From Far Away
Solo Exhibition Vermont Governors Gallery
I am very excited to announce that I have been selected by the Vermont Governors Gallery for a solo exhibition at the State Capitol form January 4 – March 31st, 2017.
The show title is “From Far Away” and represents selected works from 2004 till present. There will be an opening reception on January 12th from 4-7PM, (please note a photo ID is required to enter the gallery.) Click on the link below to read the full press release!
Just thought I would post this side by side… please note the New55 PN was shot on a tripod at F22 where as the Fuji FP 100C Satin was shot hand held in my Polaroid 195 camera at F4…
New55 PN (CLICK FOR LARGER VIEW)Fuji FP 100C Satin Recovered Negative (CLICK FOR LARGER VIEWS)
Of course in the satin recovered negative there is the texture of the print which is kinda cool…
After promoting this on Kickstarter and here on FR I finally caved in and purchased separately a batch of this material for testing/ review as I wanted to get it done in 2015!
Stay tuned for my thoughts on this new material sometime next week….
Good glass always matters, but when you only have 10 LPM to work with, it matters a lot… that is if you are looking for “sharp” images from instant materials! Below I did a test comparing the Fuji 500AF to a converted Polaroid 110B with an Instax wide back… as you can see, the difference is HUGE! The 110B has better sharpness and better color, or at least more accurate color, which is to be expected as the 127mm Rodenstock lens on that camera is quite amazing.
Build quality but comes at the cost of size and weight
No batteries required
Advantages to the Fuji 500AF
Fast shoot time
Lighter weight
AF but that also has its issues in low light
Built in Flash
Fuji 500AF Instax Wide
110B Fuji Instax Wide
100% Crop 500AF
100% Crop 110B
In conclusion… both cameras are quite nice and represent a real creative option to shooters looking for “sharp” Fuji Instax wide images. When holding the physical instant prints in your hand, both instant images seem quite sharp. But the Polaroid 110B has a lot more pop and under magnification it becomes quite clear which camera is sharper, so if your intentions are to scan and enlarge the image this should be part of your consideration.
One final note on the test shot: I did 5 images with the Fuji 500AF and chose the sharpest one- as with AF there is always the possibility of the camera picking the wrong point of focus. The 110B was spot on with just one shot. I also chose F8 as the Fuji would default to that setting due to the lower light level.
Review of the new LOMO Instant Wide and a comparison to the cult classic Fuji Instax 500AF. This is the first in a multi part series on instant materials and cameras…
Sample Pictures: I chose a difficult mixed lighting situation to show the contrast range of the material and low enough light that the camera would choose F8. My focus with the LOMO is much better than using the default settings because of my focusing scale (see below) and even then it is not as crisp as the Fuji 500AF. All shots were on a tripod for maximum stability.
LOMO Instant Wide, Wide Angle Lens Attachment
LOMO Instant Wide, Normal Lens
Fuji 500AF
Note on changing film… I discovered that you can not change the film while on the tripod with the LOMO camera due to the tripod socket placement, on the Fuji 500AF you can change film while the camera is on the tripod.
One correction from the video… I mention that Instax Wide film is approximately $18 for 10 shots, that of course is the price for 20 shots. Also, I purchased both cameras used in this review and all reviews here on FR.
I decided to have Blurb print and bind a second copy of A New Eden Volume 1 for two reasons…
1. To see how the printing consistency would be.
2. To see how the Image Wrap cover option compared to the dust jacket option.
Some More Thoughts:
THIS JUST IN- I like the Image Wrap cover with the premium paper as the best-of-all option- the dust jacket keeps falling off the book and drives me nuts. The dust jacket does have a better range of color than the image wrap, and is glossy but there is something nice to the look and feel of the image wrap, and on a small book with only 38 pages- like mine- as the extra material of the image wrap makes the spine look and feel nicer…the book just feels more complete. The premium paper is way nicer than the standard (I tried both) and really worth the few extra dollars. With regards to printing consistency… seems OK to me so far but I will continue to monitor and keep you posted if my thoughts change.
Biggest question: does this process make sense if you are selling your books? Services like Blurb are much less expensive than some other online publishing companies… that being said, the per book cost for my Eden project is now at almost $40. When I compare this to my similarly-priced second book Through A Glass Darkly -which is in a league all it’s own and beyond compare to anything Blurb or any online service can print or bind- it does give one pause. Once again, I think you need to think of a book like this as a very nice promotional piece, that you will at best maybe make a few bucks on… but ultimately with the ulterior motive of greater visibility for your works which will hopefully translate into print sales and other good things. I’d suggest a markup from Blurb’s cost at around 10%, it’s a fair percentage and at the same time keeps your per book cost at a point that is still marketable.
From Far Away
Figital Revolution 