A few days ago, I tried to photograph the Whitehurst Printing & Binding ghost sign near Troy’s waterfront. It was a cloudy day, and I’m still experimenting with this vintage GAF aerographic film. The picture came out dark, and I had to use flickr’s highlight adjustment tools to get something more aesthetically pleasing. And this…
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Photographing the Whitehurst Printing and Binding Co. ghost sign
Whitehurst Printing and Binding Co., a photo by chuckthewriter on Flickr. Last Sunday, I spent the afternoon in Troy photographing as many ghost signs as I could. Apparently there’s several of them along the waterfront, and I never previously noticed them. Caught this one with my Agfa Chief camera and GAF Aerographic film. I’m still…
Read MoreMy first Cinemagraph
Some people call them “animated GIF’s.” Others call them “Cinemagraphs.” I like the term “Cinemagraph,” so I’ll use that. A cinemagraph shows motion in what would normally be a stock, sterile picture. And the other day, I created my first one. Background. Last March, I took a vacation in beautiful Saint John, New Brunswick. At…
Read MoreThe Jericho Drive-In Polar Panorama Project
It’s Saturday night. And I want to get this right. I have my Nikon D700 camera, with the 28mm f/2.8 Nikkor E-series pancake lens, ready to go. If I do 180 degrees on the tripod, going from the back of the drive-in to the front, I can make this work. And in the words of…
Read MoreThe Aerographic Film Project
A week or two ago, one of my Facebook friends sent me a link to photos that were taken with aerographic film. Aerographic film is 70mm film that was used for reconnaissance photography. Hey look, there’s Havana, are those missile silos? I’ve seen a couple of developed shots of aerographic film on flickr; Robert A.…
Read MoreLeftovers
Every so often, I’ll take some photographs with the goal of turning the images into a blog post or two. Unfortunately, not every picture I take merits its own specific individual post. Sometimes I have an idea for a blog post, but it just goes south. While going through my photography archives, I found a…
Read More“Ooooh, you broke it! I’m gonna tell on you…”
Here’s the problem when you work with experimental photography. Sometimes the cameras can’t handle what you’re trying to do. Case in point. I’ve been working on this slitscan photography project for the past year. And I think I have it all dialed in and tuned perfectly. I’ve adjusted the slit inside the camera to a…
Read MoreAnswering the challenge: sʇɟǝl ǝǝɹɥʇ ɥʇıʍ uɹnʇ ʇɥƃıɹ ɐ
Fellow photographer Bennett Campbell has taken a keen interest in my slitscan pictures, noting that the photos I’ve posted – harness races, baseball pitchers – have all been shot with action traveling from left to right. Here’s his comment: Interesting that [Tom] Dahlin’s photo faces left. As you’ve figured out by now when you crank…
Read MoreThe Slitscan project: learning from an expert
Okay, I can take slitscan pictures of horse races all day and night. My Nikon EM has been modified with a razor-thin focal plane, and my 50-300 manual-focus telephoto “Rachel” lens has brought me some swank slitscan productions. But I need to take this technology to the next level. And, in searching for new and…
Read MoreHorsepower: equine versus 4×4
I’m still refining my slitscan technique, which means I’ve been visiting the Saratoga Casino and Raceway on a regular basis each Sunday. No, I’m not praying to the spirit of St. Dan of Patch, although if such a saint existed, I’m sure many would pray for a winning exacta. Through trial and error, I’ve found…
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Chuck The Writer 
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