Follow the above link to my photos from the recent Lerro Productions photo charter at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga.
The night before the charter started I was out past midnight for dinner and drinks with Pete Lerro and Mitch Goldman, we had a most interesting and stimulating conversation about reality based photography verses digital manipulation and compositing via Photoshop. I am one who always tries to capture the picture as perfectly as possible with the camera, but afterwards use a RAW editor and Photoshop to its fullest for finalizing the image files as my mind’s eye wants them to appear. In talking with Pete and Mitch I secretly decided to challenge myself on this charter - to shoot in JPEG only, relying heavily on my camera platform’s potential to process internally with the Acros monochrome film simulation mode. It would be a risky move, not having the flexible RAW files to fall back on if I did not ace the exposure settings. In some of these photos I purposely shot at a higher then normal ISO to accentuate the conversion of noise to an important texture, with others I underexposed the shadow areas to add contrast. A 50mm prime lens was used as much as possible to yield the field of view similar to the human eye, and as a throwback to my roots of analog photography.
In conducting this experiment of shooting JPEGs-only I really liked the results, to my tastes this gallery looks less sterile and digital while having a lot more soul. In P
Way cool! Back in the day use to compose in-camera (an Aragus “brick” camera) than do touch-up with in dark room. Know what you mean with Photoshop, you did good.
Fantastic work Matthew, as always, just like a time machine.
Well, except for that shot of the guy with the drone, they didn’t have them back in the 40’s!
And to second seppburgh2, I too used to “edit with the camera” using my Argus C-3, still do for that matter when I do photograph anything. Just waiting for that riiiiiiiiight moment to pull the trigger…
Yes that Argus “brick” of mine was a C-3! Felt good when I could shoot a GG1 coming at me at speed, a passing shot, and end of power shot all the time clicking and winding (for today’s folks, one has to manually advance the film between shots.) Thanks for the memory jab.
As mentioned elsewhere, a C-3 was my first 35mm camera. I was pleasantly surprised to see a C-3 for sale in the window of La Grange camera about two weeks ago.
My C-3 was originally my father’s, he gave it to me back in 1973 when he bought a new Canon 35mm camera. Dad’s C-3 had the whole package, including the flash attachment that took those huge M3 and M5 flashbulbs.
I used it up to pretty recently at some family gatherings, just to amaze the kids who’d never seen anything like that, especially when those flashbulbs went “WHOOMPH!!!” and lit the whole room up! “Wow,” one of them said, “I can feel the heat all the way over here!”
You know, I never felt the need to upgrade to a more modern 35mm. The C-3 did everything I wanted it to do, it was mechanical so I didn’t have to worry about batterys, and I wasn’t super serious about photography anyway, it was a strictly a for fun thing, especially when I pulled out the C-3 or any other of my antiques and saw the looks on peoples faces!
And Becky, don’t worry about being able to photograph as well as Matthew does, your handicraft and modeling skills amaze us all over at “Classic Toy Trains.”
Same here, I usually compromise and go to Walgreens and get the Fuji 35mm and let them do the processing. The real camera store up the road doesn’t do film any more of any kind, it’s all digital or nothing.
The even blew out the antique camera collection they had!
120 film wasn’t common back in the late 80’s to early 90’s when I was using it. Can’t imagine where I’d find any film let alone anyone to develop it these days.
Interesting, I didn’t have too much trouble finding 120 film around here untill around 2000. A lot of professionals were still using 120 up till that time and a lot of my antiques used it.
One of my pride and joy antiques is an 1899 Kodak pocket folder. It was made for the long-gone 105 film BUT I could use 120 in it by using the square format numbers that showed in the ruby window; pass 1, stop at 2, pass 3, stop at 4…
I’d get eight exposures on the roll. However, today I have no idea where I’d get the film processed even if I could find it. Digital’s done a good job killing film just like videotape did a good job killing 16mm film in the 90’s, even though back then my 16mm movie cameras shot pictures that made video look sick!
But look at that great shot of Mighty 611 that Yashica gave you! Wow!
By the way, if anyone’s curious, this is what my 1899 Kodak looks like…
That camera “got” me into a local Civil War re-enactment about 20 years ago. As I was walking up to the Union campsite I was challenged by a guard, “HALT! Who goes there?”
I pulled out the 1899, opened the bellows, and said “It’s all right son, I’m with Mr. Brady!”
“Oh! Pass, friend!” That guard sure knew his Civil War history if he knew who Matthew Brady was! He had a good sense of humor as well!
They must have had BIG pockets back in 1899, it sure won’t fit in any pockets today!
Me? A “Galvanized Yankee?” Not until they get some decent Italian bakeries down here bro! They have caught up with the pizza, though.
PS: “Galvanized Yankees” are what native Southerners called Northerners who took the Confederate side during the war, maybe “blue” on the inside but with a “grey” coating on the outside.
Why? Well, some had their reasons, the most common being they’d married Southern girls and, well, who wants a battle line running through the bedroom? Could be awkward, to say the least.
If you could go back to say 1964 and have a pizza you would start crying realizing how far downhill its all come. I remember.
I’m not sure you would recognize what they call pizza up here. People should be jailed for fraud!
Not sure if you opened the link I put on Classic Trains about ‘not being very high tech in places’ up here. Thats one of our gas stations! Looks pretty bad eh? But…the fella that runs the place makes the absolute best ever rendition of an Egg McMuffin Sausage on the planet. Doesn’t even have a name for them…makes them in the am only until around noon. Only thing he makes…terrific stuff.
Well. Now that the subject is pizza, I have to say this about what is now the thing here in Toronto. Neapolitan pizza. Best in the world, they say. Authentic, they say. You’ll love it, they say. (I love the Road movies) I have had pizza in Napoli back in the 1970s when I was in the Navy. Pizza? You bought it off a street vendor. It had a squashed tomato with skin, seeds and other tomato gack on it. A sprinkle of cheese and in the middle one olive and one anchovy. Take one bite, toss it in the garbage. Neapolitan is the best in the world these new places say. I say feh!
Hmmmm…sounds like something the skinny jeans man bun crowd thinks is cool.
Lots of places in Montreal put a regular hot dog wiener in the center, just laying on top…everyone of course fights over the damn wiener.
Luv anchovies. Lots of 'em. Keep the pineapples, like what the heck? No. Pineapples are good mind you, have 'em in the morning cut up but not on a pizza, come on man. Have some respect.
By the way, I saw the Tennessee Valley featured on PBS last night. The whole show was pretty good.
Pineapples on a pizza is a subversive idea that oozed out of the Left Coast and made it’s way across the country into the “chi-chi” pizza parlors inhabited by those who think they’re part of the cool crowd.
You won’t find that crap in any of the blue collar pizza places I used to frequent up in New Jersey, which is where you’ll find the best pizza anyway!
Another subversive pizza is the “White Pizza.” Lady Firestorms brother lived on the Left Coast for a number of years, and when he came East for a visit we took him to a local Italian restaurant that had it on the menu. The proprietor’s from Brooklyn NY by the way, I suppose it’s on his menu because of all the transplants down here, and business is business after all.
Anyway, “Brother” orders a white pizza, and THEN proceeds to eat it with a knife and fork! Lady F just sat there and muttered “We don’t know you!”
