a little something awesome

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raxvU9-yxL4

tilt eisel

Lately i've been doing a lot of different darkroom techniques and I'v found one of hem to have potential for specifically architecture. even though i didn't use this technique for an architecture shot I still had fun with it. I incorporated a slant or a tilt to the base of my eisel using a cardboard jig i made. this limited my possible angles of incline to just one (45 degrees) but i figured for this project that would be okay. You can purchase the proper eisel online or probably at your local photo shop. Anyway I had to dodge the image a bit to achieve an even exposure as part of it was closer to the enlarger lens. It was a fairly simple process and i plan to experiment with other forms of this technique and I'm sure I'll get around to posting it sometime soon. I suppose I'm gonna have to leave you now with my attempt. shlater....  

regergitate

Somebody was showing me this guy the other day and i thought i should pass his name along. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Uelsmann

read more about it

as far as composition is concerned i have mainly based mine off of proportions allowed by the use of the rule of thirds. but recently i have been exploring a slightly more elaborate guide, the fibbonacci sequence. By definition, the first two Fibonacci numbers are 0 and 1, and each subsequent number is the sum of the previous two. Some sources omit the initial 0, instead beginning the sequence with two 1s so shit works out better. this sequence drawn out creates a perfect neverending spiral that past mathematicians dubbed as a harmonious image and when one uses the lines created by this spiral to compose a scene the resulting photograph also becomes harmonious. i know shit sounds complicated but the best example i can think of that you can see right now is make a fist and look at the side that has your thumb on it. the tip of your pointer finger starts a spiral that also ends with the tip of your thumb. persionally i have found this to be a good technique for seperating my fore, mid, and backgrounds. if it doesnt sink in sorry i didnt explain it better but there is a lot of info online about it so go check it out.

poor mans double exposure

double exposures are really simple with the right tools. i like to use a tripod, any camera with a bulb setting, any flash with a test button, any hand meter, and an assistant who pays attention. for this d.e. i set up my canon t70 on my pos tripod front and center of my dining room table. i metered the flash for my face from the two positions i would be sitting during the exposure. i tried to help my assistant match exact opposite positions of the flash from both sides of the camera. we practiced once or twice, then i set a refrence point in the middle of the table with my car keys. basically i wanted bilateral symmetry throught the image so as to make lighting a little easier. when i was ready i set out a change of tshirt and hat next to my scene flipped the lights off and got into position 1. my assistant pressed and held the shutter then flashed me once. i moved to position 2 while changing my shirt and hat. i ligned up with the refrence point and had my assistant flash me a second time from the other flashpoint we had previously determined. he then let go of the shutter and we flipped on the lights. here is the end result. ps i just realized how homoerotic my description of this process might sound so dont mind the terminology.  

double printing

by now you can probably deduce that im not only on a photog kick but im specifically spendin most of my time in a wet lab. with that i've been tring to master a technique reffered to as double printing. this method (as far as i know) is most synonymous with a guy by the name of jerry ulesmann. his work has been feartured in many places one of which being the opening credits of the paranormal tv series The Outer Limits. im not so much amazed by ulsemann's final images so much as his mastery of the methodology involved (an assload of dodgn n burnin). ive used at least 30 sheets of rc paper on this one image with little success so im moving on for the time being until i can hoan my blending skills. at the top you can see my attempt cinsisting of my face in my dad's mouth. i suggest google imaging "jerry ulesmann" for some real heat. i promise you'll shit bricks. note: i also used my diy ringflash

some good readin

this is a book i derive most of my photog insperation from. the photographer's handbook by john hedgecoe is a little dated but has everything youll need to know about film photography. i seriously sometimes wake up with this book in my hands. regardless get your hands on a copy even if you use digital, many of the principles still apply in a big way.