Jackson Pollock’s abstract expressionism and Picasso’s cubism never appealed to me. I suppose they were too austere or seemed lacking in meaning, except that which the viewer supplies. Piet Mondrian’s works, on the other hand, while abstract, offered patterns and colors that make sense to my brain—no idea why. Continue Reading
Last summer, I shot a roll in my Semi IIIa while strolling through Midtown. On developing the film, I discovered that the focus was off, and the film advance/double exposure mechanism was faulty. As a result, every frame was blurry, and there were many double exposures. After goingContinue Reading
For years, I have been battling the elements in two small patches of land between the front sidewalk and the street. At one point, variegated liriope lived there, but it allowed too many weeds to grow. Since 2020, various combinations of angelonia, verbena, ice plant, and other plants haveContinue Reading
Last winter, I shot six or seven rolls of film — color and black and white. I was pleased with the results—the B&W showed a pleasing, but not overwhelming, amount of grain, even at 400 ISO. The color was the same. Then, in March and April, I began testingContinue Reading
Like everyone else, I was thrilled to learn of Harman’s new color film. I bought two rolls last year, but I did not get to them until a few weeks ago. Going in, I had no particular expectations for this film being a great emulsion. Many reviews cited itsContinue Reading
At one point, I stopped using Tri-X because it curled so badly. Then, I figured out how to stop the curling, which I wrote about in October 2023. Last year, when Kodak lowered the price, I decided to stock up on Tri-X because at $7.99 for 24 frames, itContinue Reading
Context means everything. When I spotted this sign, my first thought was–what happened that made this sign necessary? The sign sits atop a structure where cars aren’t allowed, so I went quickly from bemused to baffled. Later, I was told that the sign was left over from theContinue Reading
I’ve passed by the Dekalb History Center many times over the years on the way to the farmer’s market. However, I thought it was the Dekalb County Courthouse for many of them—after all, it says so right on the building. The building sits squarely in the center ofContinue Reading
Description: Gardenia in low sunlight Background: Using exposure compensation was one of the trickiest things for me to apply properly with film because of the lag between shooting and viewing the result. Accounting for backlighting was easy, and backlit frames usually turned out as hoped. But flowers proved to beContinue Reading
Typically, rainy season in Atlanta lasts from September through April. During those months, it rains at least once per week, and those are good, drenching rains that last for hours. Many, if not most, of these rains originate in the Gulf and move north and east. From MayContinue Reading
