Clown Moshe Cohen at the memorial service for Bruce (U. Utah) Phillips
Moshe Cohen
Tag Archives: portrait
Xmas 2014
“Candid” tripod shot on Christmas eve, when (according to German tradition) the tree is lit for the first time. Boris and Michele on the left, then Jet, and Sarah, his godmother. Probably shot on Kodak E200, 1 second exposure, f8? Focus variable throughout – not the best situation for the Spud’s optics. Lighting is tungsten and a bit of window light. Jet’s godfather, Travis, released the shutter.
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.
Self Portrait with Bubble (Bubble Lights 2.4)
Our fearless leader John has suggested we all enter self-portraits. So here you go. A couple years ago I was preparing to have a photo session with my friend (and master bubble blower) Tom Noddy. I wanted to work out the kinks before Tom came over so I experimented. Can’t remember if I had a digital slr at the time but that would have been invaluable. I’m sure I took readings from a flash meter plus I did some tests for DOF with a tape measure running away from the camera. My memory is that the tape measure showed focus on the inch numbers 28 through 32 but the notes on this image indicate a wider range.
This is shot with the TL-120 with Provia 400X, 1/60th of a second at f22. The focus was cranked to the .8 marker. The notes indicate that my face was at 32″, the bubble at 24″. There was a large potato masher style flash aimed at the ceiling and a Vivitar 283 equipped with a lightsphere (yes, I bought one of those silly things). There was black velvet draped behind to limit the depth in the scene. Shot in my dining room.
Tetrahedron
Tom Noddy and Bubble Tetrahedron
One of my best friends is Tom Noddy, aka “the Bubble Guy.” Tom appeared on the Tonight Show back when Johnny Carson was still host, and he travels the world doing his act. I’d always wanted to shoot some of his bubbles, but I had no experience shooting portraits in MF 3d. This is one of the simplest bubbles he makes. He also makes a cube, a dodecahedron, a 6-pointed star, a carousel, etc, etc.
Settings unrecorded. I had help from Don Lopp, who attended the shoot. We draped black velvet behind Tom, had a floor lamp beside him, and I bounced a flash off the ceiling.