Steve Maniscalco Photography

2009 in Review--Looking Forward

I’ll call it a good year, based mostly on my continued growth as a photographer.  I would not say it was my most productive year by any means, but I did manage to keep slogging on and even in the worst years, I’d give myself credit for that.

I went through quite a few cameras this year. Gear is part of the hobby for me, and trying new gear (usually cheap stuff) is a good stand in for actual time spent out shooting.

I’d been wanting to try large format for some time and I finally put together a decent LF kit and gave it a try.  The thrill of pulling that first 4x5 negative from he wash is hard to describe. The detail seemed to go on forever and scanning a sweet large negative is enough to excite any photo geek. So, I discovered I love 4x5 but I just don’t have the time to pursue it.  It’s really a cost/benefit thing that has moved me back to medium format.

 

2009 also saw me getting back to instant film, first with a Fuji Instax and now with Polaroid pack film cameras. The Fuji was great for reving up the interest, but the Polaroid has the character I love, so that’s where I’ll be in instant film going forward.

 

Throughout the year, I flirted with the idea of shooting digital again, but in the end it was my love of film that deepened and entrenched.  Using film makes no practical sense whatsoever for someone with my limited time. Even so, film provides both the process and results that I enjoy...and since I don’t do this for a living, my enjoyment is what it’s all about.

 

Low fidelity cameras and printing process continue to appeal to me, though I do struggle over crappy cameras being a great creative tool or being a crutch, perhaps using the camera’s technical shortcomings to make up for my creative shortcomings. I’m not sure that sort of belly button examination really helps. In the end, I am doing what I enjoy.

I’m trying to select my 10 favorite shots of the year, something I saw others doing on flickr. I’ve narrowed it down to 28 images, here they are in a slideshow.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Goals for Next Year?

Shoot more…that’s easy, it’s what I always need to do. Unfortunately, family obligations are not likely to lighten up, so the odds are I won’t succeed on that front. Still, I will try.

 

Find an effective way of marketing my photos. By “marketing” I don’t mean find a place to sell them. I can work that part out. What I need to do next is get them in front of enough potential customers that I actually sell things. This hardly even qualifies as a goal, being so ill defined, but it’s all I’ve got at this point.  Definitive steps to follow.

My wish for you is that you find what you are looking for in your creative pursuits, whatever that may be.  May you enjoy a sense of fulfillment and contentment in all aspects of your life.

Happy New Year.

Steve Maniscalco

 

 

 

A Day at the Museum

Digging in the archives and found this bit.

Not long ago, I got together with the other camera dorks and we walked around in the Phoenix Art Museum to shoot the people looking at art. Unfortunately, the museum is currently preparing for a Rembrandt exhibition and all the teenage girls with walkie-talkies (security???) have been trained to hassle anyone with a camera.
In spite of having read the rules on photographs and trying to stay within their bounds, I was taken to task by those perky little photo Nazis no less than three times. The most frustrating encounter was with Amber who informed me that I could not take pictures of the building architecture (a new rule that was not explained as we entered). I found this frustrating because I could care less about the art in the place. I want to shoot the people and the architecture.
I pointed out to Amber that it would be very difficult indeed to shoot anything from INSIDE of a building without "architecture" being in the background. She turned her head a little and gave me a look that was strangely similar to the one my dog Penny gives me when I read her the morning paper.
Seeing that Amber didn't get my point, I asked her to please point in any direction at all that did not include "architecture." As she thought about it the perky slowly drained from her face. Her "Sir, I don't make the rules, I just enforce them." didn't contain nearly the respect due to a customer, much less to someone old enough to be her father's older brother.
I chose not to engage her in a conversation on the historical pitfalls of the "I'm just following orders" point of view, fearing that someone with a taser might show up to further explain the evils of photographing "architecture."

R3A, 35mm f1.7 

Waxing Philosophical on Twitter

 I did a string of tweets today that works out to be a blog post, when put all together.

 

When I shoot digital, I tend to use old manual lenses. I guess I don't like things easy.

 

 

There was a time where I was all about narrow dof. Like walking a tightrope.

 

Seems that just as I master a technique, it begins to feel like a gimmick.

 

Once it feels like a gimmick, I stop using it. I put it away in my bag, like a tool gone out of favor.

 

 

If that bag ever becomes truly full, I think I’ll be all done.

 

How to Get Your Slide Film Cross Processed w/o a Hassle

Ever try to talk the guy at the mini-lab in to running your slide film through his C41 processor? Mostly you get a blank stare…followed by a firm NO. Not wanting to deal with talking a new kid in to it every time I cross process film, I worked out how to get slide film processed in C41, so far, every time.

It’s simple.

After shooting, I drop the film in a changing bag and crack open the can.  I then roll the film up and put it in a black plastic film bottle. It then goes to the drug store where I tell the kid I have an old camera that rips film.  He’s happy to help, and he never looks at the film in enough detail to realize it’s slide film.  In all likelihood, he wouldn’t know slide film if he saw it.

If he ever notices and calls me on it, my story will be that I thought it was color film and didn’t realize what I’d loaded.

Yes, I’m being selectively honest here (that’s called lying if you’re not a politician). I somehow manage to live with myself.

Ektar Goodness

It's no secret that I'm a black and white guy. I relate to shapes and shadows better than to colors. Color has always struck me as a substitute for good composition. I know that's not really fair, it's just that so often I see spectacular color and I feel as though the image is carried by that color more than any single other factor. 

Now that I've disparaged the practice, I'll show you my own examples of it. 

 

 

Ok, honestly, I have a hard time deciding if my own images are good or are being propped up by eye catching nature of their color. I'm pretty sure the first one here would stand on its own. I'm not so sure about the second and third shots.

What does it all mean? I don't know. Again, that'd call for a conclusion and I'm mostly about rambling. I can say that Ektar is a hell of a color film and if you're trying to wow your audience with color, it looks like the way to go to me.

Yashica Mat 124G, Ektar

Pack Film. It's the Real Thing (Sorry Coke)

So...I finally got in the Polaroid 330 camera I've been waiting 3 weeks for. The USPS sent it from CA to IA via MO before realizing I live in AZ.  There is nothing a good Government agency can't screw up.

Anyway...

I had been looking for one of the better Polaroid cameras, with the 3 element glass lens, when this one came along in a lot of 9 cheap cameras (more on those other cameras later). I figured it was worth a try. So far, I'm kinda liking it. When shooting instant film, I'm not really looking for absolute sharpness anyway. I'm more going for a feeling. A 2 element plastic lens may be just the thing.

One thing I'm certain about, I just plain like pack film better than integral film. As much fun as I've had with my Instax, the shots lack the character of a pack film image. In some ways, I think they're just too good. The results are sharp, colorful and predictable...everything they are supposed to be. I just don't like them as much.

I don't guess I'll get rid of the Instax. I do like the feel of the thing, just not as much.

Here are 3 from that first pack of Fuji FP-100B film. 

 

 

 
 
 If you're looking for information on the various Polaroid camera models, be sure to check out Jim's Polaroid Collection. 

Evening With a Neglected Friend

Saturday night, I took the family to see Zoo lights at the Phoenix Zoo. As always, I wanted to take a camera with. Only problem was what film to use. Obviously a color film event...but the only "fast" color film I had was Fuji Sensia 400 iso color slide film in 35mm. So, I dug out my somewhat neglected Bessa R3a and dropped it in my coat pocket, along with the 40mm and 21mm lenses. 

I'd forgotten how handy this combination is. On a cool night, I can carry camera, film and two lenses in coat pockets and have a versatile kit--ready, but out of the way. Most of the time, I would opt for the Mamiya 7. It was nice to be reminded of just how handy and well handling this particular camera can be.

We stopped at a great Mexican seafood restaurant on the way. San Carlos on McDowell just off the 101. Not much to look at, but consistently excellent food. (Taken with the Nokton 40mm f1.4.)

 

The most interesting thing at zoo lights to shoot was the merry go round. I never did come up with the exact shot I wanted, but these come pretty close. (21mm Color Skopar lens)

 

 

 

R3A, Fuji Sensia cross processed in C41.
 

Crappy Cameras

Do we like crappy cameras because we like crappy pictures, or because we need an excuse for our crappy pictures?  I think it's a valid question. Shooting with a toy/crappy camera can yield unique and unpredictable results.  Is that unpredictability a mechanism for creativity or is it a substitute for creativity?

It seems to me that crappy cameras, as well as the push back to film, are a reaction to the "perfection" of digital. As digital technology takes over, there is a perception that results are becoming more plastic, less organic. While I've certainly seen digital work that had that look, I've also seen stunning digital work that was as creative and inspiring as anything I've seen in film. 

Recently, I've spent a deal of time with my crappy cameras, in particular I'm having great fun with the Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim. If you're not familiar with it, it's a poorly made Chinese camera that is plastic from lens to film door. Its claim to fame is that the plastic lens FL is 22mm! Wide angles, lots of vignetting, questionable sharpness, prone to flare...great fun.  Now, I have other cameras for this field of view. 43mm on the Mamiya 7, 21mm on the R3A. Both are great lenses, both cameras give consistently excellent results. Why then have I been carrying this crappy little camera?

Looking at some recent results, in some instances carrying the crappy camera paid off, in others, I think I'd have been better off with a good camera. Yesterday's trip to Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West is a good example. I shot about 30 frames with the Vivitar, and only a couple were well served by the crappy camera's questionable technical qualities.  For the most part, I wish I'd had the Mamiya 7 with me. 

There's a lot I love about this shot...but did it really benefit from the crappy camera? I'm not so sure.

 

Now THIS shot, taken on the way too Taliesin...this shot was made by the crappy camera. Inadequate shutter speed and incredible plastic crap lens flare are the most successful elements of this shot.  Just to add an even greater element of randomness, it was taken blind by holding the camera out of the passenger side window as I drove and made a left turn.  (If you try this at home, don't blame me if you crash. Fun photography = stupid driving.)

 

Rambling thoughts...do I have any conclusions? Well, no, not really. I'm not good at conclusions (it's a miracle I get the rambling thoughts recorded, don't expect too much of me).

I will say that the danger in falling in love with any tool is that you tend to forget your subject. It's the old thing about having a hammer and everything starts to look like a nail.  You just go around pounding things...sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. 

The trick seems to be in knowing ahead of time, or at least being able to recognize, if you are going to face a nail to hammer or a board to saw.

In my case, I think I'll carry both tools.