500 and Counting... Let's Take a Look Backwards

Hello everyone, we've hit another milestone, the passing of 500 page views!  Since my last milestone post had 'legitimate' photography of mine I'll keep in step with that and again include some in this post.  Also, I thought it fitting that since my last post dealt with some golden oldies I'd show two images that have recently surfaced from the depths of my archives.

©Steve Shilling

This first image was shot the day I received, in short, an entire darkroom from a very generous family down in Maryland who was no longer using it.  I had a stack of what I knew to be expired black and white printing paper and a location in mind that I wanted to shoot so I picked up my tripod and the only 35mm I had at the time and headed towards a nearby abandoned dairy farm.  I shot to my hearts content and since I was new to this world called photography my heart thought it was fulfilled quite quickly and only two rolls later I headed home.  Down to my basement I went, literally cracked open the expired 'Royal' brand printing paper, and I threw a pice on for an initial test print.  What I was expecting was the paper to work poorly or not at all...I wasn't expecting this gorgeous result.  Granted the image is nothing special (give me a break, I hadn't even held a camera for more than a year) but the cloudiness and tonal quality of the print astounded me.  Looking at it now makes me wish I had some of that paper up here with me in New York.

©Steve Shilling

This next image came about a few years later after I purchased my first large format, 4x5 monorail camera from a photographer named Reginald Wickam.  He shared with me his long history with that camera and I cannot express how honored I am to have that camera passed down to me.  The image is of an illuminated incandescent light bulb exposed for approximately four minutes at f/64 and if you look closely you can actually see the illuminated filament suspended on the left hand side.  The image is a scan of a direct negative image captured on Ilford fibre based paper rated at an ISO of 5 (tho some places it says 3).  Maybe a smarter man than I can explain the smokey phenomenon that is occurring in the image but I cannot. It may have to do with the way the glass was manufactured but I can assure you that is was not the paper.

Both of these opportunities, the darkroom as well as the camera, would not have come my way had it not been for my connection to Julie Basello-Holt owner of Creative Genius Art Gallery and Studio located in South Jersey.  Julie and I have known each other for a while both professionally and as friends. She's a strong woman truly devoted to the arts and the creative spirit.

Tonight I hope to have yet another still life to post but at the same time I also wish to catch up on some sleep I've let slip by.

Sincerely,

-S.