Portraits of Singer/Songwriter Angie Lucht is a post from: Aim For The Eyes

The post-production was intended to be reminiscent of one of my favorite pre-digital darkroom techniques, involving bleaching and toning the print as it comes out of the fixer, giving it a gritty, high-contrast look. The end result reminds me a little bit of that famous Albert Watson shot of Keith Richards.

Rock Star Ron is a post from: Aim For The Eyes

Don’t get me wrong, digital is great stuff. I didn’t start my career as a digital photographer, though. The process of shooting film required a greater degree of involvement, and once used to the process it’s hard not to lament the old ways of doing things. The thing I liked most about the Type 55 film was the instant-gratification of having a useable image (much like digital is today) but having the super fine-grain quality of a large negative. There have been many occasions through my career as a photographer where I preferred the organic feel of this film and I, for one, am really going to miss getting my hands dirty.

When Dr. Penny Lloyd, a holistic veterinarian here in Colorado, contacted me about doing some promotional images for her business, the Type 55 was the first thing I grabbed before heading out to her mountain ranch. I knew the organic nature of the film would mesh nicely with the business image she wanted to project.

Dr. Lloyd is a licensed veterinarian who, in the interest of serving her patients better, took a turn down the alternative medicine path. This led to her cultivating an ability to communicate with and understanding the perspectives of her animal patients. Watching her interact with her horse, Bangwyn, was a lesson in communication and connectivity. She really speaks to animals. The weather was crisp and cold—and the scattered bright patches of snow on the ground lent an almost ethereal atmosphere to the shots. I captured some fantastic images of the two of them together.

I probably shot less than 20 frames that day on the Type 55, but each of the images came back with a powerful, emotional edge to them. When I submitted them to the art director for the shoot, she immediately fell in love with them. As a horse owner herself, the emotional connection caught on those timeless 4×5′s was something she couldn’t resist. It was only a matter of days before I had another shoot scheduled with her and her horse. Again, the results came back crisp and clean—typical of the high-resolution of the film itself (the highest resolution black and white film actually), but with the organic, hands-on feel left by the chemical patching on the edges.

It’s a careful process shooting with type 55. It’s an old-school working method that lends itself to a methodical, mindful approach to photography. It puts both the photographer and the subject in a special frame of mind that you don’t get with the rapid-fire, digital revolution…and there’s a shared sense of wonder as I peel apart the film, save the neg for scanning later, wipe the chemicals from my fingers onto my jeans, and pass the print around for everyone to see. Though I’m (nearly) a 100% digital photographer now, I still miss the physical process of film. Polaroid’s Type 55 will certainly go down in my book as one of my all-time favorites. I have no idea yet what I’m going to do with the rest of that box and a half in my fridge, but I’ll think of something to savor it with.

Last Polaroid is a post from: Aim For The Eyes

Here are some shots I took early October at a fund-raising event for Homeward Bound, a non-profit organization that provides canine companions to the elderly. The event was a kind of play-date for dogs and their owners. There were fun (and kinda strange) activities like dog massages and animal communicators.

For my part, people would bring their pooch into the back room where I’d set up a mini-studio, and we’d get them on “film”.

Shooting dogs is much like shooting children…unruly and (almost) impossible to direct, with attention spans measured in milliseconds, they’re nevertheless always engaging and full of personality.

Dogs are people, too is a post from: Aim For The Eyes