Wallace Koopmans Artlog

Some images from the ever versatile Pentax 24EW shot in Niagara Falls Canada.  More on it can be seen here The Ewwwww  and here E X T R A   W I D E  and here  Snow Pictures Pentax 24EW and even here Wide Angle Point and Shoot

and searching for 24EW here on my blog gives even more results so that is pretty much why I’m not writing too much about this camera in this post.

Some key features of the Pentax 24 EW that set it apart from the rest of the cameras in the recycle bin.

Lens:  24-105mm F4.9-12.5  (7 elements in 5 groups)

Macro: 0.3m at 24mm,  0.5m  at 105mm

Shutter: 1/400 to 2 sec auto exposure

Exposure compensation: +- 3EV in 1/2 steps

Bulb Timer:  1 sec, 5, 10, 15, 30, 1 min, 2, 3, 4, 5

Pentax has included the ability to do multiple exposures with their DSLR’s and some other digital cameras all the way back to 2003’s *ist D.  In fact my Z1p film camera from 1994 allows up to 9 multiple exposures but it really takes the Q to make it this much fun.  The Pentax Q multiple exposure mode takes 4 button clicks to access through the menu but once you are there it brings you back to the same spot after you have made one so its easy to keep experimenting.  With these images I’ve chosen to only do two exposures but up to 9 are possible.  After you take the first image that picture remains on-screen while you take the next allowing you to see how they may come together and to make exposure adjustments.

The fun aspect with the Q seems to come from the fact that you use the rear LCD to compose images anyway and that it is so small you can just point it around like it’s part of your arm.  Another thing may be that the entire raison d’être of the Q is to have fun and it allows you to let go of the serious side.  It provides a similar aesthetic to the subgenre of film photography that uses plastic cameras and odd films.  I’m sure that there are smart phone apps that function similarly but I find that phone cameras still leave a lot to be desired when it comes to making quick adjustments.   As a final note the Pentax K-3 DSLR takes multiple exposure to an entirely new level: with up to 2000 exposures, interval timing, delayed start and 3 different modes of compositing. Pentax K-3 Multi Exposure

The second half to my Adox Colour Implosion post the first part can be seen here Half Frame Implosion

As I reach number #10 in my Interactions series I thought I would take a moment to speak about it again.

As I have stated previously the source of the images that form the basis of these paintings is from images seen through mapping software.  So why not just present the image as seen without the process of painting?  Well there are several reasons for this one of them being the necessity to make them stand out from the multitude of images we continuously see.  Another reason is it allows me to simplify the scene to make it about what I choose. By re-creating the scene through painting I can pick and choose what is relevent.  One of the side effects of Google Street view is it grants equal visual weight to a piece of garbage on the street as to a sign in a window or a person.  I as a photographer am not there to compose a scene as I would like it but as a painter I can address that.

While in Niagara Falls Ontario I had some time in the late evenings to walk around and take a few pictures.  I chose to use Cinestill film for this because of its tungsten colour balance and how it reacts to light sources with a certain glow.  I also chose to use the Canon QL17 both for its fast 40mm F1.7 lens and that it can be used completely manually.  While it does lack slow shutter speeds I wouldn’t have a tripod and these are all hand-held so the 1/4sec slowest shutter speed is leisurely enough.

Cinestill 800 is an interesting film because it is actually motion picture film, specifically Kodak Vision 3 5219 that has had its Remjet layer removed to allow for it to be processed using regular C41 and its then packaged in a 35mm still film cartridge.  The effect of pre-removing the Remjet layer is that its antihalation properties are also removed.

What this means is that light can pass through the film and be reflected back striking the emulsion layers a second time which creates halos which are particularly noticable around bright light sources.

It gives Cinestill 800T a different look that isn’t easily duplicated and I kind of like it for that.

Every photographer knows that film can be grainy or should and Adox Colour implosion is about as grainy as it gets, like a grain elevator at harvest time.  So how do you take it up a notch?  Shoot half frame that’s how.  I used the Yashica Samurai half frame SLR to reap my 72 frames of granularity.  Some of which can be seen bellow.  72 images is a bit much for one harvest so I will break some of them into two posts and leave the chaff for Instagram.

Duncan Turner of DLT photographic had the brilliant idea to repurpose his child bicycle trailer into a camera gear trailer (No actual conversion is required).  The only downside is the looks people give, some people clearly want to get a peak at what must be a cute baby and still others look on disapprovingly as you carelessly subject your little one to dangerous maneuvers.  All the while though the cameras are snug as little bugs shielded from the rain and mud.   While the bulk of my gear was being towed about I had my Pentax K-3 slung over my shoulder with the HD PENTAX-DA 55-300mm F4-5.8 ED WR mounted on it.

There was a lot of rain that didn’t let up very much, which dampened my photographic spirits, but had no effect on the camera or lens.  Here is a sampling from that gear combination.  It’s not the fastest lens nor does it have the least distortion but it does give me some focal length reach which I appreciate.

Garry Winogrand is quoted as saying ‘I photograph to find out what something will look like photographed.’  so in that spirit I took these infrared images not so much to photograph the things depicted but to see how they looked in infrared.

I used my Sony DSC-V3 in nightshot mode with an infared filter.  A camera that is nearing 10 years old now but has far outlived its expected usefulness.