Chuck Farmer Photography Blog

MY FIRST LARGE FORMAT EXPOSURE

2009-06-14T09:52:00.000-07:00

Many years ago a fellow that owed me some money decided to give me a 4X5 camera to pay his debt. Reluctantly I took it because I knew I would never get the cash. He handed me a big black box with a 4X5 Orbit camera, a Schneider 135mm Xenar lens and a couple of worn out 4X5 film holders. I had no idea what to do with the camera. I didn’t know how to use it, how make the lens work and… I had no concept of what I needed to make a photograph with this funny looking contraption.

I was photographing with a Pentax 35mm camera and I thought that someday I could make an image as good as Adams or Weston with it. Little did I know! The 4X5 camera stayed in my garage for a year or so. I began to understand that bigger might be better. I bought a book or two concerning large format photography and threw them on the shelf for reference. One day I was looking for something in my junk filled garage and found the camera. I decided to find out how I might use it.

A trip to the photo store was an enlightening experience. I found I needed a tripod to hold the camera, 4X5 film, a cable release, dark cloth, light meter and all the rest of the stuff. Someone told me I would have to develop my own black and white film if I expected to get a negative to make a photo. Knowing that I would have to make some kind of a darkroom I decided to put the camera and the new trinkets that might make it work back into the garage until I could figure out what a darkroom was. Some reading proved to me that I was in for a big challenge. As the months passed I was able to acquire enough equipment to have a basic darkroom. My garage became the “room of almost darkness” with the help of huge sheets of heavy black plastic and duct tape.

I was ready now to make the perfect image I thought. I still didn’t know how to use the camera but I figured I could fake my way through it somehow. Then the storm arrived. I woke up one winter morning and a gift from “the big guy in the sky” awaited me. The mountains and valleys east of Santa Barbara were covered with a blanket of snow, beautiful clouds danced above and I have never seen such magnificent light since then. Needless to say the 4X5 camera came out and I went to work as best I could. I set the camera on the tripod. I pointed it in the general direction of what I thought would make a good photo. “God, this is hard work. No one told me that the image is backwards and upside down and the ground glass keeps fogging up under this stupid black cloth. What are all these knobs for on this damn thing”?

The darkroom was intimidating. Never before having developed 4X5 film, I could only do the job at hand from information I dragged out of a couple of large format photographers I knew. Everything seemed to be a big secret in those days. I developed the negatives in a tray using HC110, dilution B with +X-PAN film, a stop bath with way too much acid in it and a hardening fix. Of course I diluted all the mixtures with tap water. Santa Barbara water has among other things, rocks in it.

I was very, very lucky. My negatives looked pretty darn good, or at least I thought they did. I believe that the developer I used was correct for the occasion. Everything else I did was awful. The negatives are filthy with spots and scratches…wonder why. Nothing can get rid of the defects.

I was hooked. I never went back to the small camera except for candid shooting. Large format was the place for me and I had a lot to learn. I took up 5X7, 8X10 and even 14X17 formats. There simply is nothing like a large format contact print… nothing.

With a lot of work I can make a good silver image from the negative. I must admit that turning the negative into a digital file and correcting the spots, scratches and pinholes makes the job easier. It still isn’t a silver image however.

Beginners’ luck… you bet and I’m still making images with film and the “big gun”. It’s the process ya know.

I'M NO LONGER A WHORE

2009-05-27T18:19:00.000-07:00

^{“ THE BOSSES WIFE ”}

^{I’m taking the long road North, far away from this town}

^{I’m taking the long road North}

^{Gotta collect a debt from a guy that’s been screwing me around.}

^{I’m taking the long road North}

^{Don’t know exactly why}

^{Except the boss’s wife said,}

^{“Collect the money or I’m going to make you cry!”}

^{I’m taking the long road North}

^{Way up to Grants Pass town}

^{Gotta go North to have myself a look around.}

^{Going up North to Grants Pass TOWN to have a look around}

^{Except the asshole probably is nowhere to be found.}

^{I’m going up North for the boss’s wife}

^{Thinking every moment about how I going TO save My life.}

^{Lord this must be a mistake.}

^{SQUIRMING AND WEEPING AND TRYING TO SHAKE MYSELF AWAKE}

^{DON’T KNOW HOW SHE TALKED ME INTO BEING SUCH A SNAKE.}

^{WAY UP NORTH TO GRANTS PASS TOWN}

^{I KNEW I WOULD HAVE TO GET THERE TO HAVE MYSELF A LOOK AROUND.}

^{I WAS THINKING ALL THE TIME UP THIS HOLLOW ROAD}

^{GOD ONLY KNOWS I’M NOT IN THE RIGHT FRAME OF MODE.}

^{I WENT INTO TOWN WITH A LOT OF REGRET}

^{I KNEW I HAD TO FIND THIS ASSHOLE AND COLLECT THE DEBT.}

^{THERE I WAS IN THIS OLD TOWN…HAD A WORRIED FROWN…HAD TO HAVE A LOOK AROUND.}

^{THE BOSSES WIFE TOLD ME TO COLLECT THE DEBT}

^{SEEMS LIKE EVERY ONE I KNEW WANTED TO MAKE A BET}

^{I REALLY DIDN’T WANT MY LIFE TO END JUST YET.}

^{HAD A HARD LOOK AROUND}

^{THERE IN THAT DIRTY OLD TOWN}

^{I WAS HOPING AND PRAYING THAT I WOULDN’T HAVE TO SHOOT HIM DOWN.}

^{AND THERE HE WAS HEADED FOR HIGHER GROUND}

^{HE KNEW I WAS COMING TO HAVE A LOOK AROUND.}

^{THE PISTOLS POPED AND THE BULLETS FLEW}

^{I WAS WEEPING AND SOBBING AND HUGGING THE GROUND}

^{I KNOW LONGER WANTED TO LOOK AROUND.}

^{THE PISTOLS POPPED AND THE BULLETS FLEW}

^{THERE I WAS THINKING, OH GOD…IF HE ONLY KNEW}

^{I SURE WASN’T PACKING MUCH OF CREW}

^{IF HE ONLY KNEW.}

^{THERE I WAS IN THAT DIRTY OLD TOWN}

^{ABOUT TO GET MYSELF SCATTERED AROUND.}

^{I WAS WEEPING AND SOBBING AND HUGGING THE GROUND}

^{MY EYES WERE TOO FULL OF TEARS FOR ME TO EVEN FROWN.}

^{I FLEAD FOR MY LIFE}

^{NOT THINKING MUCH ABOUT THE BOSSES WIFE}

^{I RAN SOUTH TRYING TO SAVE MY DAMN LIFE.}

^{I RAN SOUTH OUT OF THAT DIRTY OLD TOWN}

^{CREEPING AND SLITHERING LIKE A SNAKE ON THE GROUND}

^{I DIDN’T THINK MUCH ABOUT THE BOSSES WIFE}

^{GONNA GET OUT OF THERE AND SAVE MY LIFE.}

^{HEADDED SOUTH OUT OF THAT TOWN}

^{SNIFFING AND SNORTING LIKE AN OLD COON HOUND}

^{HEADED SOUTH CRAWLING ON THE GROUND.}

^{I DIDN’T CARE MUCH FOR THE BOSSES WIFE}

^{CARED A LITTLE MORE ABOUT MY OWN DAMN LIFE.}

^{I HEADED SOUTH TO MY HOMETOWN}

^{FINALLY PICKING MY HEAD UP OFF THE GROUND}

^{THOUGHT I MIGHT HAVE MYSELF A LOOK AROUND.}

^{I RAN INTO THE BOSSES WIFE}

^{SHE SAID, “YOU BETTER HAVE THE MONEY OR I’ll RUIN YOUR LIFE.”}

^{I HAD A LITTLE CHAT WITH THE BOSSES WIFE.}

^{I told her I was thinking about changing my life.}

^{I told her I didn’t care much of her means and schemes}

^{Told her I didn’t care much about her dreams.}

^{I left my hometown}

^{Thought I might go have a look around.}

^{Think I’ll go change my life}

^{Just don’t care THAT much for the bosses wife.}

^{© CHUCK FARMER}

Digital Technology and the Destruction of Empathy and Creativity

2009-05-13T13:19:00.000-07:00

I remember a time when children went to school and were taught the proper etiquette to answer the telephone, to ask for assistance, to sit at the dinner table, to stand in line and wait for help, how to count change, to be polite to others and respect the elder… and so on.

We use to have to be pretty damn creative in order to make some things happen. I remember searching out a library for books and information, using a pencil and paper for my math assignments, making my own toys, writing letters, making crystal radios and the like.

section #2

2009-05-13T13:14:00.000-07:00

Well, what does any of this have to do with photography? I use to talk to “self proclaimed” professional photographers every day and listen to all of their dilemmas. If I ask a question such as, “what f-stop or… what ISO/ASA did you use, or what shutter speed was used,” I would get a gawk of glassy eyes and a no-one-home gape. I have talked to “photographers” that had never used a single piece of film in their life, including photo students studying at expensive institutions.

How can anyone become a proficient photographer if they have no knowledge of the basics? “I don’t need to know the basics because this new trillion dollar digital camera can do it all for me… right”? I don’t believe so! I know that this fancy camera can make a beautiful image. Will it make me a photographer of any significance? No! Look at the work of well recognized digital photographers. They all started their process with traditional imaging. That’s why they are important photographers. They learned the basics, they studied the philosophy of early master photographers, they studied all art forms and they talked about the creative process… the touchy-feely things. They can use a pin-hole camera or the supreme billion mega-pixels camera and make a great image.

section #3

2009-05-13T13:04:00.000-07:00

I keep hearing that film is dead and film cameras are a thing of the past and digital is better than silver and on and on. Bull Crap! Monet was a great oil painter and the tools he used to produce his art are still being used today. The art comes from the artist, not the tool of creation.

I like modern technology very much, hence my web site & blog. I am not in love with it! I like digital technology because it helps me with a few things. I’m in love with the process of traditional photography, creativity and my wife. The next time you see a library stop, and take a look at the MONA LISA by Da Vinci or Google it up on your digital processor. What makes it a great painting? What makes it a perfectly balanced image with timeliness?

Excuse me now please, I must go to twitter some tweeters.

Charles Farmer

MORE ON "GORP"

2009-05-05T10:08:00.000-07:00

My dictionary defines gorp as “a mixture of nuts, dried fruit, seeds or the like eaten as a high-energy snack”. Perhaps no one knows what it is for sure but it looks good.

I consider my small color images to be my “gorp”. They are little bits of things that make the whole. We often run across a big pile of junk (gorp). The challenge is to capture an image that satisfies what we might consider to be the rules of making fine art. To simply photograph the whole pile would render an image of no significant meaning or interest…it is simply a pile of junk to the viewer. Anyone can make such a photo. As we get closer and more intimate with the pile we begin to see little tid-bits of the whole. We begin to isolate important little units of information that we can somehow capture and design prints that are truly unique to our individual vision.

I would like to invite you to post some comments and/or images that you might consider to be your “gorp”.

"ELEGANT GORP"

2009-05-05T09:15:00.000-07:00

Important Announcement!

My new book, “Elegant Gorp” is printed and ready for shipping.

It is a soft bound, 7 X 8 inch book, with a laminate finish. It has 55 images that will make your eyes sparkle and/or squint and it has a few words for you reading pleasure.

“Elegant Gorp” book: $22.50

“Elegant Gorp” book with CD (power point presentation), forward by Richard Garrod, 69 pages with many images not represented it the book.

The show is set to music by Dave Brubeck. $32.00

US mail shipping: $4.00

California resident tax: 8.25%

Order your copy today and I’ll even sign it for you.

Call: 805-965-1125 or shoot me an e-mail.

Gladding McBean Workshop

2009-04-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

Gene Kennedy and Viewpoint Photographic Art Center (workshops@viewpointgallery.org) run a workshop twice a year at Gladding McBean in Lincoln, California. The workshop is without any doubt worth the tuition and effort to be there.

The factory is huge and the participants have the freedom to roam and photograph just about everything there is on the grounds. You rarely find yourself in the company of other photographers. Two days in the building gives one enough time to work without getting in anyone’s way.

The facility produces everything from small clay tiles to 48inch diameter sewer pipe. Massive brick kilns cure the clay. Some of the kilns are so old that they are no longer used. It takes about two weeks for a kiln to cool enough to open and retrieve the product.

McBean has an artisan section that has been making decorative architectural pieces for many, many years. The whole facility is a step back in time. They still produce material the old fashioned way. Simply amazing!

Most of the facility is under roof. Light filters in through large skylights in the roof and windows in the upper floors of the building. Part of the building is three stories high. Darkness and dust are the norm and practicing ones reciprocity factors is a must.

Kiln

2009-04-25T18:00:00.000-07:00

Here is an image from Gladding McBean.