want you can use white vinegar as a stop and baking soda as a fixer, not the best but hey... It's an option if you're REALLY that hard up/new), I can't help with a bulb but it's Christmas time so there must be a red/orange bulb available out there for pretty cheap that's good enough. Or do it in complete darkness. I'll even include instructions on how to make a test strip first so you can use any light source and still come out with something good.

Just offering it as an option, but please get in touch before... February 10th, and have already made the image that you want to print, and be serious about wanting to print it

Just trying to encourage newcomers, and those who got out and are thinking of getting back into the darkroom. Good luck!

I like this theme very much!

StoneNYC said:

Ok I'm being told that printing isn't a requirement and that scanning of B&W film has always been allowed in the MSA, so I will accept that.

If however anyone CONUS who would like to make a print, who has already shot the image and wants to make their first print, I will ship you FOUR sheets of 4x5 paper (just plain old RC paper) and 3 test strips and enough developer to make a very small developing tray in a Tupperware container (about 250ml worth of print developer once mixed) absolutely free to encourage people to make a contact print, (limited to the first 11 people).

Someone said a 35mm contact print might be boring, but I think there's enough detail in a 35mm contact to make it interesting.

Sorry I can only make this CONUS because I'm not financially able to ship out to other countries, and at that point it would be cheaper for you to buy the chemicals and paper yourself.

I will only ship the developer, I will assume you already have stop and fixer if you're at the stage where you're ready to make your first contact print (if you really want you can use white vinegar as a stop and baking soda as a fixer, not the best but hey... It's an option if you're REALLY that hard up/new), I can't help with a bulb but it's Christmas time so there must be a red/orange bulb available out there for pretty cheap that's good enough. Or do it in complete darkness. I'll even include instructions on how to make a test strip first so you can use any light source and still come out with something good.

Just offering it as an option, but please get in touch before... February 10th, and have already made the image that you want to print, and be serious about wanting to print it

Just trying to encourage newcomers, and those who got out and are thinking of getting back into the darkroom. Good luck!

Click to expand...

I second that: printing a B&W negative is much more fun than scanning. And the results are often much better (in my biased opinion). So take this opportunity to get back into printing again! Even if it is a contact print.

Nice theme Stone. I'll give it a shot this time around. Now to put the thinking cap on high!

This sounds like fun. Though here right now most of the water is a non-liquid form but that will change and add fun to the process.

captbrs said:

This sounds like fun. Though here right now most of the water is a non-liquid form but that will change and add fun to the process.

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HINT: It does NOT have to be in liquid form

I'm pretty sure I can isolate water without resorting to shallow DOF, but we'll see!!
I'll need to if I want to keep with my goal of at least one pinhole image in each MSA along with whatever else I come up with...

Hmmm the ideas are percolating...

It's a good theme Stone. Works for any season, and on either side of the equator, in any climate. Carl didn't call us The Pale Blue Dot for nothing. And given that all of the major rivers within an afternoon's drive of me are yet again nearing winter flood stage, it's quite possible that the water may soon turn the tables and instead start isolating me.

So I think I'm going to give this MSA theme a try...



Ken

Please, can you post some examples? Does "not have to be in liquid form" mean ice is OK? How about fog? Snow?

Shot this yesterday and processed film last night. It's not a print, but I doubt I'll have time to actually make a print.

Hasselblad 500 with 150mm Sonnar lens. Ilford FP4+ in Harvey's 777 Panthermic.

barbara ann said:

Please, can you post some examples? Does "not have to be in liquid form" mean ice is OK? How about fog? Snow?

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Yes you're getting the picture Barbara, use your imagination, take a chance at being wrong and maybe you'll be so right!!

I noticed often times that other MSA hosts give example photos, often times the examples are images I had already pre-conceived and so it takes away from some people's ability to capture an image and make it more powerful or seem more original if the original poster has already posted something similar, so I didn't want to taint this MSA with my own images.

I just didn't think it would be fair, don't worry I've seen your work, you almost won the last time I hosted this on a subject totally unfamiliar to you, and you did an AMAZING job of interpreting that one. I know you'll do great on this one too

Gorgeous, Thomas! You've set the bar high already!

Thomas Bertilsson said:

Shot this yesterday and processed film last night. It's not a print, but I doubt I'll have time to actually make a print.

Hasselblad 500 with 150mm Sonnar lens. Ilford FP4+ in Harvey's 777 Panthermic.

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Wow! I cannot believe how fractal that is. That's mesmerizing. Thomas, I don't know your attitude toward posting photos on the internet, but I'd sure like to see a larger version if you don't mind.

NedL said:

Wow! I cannot believe how fractal that is. That's mesmerizing. Thomas, I don't know your attitude toward posting photos on the internet, but I'd sure like to see a larger version if you don't mind.

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Hi Ned. I'd love to, but my Epson scanner is not the best. I'll see if I can max it out at about 2400dpi and see what comes of it. I can post it to Flickr and send you a direct link to it. Thanks for your interest! Frozen water is really fascinating.

Thomas Bertilsson said:

Hi Ned. I'd love to, but my Epson scanner is not the best. I'll see if I can max it out at about 2400dpi and see what comes of it. I can post it to Flickr and send you a direct link to it. Thanks for your interest! Frozen water is really fascinating.

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It is, good first image for sure!

Please feel free to post a link to the image on Flickr here if you would like, I would also enjoy seeing it. That also goes for anyone else who feels that image is best seen large. But please also be sure to put it in the MSA gallery if you are a subscriber.

StoneNYC said:

Yes you're getting the picture Barbara, use your imagination, take a chance at being wrong and maybe you'll be so right!!

I noticed often times that other MSA hosts give example photos, often times the examples are images I had already pre-conceived and so it takes away from some people's ability to capture an image and make it more powerful or seem more original if the original poster has already posted something similar, so I didn't want to taint this MSA with my own images.

I just didn't think it would be fair, don't worry I've seen your work, you almost won the last time I hosted this on a subject totally unfamiliar to you, and you did an AMAZING job of interpreting that one. I know you'll do great on this one too

Click to expand...

I will only ship the developer, I will assume you already have stop and fixer if you're at the stage where you're ready to make your first contact print (if you really want you can use white vinegar as a stop and baking soda as a fixer, not the best but hey... It's an option if you're REALLY that hard up/new), I

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... what a great gesture! ..

just in case anyone reads this searching for a low tech, household ingredient for a fixer replacement ...

the OP might have meant something else when he wrote this, not sure ...

but just the same ... you can not use baking soda as a fixer
no matter how hard you try
and, no matter how much you want it to work ... baking soda does not fix paper or film.
vinegar is perfectly fine for stop bath ...

BUT!!

don't fret ... there is more ...

if you are in a real pinch (sorry for the nearby pun) and have time on your hands ( not minutes or hours, but days )
you can make yourself an image- stabilizer out of a super saturated salt ( i warned you ) solution ...
here's a thread about it: (there was a url link here which no longer exists)
it won't totally FIX your film, but it will stabilize it enough so you can wait until you get out of your cabin in the woods,or off
your desert island where you photographed your H2O isolation assignment, ... and find some fixer

good luck with your assignment this month ...

Hi All, this assignment was started by a member no longer a part of the fourm. I would suggest either picking a new judge or someone starting up a new assignment. Since some have likely been working on this already, a new judge probably makes more sense. Please try to keep on topic to the MSA and not make this thread about Stone's status here. Thanks!

Thomas. Wow. Just wow.

Sean said:

.. I would suggest either picking a new judge ....

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Okay, thanks for letting us know Sean.

Hi Everyone, I have an idea for how to pick a judge for this round. If you don't like it or have a better idea, speak up; it won't hurt my feelings.

It seems to me that this is a good and fun theme, and also that it's not as much fun to participate in MSA when you are the judge.

So here's my idea for an "MSA judge lottery", where none of us will know who the judge is until the end. This way we can all enjoy making photos for the next two months.

If you are willing to serve as the judge for this round, you would PM me with a number you choose.

At the end of February, I'll add up all the numbers and then divide by the number of volunteers. The remainder will determine who the judge is. If the remainder is 1, then the first person who PM'ed me will be the judge, if the remainder is 2 then it will be the 2nd person, and so on.

[ for you math or CS type people, we'll take sum mod n, and I will be volunteer number 0 ]

Obviously if you are selected, you get the difficult task of choosing the winner and you won't want to choose your own entry as the winner. So if you put your name in the hat, it really is a service for MSA and all of us. You are helping to keep one of the really fun parts of APUG rolling along.

Thoughts? Does this idea sound okay? Let's not start until at least 4 or 5 potential victims agree!


Edit: another good alternative would be if someone who is not planning to participate this round would simply volunteer to be the judge.

Seems like a good approach. I'd like to see Stone's idea completed.