Brandon Allen Photography

Large Format Photography - Redwood Forest No.8

2012-02-15T17:26:00.000-08:00

Large Format Photography - Redwood Forest No.8

Large Format Black and White Photograph - Redwood Forest No. 7

2012-02-14T17:18:00.000-08:00

Large Format Black and White Photograph - Redwood Forest No. 7

Large Format Black and White Landscape Photograph - Redwood Forest

2012-02-13T17:14:00.001-08:00

I made this large format black and white landscape photograph of the Redwood Forest a couple years ago using my Shen Hao 4x5 camera and Kodak Tri-X 320 film

A Narrow Road in Pompeii - Black and White Photograph

2012-02-09T16:26:00.001-08:00

Stone Steps of Pompeii

2012-02-07T19:16:00.000-08:00

This black and white photograph is of some old decrepit stone steps at Pompeii Italy. I shot it with my Hasselblad 500cm with a 80mm F2.8 lens using Kodak Tri-X 400 film processed in Diafine.

Black and White Bobbers

2012-01-27T07:37:00.000-08:00

My brother with our death-trap motorcycles we built. Shot with my Hasselblad 500cm with Kodak Tri-X 400 film.

Our Native Brothers in Black and White

2011-09-27T18:39:00.000-07:00

A couple years ago I went to the Fort Duchesne Pow wow with my wife and good friend Tavis Johnson. I brought with me my Hasselblad 500 CM, 80mm 2.8 lens and some Kodak Tri-X 400. I was eager to make a few black and white portraits.I've always had a great respect for the culture and honestly have been a little jealous of the sense of brotherhood they have. Some of them were kind enough to let me photograph them in their traditional dance attire. Very impressive.Here are a few.

New Blog!

2010-07-23T08:15:00.000-07:00

Well my faithful few followers - I've created a new blog that is built into my website. That will be my primary blog and I will cease to update this one. I have ported all these posts over to the new one.

You can find the blog here:
http://www.brandonallenphotography.com/blog/

Feel free to subscribe to it!

Thanks friends

Brandon Allen

Amber

2010-03-25T14:05:00.000-07:00

Portraits of Amber - Hasselblad 500cm Tri-X 400 @ EI800 - Processed with Diafine - Green X1 Filter.

Pacific Ocean

2010-03-25T13:59:00.000-07:00

Some shots from the Pacific - Hasselblad 500cm - Tri-X 400 @ EI800 - Developed with Diafine.

Red29 and a 10stop ND filter

Red29 and a 10stop ND filter

Pre-exposed negative

Pre-exposed negative

Point Reyes Boat - San Francisco

2010-03-23T11:50:00.000-07:00

This past week I spent in San Francisco driving around and taking photographs. There is a small town called Point Reyes which borders Point Reyes National Seashore. I stopped there to photograph this old boat.

Shot with my Hasselblad 500cm - Tri-X 400 @ EI800 - Developed with Diafine. A couple of the exposures I used a Red 29 filter to darken the sky.

Michelle 4x5

2010-03-09T19:55:00.000-08:00

I processed the 4x5 film from the shoot with Michelle. I used my Shen Hao, 210mm Rodenstock lens, Tri-X 320 processed 1:1 in Xtol.

Michelle

2010-03-08T14:29:00.000-08:00

Some more portraits for this weekend. Special thanks to Michelle for letting me photograph her. Also shot with my Hasselblad 500cm, Tri-X 400 @ 800 - Diafine.

Tiffanie

2010-03-08T14:24:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I photographed Tiffanie using my Hasselblad 500cm. I used Tri-X 400 EI800 and processed in Diafine.

Dutch Tutch

2010-01-31T16:50:00.000-08:00

Dutch Tutch - Shot with a Shen Hao 4x5, FomaPan Film. Thanks to Jake Buntjer for letting me shoot with him.

The Coast

2009-05-04T14:18:00.000-07:00

Here are a few shots from the California coast I shot a month or so ago. All were taken with my Shen Hao 4x5. Fomapan 100 film.

The Great Salt Lake

2009-04-13T21:13:00.000-07:00

Here are a few images I took out at the Great Salt Lake. It was beautiful, clean and simple. All images were shot using my Hasselblad 500cm, with Tmax400 film.

SLC Library

2009-04-11T22:01:00.001-07:00

Just a few shot of the Salt Lake City Library. I used my Hasselblad 500cm, Tmax400 film.

POLAROID BOUGHT BY PATRIARCH

2009-04-03T09:38:00.000-07:00

Read it here on Reuters News
Patriarch wins Polaroid auction with $59.1 mln bid

* Wins over three rivals

* Court hearing to approve sale April 6 (Adds quotes from both CEOs, background on Polaroid's bankruptcy.)

By Phil Wahba

NEW YORK, April 2 (Reuters) - New York-based private equity firm Patriarch Partners LLC won the auction for bankrupt Polaroid Corp's assets, both companies said on Thursday, with Patriarch winning over three rival bidders.

The result of the auction, which ended on Tuesday, is subject to court approval at an April 6 hearing. The assets Patriarch is buying include the company's name, intellectual property, and photography collection.

It beat bids from PHC Acquisitions, Hilco Consumer Capital Corp and Ritchie Capital.

Patriarch's bid totaled $59.1 million, the company said.

"We look forward to reconnecting Polaroid with its history of innovation in photography," Lynn Tilton, chief executive of Patriarch Partners said in a statement.

"We intend to continue rebuilding the brand of this great American company on a worldwide scale and to re-establish Polaroid as a globally acknowledged innovator."

In the same statement, Polaroid Chief Executive Mary Jeffries referenced Patriarch's turnaround expertise.

"Patriarch Partners has the vision and the resources to act on the myriad opportunities to leverage this iconic brand," Jeffries said.

The instant camera-maker had agreed in January to sell almost all of its assets to PHC Acquisitions, an affiliate of Luxembourg-based private equity firm Genii Capital, for $42 million, plus the assumption of certain liabilities, if no higher bids emerged.

PHC Acquisitions, was the "stalking horse" or leading bidder. The stalking horse bid is typically used in bankruptcy auctions to set a floor for the bidding.

Polaroid filed for bankruptcy in December 2008.

Patriarch's portfolio of companies includes Rand McNally, Arizona Iced Tea and MD Helicopters.

A court hearing to approve the sale is set for April 6 in federal bankruptcy court.

The case is In re: Polaroid Corporation, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Minnesota, No. 08-46617. (Reporting by Phil Wahba, with additional reporting by Caroline Humer and Emily Chasan; editing by Leslie Gevirtz and Carol Bishopric)

Saans Downtown Gallery

2009-03-24T12:02:00.000-07:00

The Saans Gallery in Salt Lake City called me a couple weeks ago and asked me to hang a couple images in their Locals Only show. I was in California during the opening, so I haven't even seen the show myself. I submitted 2 Type 55 Polaroid shots.

City Gallery Show Pics

2009-03-24T11:54:00.000-07:00

The show at The City Gallery in Provo was a success. We had a lot of people pass through and I ended up selling 6 prints. Here are a few pics from the show.

Published in SHOTS Magazine

2009-03-14T18:29:00.000-07:00

I number of months ago I submitted a few images to SHOTS Magazine. They published one of my images "Canoe at Sua" in the No. 103 spring 2009 issue. Canoe at Sua is an image I shot with my Hasselblad in May of 2008 in a small fishing town in Ecuador.

Joint Show at The City Gallery - Provo, UT

2009-02-06T12:05:00.000-08:00

Sort of a late notice, but Travis Lovell and I are having a joint show at a newer gallery in Provo called The City Gallery. The opening reception starts tonight (Friday, February 6th) at 6pm. I have printed and framed a few new images for the show, and included some previous work.

The City Gallery
250 N University Ave.
Provo, UT

More Trees From Utah Lake

2009-01-23T12:05:00.000-08:00

During the past week I've taken advantage of the chilling fog. Here are a few more black and white images of Utah Lake taken with my Hasselblad 500CM.

Cold Fog at Utah Lake

2009-01-17T21:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday and today I went down to Utah Lake to photograph the trees in the morning fog. It was calm, quiet, and very cold. I shot these black and white images with my Hasselblad 500CM using kodak TMax 400.

Mexico for New Years

2009-01-05T21:14:00.001-08:00

This new years was spent in Mexico. My wife and her two brothers came. These Two images were from the Tumacacori National Historical Park in Arizona. We made a stop there on the way to Mexico.

Departed Avian

2008-10-12T21:18:00.000-07:00

October 11th my wife and I drove out to one of my favorite spots to photograph: Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake. On the north end of the Island there are some beautiful rocks lining the shore, and about a mile beyond that a tiny Bird Island. I was surprised to find that the water line has receded so much that I could walk out to the Bird Island.

The tiny Island was completely deserted and empty. Abandoned nests covered the ground and rocks. Millions of bones littered the ground. Remains of dead birds everywhere. It looked as though very few humans had ever actually been on the Island. It felt as though I was walking though someones abandoned home.

I went out to photograph a beautiful landscape and ended up photographing some rather dark images.

Another Gallery Show

2008-10-02T21:41:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow(Friday,Oct 3rd) will be an artists reception for me, Travis Lovell, and Tyson Monson at the Covey Center for the Arts. The show will represent images from each of us on a 2 year photographic project on Utah Lake.

Provo River Project

2008-09-17T21:31:00.000-07:00

I've decided to work on another personal project I have been thinking about for a while. It'll be a slow-going, every other weekend type of photo project. Here's one exposure I made this evening of a train bridge that crosses the Provo River. I used my Shen Hao 4x5, 90mm lens, Foma 100 film.

Redwood National Park

2008-09-01T19:16:00.000-07:00

This past weekend my wife and I went on a long road trip to northern California to see the Redwoods. We then drove down the 101 to San Francisco. Here are a couple images I took while driving through the different groves. I used my Shen Hao 4x5 with Foma 100 film.

Up coming show

2008-08-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

I have a up-coming show at the Wasatch Frame Shop gallery. The show will be up from September 2nd until 30th. There will be an artists reception on September 5th from 6-9pm.

Sawtooth Mountains

2008-08-18T17:43:00.001-07:00

Here are a couple of images I took of the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho. They were both taken with an 4x5" Shen Hao, using Tmax 100 film.

Hand-made Plate Camera

2008-08-03T20:57:00.001-07:00

For the past month or so I've been building a plate camera to be able to learn how to do wet plate collodion and tintypes. I've finished building the camera and wanted to test it, so I cut down some Kodak Tmax 100 4x5 film and put it in front of the plate. The lens is a Plaubel and Co. F4.5 18cm. The format of the camera is a quarter plate (4" x 3 1/4"). The image is of another camera of mine, a Yashica C Twin Lens Reflex.

Jessica

2008-07-29T00:05:00.000-07:00

I took these bridal shots of Jessi near Utah Lake. It was ridiculously windy and we even got a little rain on us, but we got some good shots and Jessi looks absolutely beautiful. These images were all taken using a Shen Hao 4x5 camera, 210mm lens, Kodak Tmax 100 film. Developed with stock D-76.

First 8x10 Shot

2008-07-26T18:21:00.000-07:00

I very recently purchased an 8x10 field view camera. It's an Eastman No. 1. Built between 1901 and 1924. The lens on it is a Radar Anst. F4.5 in a Wollensak Betax No. 5 Shutter. This thing is an antique, but it works fine. Here is one of the first shots I took with it and then made a contact print.

Portraits at the Salt Flats

2008-07-22T23:49:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday I went with a good friend of mine, Tavis Johnson to the Salt Flats. He was photographing a client of his and was kind enough to let me tag along and take a few pictures with my large format camera. The weather was perfect, the bride was beautiful, and the salt flats were salty.

Preview of LensWork #77

2008-06-18T17:48:00.000-07:00

LensWork has a preview of issue #77 (the next issue). There are some sample pages of LensWork Extended containing some of my images:
http://enhanced.lenswork.com/previewpages/overviewcurrentissue.pdf

My Sister's Bridals Part 2

2008-06-16T21:01:00.001-07:00

I took my sister back out to Utah Lake to do a few more large format bridal photos. I'm please with a lot of them. She's beautiful.

Two More Portraits of Ecuador

2008-06-09T21:20:00.000-07:00

I had a couple of rolls of 120 that were only half shot. I finally finished one of them and processed it. Here are a couple more portraits for Ecuador. One is of an old beggar woman with crippled legs. The other of a older gentleman.

My Sister's Bridals

2008-06-07T23:14:00.000-07:00

My youngest sister Betty Jo, is getting married this month. I took some bridal shots of her. They're a little outside of standard Utah wedding photography. I shot them near Utah Lake with my Shen Hao 4x5 camera and a 210mm lens. I used Kodak Tmax 100 film. I scanned them and added a Polaroid Type 55 border.

LensWork Extended

2008-06-05T08:43:00.000-07:00

I recently submitted my American Biker project to LensWork Magazine. They have informed me that my portfolio will be published in the next issue (#77) of LensWork Extented. Which is a subscription DVD that contains additional portfolios and interviews. Brooks Jensen(the editor of LensWork) will be interviewing me next week and that will be included in the DVD.

LensWork is no longer available on newstands, but it can be purchased online at: www.lenswork.com.

Type 55 Polaroid - Utah Lake

2008-05-23T20:28:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite films: Type 55 Polaroid, has been discontinued. I was lucky enough to be able to get my hands on one more box of it. $90 for 20 sheets. Kind of expensive. Today I made one exposure of Utah Lake. I used a 10 stop Neutral Density filter to get my shutter speed up to about 1/2 hour. The image isn't amazing, but worth posting on the blog.

Utah Lake - Type 55 Polaroid - Shen Hao 4x5 camera, 90mm lens, 30mins @ F45

Yashica C - Twin Lens Reflex

2008-05-17T20:56:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I bought an old Yashica C TLR camera. I only ran one roll of film through it and never printed any of them because of poor quality. Just today I was flipping through some old negatives and found them. I thought I'd scan them in just because. The quality is pretty low, but they have a unique look, which I really like. They are both of Utah Lake.

More Equador Portraits

2008-05-02T11:32:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few more portraits from Ecuador I shot while volunteering with a non-profit foundation called FEVI.

Man weaving at center of the world - Shot with a Hasselblad 500cm 80mm lens

Elderly Man - Quito Ecuador - Shot with a Hasselblad 500cm 80mm lens

Woman at the Elderly Center - Esmeraldas Ecuador - Shot with a Hasselblad 500cm 80mm lens

Woman at the Elderly Center - Esmeraldas Ecuador - Shot with a Hasselblad 500cm 80mm lens

Woman at the Elderly Center - Esmeraldas Ecuador - Shot with a Hasselblad 500cm 80mm lens

Woman Spinning - Center of the World - Shot with a Hasselblad 500cm 80mm lens

Mops at the Basilica - Quito Ecuador - Shot with a Hasselblad 500cm 80mm lens

Portraits of Ecuador - Children

2008-04-29T22:45:00.000-07:00

Rich or poor, it seems the children of the world for the most part are happy. I very much enjoyed photographing the kids playing soccer and trying my best to speak to them in my broken spanish. The foundation FEVI spends much of their attention helping the children of Ecuador, after all they are the future.

Young Boy No. - Portraits of Ecuador - Shot with a Hasselblad 500cm, 150mm Carl Zeiss lens, Tmax 400.

Young Girl No. - Portraits of Ecuador - Shot with a Hasselblad 500cm, 150mm Carl Zeiss lens, Tmax 400.

Young Boy No. 2 - Portraits of Ecuador - Shot with a Hasselblad 500cm, 150mm Carl Zeiss lens, Tmax 400.

Young Girl No. 2 - Portraits of Ecuador - Shot with a Hasselblad 500cm, 150mm Carl Zeiss lens, Tmax 400.

Young Boy No. 3 - Portraits of Ecuador - Shot with a Hasselblad 500cm, 150mm Carl Zeiss lens, Tmax 400.

Young Girl No. 3 - Portraits of Ecuador - Shot with a Hasselblad 500cm, 150mm Carl Zeiss lens, Tmax 400.

Two Boys - Portraits of Ecuador - Shot with a Hasselblad 500cm, 150mm Carl Zeiss lens, Tmax 400.

Quito Ecuador - Basilica

2008-04-28T17:25:00.001-07:00

Images of Quito Ecuador and the Basilica. The largest church in South America.

Sua Ecuador

2008-04-25T23:44:00.001-07:00

A few more photos of Sua Ecuador.

It had just started to rain as I approched the owner of this small fishing boat, he was fixing his nets and asked if I could photograph him. He said he'd rather not, but that I could photograph his son. Shot with Hasselblad 500cm 80mm 1:2.8 lens, Kodak Tmax 400.

Young boy and his fish. Shot with Hasselblad 500cm 80mm 1:2.8 lens, Kodak Tmax 400.

These fishermen were dragging a Thrasher shark caught earlier that morning.

More Portraits from Ecuador

2008-04-25T13:26:00.000-07:00

I have well over a hundred medium format negatives that I need to scan in and with my very busy schedule I can only do a few at a time.

Here are a couple more portraits I took while visiting Ecuador with the non-profit organization FEVI .

This man was selling his beautiful paintings at a market in Quito Ecuador. He was a little confused that I wanted to take his photo. I found him to be full of character.

Ecuador Photos No. 1

2008-04-23T11:55:00.000-07:00

April 11th through 20th my wife and I along with my parents and my younger brother joined up with some others from Provo to do some volunteer work in Ecuador. The foundation we were helping was FEVI. The foundation was started in Ecuador by a woman named Maria. The purpose is to help stuggling communities with education, sanitation, and becoming self-sufficient. Needless to say the experience was remarkable.

I obviously took advantage of the situation to snap a few photos of the people, the beautiful country, and anything else that caught my eye. I had with me my Hasselblad 500cm and three lenses. I shot all black and white film - Kodak Tmax 400.

Here are a few.

Two of the mornings I was there I woke up early with my father to take the local transit to a small fishing town called Sua. I was fortunate to capture some beautiful images of the ocean and some local fishermen.

Some of the local fishermen still use old wooden canoes to net fish. The men will leave at 5am and return around 7am with their catch.

As I was walking in the shallow water seeking out the old boats to photograph, I noticed a few people carrying something. I walked towards them to see what it was and was surprised to find a Sea Turtle. I photographed them then approched to inquire as to what they were planning on doing with the beautiful specimen. They were planning on eating it. I later found out that in Ecuador as in most of the world it is illegal to kill endanged species. I suppose in a poor costal town like Sua, either the people didn't realize what they were doing, or didn't care because the laws regarding endangered animals aren't enforced.

I am fasinated with the culture and the people of Ecuador. When ever I saw anyone that I found interesting I approched and asked if I could photograph them in my broken spanish. Most of the people were happy to let me, some required a dollar. Many of which I happily paid. Very much worth the shot.

Portraits from Death Valley

2008-02-21T22:23:00.001-08:00

I spent President's Day weekend in Death Valley. While I was there I ran into a couple older gentlemen that seemed to have a lot of character. Riley and his wife run a small museum just outside of Death Valley in a town called Beatty. Riley was out laying bricks and after chatting with him a few minutes I asked him if I could take his portrait.

Near the town of Beatty is a ghost town called Rhyolite. One of the more famous attractions of the town is a house made totally out of old bottles. Fred and his wife volunteer as tour guides at the bottle house. Fred was also kind enough to let me photograph him.

Fred - Rhyolite Nevada, Ghost Town - Shen Hao 4x5, TMax 100, 210mm lens.

Riley - Beatty Nevada - Shen Hao 4x5, TMax 100, 210mm lens.

Portrait of Dan

2008-02-15T10:23:00.000-08:00

This is a portrait of Dan. He's a ski bum/biker with a thousand stories about the places he's been and the things he's seen. He was kind enough to let me take his portrait.

I used my 4x5 Shen Hao, 210mm lens, Tmax 100 film. F5.6 @ 1/125. Xtol developer.

New Mexico Pueblos - Large Format

2008-01-22T22:21:00.000-08:00

This is one of three mission ruins from the Salinas National Park in New Mexico - Church of Abo - Shen Hao 4x5, 210mm lens, Kodak Tmax 100, Xtol Developer.

Salinas National Park, New Mexico - Church of Abo - Shen Hao 4x5, 210mm lens, Kodak Tmax 100, Xtol Developer.

This is the San Lorenzo Church at the Picuris Pueblo. Shen Hao 4x5, 210mm lens, Red 25 Filter, Kodak Tmax 100, Xtol Developer.

This is the Old Zuni Mission on the Zuni Indian Reservation. Shen Hao 4x5, 210mm lens, Kodak Tmax 100, Xtol Developer.

Shots taken a year ago.

2008-01-15T21:32:00.000-08:00

I often go out and shoot large format which I very much enjoy, the problem is taking the time to develop the negatives. I develop all my negatives by hand which is not a big deal except for sheet film. You have to do it in complete darkness. Anyways, I had some shots that I had taken over a year ago and finally got around to processing them. Here are a few.

Trees on UVSC Campus - Large format black and white

Tractor at Utah Lake

Squaw Peak over looking Provo Utah. Large format 4x5 Shen Hao - Kodak Tmax 100

Sunset at Utah Lake. Large format 4x5 Shen Hao - Kodak Tmax 100

More New Mexico Pueblos

2008-01-06T20:53:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more of the pueblos I photographed.

Taos Pueblo, New Mexico - Hasselblad 500c/m - Ilford Delta 400

Church at San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico - Hasselblad 500c/m - Ilford Delta 400

Pueblos of New Mexico

2008-01-03T21:56:00.000-08:00

Over New Year I went with my wife and younger brother to New Mexico to visit and photograph the Pueblos. New mexico has 19 different pueblos all owned by different Native American Indian tribes. Many of them are still inhabited and have been for over a thousand years.

I took my Hasselblad 500c/m and my large format Shen Hao. Below are a few of the medium format shots I took.

San Lorenso de Picuris Church. Hasselblad 500c/m - Ilford Delta 400

It was forbiden to take photos or sketches of the Santo Domingo Pueblo. As we were leaving I noticed this old abandoned church. Hasselblad 500c/m - Ilford Delta 400

The Taos Pueblo was one of the most impressive. It has been inhabited for over a thousand years and is truely a work of art. Hasselblad 500c/m - Ilford Delta 400

This is all that remains of the first Taos church. It was destroyed by the Spanish while many men, women and children were seeking safety from within. Hasselblad 500c/m - Ilford Delta 400

I noticed this unique door at one of the small homes in the Taos Pueblo. I liked the hand prints and the American flag as a curtain. Hasselblad 500c/m - Ilford Delta 400

Huge Cotton Wood Tree in the San Ildefonso Pueblo - New Mexico. Hasselblad 500c/m - Ilford Delta 400

Utah Lake - More Type 55 Polaroid

2007-12-22T16:07:00.000-08:00

This week Tavis and I drove to the west side of Utah Lake. I only took two photos and here they are. The chemicals from the polaroid did not cover the image correctly causing the large dark area on the photo of the tree.

F5.6 @ 1/125 sec - 210mm lens - Type 55 Polaroid - Shen Hao 4x5 Camera

F45 @ 1/60 sec - 210mm lens w/red 25 filter - Type 55 Polaroid - Shen Hao 4x5 Camera

AF Canyon

2007-12-15T15:21:00.000-08:00

I went up American Fork Canyon again. Make a couple exposures. One of them I accidentally fried. Kind of sucks when each shot costs $4.

This is the one that wasn't ruined.
4 seconds @ F64, Type 55 Polaroid - Shen Hao 4x5 camera.

Stuck in the snow

2007-12-08T13:10:00.000-08:00

This photo was shot with Type 55 Polaroid using my 4x5 Shen Hao. The clouds where low, the snow was falling and my truck was stuck.
F16 @ 1/2 sec. 210mm lens. American Fork Canyon.

More portraits from Sugar Pine Ranch Rally

2007-09-19T21:26:00.000-07:00

Here's just a few more portraits I wanted to add to this thing.

Sugar Pine Ranch Rally

2007-09-06T14:18:00.001-07:00

I spent Labor Day weekend riding my Sportster to Mancos, CO. A small town just out side Durango. Mancos is the home of the Sugar Pine Ranch Rally, a few small business', a couple homes and not much else. The rally was fun. I met up with an old friend who drove up from Arizona and enjoyed camping, BBQs and music. I also took about 25 more portraits for my American Biker Project.

More Sturgis Portraits

2007-08-26T20:39:00.001-07:00

Here's a few more photos from Sturgis 2007.

Sturgis Portraits

2007-08-22T21:30:00.000-07:00

I finally processed the photos I took at Sturgis Bike Rally. I had to get up at 6am this morning to do at school before my class started. I'm excited about a lot of the photos I got, however I noticed some of them have some minor motion blur. As if my shutter speed wasn't fast enough. I find that weird because I never shoot hand-held below 1/60th of a second and with a 80mm lens on a medium format camera that should be plenty. So I'm a bit annoyed with that.

A friend of mine told me, after seeing some of these portraits:
"Each face holds a certain strength and yet an underlying vulnerability"
I thought that to be very true and observant. The eyes give a lot away in a person.

With each one of these portraits I had to ask them to remove their sun glasses. It difficult to capture a true portrait when the subject is hiding.

Beethoven in the Rain

2007-08-20T07:52:00.000-07:00

I just got back from 4 days in Chicago. We saw the sites, walked the streets and rode the "L" (elevated train).

Some of the more note-worthy sites would have to be the Art Institute of Chicago. After spending 3 hours appriciating the art, I hadn't even made a dent. There was one contemporary photographer's work on display that was very interesting. Jeff Wall. He shot large format and enlarge some of his work to be around 10' x 14' absolutely huge!

I also went to Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. That place is massive. Inside resides an actual German U- boat, a 727 jet liner and a couple trains. I was impressed.

Of everything I saw in Chicago, the most moving would have to be the live concert at Millenium Park. Within the park is an outdoor ampetheater where a full live orchestra was playing Beethoven. It was an experience being surrounded by sky scrapers and enjoying the classics. Then it started to rain. How appropriate to have the natural sounds of the woodwinds, strings and brass accompanied by the sound of the pooring rain, thunder and flashes of lightning. By time we left I was completely drenched.

Sturgis 2007

2007-08-13T09:05:00.000-07:00

Sturgis, SD 2007. I have never seen so many motorcycles, holy crap. I was a little disappointed at how many non-bikers/tourists were there, but it was still pretty fun.
I left American Fork at 6:30pm and drove all night. I stopped once to take a cat-nap.

I took about 50 portraits of bikers to add to my project portfolio. I plan on processing the film next week. This week I'm off to Chicago.

Current Photo Project

2007-07-23T21:17:00.000-07:00

My current photo project is on the biker persona. I find my life and culture rather boring, but as I look a little deeper into the sub-cultures that exist all around me, I find a vast amount of interesting people. This project is solely to show a small glimps into one of them.

Many of the faces posted here are rough, hardened looking guys who would sooner spit on you then say hello, but as I approached them and asked them if it was alright that I photograph them I found them to be very personable and kind. Each one with a thousand stories and experiences. Maybe that's why I find them so interesting.

To shoot this project I used a Hassleblad 500C/M camera with 80mm Carl Zeiss lens. I used Kodak Tri-X 400 film and Xtol developer. So far i've taken between 70 and 80 portraits and plan on taking many more. I'll be going to Sturgis on August 9th to catch the last couple days of the rally. I'm hoping to get some good photo ops there.