I Can See it For You Wholesale

Cross-posted from Tumblr.

I’m gearing up to work on a large format project that will require some close-up work. I’ve been out of practice for a while on the Shen Hao, and I’ve never used it all that intensively for close work, so I did a quick test run in the kitchen with a couple sheets of Fuji instant film.

Here’s the scene at normal magnification:

Here’s the scene at 1:1 magnification:

Here’s the same 1:1 photo next to the subject (yay instant):

For those who are used to working with 35mm cameras or crop sensor digital bodies, these results will not feel like 1:1 photographs. They would be looking for something more like this 1:1 photograph of tea leaves made on 35mm film:

In reality, both examples are at 1:1 magnification; the difference is in the format size. The 4×5 positive is the same size as the negative area (of course), but people do not generally view a 35mm or crop sensor 1:1 image at the size of the negative/sensor area, unless they work with contact sheets or slide film.

Doing close-up work on 4×5 is something of a PITA. As you can see, even working at life size, the results don’t “feel” all that close, and to get to life size, you have to have lens extension that is twice the focal length of your lens. My camera is a field camera with 300mm or so of maximum extension, so I can’t achieve 1:1 with my 210mm Schneider, and doing so with my 150mm Nikkor presents problems if I need to apply any movements. My 135mm Nikkor is fine, but I still have to extend the bed almost all the way out, which makes the whole setup less rigid.

Luckily, the project I’m actually gearing up for is unlikely to actually require 1:1 work, or else I’d probably have to start shopping for either extension boards or a new (monorail) camera. : )

Okay, let’s a take a break from that street photography kick for a minute, and have a look at these delicious bagels that my sister made from scratch:

No earthshattering photographic insights to go along with this — just the insight that these things were tasty as hell.

Also, while I don’t consider these to be unusually exquisite examples of food photography — just snapshots really — I would much rather see images like these than the aggressively styled and lit “food as product” shots that populate the vast majority of cookbooks. Food is made in a kitchen, by human hands. Not in a light tent.

And if you want to see some photographs that are unusually exquisite examples of food photography, go read this book with photographs by this guy.

Do you hate those non-posts where bloggers blog about why they aren’t blogging? Well, then, turn back now.

I haven’t been blogging, nor have I been keeping up with my daily debriefs, or even uploading very much to flickr. I was just promoted (you can call me Captain Dayjob) at work, which is nice, and my department actually hired a bunch of people (which is also nice), but we’re all very much under the gun as a result.

I am still shooting, although lately it’s been mostly running free expired slide film through my XA. (Note, I’m not going to cross-process it like some lomo douchebag. It was kept refrigerated, and I’ll be getting it developed normally.)

But for now, in lieu of anything substantive, look at this food: