Author Archives: Steven Lederman

“PHOTO WALKS” – Steven Lederman’s d25 Submission

by Steven Lederman

I belong to a number of Photo Walk groups here in Toronto. Participating in a Photo Walk is a great way to get one’s steps in, socialize with like-minded folk, and maybe use a camera that hasn’t been taken out in a while. If one is not driving, one can join one’s aforementioned like-minded friends in quaffing great flagons of beer after the walk, get sotted and beligerent, tip over tavern tables in anger, and tell everyone in the room what one REALLY thinks of them and their pretentious little point ‘n’ shoots.

“BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD…….ROCK”.
Captured during an excursion with the (Toronto) ANALOG FRIENDS photo walk group. TL-120-1, Kodak E100SW

“A STREETCAR NAMED RETIRED”.
Made on a solo photography jaunt. Sometimes you don’t want to be with others and their YouTube Influencer cameras. TL-120-1, Kodak Lumiere LPP

“CURB APPEAL”.
Snapped during a pleasant meandering with the TORONTO FILM SHOOTERS photo walk group. Sputnik, very expired and damaged AGFA APX 100 (Foma-R reversal kit)

“DOWN BY THE BAY”.
Photographed during a chilly Fall cattle drive with the TORONTO PHOTO WALKS (TOPW) photo walk group. There was an actual theme set for this photo walk, which was “Towers and Reflections”. Stereo Samulette, Kodak E100S

COVID ROAD TRIP #2

by Steven Lederman

Covid Road Trip #1 was submitted to loop d24 of the Dragon Folio.

As soon as the borders to the US opened, I booked tickets for “The Presidents’ Heads”. My visit there took place in November of 2021. I met a lot of nice photographers at the Heads. A pair of them told me about this site that would eventually become COVID Road Trip #2 in April of 2022; “Old Car City” in White, Georgia. 4700 vehicles from 1918 to 1972 slowly being reclaimed by nature. It’s well-documented on YouTube.
“Twitter Barn” – Ever wonder where Elon Mollusk got the inspiration for his inventive re-naming of the Twitter platform? It was from this very barn, somewhere near the border of two States, on the way down to Georgia. TL-120-55, and some expired colour film. Could have been Provia 100F.
“Old Car City – Ford Detail” – I think this is an emblematic example of my work. Sputnik, Superpan 200.
“’50 Buick OCC” – I love the 1950 Buick. GM only made that grill style for one year. Sputnik, Superpan 200.
“’50 Buick Old Car City, GA” – A different 1950 Buick. Shallow depth of field, scratch on the film. Sputnik, Superpan 200.

COVID Road Trip #1

by Steven Lederman


As soon as the borders opened, I booked tickets for “The Presidents’ Heads”. My visit took place in November of 2021. I plan to visit the site again for one of the offered light-painting workshops.
“Bedrock For Bonzo” – TL-120-55, expired Kodak LPZ.
“Anti-Vax in Denim Slacks” – I met a lot of nice photographers at the Heads. A pair of them actually told me about a site that would eventually become COVID Road Trip #2. I met one fellow who shook my hand and told me about how much he liked Canada, but then went on to say that he couldn’t go there at present because he’d have to get vaccinated. Then the conspiracy theories began to be spewed. I excused myself from the conversation, claiming that I had to return to photographing before the light faded. – Holga Stereo Colour Flash, some expired film, most likely Kodak.
“Camera Pole Assassin” – when the busts were being moved to their present location, Lincoln toppled off the flatbed and the back of his concrete head exploded. Art imitates life. TL-120-55, expired Kodak LPZ.
“Concrete Candidates” – TL-120-55, expired Kodak LPZ.

Friends And Other Inanimate Objects, Volume One

by Steven Lederman

Counterclockwise, from upper left:
“For Fear Of Branching Out on Arbor Day” – expired Provia 100F.
“Goin’ Pseudo” – expired Provia 100F.
“Behold! The Omnipotent, Ever-Knowing VooDoo Orb Sac!” – expired Astia 100F.
“Weather Most Fowl” – egg-spired Astia 100F, using the Sunflower 16 rule.

All images captured with a TL120-55, and home-processed using a JOBO CPP2 unit, with Unicolor or Arista E6 chemistry.

Stereoscopic Creatures And Beasts, Or Where To Find Them

by Steven Lederman


“BAR BAND“
Another pinhole picture, to the delight of some, and much to the chagrin of others. This is the mighty Heavyweights Brass Band entertaining a throng at Toronto’s Rail Path, an activity that started with the COVID 19 lockdown. The band decided to rehearse outdoors; a crowd soon gathered and threw money at them, so they made their Rail Path get-together into a weekly ritual. Seen here are Tom Richards, sousaphone, Lowell Whitty, drums, and Paul Metcalfe, tenor saxophone. Not pictured; John Pittman, trumpet, and RJ Satchithananthan, trombone. The image was a bit difficult to mount with the 3D World mounts – the step at the bottom left juts out on the left image more so than on the right image. I did try to use a cardboard close-up mount, but then a good portion of the image was lost. Just don’t glance down at the bottom left hand corner and you’ll be fine.
Captured with Clint O’Connor’s Limited Edition Stereo Flyer (#11 out of 100), on a Gorillapod, 2 second exposure, expired Fuji Provia 100F. Processed in my JOBO unit.


“MONOCHROME LAKE“
This was shot in a remote region of Northern Ontario, situated on Monochrome Lake, not to be confused with Black Lake, Mono Lake, Grey Lake or Gray Lake. The dumping of nuclear waste in the region caused the vegetation to devoid itself of its photosynthetic pigments, chlorophylls a & b, resulting in its inability to preferentially absorb light. This manifests as foliage with a very grey appearance. Monochrome Lake has experienced its fifteen minutes of fame – it was used as the location for the incredibly popular “Creature From The Black And White Lagoon” 3D movie franchise. It has also been featured in some episodes of the television series “Black And White Mirror”, currently streaming on one or another of those television streaming services that streams television. I guess that’s technically more than fifteen minutes of fame, as those “Creature” movies are well over an hour each. But I digress. Just in case you think I’m trying to hand you another one of my tall tales, I shot this image on Velvia 100 to prove that the area really looks like this in person. There. I knew that would convince you.
Captured with a Sputnik, handheld, on Velvia 100. Processed in my JOBO CPP2 unit.


“BEWARE OF DUCK“
I wanted to obtain some sunflowers, as one is wont to do, and was shadowed by a highly-trained, very aggressive Attack Duck. It was a situation most fowl! I was operating on a wing and a prayer as it tried to egg me on! When I finished gathering the sunflowers I told it to send me the bill!
Captured with a 3D World TL120-1 modified with a Thurston lens board and Mamiya 55mm lenses (TL120-55) on EGGspired KoDUCK E100G, sunny 16 (Sunflower 16) rule, processed in my Jobo CPP2 unit.


“SCREAMING HEADS TWO“
A wide angle cha-cha experiment. The lower left hand corner has an issue, so don’t glance down there. I’m sensing a theme! I shot this handheld, so perhaps it’s time to invest in a slider bar. From my similar submission to the recent Dragon Folio loop:
“Every year, Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day falls on the last Sunday in April. It is an excuse for my daughter and I to spend a day together photographing various locations in Ontario using pinhole cameras. I will usually pack a “lensed” camera in addition to my pinhole camera(s). On WPPD 2019 we visited artist Peter Camani’s residence which hosts his grand scale outdoor art exhibition. There are various shapes of cast concrete screaming heads situated throughout his 310-acre property near Burk’s Falls, Ontario, each sculpture being in the 15-20 foot tall range. On this occasion I had packed my Hasselblad SWC, and I can’t remember if I was consciously trying to capture a stereo cha-cha image or not. In any case, I found an uncut roll of film with three pairs of images that looked like they might work as stereo pairs. Despite some anomalies between the left and right chips, my brain can fuse these images into a stereo image. Hasselblad SWC, yellow or orange drop-in filter, expired Kodak Aerochrome film, home processed with a Jobo CPP2 unit.”

Stereo Staycation!

by Steven Lederman

Due to the pandemic, my road trips to the States have been curtailed and limited to shorter journeys within my home province of Ontario. With all of the beautiful Saskatchewan vistas and the spectacular travel photos that were featured in the recent go ’round of the folio, I felt that Ontario should also have a chance to show off some of its breath-taking scenery.

“SLIDE AND THE FAMILY STONED”

Who needs to travel to Kingston, Jamaica when you can easily drive to Kingston, Ontario?  On the way to Kingston, why not stop in Napanee?  Napanee is so named for the unusual practice of its residents, who kneel while sleeping, which incidentally is not the same as sleeping while kneeling.  Napanee is full of pastoral views, such as this parking lot amusement park, seen here via an EHO stereo box camera.  The Altissa-EHO Stereo box camera was manufactured in the ’30s and has no provision for focusing.  It has a choice of two Waterhouse f stops – f11 and f22.  This image was shot using the EHO’s original single shutter speed of (I believe) 1/30th of a second.  The camera has visited a technician in the interim and has had its spring tensioned so that now it is capable of firing its shutter somewhere between 1/60th – 1/100th of a second!!  Captured on expired Velvia 50 and home-processed with a CPP2 Jobo unit.

 

“THEIR SNOW BUSINESS”

Meet Lorrie and Ray Dillard.  They reside in Barrie, Ontario, which is very far North of anything and above the permafrost line.  Lorrie and Ray run a successful snow-harvesting business, selling their surplus snow to countries around the world that won’t or are unable to grow their own snow.  The snow is shipped out via husky-powered sled in small individual manila bubble pack envelopes twice daily.  Lorrie and Ray hired Ethel Merman to sing their social media jingle; “Their Snow Business! Like ‘Snow Business’!”  This image is from a test roll I shot to determine if Rollei Superpan 200 could be reverse-processed in the sometimes-available Foma reversal processing kit.  Captured with Sam Smith’s conjoined AGFA Isolettes (the “Samulette”) on the aforementioned Rollei Superpan 200, and home-processed with a CPP2 Jobo unit.

 

“THAT’S IT (IN SPANISH)”

People not your thing? How about taking a road trip to Cooper’s Falls, Ontario?  This here gas pump is one of the most photographed entities in an almost-ghost town with not that many entities in it.  Approximately 14 houses in the area are still inhabited, and the waterfall after which this semi-ghost town is named cannot really be seen (or photographed) without trespassing, as it is situated on private property.  The title of this image is of the crossword puzzle question type, and by request, I am not supplying the crossword puzzle answer here.  Captured with an as-fine-tuned-as-is-possible-with-a-Soviet-camera Sputnik cobbled together of donated parts, on expired Provia 100F and home processed with a CPP2 Jobo unit.

 

“SCREAMING HEADS OF MIDLOTHIAN”

Every year, Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day falls on the last Sunday in April. It is an excuse for my daughter and I to spend a day together photographing various locations in Ontario using pinhole cameras. I will usually pack a “lensed” camera in addition to my pinhole camera(s). On WPPD 2019 we visited artist Peter Camani’s residence which hosts his grand scale outdoor art exhibition. There are various shapes of cast concrete screaming heads situated throughout his 310-acre property near Burk’s Falls, Ontario, each sculpture being in the 15-20 foot tall range. On this occasion I had packed my Hasselblad SWC, and I can’t remember if I was consciously trying to capture a stereo cha-cha image or not. In any case, I found an uncut roll of film with three pairs of images that looked like they might work as stereo pairs. Despite some anomalies between the left and right chips, my brain can fuse these images into a stereo image. As John Thurston likes to say, “your mileage may vary”. Hasselblad SWC, yellow or orange drop-in filter, expired Kodak Aerochrome film, home processed with a Jobo CPP2 unit.

“Paper Or Plastic?”

by Steven Lederman

I had my slides all mounted and ready to ship a week ago.  They had been titled, scanned, and fit into (seamed) sleeves.  The problem was, they wouldn’t fit into the Dragon Folio box.  It was then I noticed that every other slide in the box was mounted in cardboard. Mine were in plastic mounts.  Instead of remounting my original four, I decided to save them for the next loop of Folio A.  I mounted four new selections, all in cardboard mounts;

“Same As Surly Curs” – the title is a crossword puzzle type of clue (the answer is “growlers”).  This was shot  during what is possibly the least-known photography celebration; “World Toy Camera Day”, observed on the third Saturday of October.  I employed a Holga 120 CF stereo camera with add-on wide angle lens attachments (which add vignetting) and a roll of Provia 400 to shoot a few photos on my deck to honour the occasion.  Developed in a Jobo processor in my basement using Tetenal Colortec E6 chemicals.

“DISC-guises” – this image is one I originally considered a focal point failure, but I revisited it, mounted the chips and decided to submit it anyways.  It was shot with a TL-120-1 on APX 100  film, and sent to dr5 for Dev1 processing.

“How To Winterize Your Vehicle” – I’m fairly certain that this was captured on one of a handful of trips to Mclean’s Auto Wreckers in Rockwood.  When I feel the urge to go explore this vast car graveyard, I call ahead, then I bake something with beer for the Mclean’s proprietors to gain my admission – chocolate stout cake, raspberry beer blaster cookies….you get the idea.  It’s either bake them something beforehand or share your photos with them afterwards, and sharing photos is just too much damned work!  Shot with a TL-120-1 on Fuji NHP 400 negative film, then cross-processed in Argentix (Arista) E6 chemicals using a Jobo processor in my basement.

“The Jazz Standard” – this title is also a crossword puzzle type of clue (the answer is “Autumn Leaves”).  This is a pinhole image, and I captured this just prior to Hallowe’en 2018, using one of Todd Schlemmer’s terraPIN Oskar^2 stereo pinhole cameras on a GorillaPod.   I seem to recall that the exposure was somewhere around the 1 min. 32 sec mark.  Todd’s cameras are 3D printed using environmentally-responsible materials.  This roll of Fuji RVP was developed in a Jobo processor in my basement using Tetenal Colortec E6 chemicals.

Two Sepia, Two Pinholes.

by Steven Lederman

Sepia images and Pinhole images just naturally go together.  Okay, so maybe they don’t, but these are the images that I’ve selected for this go-’round of the Folio.

  1. “Ep-PIN-phone” –  this image was made with one of Todd Schlemmer’s TerraPIN Oskar 2 stereo cameras.  Todd’s camera creations are 3D printed using environmentally-friendly materials.  The exposure time for this image was about 26 minutes.
  2. “Pixel Rick At The Precipice” – expired Kodak TXP processed in Developer 2 by Dr. 5, captured with a TL-120-55.
  3. “Sgt. Ghost Peppers’ Lonely Pinhole Band” – captured with the TerraPIN Oskar 2.  Exposure was approximately 19 seconds.
  4. “Wedge” –  expired TXP, TL-120-55.

Cha Cha Cha!

by Steven Lederman

I was going to call this set “Dancing in 645 Time”, but I thought that sounded really pretentious, so, I went with something equally as creative; “2018 Submissions”.  I was going to use the word “Dancing” because these four images are all cha-chas.  I am a musician, and I know there’s no such time signature as 645, but I was going to use it as part of the title as all these images were shot in 645 format.

My Thriving Ceramic Hobby

“My Thriving Ceramic Hobby” – I used to enjoy creating ceramic sculpture, and when we moved into this house (years ago) I set up a pottery shed in the backyard. Unfortunately, the equipment has lain dormant for a while now.  I am hoping to eventually resume my ceramic hobby and build some ceramic stereo pinhole cameras.  You’re looking at two Skutt kilns under plastic behind the pottery shed.  This is a cha-cha captured with a noisy Fujifilm GA645W.

Horned Sentinels On A Hot Tin Roof

“Horned Sentinels On A Hot Tin Roof” – this is self-explanatory and should be a familiar scene for almost all film shooters.  This is a cha-cha shot with a Fujica GS645W, on Kodak Aerochrome film, using a Y1 Yellow filter.  A GA645W couldn’t be used to shoot infrared film as it has film sensors that would likely fog this sensitive film.  This was captured in St. Lucia, during the December holiday season.  See all the snow?   No, I didn’t think so.

What Stays In Vegas Decays In Vegas

“What Stays In Vegas Decays In Vegas” – in February my wife and I drove from Las Vegas, Nevada to Los Angeles, California to visit family.  While in Vegas we visited the Neon Boneyard Museum.  My wife and I booked a guided tour of the Museum, and I booked myself a “Photo Walk” for the following afternoon.  During the guided tours you have to keep up with the tour group, you can’t lag behind taking photos, and you can only bring one camera.  No tripods, no extra lenses, and no selfie sticks.  On the Photo Walks, you are allowed to bring all of your gear, and you get to roam around at your leisure for about an hour and a half.  The Photo Walks happen twice a month and are usually limited to about six photographers.  If you ever book a guided tour, make sure to request Russ as your guide.  He’s been a Vegas resident since 1962, and he’s frequented most of the establishments that once displayed the signs that now reside in the Boneyard.  He knows the history of Vegas, and the backstory for all of the signs in the Museum!   This cha-cha was shot with a GS645W.  I tried to meter for balance between the highlights and shadows, but I still wound up with some blown-out highlights.  No matter, you can see what the blown-out signs on the right look like in the final slide of this set.

Vacancy Row

“Vacancy Row” – I was going to call this image “Cinnamon” as that’s what I think of everytime that I read the motel name on the most upright of the two motel signs pictured, but you all woulda thunk I wuz illiterate.  Shot with the same equipment on the same afternoon as “What Stays…”, I also had a 1930 Rolleidoscop, a CLAed 2.8 Stereo Realist, and a Panasonic 3D-1 in my camera bag.

Steven Lederman – August 2016

by Steven Lederman

MISSINGLINK“THE MISSING LINK” –  I decided to submit this after being inspired by a negative image of Dorothy Mladenka’s in an earlier Folio loop, or in a different folio (MF3D II?).  I actually shot this during work hours.  I was hired to shoot an industrial video and decided to bring my TL-120-1 with me.  After Principal Photography for the industrial video was completed,  I wandered around the factory pretending to take production stills.   I originally planned to get this roll developed by dr5 – but for some forgotten reason that didn’t occur.  Captured with the aforementioned TL-120-1 on some type of Ilford black and white film.  I believe I used a Vivitar 283 fill flash.

STRUNGOUT“STRUNG OUT” –  one of the plusses of the TL-120-1 is its ability to capture greatly-detailed close-up portraits.  This image was captured  during a jam session of “The Ass Moles” on December 20, 2008.  Despite the fact that we never released a commercially-available recording, we did commission Cal Schenkel (of Frank Zappa record cover art fame) to create a piece of Ass Moles-inspired art for us.  TL-120-1 using Fuji Film (Provia?) with a Vivitar 283 flash.

BARNTOBEWILD“BARN TO BE WILD” –  In 2014 I learned a slew of farms were slated for demolition so that condos could be erected on their land.   This is one of the images from the resulting photo excursion that documented some of the doomed farm buildings.  This image was captured with a TL-120-55 modified with Sam Smith’s machined lens board, using Scala film and processed in dr5’s DEV 2 (sepia).

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS FOR LIFE“ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS FOR LIFE” – No need for an explanation.  Captured with a TL-120-1 on Fuji 220 film using a modified winding sequence (with the red window gaffer taped shut).  Processed with a CPP-2 Jobo unit in my basement bathroom.

RACK AND PINHOLE

by Steven Lederman

SLederman-RACK-AND-PINHOLE For loop 28, I’ve decided to submit four different images captured with four different medium format stereo cameras.  This first image was captured with my “Rollei Pin” camera that I created for this year’s Worldwide Pinhole Day.  Gary Cullen supplied a junked Rolleidoscop body, and I created a lensboard out of a Wellington Stout aluminum can.  Matt Neima and James Mutch originally sparked my interest in pinhole photography, and this year when I participated in Worldwide Pinhole Day I recruited Ray Dillard into the fold.  You can see the image I submitted to the WWPD gallery here: http://pinholeday.org/gallery/2015/index.php?id=2712

Both of these exposures were 25 minutes and 15 seconds long, 2712captured with The Rollei Pin on Kodak E100S film, and home-processed in my basement.  Now before some of you whine and moan that this image isn’t tack sharp (after all, it was taken with a pin, not a tack) just think about it for a moment – this was captured using a beer can for a lens! Here is a picture of the Rollei Pin, along with its lens source (shot with a W3):

SILL LIFE

by Steven Lederman

SLederman-SILL-LIFEThe textures of the various elements on this empty store front caught my eye while I was exploring Toronto’s Junction district earlier this month.  A guy came out of the apartment adjacent to the store and said; “what are you shooting? Cityscapes? This is my store…I guess I should paint it, huh?”  I looked up from my crouched position and said; “no! Not on my account!”  Maybe I’ll go back and shoot a couple of rolls of black ‘n’ white film before the owner decides to turn this derelict store into apartments.

This image was captured with a stock TL-120-1, on Velvia 100 shot at 200 and then home-push-processed in my basement.  The Velvia 100 was actually 22o format – I’ve worked out a winding sequence for the TL-120 that allows me to use 220 film in it as long as the little aluminum sliding door stays closed over the red window.  When I started using 220 film in my TL-120-1 I forgot about the aluminum sliding door and had an entire roll come out with transparent red balls embedded in the images.  I gave the useable ones titles with the word “Mars” in it, i.e. “Mars Needs Gas”.  Each image on the roll looked like it was being invaded by the planet Mars.

LIBERTY FOR ALL

by Steven Lederman

SLederman-LIBERTYFORALLI paid my respects at “Colonel” Harland Sander’s grave in Louisville KY, then drove over to Jerry Lotz’s place to take a gander at his massive collection of stuff.  As luck would have it, Jerry saw me taking pictures and came out to talk about his collection.  I was invited inside to see even more of the hoard, and shot that part of the impromptu tour with a digital stereo infrared rig.

This image was captured with a 1930 Rolleidoscop on AGFA RSX II film, and home-processed in my basement.

CLOSED, HORSE

by Steven Lederman

SLederman-CLOSED-HORSE  There are pockets of Bloor Street in Toronto that are gentrified and developed, and some that are…questionable.  When I captured this image last year I assumed that the restaurant had long been abandoned, but just last week I saw them open and catering to customers.

This was shot with the twinned AGFA Isolette folder that Sam Smith created, on very expired Kodak E100 (no, that’s not an Instagram filter), and home-processed in my basement.