“That’s quite the picture-making machine!”

The above tag line is a quote from a homeless lady yesterday, as I walked around downtown Worcester with my Model 450 Land Camera. After looking at these shots, I do have to agree. Photowalks can turn up subjects that one may easily overlook by whizzing by in the car, while potentially overlooking potentially great content. This is instant photography, but once again, it forces the photographer to slow down, and take it all in.

These are from a very creative wall mural on a tunnel near Union Station. The more I use Fuji FP100C, the more I fall in love with the colors, the sharpness. It does seem to like a good amount of light for the color to “pop”. It was a typical late winter New England day, where you never get anything resembling good, warm daylight. That blue-gray harsh light that frustrates photographers up here to no end. But you simply have to make due, and pick your battles. I think I won these-

Was painted to scale, so as to make the painter’s feet look like they are actually at ground level.

On the other side of the tunnel was this beautiful image. The colors show off FP100C’s color pallet beauty.

Try, Try, And Try Again – More Musings On Kodak Portra 160

As noted here in earlier articles, I expressed have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with Kodak Portra 160. Amazingly, I have overexposed it quite a bit, despite working with accurate metering. Overexpose a 160 speed color film? Happens to this photographer a lot. While Portra 400 continues to amaze with its wide latitude and crisp images. Yes, 160 is insanely sharp. But I have not been able to squash the tendency to overexpose it. And, not by choice.

Until now? The film seems to like lots of light, but not direct light. When I shoot a bright, high contrast scene, I can almost count on overexposure. However, don’t include a sky or a horizon, and the colors just pop.

For these scenes, taken on a brief midday photowalk downtown, I shot with the F3, yes, my “bread and butter” go-to film camera, and new 35mm Nikkor f/2.8 AiS. The gorgeous coating on this lens almost seems made for Portra 160. Finally, the emulsion I’ve been wanting to like all along, well, now, I love. No color adjustments here, a linear scanning curve, and slight levels and sharpness adjustments. That’s it, nothing more.

Eyewear Window Display

Wall Mural Near Union Station. You can even see some of the paint peeling and chipping.

Not Much Light Here- Underpass, Shot At Box Speed.

Wall Mural Outside Hanover Theatre- Maybe My Favorite Use Of Color On Film In A Long Time.

Union Station – On The U.S. National Register Of Historic Places

And, rightfully so- “(Union Station, Worcester, MA) was originally built in 1911 during the heyday of railroading in the United States as a replacement for the previous one of 1875. It was abandoned in 1975 and fell into disrepair. It was acquired by the Worcester Redevelopment Authority and completely renovated at a cost of $32 million under the leadership of former Mayor Raymond Mariano. The renovated station opened in July 2000.”- Wikipedia

Finding scenic spots and historical landmarks in the area can be a bit of a challenge. Especially daunting is finding a spot that I have yet to visit. Which is maybe in part why I keep coming back to this beautiful train station.  Structurally elegant, yet highly utilitarian, it serves thousands of passengers daily, while looking fresh and timeless.

Venues like this offer so much contrast, texture, and geometry to photograph. You can occasionally get lucky, as I did on another day, and get some very fast-moving trains, and try some slower shutter speeds for panning, and conveying a sense of motion. Maybe another blog entry, for another day. And yet more scanning.

A few scenes, taken with the Nikon FE-2, and TriX, which seems to lend itself so nicely to the subject-

The view from the platform.

All aboard!

Exquisite stained glass decorates the ceiling and interior throughout.

Even staircases were lovingly restored, following original design.

Train I Ride, Sixteen Coaches Long

I have always loved trains and railroad scenes for photography. Classic Americana, timeless, beautiful. While recovering, rather than to get out there and shoot a lot, which I can’t really do, I figured this was a great time to start catching up with some negative scans that time has not permitted. These frames were shot just before Christmas, 2011, at and near Worcester, MA’s famed Union Station. I shot them with the Minolta XD-11, using Kodak TMax 400. And developed them in HC-110, with about a 20% increase in development time for about a 20% increase in contrast.

Even if you are not into trains and the railroad, they can make for some great creative inspiration, and a lot of fun. For America, trains were instrumental in industrial expansion, and geographic entry to the west. Photographically, they represent endless possibilities for creativity. Not only trains themselves, but stations, tracks, signs, nearby urban decay, not to mention conductors, passengers, hobos. They are still out there- maybe not like the Great Depression, but there are people still hitching rides to random destinations via trains.

I think I used a 50mm Rokkor here, but it might have been the 28mm. Not really sure, as I ran out of room for notes on the canister with my Sharpie. Looking at them again, it may have been with the wide.

Providence And Worcester RR Bridge Coming Into Union Station

Union Station, Worcester, Massachusetts