Tag Archives: Gowanus
Gowanus Long Exposures with Hasselbald and Fuji Neopan Acros 100 Film
On Wednesday night, I met up with good pal Barry Yanowitz in Gowanus for some night time shooting. He had his Rollei loaded with Fujichrome T64 color slide film (of which he gave me a roll and I can’t wait to try out) and I had my Hasselblad loaded with Fuji Neopan Acros 100 black and white film. It was nice to catch up with him and also to discover that the canal waters had receded to their normal levels after Hurricane Sandy’s rude visit. We each shot one roll of film during the evening.
The shots below were developed in Kodak Xtol Developer (stock solution) at 20C for 8 minutes. I’ll post a few more next week.
Coignet Stone Company Building, Gowanus, Brooklyn on Fuji Neopan Acros 100 Film
Gowanus Canal Graffiti with the Williamsburg Savings Bank Tower, Brooklyn on Fuji Neopan Acros 100 Film
National Building on Union Street, Gowanus, Brooklyn on Fuji Neopan Acros 100 Film
Random Shots from the Olympus OM-1 on Kodak Ektar 100
While I’m definitely over the “I have to carry my camera everywhere” feeling that gripped me last year, I still like to occasionally wander around aimlessly with a camera over my shoulder. I’ve had a roll of Kodak Ektar 100 in my Olympus OM-1 over the last week or so and after getting the film back from the lab on Tuesday night, I found more than a dozen images that I really loved and several I had forgot that I had taken. Some of the latter were my favorites from the roll.
Most of these were taken in various parts of Brooklyn as Kate and I enjoyed our normal, meandering, long walks. I still can’t remember being in the East Village with this camera and this roll, but I had two shots of the East Village Cadillac on there somehow.
Yellow Brick Building and Blue Sky, Gowanus, Brooklyn, Kodak Ektar 100
Yellow and Green Bicycles, Brooklyn Heights, Kodak Ektar 100
4 TEN Letters Outside Antique Store on Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, Kodak Ektar 100
No. 162, Tribeca, Kodak Ektar 100
East Village Cadillac, Kodak Ektar 100
Funny story about this Cadillac, a couple of my images were used by the New York Times East Village Local and the owner of the Cadillac responded in the comments section.
Little Orange Car, Gowanus, Brooklyn, Kodak Ektar 100
Church Board, Gowanus, Brooklyn, Kodak Ektar 100
Eventually, I’m going to do a whole series on these church boards of Brooklyn. I’m not religious in any way, but I’m fascinated by these signs and the level of detail they preserve about the church. I’m attracted to the signs that use different fonts and sizes to get their message across.
Empty Lot, Downtown Brooklyn, Kodak Ektar 100
Triceratops Custom Cab, Gowanus, Brooklyn, Kodak Ektar 100
I’ve passed this truck before without taking a picture (it’s on the way to our favorite pie place Four and Twenty Blackbirds) and this time Kate saw me hesitate and reach for my camera. “Go ahead,” she said as she stood there waiting for me as I waited out the traffic.
Film Photography: Strolling through Brooklyn
Living in NYC gives you, as someone very wise often says, an embarrassment of riches when it comes to activities. And yet, our favorite thing to do is something you can do anywhere. We love taking long walks on the weekends. Kate wakes us up early (sometimes before dawn) and I bitch and moan for five or ten minutes, lounging in bed for as long as I can. Then we get dressed and go for a 5 or 6 mile run. I’m not a happy camper for the first mile or so, but then something happens to my outlook. I start to feel energized, the sky looks amazing and the light starts to have that amazing glow that you only get early in the morning.
We come home, shower, and grab a quick bite. And then we head out for a long walk. It doesn’t matter where we go. When we lived in Manhattan, it would be the West Village, the Hudson Promenade, through the Meatpacking District on the High Line and into Chelsea, or the Lower East Side up into the East Village and then into Union Square. But we always stayed south of 23rd Street and there isn’t much room to go between the East River and the Hudson.
Now that we live in Brooklyn, we have SO much room to walk. It’s nothing to leave Park Slope and end up walking to Dumbo or Carrol Gardens. Lately we have taken to long walks along the Gowanus Canal or even down into Red Hook.
The weather lately has been perfect for these long walks. Last weekend we did a walk through Brooklyn Heights on Henry Street and came home parallel to the Gowanus Canal. I took the Hasselblad with us to capture the sights on some Kodak Ektar 100 film.
Colorful Houses in Brooklyn Heights, Kodka Ektar 100
Intersection of Warren and Henry Street, Brooklyn Heights, Kodak Ektar 100
I love how weathered this house is on the corner.
Barber Shop Sign on Henry Street, Kodak Ektar 100
Gowanus Canal and the Clocak Tower, Kodak Ektar 100
St. Paul’s Sign, Carrol Gardens, Kodak Ektar 100
Red House on Union, Park Slope, Kodak Ektar 100
Love that door…
House on Union Street, Kodak Ektar 100
This lovely house was just a few doors down from the sad red house.
S & P News Stand, Corner of 9th and 5th, Kodak Ektar 100
By this time it had clouded over, so this shot is kind of muddy. I’ll need to go back and get a better shot of this interesting storefront.
Film Photography: Prospect Park and Park Slope Long Exposures on Fuji Neopan Acros 100
A break in the rain on Thursday night allowed me to head out to Prospect Park with a tripod for some long exposures. Most of these exposures were between 30 and 60 seconds at an aperture of f11 or f16 as metered by my Digisix light meter.
This roll was shot with Hasselblad 501cm on Fuji Neopan Acros 100 and developed in Kodak Xtol Developer at 21C for 7.5 minutes.
Burst of Light at Night in Prospect Park Lighting a Bench, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, Fuji Neopan Acros 100
Tree and Prospect Park Lake at Night, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, Fuji Neopan Acros 100
I didn’t realize how much that duck was moving around right by the shore. He looks a little scary.
Fallen Tree in Prospect Lake at Night, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, Fuji Neopan Acros 100
Had a couple of fidgety ducks in this shot too.
Tree and Moving Clouds at Night, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, Fuji Neopan Acros 100
The clouds were moving pretty fast after the storm, so I knew this shot would be kind of cool.
Grand Army Plaza Arch at Night, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, Fuji Neopan Acros 100
I took another shot from this spot with traffic lights streaming, but I don’t think the lights look as cool in B&W.
Grand Army Plaza Fountain at Night, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, Fuji Neopan Acros 100
Playing with water during a 30 second exposure…
Four Seasons Cleaners on Flatbush Avenue at Night, Park Slope, Brooklyn, Fuji Neopan Acros 100
Bark Hot Dogs at Night, Park Slope, Brooklyn, Fuji Neopan Acros 100
People moving around during this 15 second shot.
Firo Grocery Bodega on St. Marks and 3rd Avenue at Night, Gowanus, Brooklyn, Fuji Neoapn Acros 100
This is one of my most photographed bodegas, sorry if it’s getting a little repetitive.
Man at ATM of Paul’s Grocery and Fruits on 5th Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, Fuji Neopan Acros 100
Loved the idea of capturing this man’s movements at the ATM during a 3 second exposure.
Film Photography: Photo Walk in Gowanus
Last Sunday I went on a photowalk in Gowanus with pals Joel Zimmer and Drew Shannon. We meandered around in Gowanus, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, and ended up back in Park Slope. Joel had his trusty Nikon D7000 and Drew had a bag of cameras including an old Minolta film cam and the super sexy Fuji X100, which Joel and I both got to play with for a few shots. The X100 is a sweet little camera, but doesn’t feel as solid as older film cameras that it emulates. The autofocus seemed a bit slow to me as well, but you can’t argue with the pictures that Drew is getting out of it. The X100 gives you stellar pics.
I also loaned Joel my little-used Nikon F3 to see if I could entice him over to the film side. I put a roll of the new Kodak Portra 160 in the F3, but forgot to check the battery until I was heading out the door. Since the F3 sits on my shelf unused (MUCH prefer the Nikon FM2n) the battery for the meter had died. Not a very good start to Joel’s film experience, but hey how often do you have to charge the battery on your DSLR?
I only had my Hasselblad 501cm on me and a bag full of Fuji Reala 100 film (and two frames of Fuji Neopan Acros 100 on a roll). The Reala is fast becoming my favorite 100 speed film in medium format, because it renders colors very naturally. The only exception is that the greens tend to be a little strong sometimes. With no scanning software, the Reala scans well and you don’t have to do any post processing to remove color shifts. On these I didn’t even bother cropping out the borders I scanned them so fast.
Gowanus Canal and Iron Bars, Brooklyn, Fuji Reala 100
Water Tower and Graffiti, Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn, Fuji Reala 100
Gowanus Canal Superfund Sign, Brooklyn, Fuji Reala 100
Magic Touch Cocktail Lounge Sign, Gowanus, Brooklyn, Fuji Reala 100
Alkamar Travel, Gowanus, Brooklyn, Fuji Reala 100
Bond Deli and Grocery, Gowanus, Brooklyn, Fuji Reala 100 (Wow, I scanned this one crooked…)
Sanitation and Repairs Sign, Gowanus, Brooklyn, Fuji Reala 100
Cadillac, Park Slope, Brooklyn, Fuji Reala 100
Bill Payment Center, heading out of Gowanus and into Park Slope, Brooklyn, Fuji Reala 100 (Totally underexposed this shot as I was in a hurry to not get hit by a cab)
Karmann Ghia, Park Slope, Brooklyn, Fuji Reala 100
JR Stairs on Bergen Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn, Fuji Reala 100
