Polaroids + Large Format + 35mm

December 29, 2021

I have kinda been failing at this blog for the last couple of years (wonder if there’s…. something happening in the world that’s stifling creativity lately? Hmm…) so I figured might as well sneak in one last post into 2021. A brief shoot with Paloma on everything from tiny 35mm up to 4x5 and a couple of my earliest 8x10 portraits.

Definitely one of my favorites was almost one of the first photos of the day. Trying to get into the flow and just being goofy with posing hands and we landed on this funky pretzel arm pose and combined with the expired Polaroid 669 film, it really hits hard.

Then came the big boys. Recently borrowed a gorgeous 8x10 Chamonix large format camera from a friend and have been trying to put it to work while I have it. So a couple shots with Paloma seemed appropriate. Once I landed on a pose with 35mm, I grabbed the 8x10 and pulled off the shot below. Nothing like seeing a sheet of film bigger than your face in the darkroom.

And popped of another Polaroid of the red dress with some very bizarre Polaroid Type 79 film that came out beautifully. The colors do not disappoint. Experimented with the generally unusable negative as well. Had to cover myself with a BW shot which is at the top of the post which I really love as well.

Grabbed one last shot in the red dress with my new Lomography LomoGraflok back for large format cameras. Nice to shoot a cheaper instant film like Instax in a good camera.

Then switched up the outfit a bit and added some lace to the mix.

And again, loving the back shot, played with a variation of that for the second 8x10 shot and after messing around with the hair and buttons a bit, landed on something I loved.

Figured we could move from the studio setup and shoot around my living room with my 1940s large format camera and more Polaroids/35mm.

A few last Polaroids and look changes before the end of the shoot.

Yet one of my other favorites from the shoot was the last. A messy hair shot that came out like someone living in a foggy dream. One on expired Type 59 film (my favorite) and a test on the Lomo back.

A good shoot to cap off my 2021 year. Always shooting. Always improving. Always experimenting.

And shout out to Paloma of Crawford Models who killed it on this shoot and not only put up with the weird cameras but was itching to get her 35mm camera back in action in 2022.

Cameras used:

Chamonix 8x10 with 240mm f5.6 // Arista 400 BW 8x10 film

Speed Graphic with Zeiss Tessar 165mm f3.5 and Fujinon 210mm f5.6 // Arista 400 BW 4x5 film / LomoGraflok with Instax Wide / Expired Polaroid Type 59/79

Graflex Super D with Zeiss Tessar 150mm f3.5 // Arista 400 BW 4x5 film / Expired Polaroid 669

Polaroid 195 // Polaroid 669

Nikon S2 // Arista 400 BW 35mm film

Matty Marz - "Nu Eyes" // 16mm + MiniDV + Polaroids + 35mm

May 30, 2021

A long overdue blog post! I recently released a new music video in collaboration with Halla Creative for the musician, Matty Marz! And in the midst of a pandemic no less.

I first met Matty when I shot some portraits for him last December, my first indoor shoot since the beginning of the pandemic but was totally worth it. My wife Halla (of Halla Creative) and I were masked up and ready to shoot when Matty came over and we just went off on that shoot. Matty told us he was planning a music video for his upcoming single “Nu Eyes” and wanted us on the project to shoot it on film! So check out the full video below for all the punk-pop vibes you’ve been needing in your life this year!

This video was directed by Matty and assistant directed by Halla Creative and was a wild one because not only was it still a pandemic, but it would be shot in an empty gymnasium out on Long Island on 3 different formats. 16mm film. MiniDV tape and a modern digital camera. So we were spanning nearly 70 years of cinema filmmaking. And to top it off, a few Polaroids, expired and new with some 35mm tossed in there. And brought on my buddy, Jason Bullok, as digital camera op to help make this video shine.

The song was about leaving childhood baggage and having a glow-up so we figured that some school portrait-type Polaroids were in order because why not! And also shot some other 35mm stills throughout the shoot on including a few on some particularly rad rainbow film from BKIFI.

That’s it!

Director: Matty Marz

Assistant Director: Stephanie Haller of Halla Creative

DP: Nick Collingwood

Camera Operator: Jason Bullok

PA: Kyle Foxworth

HMU: Veli

Shot on Kodak Vision3 500T 16mm film

Processing by Kodak NYC

Bolex rental and 16mm scans provided by Mono No Aware

MiniDV camera provided by my mom

Nikon FM2 with Vision3 500T from Mono No Aware and rainbow film by BKIFI Film

An Italian August in Sperlonga // Super 8 + 120 + 35mm + Polaroids

August 18, 2020

It’s hard to remember now but there used to be a time that one could travel and it was rather lovely. Last year around this time I had the chance to travel with some friends to their family’s vacation home in Sperlonga, Italy and I couldn’t pass that up! It was a brief but relaxing trip just hanging out in this small beach town halfway between Rome and Naples. A bit different than American beach towns and I am for it!

I did, of course, have to bring some cameras and, if ya know me at all, it wasn’t just one. I did manage to fit them into a small shoulder sling though so it wasn’t too bad. A small Super 8 camera with Ektachrome, a friend’s TLR medium format camera, a little 35mm compact and my favorite Polaroid camera with some expired film.

(Click any images for full size)

Had some fun with the Super 8 throughout the week and mainly just chose to shoot little Italian scenes and then the occasional wild boat ride. I hand processed the film at Mono No Aware in Brooklyn, a great little non-profit I help with sometimes. Also shooting medium format while traveling was different. Given the slow pace and fewer exposures, the photos weren’t quick snapshots but I think the results were worth it.

We didn’t do much, which was a change of pace for Stephanie and I but we quickly adapted and enjoyed it. Italian life is totally foreign (for lack of a more fitting term) to us Americans. The streets were empty before 10am (which now makes the photos give off erie COVID era vibes) and an early afternoon coffee break was the norm. Not much of a coffee drinker myself but didn’t mind the pace of life. Nightlife even for kids continued pretty late in the streets which explained the deserted mornings.

Our friend’s family home was quite vertical and narrow but so quaint and had an incredible rooftop view of the town, especially at sunset. Many evenings were spent drinking wine and have some fresh mozzarella there. I miss it!

We rented a small motor boat a couple of the days for some brief excursions to small coves and even a little island for lunch and wine. Just getting off of the land and looking back at the cute little town was amazing. Things may have gotten a bit rowdy on the boat as we sped around. Not going to lie. And we did run out of gas at one point on the water which was a bit awkward but we survived. We also made a brief stop in Naples to see the city of Pompeii which was pretty amazing and of course for some fantastic pizza and a speeding ticket as well. What can ya do!

These days, such a trip seems like such a fairy tale, and even then it was. Looking forward to more goofy and relaxing travels with friends in the future when we all can travel again! Until then, still lifes with my plants will have to do. I’ll leave ya with a portrait of Stephanie and I on the TLR courtesy of my friend, Alex.

And for the film nerds reading… the specifics of my little film travel kit are

Medium format - Mamiya C330 (Lomography CN100. Lomography F2 400, Kodak Ektachrome 100 expired, Fuji Pro400H)
35mm - Olympus Infinity Stylus (Kodak ProImage 100, Kodak Ektar 100, Kodak Tri-X)
Super 8 - Canon 514XL (Kodak Ektachrome 7285 expired)
Polaroid - Polaroid 110B modified (Polaroid 669 expired, Polaroid 689 expired)

Demi Ramos - Polaroid 59 expired 4x5 film- 01.jpg

"How to Wear a Jean Jacket" with Demi Ramos // Super 8 + Polaroids + 35mm

May 30, 2020

Before the pandemic really locked down NYC, I was shooting portraits as a creative outlet and mixing various cameras and formats. I chatted with Demi who was playing a concert with another musician I’d worked with and we met up for a quick shoot back in February.

I shot just a bit of expired Super 8 film that day and edited it down into a little fashion film featuring a taste of Demi’s personality while rocking a vintage jean jacket of mine.

Also shot some large format, Polaroids and 35mm and played around with putting together a wardrobe of sorts, which led to this retro set. I didn’t get a chance to get most of this film processed before the quarantine so I finally figured out how to process it at home myself and loved the results!

When all this dust settles in NYC, I’ll definitely hit up one of her shows because I know Demi goes hard!

Demi 35mm contact sheet fujifilm - 10.jpg

Lexi Todd - "Madonna" // 16mm + 120 + Polaroids

October 29, 2019

Excited to share the single artwork and music video along with some press images for Lexi Todd’s newest single, “Madonna”. Lexi is a local Brooklyn musician who has a very soulful yet pop sound and I was beyond thrilled to work with her. Halla Creative did all of the concepting and design for both the single artwork as well as the music video.

The single was very much about being your own queen and ditching to the status quo, which is where the name “Madonna” came from with her genre-defining and defying music and performances. So with that in mind, Halla Creative and I set out to create a concept that would mesh both Lexi’s vintage-y, soulful sound with strong “queen”-type imagery. Stephanie Haller of Halla Creative also directed the music video.

The art for her single artwork, promo materials as well as the music video were shot on a variety of film formats including Polaroids, 16mm, 120 and 35mm. We also had shot some additional photos for press, socials, etc and were really in love with the results.

With the music video, we wanted the vibe to match the single artwork in the vintage vibe and powerful, straight-on posing. Shot on expired 16mm Kodak film with a Bolex H16, the look blended beautifully meshed with Lexi’s aesthetics. You can watch the music video below.