The New Show is up at the Claremont Forum

The Claremont Forum Bookstore is in the old Packing House on 1st Street. The show is up during the month of February.  Palladium: Up Close will present about a dozen 11x14-sized prints using this beautiful platinum/palladium process developed in the 1870's. There will be an opening during the regular First Friday Art Walk, February 7th starting about 5:30 pm at the Forum Bookstore. During the week the hours are

Tuesday - Thursday • 12:00 PM to 7:00 PM

Friday - Saturday • 12:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Sunday • 12:00 PM - 7:00 PM

The Claremont Forum Bookshop & Gallery is located on the first floor of the 

Claremont Packing House.

New Palladium Show Coming Up

I'm choosing about a dozen of my favorite black-and-white images to be printed for a new show later this year or early next year.  Each image will have a black "palladium" border like the one shown here.

I'm especially interested that viewers should appreciate that the images are palladium and not regular photographs. If they are mounted without borders, a casual gallery goer might miss the special characteristics of the palladium print: the tonal range, the range of soft blacks, etc. Each will be signed on the Arche's Platine paper which has been in continuous production since it was used in the Renaissance by artists like Leonardo.


"Three Timbers", Pecos, New Mexico.

Back to Palladium

The past several weeks have been exciting ones as I have embarked on a large format photography project. I now have a Tachihara 4x5 field camera and a Schneider Symmar 150mm convertible lens to go with it. I am building my skill set with film holders, light meters, release cables, tripods and the like and liking what I see. I've taken some photos in the Sycamore Canyon Park area in Claremont, scanned the results, one of which you see here. I'll be revisiting this area and exploring further.

Portal to a another PicasaWeb album of my Africa Pictures

Alas, their numbers are diminishing due to poachers who want only the horn. Here is the link to this PicasaWeb album.

PicasaWeb Portal for some of my Africa Pictures

These gerenuks love to stand on their hind legs. Connect to Picasaweb here.

Colleague's Africa Pictures

This is a wonderful lion picture by Mary Ann. Check her Flickr set here.

Cheetah: Samburu

This has some possibilities. I used the "fill light" on the RAW to lessen the shadow while still leaving some...

Palladium Candidates: Flight at Lake Nakuru

This is promising: good contrast and tonal range. Though the bird itself is a bit overexposed. Could still be dramatic.

Palladium Candidates: Reflection at Lake Nakuru

The key question is how well the color images translate into Black and White images suitable for the Palladium Process. This is a good candidate, though a bit contrasty.

Camouflage, Lions

I found it amazing how these lions blended into the background. The cub's face is exactly the same color as the dry grass. His eyes, nose and mouth seem to float independently. I remember the gestalt when they coalesced into its face.

Lenses and Magnification

This colorful chameleon happened to be on a rock on the Nakuru Overlook. The distance is a blur showing off his red head and iridescent blue arms. This image is a further crop (about 1/4) of the whole image which was taken at 270 mm on a Tamron lens.

Images From Africa - Lake Nakuru

Lake Nakuru, NW of Nairobi, offers spectacular waterfowl opportunities. The African light is different. I think there is more color in the sky and clouds. The morning light at Lake Nakuru felt quite clear and pure ( a neutral bright).

Fences, Sonoma, CA

Fence, Off Napa Road, Sonoma

Black and White Again

This was taken with my Rolleiflex, ISO 400, in mid-January in Sonoma off of Napa Road. It was early morning and there was considerable frost on the grass and plants which I had hoped to capture. I was also interested in the depth of field. The Rollei is excellent in mid-range. The sinuous plant-leaves contrast with the out-of-focus pole in the background. I found the exposure forgiving. I shot at f5-f5.6 at 1/50th to 1/100th. The negative was scanned at 1200 dpi with the backlite on medium.