New and Improved Big Bend Pictures
I finally finished up the prints for the new and improved Big Bend Pictures. It has 100 images with 22 new or updated pieces.
Because all my books are sold out, and the retrospective book is coming together slowly, Marci suggested to reprint Big Bend Pictures. Sounded simple, but once we started, it was a bit more complicated.
20 years ago the book printer scanned the images from resin coated darkroom prints. They are not as sharp as the scans we can do today. I had about a third of the images already scanned from a Nikon 9000 scanner. These were tried and true images that people have ordered prints from.
Then fellow photographer and friend Sean Perry and his crew helped me tremendously with a state of the art copy machine.
It produces 150 megapixel copy negs from a cold light source and very clean.
The Nikon is a condenser scanner, and while you start out with a negative with more contrast, the cleanup of the negative would take usually an hour or more.
Sean’s scans would take about 5 minutes.
For those of you that understand the difference between cold light versus condenser enlargers, the concept is the same.
Not to get too technical, but think of it like this. Sunlight coming directly through a window would be like condenser light and sunlight coming through the same window with a thin white curtain in front of it would be like a cold light. One is harsh and sharp the other soft and forgiving.
The great thing for me was understanding that Sean’s $100,000 machine is basically a very beautiful and precise copy stand.
I figured I could make my own 100 megapixel copystand with my Hasselblad digital camera. I purchased an enlarger stand and a 2 1/4 negative carrier on Ebay for 50 bucks, and a light source and slide holder from a company called Negative Supply for about $500, Then I purchased an extension tube from B&H Photo for the 100 mm macro lens.
So for about a 1000 bucks, less the 35,000. dollar camera, I made my own.
After some rigorous testing I got very clean negatives at slightly less megapixel size than Sean’s, but bigger and better than the Nikon 9000.
So look photographers, if want to make a copy stand out of your 35mm Canon or Nikon to shoot negatives, it is possible.
One of these days, I will make a Youtube video to teach you step by step how to get a clean, perfectly square copy.
I learned how to do perfect copywork years ago when I worked for Tomas’ Pantin.
Tomas’ you were the best teacher ever. You were so patient, especially with a hardhead like me.
The wonderful thing about the digital age is the control. The ability to work on the image, save it, go another direction if you choose, but for me staying in the traditional darkroom techniques of mostly dodging and burning.
It is easy to get heavy handed in photoshop. A mistake with some of the new generation of photographers, in my opinion.
The only thing I do that is not traditional is I might remove a facial blemish or if there is a stain on a shirt, or maybe something like a mark on a wall.
All to say very little.
I will soon be sending out an email to pre-order my new book. Please order many for your friends and family.
Here are a few updated or new images that will be in the book.