Dragging the shutter in Times Square

There are places in NYC that are seething with chaos and pressure. It swirls around you, pushes you and ultimately repels you from returning. Times Square is the epitome of it all.

Out take from Chloé shoes photoshoot

We had some cool Chloé shoes in the studio today.

Nicholas Kirkwood in studio, 2017

Recently I’ve been asking myself what is so appealing about making images in the studio. Natural light is beautiful and creates a texture that is unparalleled. It is as fickle as it beautiful. From moment to moment it challenges your technical abilities. While the risk is proportional to the reward with letting nature provide the illumination, I prefer the crisp snap of a studio strobe any day.

Fuji film GX680 in the wild

Through The View Finder, Grand Central Terminal, 2019

I was permitted and officially photographed Grand Central Terminal for the first time! I over packed and wished this camera didn’t have so much personality sometimes. What an experience!

Ektar 100 Long exposure test 2

Triboro / RFK Bridge, 2019

I photographed this at the very end of blue hour late in the summer. The scene metered at F/ 11.5 @ 2 min. Using a phone based app for Android OS called Reciprocity to calculate reciprocity failure. An exposure time of 3 min 45 seconds was suggested. My actual exposure was rounded to F/11 @ 4 min.

I’ve observed that reciprocity failure is less of an issue with Ektar below the 15 second mark. If you rate the film at 1/2 box speed or open your exposure by a full stop in the scene you should have a good negative to work from. Beyond 15 seconds there is still more research to be done.