Wallace Koopmans Artlog

I am currently scanning a collection of stereoscopic glass plates from the late 19th century,I feel very honoured to have access to these.   They are an incredible view into the past, quite literally.  I can’t help but thinking how many of the impressionist painters were still around and Post Impressionism was still developing. Once scanned I am using a passive viewer called a pokescope which I purchased from PokeScope^® Stereoscopic Resources. I have also produced MPO files that are compatible with my HTC EVO 3D phone so that I can view the images in 3d without any additional aides.  There is something special however when these plates are viewed directly as they were originally intended with an antique viewer.

In order to scan these plates I needed to make a holder for my Epson V700.  I chose to use ABS plastic because sheets of it were readily available and I was able to use regular plumbing adhesive to construct it.  Each plate is 44x107mm so I made the width of the opening 104mm leaving just 1.5mm on each side to support the plate.

 The plates themselves appear to have been produced at the time with some form of reproduction.  I know this because I found two identical  plates.  They come from a diversity of sources but appear to primarily be French in origin.  Hopefully I will know a bit more by the end of the scanning process.  I will likely write an update post at that time perhaps with a few more images.

Having done so much cell phone photography ( ”cellphography” it could catch on!)  and processing those images on the phone I was inspired to play around a bit with some images I had captured with my Pentax K-7.  All these images were processed and cropped in camera. It’s surprising what you can achieve by combining multiple effects together.  Of course there is a limit and some of what could be good filters are held back because of the lack of user control.  The water colour filter for instance produces one unconvincing result no matter what you try, the toy filter is on the right track but has no option to turn off the blurring of the image. 

This morning Pentax has released a new camera the K-01 which is the first “mirrorless” camera that takes full size DSLR lenses without an adapter.  One thing about this camera that is sure to draw controversy is the fact that it has no viewfinder.  It relys solely on its 3″ rear LCD for image composition, this is a foreign concept for many people. Essentially the camera will be held with two hands out in front of your face, very much like a point and shoot.  Having used both types of cameras for at least the last 8 years I can say that the usage is so different that many current DSLR users will not be willing to use this camera because of it’s lack of a viewfinder.  That said when you are comfortable with that method of shooting it seems quite natural.

On the what’s different side Pentax has added the ability to shoot in multiple aspect ratios at the time of capture rather than needing to compose with a future crop in mind.  The available ratios are (4:3, 3:2, 16:9 and 1:1) .  I like this idea very much as I do like to compose mainly on the spot.

Here is the link to Pentax Canada’s information for the K-01 http://pentaxcanada.ca/en/digital_slr/K-01/

Did I mention it comes in yellow! 

and now for the rest of the original post……

While the Pentax MV is an SLR with a mirror and the ability to change lenses it really performs like a manual focus point and shoot.  What I mean by this is that there is little user control.  Yes you set the aperture and it selects the shutter speed but beyond that you must rely on the camera to get the exposure correct.  For most of this roll of film I mounted the Pentax SMC A 40mm pancake lens which together with the body makes a very compact camera all things considered.

I used outdated film and got what I deserved but converting it to B&W gave me some results that I’m happy with.

I picked up a pair of relief prints reciently from an antique shop and was hoping that I could identify the artist who created them but at this point I haven’t even figured out the letters that make up the signature.  I guess I need to give up my dream of being a hand writing expert, if that were my dream, which it isn’t.

If you think you might know who’s signature it is I would love to hear from you , just send me a comment.

It becomes a bit more difficult to find subject matter during that time of year when everything is brown and drab.  But rather than giving up or fruitlessly looking for what isn’t there I think you should embrace the winterlude and look to new subjects.  Your images may not be as pretty but they could be as good.  Where in the spring you might take a grand sweeping landscape shot now maybe you notice that one last leaf hanging on, or maybe you can take a moment longer on a composition.  Some subjects such as industrial and city shots might better suit the winter or evoke a different feeling that you could not get on a bright spring day.   In fact the extra challenge of finding subjects can help to make you a better photographer.  I’m looking forward to taking some photographs in the snow but I’m not waiting for it.  Of course this isn’t the same across the globe and I feel fortunate to have distinct seasons even if it can be cold sometimes.

UPDATE : Sometimes I write something and it gets pushed back for some reason and that’s the case here.  Since I wrote this post it has most definitely snowed and is now melting.

Almost every piece of information that can be digitized is, however there are still a few things where nothing beats an analogue gauge for providing information.  Not only do they convey the immediate value but also the sense of where that value fits within all the other possible amounts.  What does this have to do with an art blog? Nothing I just like the way they look.

A flock of prints.  I’ve finished printing and just need to number and sign them.

So I’ve managed to post 1000 cell phone pictures to Mytubo in the last 4 months.  It’s been an interesting exercise made all the more fun through some friendly ribbing back in forth with Duncan Turner of DLT photographic.  I’m slightly disillusioned at the same time I’ve been enlightened.  In general people like pretty pictures and don’t like to be challenged.  You need to visually slap people upside the head with a kitten to get attention. I’m not just lamenting the fact that some of my better images go unnoticed while formulaic pleasant ones get lots of likes and often become hot pics it’s the same for everyone. I have a better understanding of how my images are viewed and understood or misunderstood. 

 I think as a painter I create a lot of images that are really about the masses of colour and division of the image plane but most people there expect photographs to be about something making these images appeal to a much smaller audience.  I do now have a large library of cell phone pictures all composed for the square which will fit together nicely in a mosaic.  I’m not done either I may even pick up the pace.

Not to be confused with shooting a Red Rider BB gun.  When you use a lot of older rangefinder cameras they do seem to meld into one after awhile.  After all the form did not change in any great amount for decades and they were manufactured by many more camera companies than exist today.  So it’s difficult to really see something that makes one stand out from the pack,  you may be thinking OK what makes this one stand out Wallace, and the answer is nothing particularly.  Produced in 1959 It has a 48mm f 2.8 lens certainly not the fastest, and a selenium cell metering system that is not coupled.   The aperture, shutter and focus are all nicely built with smooth precise movements.  Even the film advance has a wonderful ratcheting sound that reinforced the quality of the camera.  So while it doesn’t stand out from the pack it certainly is nicely built and operates accordingly 

These sample shots were done on a wet overcast day using Kodak Ektar 100 I’ve played around with the colour extensively which is possible with the amount of raw information recorded with that film. It really produces scans that can be manipulated much like a digital capture.  Update I almost forgot to mention this roll of film was saved after the film leader was sucked back inside by my Fuji DL500 which is another story altogether.  Thanks Duncan from Lens and Shutter for pulling the end back out without anyone having to resort to inserting wet film to grab it.