Category Archives: Dragon

Tom & Small Cube

by Bob Venezia

My friend Tom Noddy displays one of his more renowned bubble creations. The cube is constructed by blowing a bubble and catching it so it is hanging from his bubble wand. A second bubble of equal size is blown beneath, so it is attached and suspended below the top bubble. It looks like an hourglass, with a flat membrane between the two bubbles. Next four more equal sized bubbles are blown around the “waist” of the hourglass, so they connect. And finally a smoke-filled bubble is blown into the middle of it all.

This was shot with several flash units scattered around the room, and black velvet draped behind to isolate Tom and the Bubble.

Tom Noddy displays a bubble cube

Tom Noddy displays a bubble cube

Michele + Jet in Philly (Zagar A208)

by Boris Starosta

Sometime around 2017 we visited Philadelphia to take in a concert by Raffi, whose music Jet just loved to pieces. It was the furthest South that Raffi had ever travelled in his very long career of live performance for young audiences (Raffi is Canadian). Raffi is getting pretty old these days, so we jumped at the chance to go see him. Of course, a stereoscopic angle had to be included, so I undertook to find some of Isaiah Zagar’s thousands of murals. He has practically covered Philadephia with these distinctive works, which have a lot of stereoscopic interest, on account of the liberal use of bits of mirror. Learn more about Zagar’s opus here: https://www.phillymagicgardens.org/about-philadelphias-magic-gardens/about-isaiah-zagar/
Photography was done with a Sputnik shooting Velvia 50. But the weather was not as bright as I had hoped for. On the ground you can see my test exposure rig, a twin rig Sigma DP1 Merrill.

Ian Andvaag D25 submission

by Ian Andvaag

I’m a bit short on time, so my comments on my submission are a bit sparse, my apologies. My first two submissions this round are from Narrow Hills Provincial Park. I wish Fallen Pine was a half stop darker. What’s your technique for metering? I have a Pentax Spotmeter V, but I don’t think I had very good technique as many of my slides were overexposed when I used it. I mostly use a Gossen Luna Pro F nowadays, but I would like to up my game and learn how to spot meter properly. If any of you have tips or resources, I’d be glad if you’d share them with me.

Jade Lake Ridge. Tl120-1, RDP III

 

Fallen Pine, TL-120-1, RDP III

Next is Cattle Gate, from Grasslands National Park. There is an exposure mismatch that I can detect in the sky, not sure why this is as this was on my TL-120. Maybe the batteries where getting low? Has anyone else experienced this? I don’t think I’ve noticed it on other shots I’ve taken since.

Cattle Gate, TL-120-1, RDP III

Finally, a photo from the Saskatoon Exhibition. I don’t think this is as good as Bob and Timo’s slides of the fair, but I did enjoy going and taking some nighttime photos of the rides a few years ago. I wish I could control the lens flare a bit better, but I guess it comes with the territory when you shoot directly into bright lights.

Mach 3 & Water Race, TL-120-1, RVP 100

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.

Zach Horton’s D24 submissions

by zhorton

Interiors

Part of a “cinematic,” semi-narrative series.

Model: Anna Fischer
Location: Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh, PA.
Camera: Mercury Stereo 12
Film: Provia 100

Victoria Chuah

Experiment with a foreshortened depth plane.  Portrait of the multi-talented Victoria Chuah, currently (2022-23) Miss Virginia.  This was my first shoot with the earliest working prototype of the Mercury Stereo 12.  As a result of this shoot I discovered that one of the shutters was off, resulting in different exposures, but I include this image anyway, since I love it as an experiment.

Location: Pittsburgh, PA.
Camera: Early prototype of Mercury Stereo 12
Film: Velvia 50

Trumpeter Birds

These incredible birds were semi-domesticated by a Wairani family deep in the Amazon.  I had to react in a split second when the one in the foreground momentarily displayed its feathers to me.  This was the only time I ever saw this happen.  I was able to get this shot only because of the zone focusing of the Stereo 12.  It was one of a number of experiences that convinced me of how useful that system is for impromptu and action shots! I am lunging forward and onto the ground while taking this shot, resulting in the skewed horizon.  Not a perfect shot, technically, but one I’m proud of, given the extreme difficulty of capturing this rare moment in the jungle.

Location: Amazon jungle, Ecuador
Camera: Mercury Stereo 12
Film: E100

 

Jungle Path

This path down to the river was built by a Wairani family deep in the Amazon jungle.  I shot this with a Stereo 12 on a tripod, not cha cha.  However, I exposed the left and right sides sequentially rather than simultaneously, to try to capture the play of the shimmering light at the time.  Because of the tripod and otherwise static scene, only the light on the ground is different, producing the shimmering effect.  This concludes my experimental slide set!

Location: Amazon jungle, Ecuador
Camera Mercury Stereo 12
Film: E100

Paul Gillis d24 submissions

by Paul Gillis

Willow in the West Virginia Hills

This crooked old tree is near the Smokehole Gorge in Pendleton County, W. Va. It’s right behind an old farmhouse that my caving club has used as a field house for many years, about a mile up a very rough gravel lane from the South Branch of the Potomac. All 4 of these slides were taken with my TL-120-1 on Provia 100.

Hillside Shack

Not really a shack, but a storage shed, very close to the willow tree above.  Late afternoon in the fall.

Neptune Fountain

In my opinion, Washington’s most impressive fountain.  Officially called “The Court of Neptune”, it is in front of the Library of Congress’ Thomas Jefferson Building, facing the U.S. Capitol.  The bronzes were sculpted by Roland Hinton Perry, and carvings on the masonry of the grotto were done by Albert Weinert.  Perry was inspired by the Trevi Fountain in Rome.  It was finished in 1898, shortly after the Jefferson Building opened.

A Nereid Riding a Hippocamp

One of the two sea nymphs riding mythic sea horses in the Neptune Fountain.

 

Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul

by Brian Reynolds
Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul
Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul

Last year was our 25th wedding anniversary. Those of you who were in the original MF3D Folio II might remember my honeymoon stereos from Ireland. For this trip we went to Trenton, NJ, where my brother-in-law (who married us) is currently a Bishop of the Episcopal church, so Liz could play the pipe organ there. And then it was on to Philadelphia.

This Roman Catholic cathedral was opposite our hotel in Philadelphia. We hadn’t really thought to try and get in see the organ here. We did see the Wanamaker Organ, but I didn’t think I could get a good exposure without a tripod.

My slides in this loop show a walk on a nice day in Philadelphia to City Hall.

This was taken with a handheld (string monopod) Sputnik on Fujifilm Provia 100F.

Swann Memorial Fountain

by Brian Reynolds
Swann Memorial Fountain
Swann Memorial Fountain

This is Swann Memorial Fountain in Philadelphia. Several of Philadelphia’s museums are located around this square.

This scan shows the least intrusive vignetting I had from my lens shades on this trip. Luckily the 6×4.5 mounts allow me to crop it out in this case.

This was taken with a handheld (string monopod) Sputnik on Fujifilm Provia 100F.

Love Park

by Brian Reynolds
Love Park
Love Park

This is Love Park in Philadelphila. The statue in the foreground is very similar to ones I’m more familiar with seeing back home in New York. The traditional Philadelphia Love statue can just barely be seen on the other side of the fountain. It faces the wrong direction to get City Hall in the background.

This was taken with a handheld (string monopod) Sputnik on Fujifilm Provia 100F.