Lucy Hilmer And The Dry Mount Press

December 01, 2017

Every now and then I randomly search Craigslist for the term "darkroom" and just see what comes up... Sometimes you find something interesting, though it's usually futile but often entertaining. "I was cleaning out my dad's house and need to sell all his great darkroom gear cheap!" Which usually translates to about 2 trays, an easel, 2 broken film reels and a burned out enlarger bulb, 50 bucks, cash only, no delivery.

This time around I got lucky and found a big old heavy virtually indestructible 16x20 inch dry mount press for a $125 bucks, which I've been keeping an eye out for for years, and is dirt cheap considering most places would charge you $100 bucks just to ship it. Still can't believe it didn't get snatched up... and as it turns out, the lovely lady that sold it to me is none other than San Francisco photographer Lucy Hilmer, whose work I've seen around for some time...

You can have a look at Lucy's work at http://lucyhilmer.com.

Black & White Challenge...

November 29, 2017

I somehow got roped into the whole 7 day black and white challenge thing floating around facebook... No captions, no explanations, no people, seven days, seven black and white photographs. So here it is, in Polaroid no less (or Fuji-roid as it were). Thought I'd put it all in one place, for what it's worth...

Got Books...?

November 24, 2017

For this years obligatory Black Friday post... here's a selection of small books I've published over the years. Signed copies are available in the shop, on demand copies available at Blurb.com.

Fragments: A collection of rather personal photographs. Originally published in 2015.
Signed Copies | On Demand | Excerpts

Photographs Of No Particular Significance: Originally published in 2013.
Signed Copies | On Demand | Excerpts

Midnight: Originally published in 2012.
Signed Copies | On Demand

Gallery Update: Portraits, Figures, Et Cetera

November 10, 2017

Dumped a new batch of images from the past couple years into the Portraits, Figures, Et Cetera gallery. Below is a few excerpts... see more in the full gallery at left...

Nicole, Take #3

November 03, 2017

Posting the last take from the swamp up in Inverness with Nicole... you can see more of her work on Instagram here and on Model Mayhem here.

Something about the skin tones with the giant leaves and the wood grain, especially with the contrast of Ilford FP4, I just love it...

Word On The Street

October 27, 2017

A collection of somewhat random frames, in no particular order, that didn't seem to make the cut, or the web, or whatever. For what it's worth...

#0566_08 - Tourists, Lincoln Memorial. Washington DC 2017

#0534_15A - Nursing Mother, New Montgomery Street 2017

#0567_31 - Civic Center Station, San Francisco 2017

Catalina, Take #3

October 20, 2017

Last take from a shoot with Cat way back when up in inverness... you can see more of her work on Instagram and Model Mayhem...

Threw in a few polaroids from the land camera and the instax for good measure. I'm almost completely out of the black and white FP3000 film. Think I've got about 6 boxes left in my stash and then it's gone forever. Still can't believe nobody is making pack film for instant cameras anymore. Seems it really is the end of an era.

Anyone who wants to shoot a box with me, drop me a line...

Word On The Street

October 13, 2017

In Technicolor...

Or Kodak Portra, as it were.

Finally getting through the backlog of scans that have been languishing on my hard drives, starting with some local color around The City from August and September.

All images shot with a Voigtlander R3m and a Nokton 35mm f/1.4 on Kodak Portra 400 film with an 812 Warming filter.

Catalina, Take #2

October 06, 2017

When you ask a model, currently sans attire, to climb under a picnic table that is basically in a swamp, and she doesn't bat an eyelash, you've basically won the model lottery.

Catalina is, in fact, that model. Check out her Instagram here and her model mayhem page here.

May post one more take from the swamp shoot / location. Have a few interesting polaroids that may deserve a second look. Still have a few more things on deck with other models I'll be posting soon. Hope to be back to shooting in a few more weeks when the leg starts to feel a little better.

I Should Probably Stick To The Darkroom...

September 19, 2017

Seems I have a real hidden talent for breaking bones...

I grew up playing hockey in Michigan, but gave it up when everyone else got bigger and I stayed the same size. I missed playing for sure, but it was never that important, I was never very good, and at the time I was getting more interested in the arts, music, substances, the like... I didn't play for almost 20 years, and then on whim, sort of fell back into it not long after I met my wife. She said let's go ice skating and it was all down hill from there.

I started playing pickup on the weekends again and promptly began to injure myself unfortunately... strained the tendons in my wrist, pulled a muscle in my back, a partially torn hamstring, then a clean break through the tibia and fibula above my right ankle, and a year and a half later, last weekend, a really bad tibia fracture that cracked my left leg into about 6 pieces, bringing my total hardware count to 1 rod, 2 plates, and 14 screws.

Not going to be shooting much in the next few months. Will be posting some older work from the back log soon. Seems like I should stick to the darkroom... I'll miss playing for sure, but it's time to hang up the skates.

Hashtag Metal.

Notes From The Road...

September 08, 2017

A few polaroids from the long weekend... we wandered up North to Humboldt to escape the heat wave... Was still 98 degrees on the coast, but a far cry from the 112 degrees on the drive up through Santa Rosa...

Drove through the redwoods on the 128 out to the coast, you forget how amazing Northern California is sometimes, living in the city.

We stayed in a cabin made out of an old wine barrel, which I had no idea was a life goal of mine until now...

Word On The Street: Washington, DC

August 25, 2017

I'd never been to Washington, DC before, and I'm more than a little pissed that my first experience there was during the rein of the buffoon the donald... the sea of make American great again hat's at the Air and Space Museum was enough to make you nauseous...

#0564_29 - Tourists, Supreme Court of the United States 2017

The entire place feels overwhelmingly fortified, and I don't think I've been subjected to so many searches, x-rays and metal detectors in my entire life than I was in the week I was in DC. None the less, it was a good time...

#0564_07 - Metro Station, Washington, DC 2017

#0565_37 - Metro Train, Washington DC 2017

#0566_03 - Foggy Bottom, Washington, DC 2017

#0567_10 - Tourists, the Washington Monument. Washington, DC 2017

#0564_15 - Protestor, Capitol Hill. Washington, DC 2017

#0565_20 - Protestor, Capitol Hill. Washington, DC 2017

Word On The Street: NYC

August 18, 2017

I hadn't been out to the East coast in probably a decade, but things worked out and I tagged along with my wife to a conference in Washington DC by way a New York for a few days...

New York has never really been my bag, nice place to visit, wouldn't want to live there. It was good to get away, we stayed in Brooklyn and rode the subway to the Whitney, walked the High Line, people sleep there a lot, found a dead mouse, drank to much, ate even more, then hopped a train to DC...

Nicole, Take #2

July 28, 2017

Another take from the first shoot I did up in Inverness with Nicole... You can see the first take of Nicole here and of Catalina here...

The weather held for the most part and we were able to work outside for a bit without risk of hypothermia. Such are the pitfalls of sunny Northern California.

You can see more of Nicole's work on Instagram and of course, Model Mayhem...

More images on the way from both shoots, with some material on deck from New York and Washington DC to come...

Word On The Street

July 21, 2017

#0553_30 - Market Street, San Francisco 2017

In Technicolor no less... or Kodak Portra as it were...

A departure to say the least, I've been experimenting with some color film lately. My wife likes to tell people that I'm actually color blind. Seriously, she does it all the time.

All images shot with a Voigtlander R3m, 50mm Nokton f/1.1 on Kodak Portra 400 film.

Shout out to Photoworks SF for stellar processing and quick turn around... got to support the local shops...

#0551_17A - Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco 2017

#0553_18 - Market Street, San Francisco 2017

#0551_16A - New Montgomery Street, San Francisco 2017

Catalina, Take #1

July 14, 2017

Take #1 with Cat, the second shoot I did up in Inverness at the end of May. You can see Take #1 with Nicole here...

Cat showed up with a small truck load of wardrobe, which I always appreciate, am typically overwhelmed by, and almost never end up using, though we did end up putting a couple looks together.

More material on the way from both shoots, some great outdoor stuff and random shots I really dig involving a picnic table...

See more of Cat's work on Instagram and the obligatory Model Mayhem...

Word On The Street

July 07, 2017

General weirdness around the city from the past few months... have some color film on deck from the street, stay tuned...

Nicole, Take #1

June 30, 2017

Worked with Nicole, a rather new model, for an afternoon in May... We were staying up North a ways for the weekend, found this little cottage in Inverness, right on the bay, great light indoors and pretty epic scenery outside.

All images shot with a Leica M2 and M3, 35mm and 50mm Zeiss lenses, on Ilford HP5 film. Lots more from this shoot to come, plus a second shoot at the same location with another model...