evanbainesphoto - Tumblr blog

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Trey

As I've explained in the past, my goal for these is to walk a line where I'm respecting the uniform and having some sense of decorum, but reflecting the subjects' personalities more than typical "I'm a tough guy" military portraits. Promoting a relaxed environment for a subject in a dress uniform can be a challenge, and I work very hard at modulating the conversation and environment to oscillate between "too loose" and "too formal." All shots on my Hasselblad, using either FP4+ or Portra 160.

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Trey

As I've explained in the past, my goal for these is to walk a line where I'm respecting the uniform and having some sense of decorum, but reflecting the subjects' personalities more than typical "I'm a tough guy" military portraits. Promoting a relaxed environment for a subject in a dress uniform can be a challenge, and I work very hard at modulating the conversation and environment to oscillate between "too loose" and "too formal." All shots on my Hasselblad, using either FP4+ or Portra 160.

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Shandi

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Product Review: Tap & Dye Rolleiflex Strap

A Rolleiflex is a beautifully crafted camera, and holding one is a tactile, almost visceral experience.  I purchased this one last year, and ever since I did I'd been leery of the new-old-stock strap that came with her.  While it was obviously unused, it was just as obviously dry and brittle, and not trustworthy for the task of carrying such a precious device.  When I looked around, I struggled to find just the right strap for this lovely camera, but was uninspired by the ready-made options out there.

I'd been curious about Tap & Dye for a while, because I'm particularly partial to the Horween Chromexel leather that Justin uses on some of his straps.  I also try to buy American handmade items wherever possible, and he makes his straps in Brooklyn, NY.  When I didn't see a Rolleiflex strap listed on his site I reached out to him to see if he could make one, and sure enough he said it would be no problem.  I commissioned a strap in Dark Olive Chromexel with red stitching (the latter at Amanda's request).  The strap took about 4 weeks in production and arrived at my door nicely wrapped in a little canvas sack.

In a word, the strap is beautiful.  The leather is soft and rich, and is already developing a lovely patina.  The olive is really a brown with maybe a hint of greenish notes, and matches my Barbour jackets nicely.  The width of the wider neck strap is perfect and comfortable over a long day's carry walking around Washington DC.  All of the stitching appears carefully and skillfully executed.  The clips work perfectly and appear new (sometimes procuring clips for Rolleiflex camera straps can be a challenge these days!).  Justin was also communicative throughout the process, and very helpful.   I really can't recommend Tap & Dye enough if you're looking for a quality camera strap.

All images shot by me using a Hasselblad 500c/m and Kodak Ektar 100 film.  

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Product Review: Tap & Dye Rolleiflex Strap

A Rolleiflex is a beautifully crafted camera, and holding one is a tactile, almost visceral experience.  I purchased this one last year, and ever since I did I'd been leery of the new-old-stock strap that came with her.  While it was obviously unused, it was just as obviously dry and brittle, and not trustworthy for the task of carrying such a precious device.  When I looked around, I struggled to find just the right strap for this lovely camera, but was uninspired by the ready-made options out there.

I'd been curious about Tap & Dye for a while, because I'm particularly partial to the Horween Chromexel leather that Justin uses on some of his straps.  I also try to buy American handmade items wherever possible, and he makes his straps in Brooklyn, NY.  When I didn't see a Rolleiflex strap listed on his site I reached out to him to see if he could make one, and sure enough he said it would be no problem.  I commissioned a strap in Dark Olive Chromexel with red stitching (the latter at Amanda's request).  The strap took about 4 weeks in production and arrived at my door nicely wrapped in a little canvas sack.

In a word, the strap is beautiful.  The leather is soft and rich, and is already developing a lovely patina.  The olive is really a brown with maybe a hint of greenish notes, and matches my Barbour jackets nicely.  The width of the wider neck strap is perfect and comfortable over a long day's carry walking around Washington DC.  All of the stitching appears carefully and skillfully executed.  The clips work perfectly and appear new (sometimes procuring clips for Rolleiflex camera straps can be a challenge these days!).  Justin was also communicative throughout the process, and very helpful.   I really can't recommend Tap & Dye enough if you're looking for a quality camera strap.

All images shot by me using a Hasselblad 500c/m and Kodak Ektar 100 film.  

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Lincoln

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Omi

Omi is a USAF Officer, she will soon be a physician, and she's a brilliant poet collaborating with me on my book project.  I hope I've done her justice here.

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Blind Spots

And would some Power give us the gift To see ourselves as others see us! It would from many a blunder free us, And foolish notion: What airs in dress and gait would leave us, And even devotion!

-Robert Burns

When I was young, my father offered me a variation of this sentiment as he chided me for an inflated sense of self worth following a victory for my soccer team.  I doubt in retrospect that my father intended for this nugget to assume the level of importance in my mind that it ultimately did, but the idea stuck.  Ever since, I’ve been suspicious of my own self-perceptions, and often consider others’ perceptions of me and my work more reliable than my own. 

Early in my photographic career, I remember posting a series of portraits that I thought were pretty good on a photo forum.  It was one of my first “serious” portrait sessions, and I was reasonably proud of the results.  However, shortly after posting, it was pointed out to me that some of my shallow DOF shots had failed to perfectly hit on the subject’s eyes.  I remember a feeling of embarrassment similar to finding I’d ventured out with my fly unzipped.  The fact that I had failed to notice a flaw in my work while others had reinforced my sense that I have a blind-spot with regards to my own images.  

While this attitude was probably an asset in keeping me receptive to critical feedback and helping me to identify areas for improvement, over the years I’ve begun to recognize that distrust in my own vision can be as severe a handicap as a blindspot for my own flaws.  I have reached points in my efforts at photography where I have been consciously attempting to create images where nothing was wrong with them.  

Perfection can be a sterile place.  Part of the reason I have quit shooting digital for the time being is that it feeds the risk-averse perfectionist control-freak streak in my nature.  I can fuss with everything both with instant review and then with post-production until I’ve eliminated every possible mistake... and I leave myself with stale, sad, lifeless heaps of pixels.  I sacrifice spontaneity to the photo gods with a prayer that no one notices a blown highlight.  Shooting eccentric film cameras forces me to let go just a little bit more.

“...what is that makes your style?  It’s the things that you fuck up as much as the things that you do well, so half your style is stupid mistakes that you consistently make.” 

-David Fincher

As a general rule, only those committed to their vision achieve greatness.  We all laud the great artists who defied the critics, stuck to their guns, and achieved immortality.  However, for every artistic genius who ignored conventional wisdom and turned technique on its head, there have always been a lot of practitioners with delusions of grandeur, willfully oblivious to their own mediocrity.  

The perennial question of “daring to be great” doesn’t really describe the true tradeoffs involved in the kind of risk-taking that makes greatness possible.  The alternative to greatness is often presumed to be languishing in mediocrity, but in reality the choice may be between being pretty decent (albeit never great) and chasing a white whale of greatness most of us are never capable of achieving.

Some have suggested the secret is in timing: as we learn and develop as artists we graduate from reliance on the more experienced judgment of others to being capable of realizing our own vision and making our own choices.  This may be so, but if it is the transition line is impossibly obscure: when am I ready to strike out and carve my own path?

Obviously, I don’t have any brilliant insight for you regarding the path to greatness, or I would have achieved it a long time ago.  What I can tell you is I’m trying quite hard right now to begin to trust my own vision more, even if it means that sometimes I’m wrong about my work.  No matter how much the critics of the world love to play “gotcha,” I’m going to continue to strive for more in my work than images that aren’t wrong.

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Product Review: ClearSight USA Hasselblad to Arca Foot Adapter

Today I want to take a moment and give a quick shout out to one of my favorite camera mods that is tucked away in a hidden corner of the internet: the ClearSight USA Hasselblad to Arca Foot Adapter.  

Some of you may not be aware that your 500 series Hasselblad camera actually has a built-in quick release on the bottom.  The problem is that its specific to Hasselblad, and few people still use the quick releases made for that plate.  What most people wind up doing is putting a removable plate on top of the Hasselblad QR plate, which winds up being both uncomfortable in the hands and adding bulk to the camera.  

After scouring the internet, I found this company manufacturing a replacement for the stock plate.  Its not really any more bulky than the stock plate, its smooth and comfortable to hold, and it works perfectly with my RRS BH40.  Its an elegant, comfortable solution to a minor but annoying problem.  For whatever reason I never see anyone write about this product and its hidden on the website of a company that makes lens cleaning fluid, so folks are unlikely to find it. 

The product itself is nicely made with comfortable smooth edges and good finish.  The one pictured has been used for a year or two with no significant blemishes.  All in all I recommend you consider this product if you're using a Hasselblad and use Arca-compatible tripod mounts such as the ones on Really Right Stuff, Markins, or Kirk ballheads.

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Product Review: ClearSight USA Hasselblad to Arca Foot Adapter

Today I want to take a moment and give a quick shout out to one of my favorite camera mods that is tucked away in a hidden corner of the internet: the ClearSight USA Hasselblad to Arca Foot Adapter.  

Some of you may not be aware that your 500 series Hasselblad camera actually has a built-in quick release on the bottom.  The problem is that its specific to Hasselblad, and few people still use the quick releases made for that plate.  What most people wind up doing is putting a removable plate on top of the Hasselblad QR plate, which winds up being both uncomfortable in the hands and adding bulk to the camera.  

After scouring the internet, I found this company manufacturing a replacement for the stock plate.  Its not really any more bulky than the stock plate, its smooth and comfortable to hold, and it works perfectly with my RRS BH40.  Its an elegant, comfortable solution to a minor but annoying problem.  For whatever reason I never see anyone write about this product and its hidden on the website of a company that makes lens cleaning fluid, so folks are unlikely to find it. 

[evanbainesphoto]

Product Review: ClearSight USA Hasselblad to Arca Foot Adapter

Today I want to take a moment and give a quick shout out to one of my favorite camera mods that is tucked away in a hidden corner of the internet: the ClearSight USA Hasselblad to Arca Foot Adapter.  

Some of you may not be aware that your 500 series Hasselblad camera actually has a built-in quick release on the bottom.  The problem is that its specific to Hasselblad, and few people still use the quick releases made for that plate.  What most people wind up doing is putting a removable plate on top of the Hasselblad QR plate, which winds up being both uncomfortable in the hands and adding bulk to the camera.  

After scouring the internet, I found this company manufacturing a replacement for the stock plate.  Its not really any more bulky than the stock plate, its smooth and comfortable to hold, and it works perfectly with my RRS BH40.  Its an elegant, comfortable solution to a minor but annoying problem.  For whatever reason I never see anyone write about this product and its hidden on the website of a company that makes lens cleaning fluid, so folks are unlikely to find it. 

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Why Photography

For me, the question of “why photography” is inextricably linked to the question of what makes a photograph good.  Part of the allure of photography to me is the challenge of making good images, and the effort to learn what that actually means.  

In the grand scheme of art, photography is easy and fast.  The technical challenges of photography pale in comparison to the skill, time, and effort required merely to produce an acceptable likeness in paint or clay.  Though photographs may be beautiful, paintings and other imaginative arts have fewer limitations on pure aesthetic pursuit.  Therefore if a photograph or body of photographs is to have merit, that merit is unlikely to rest purely on craftsmanship or aesthetic value.  

For many years it has been my position that a central quality of good photography is an interesting and well-articulated perspective.  To quote Ansel Adams: “the only thing that matters in photography is where you stand.”  Photography is at its core an exercise in editing the world and offering a viewer the chance to see from an angle the photographer selects.  The photographer chooses “this moment, not that one,” “this angle, not that one,” and “I’ll include this, but not that.”  Photographs, especially in aggregate, offer a visual means of articulating one’s worldview.  

Under this philosophy, photographic technique becomes a tool in furthering the perspective of the photographer, and artistic decisions are made in the manner a writer selects a particular synonym or punctuation.  The problem with reducing the merits of photography to its effectiveness at communicating perspective became apparent to me when I was discussing a portrait of a controversial figure with a friend recently.  While the specific portrait is not important, we agreed that the effectiveness of the portrait was attested to by the fact that both those who loved and loathed the subject thought the image fantastic, although for opposing reasons.  Each side saw in the image the qualities that informed their opinion on the subject, positive or negative.  

It occurred to me at that time that in photography as with many other art forms, the works that are most beloved and most lasting have an element of a Rorschach test in them.  We love La Jaconde because we may interpret her smile according to our own context and mood.  Hamlet endures because of its plasticity: each generation, reader, or audience member understands it through the prism of a unique, contemporary, personal context.  And while few would interpret Marilyn Monroe’s expression in her famous Avedon portrait as happy, our specific reading of her expression is also based upon our knowledge of her subsequent story and upon our own temperament.  While Minor White once said that “all photographs are self-portraits,” one could also argue that every viewer experiences every portrait as a mirror at least as much as a window.

If it is true, however, that a photograph may be more successful if it leaves room for interpretation, this may undermine my earlier supposition that success in photography means clear articulation of a perspective.  If a photographer expresses a perspective with enough clarity and precision, this may leave the viewer with less room to insert their own thoughts and feelings into the image.  So a caveat might be required that a photographer must simultaneously offer his viewers an interesting perspective and leave them room to inhabit it.  A complex interplay between the perspective of the photographer and viewer is requisite for success in photography: a photographer who disregards the latter is simply shouting in a vacuum.

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Colonel H

Thanks to PhotoVision for getting the scans done so quickly!  

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Childs Recreation Area, PA Rolleiflex 3.5F, Portra 160

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Hope Y'All Are Staying Warm

In honor of the snowy weather here in DC.

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Throwback Thursday: Hermitage Cafe, Nashville

Another entry in my How We Eat series that I've gone back to square one, re-cropped, and re-processed.  I think brining it in from the top left helps to balance the frame more, and also to make the Nashville skyline more pronounced.  

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Anant

I'm very pleased with how this portrait of my friend Anant came out.