Just another dull foliage shot?
I’m including a wide angle from my twin Sigma rig, to give you a sense of scale…
What do you guys make of it?
Author Archives: Boris Starosta
KINGS OF FREEDOM by Kaun at UVa.
In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, this year we have a supposedly historic piece of Berlin wall grafitti art on our campus, on loan from the Hefner Collection. It is Dennis Kaun’s KINGS OF FREEDOM. I’m still researching the provenance of this artwork, because I’m a little bit suspicious of it, as it is clearly signed “copyright” 1990. Continue reading
Foliage
Last fall, I got on a foliage kick. Finally, after many years of dismissing foliage imagery as “beneath me,” I thought, okay, it does look pretty spectacular, and maybe MF3d would be a good way to capture the beauty of some of our foliage here in Central VA. So for a couple of weeks I went around shooting foliage. Most of the shooting was digital video, actually, and there’s a video I ended up publishing on YouTube, best seen on a 3DTV in HD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1mU646qYeM
But some of the trees I found were SO spectacular, digital could not do them justice. One of them is in the view I’ve put in this folio “Foliage.” I loved the structure of the tree, and the many different colored leaves that it had on display: lots of yellow and red, to be sure, but also greens and browns. The mid-morning sun was backlighting the leaves to brilliant effect. I had first been attracted to this tree, because it was dropping leaves. I was trying to get video of leaves coming down towards the camera(s). But then I noticed the tree for its own sake… The next day I went back to the tree, bringing the Sputnik and some rolls of Velvia, and it really captured the colors beautifully.
This view is almost as it would be if you were lying on your back underneath the tree. And I could have done so all day! Who needs TV, with trees like this right outside? The tree was in a busy part of UVA campus called “The Corner,” but you’d almost never see anyone taking notice of it. Truth be told, I had not noticed this tree until this fall, when I was really looking for foliage imagery, and I’ve been in that general area thousands of times over the past 30 years.
Michele and Jet at Blue Hole
A couple of months ago, Michele and I went hiking with Jet. These days, about the only chance I get to shoot nudes is with her and the boy nearby. Fortunately, he gave me about 15 minutes with which to work, because he’d fallen asleep on the way to the location.
So in that quarter of an hour I shot a roll of 120 on my lovely model, then the second roll needed to be of Jet and my lovely model, as he had awakened, and was of course hungry. The boy is ALWAYS hungry… (at least for nursing at the breast). Maybe next round I’ll put in some slide(s) of Michele at the Blue Hole, but for now I think Jet is the more current topic!
Sadly, I have precious few MF3d images of Jet, as I discovered while looking to put my folio entry together. I’ve got thousands of digital images, of course, but now I must try to get some more on film!
Chuck and Jet
Where last year all you got to see were photos of Michele a couple months pregnant, here is a shot of Jet (sorry, out of focus) visiting with Chuck Holzner (of Folio II). Jet had just started walking the week prior, and was eagerly careening around any and all available venues.
But not all is happiness in this picture. Chuck is ailing from stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and the doctors doubt he will make it to 2014. When I visited him here, in this photo, he was already three months into his diagnosis, and faring much better than anyone had expected. I’m presently helping him get his photographic legacy in order, in particular his collection of MF3d Newfoundland views, a number of which he has entrusted me to mount.
At the time this picture was made, he was in good spirits, considering his plight. Of his diagnosis and prospects, he said, “I haven’t had so much excitement in my life, in a long time!” He went on a big road trip with his two sons (hunting in Wyoming), and has been travelling to see family and pay last respects.
This view got mounted a bit “far,” with infinity points too far apart, and even the very near foreground behind the stereo window. Not sure what happened there, but it was not my intent. Been rushed lately, which hasn’t helped.
Rally for Terry Sullivan at Rotunda, June 2012
In the summer of 2012 the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors attempted the ouster of the university’s president, Theresa Sullivan. This was a bold and misguided move, which received national attention (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/16/magazine/teresa-sullivan-uva-ouster.html?_r=0).
Among the events that turned a “done deal” into a retreat by the Board, and a re-instatement of Sullivan, was this rally held in her support on the Lawn in front of Thomas Jefferson’s Rotunda. Professors quit their jobs amongst a general hue and cry from the academic community, which was heard around the nation.
This image is an accidental double exposure with the Sputnik. This is not a snapshooting camera! Besides the many time consuming steps required prior to releasing the shutter, there is always the possibility that in the heat of the action some steps might be forgotten. In this case, I forgot that I’d already released the shutter, when, probably five seconds later, I decided to do it again! Fortunately, the tripod mounted camera had not moved, and the result is probably better than either image would have been alone. For one, the exposure is good! For another, now the scene is full of interesting stories, as some people moved their positions in that five second interval, whereas others turned their heads (resulting in several two-faced persons), and still others barely moved at all.
Ava B 202
Date: July 2012
Tech:
taken with the Sputnik on loan from Chuck Holzner on Fuji Astia RAP100F, 1/25 sec., f22. This is the original slide.
Notes:
Here we have my new model Ava reclining amongst some rocks in the James River at Lynchburg, VA. All summer I had wanted to find a nice spot for photographing a nude in water. This place wasn’t quite what I’d hoped for, but sometimes you just have to play the cards you are dealt. The remainder of the summer was taken up with NSA prep (thanks to Chuck for helping me mount MF3d for a month!), and thereafter a trip to Germany. Water pictures must now wait another year. Pray that the film processing remains available through 2013!
“Old Shed” : M F 302
Date: June 2012
Tech:
taken with the Sputnik on loan from Chuck Holzner on Fuji Astia RAP100F, 1/10 sec., f22. This is the original slide.
Notes:
The slide mount is mis-titled “Old Shed.” But that’s okay… makes it a rarity (LOL, as if other MF3d slides weren’t already). Here we have my beloved posing on a granite outdoor dining set sculpted by Japanese sculptor Turo Oba. We were visiting a friend’s country estate. Believe it or not, she’s three months pregnant in this picture. We are expecting a child in December!
Maia C 105
Date: May 2012
Tech:
Available light exposure of 1 second on FUJI Astia RAP100F film, at f22, with a modified TL120 (65mm lenses) on loan from John Thurston. This is the original slide.
Notes:
Chuck Holzner was also along on this expedition with a model, whom we took hiking in St. Mary’s Wilderness, just south of Afton, VA via the Blue Ridge Parkway. We ended up hiking down a trail about two miles before finding a pretty spot with a waterfall. This shot was taken along the way, when we spied some impressive looking boulders. We tried to get this done early enough in the year to avoid full foliage (looking for dappled sunlight), and also lots of other hikers. We mostly succeeded. There was still some sun in places, and only one couple of hikers disturbed us briefly, while we were working. Chuck nearly had a heart attack climbing out of the valley, it was so steep.
Bremo Power Plant Far Room
Date: April 2012
Tech:
Available light exposure of 1 second on FUJI Provia RDPIII film, at f22, with a modified TL120 (65mm lenses) on loan from John Thurston. This is the original slide.
Notes:
Earlier this year I had the chance to photograph inside an old coal fired power plant. Chuck Holzner and I travelled to the plant three times with various MF and digital cameras, and this slide is just one of probably over a hundred made coming out of those expeditions. The plant is in Fork Union / Bremo Bluff, VA, and was built about 1930. It was the first plant to be built with an “automatic” central control room. That means that valves, pumps, and other control elements could be remote-controlled electrically from the control room. This plant was decommissioned in the 1950s and now sits adjacent a newer plant.
Aqueduct
I discovered this lovely view nearby our house while “geocaching” some time back. Yes, I know my tastes are strange.
Late afternoon, available light exposure of 1 second on an older roll of original FUJI Astia film (maybe, I believe, marked on slide mount. Not Astia100F.), at f32, with a Sputnik on loan from Chuck Holzner. This is the original slide, and I really like the color response of this film better than the newer Astias.
Old Rag Mountain Views
Ektachrome 200 (I think, check slide mount notation). A little over exposed, handheld with a Sputnik on loan from Chuck Holzner.
Old Rag Mountain is about a five hour hike in the foothills of the Shenandoah (8.5 miles), north of Charlottesville. Here’s a picture of my betrothed Michele as we near the summit, with the ridge along which we climbed in the background. In some places, the trail involves some surprisingly challenging rock-scrambling (I would jest, “we forgot our ropes!”).
Ektachrome 200 (I think, check slide mount notation). A little under exposed, handheld with a Sputnik on loan from Chuck Holzner.
This is the view from the summit at Old Rag Mt., again looking back from the way we came. Off in the distance, you can see the rocks upon which the earlier image was made – notice the other hikers there? Getting from there to the summit took about a half hour. It was crowded and hot when we did this hike in the summer of 2010. I rather like the under-exposure in this view, as it gives detail to the sky.
Clear Building (Nurse F 12 mixH)
This is a digital “dupe” made by Gammatech from a file I sent them. The file for each of these images was about 2500 x 2000 pixels, about 1200 pixels per inch. I had them “print” eight stereo pairs like this onto an 8×10 inch transparency. They offered two resolutions for this, “8k” and “16k.” I asked them to print my file at “16k” because my file had a resolution around 12k. I might try doing it onto 70mm film next time – the cost is about the same either way. This imagery was obtained and processed digitally. Cameras: twin rig Canon D60 (6MP DSLR) with 28mm lenses, stereobase for this view about 9 inches.
Using a multiple exposure technique, buildings are rendered magically translucent, revealing the structure beneath the facade, and the foundation beneath the structure. Images were obtained over a period spanning 12 to 18 months, each time from a platform carefully repositioned, so that the camera(s) would be in exactly the same spot, matching position, direction and orientation in six axes. From about 2007 to 2010, I recorded the construction of a half-dozen buildings like this in and around Charlottesville. With its requirement for extreme accuracy, digital post-processing was almost as much work as the photography itself!
Liz 303
Fuji RAP 100F, f22, 1/2sec exposure, studio flash and some ambient light, using twin 
Hasselblads with 80mm lenses, 4.5″ stereo separation. Original slide.
Liz was a wonderful model that I worked with in 2005. Aside being a beauty, she was really smart, funny, and very creative. She had visited the studio several times for the purpose of artmaking, and had each time remarked how much she loved this transparent vinyl chair that I had. Well, one day I took her up on this, and asked her to show me how much she loved the chair. I told her the chair had worked up the nerve to get naked with her. Thus we produced some interesting images. After making love to the chair via some traditional positions, I suggested the chair might enjoy receiving oral satisfaction from her. She seemed game for anything. Liz was a big flirt, and I had to control myself carefully…
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Williamsburg Bridge
Fuji RAP, f11 (?), 1 sec. exposure in available light, using Sputnik on loan from Chuck Holzner. Camera stabilized on walkway/surface of bridge. Slide in folio is original film.
Cycling over the Williamsburg bridge to visit someplace in Brooklyn, I took interest in the elaborate riveted steel trusswork along the way. It was very cold, and I had no tripod. I placed the camera on ground and tried to stabilize it with a pocket knife acting as a shim to get the angle. Aim and thus composition was guesswork. I would have wanted a longer exposure/smaller aperture, but the rig was shaky, so I dared not. Luckily, it was wintertime, so the traffic was light, and I was not reported to the TSA or other anti-terrorist authorities as a person of suspicion – it’s sad what one has to be afraid of these days.