christian harkness

Defocused

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:29:39 GMT

One of the 'photography things' that has always fascinated me, but that I have never really pursued much, is how photos look when they are out of focus. With film cameras there are a couple of ways of doing this. One can throw the subject out of focus when taking the picture, or one can change/ blur the focus when enlarging the negative. Given the same subject, the outcomes are different, and so it is with digital cameras.
An image that is defocused [thrown out of focus] while taking the picture will look totally different than one that is in focus to start with but then blurred in Photoshop.
Of course, blurring the image in the camera limits what can eventually be done with it. It can never be sharp and in focus again. Well, at present it can't. Sometime in the not too distant future there will be image manipulation software that can accomplish that too.
My digital Canon G10 let's me use manual focus and thus I am able to easily throw things out of focus when taking the picture. Here is an example of this.
I am becoming quite fascinated and attached to this way of seeing and photographing things - stay tuned & thanks for reading!

"I'm afraid it means leaving you..."

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:25:28 GMT

"...a moment of doubt."

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:16:39 GMT

I have not worked with words on photographs in a long time. Usually when I do it, I get a so/so feedback to the effect that the words in the image mess up the photo. However, when I go back to them after they have been filed away for some time, I still like them. Usually what I do, as I did in this case, is randomly open a book that is laying on my desk and scan the page to see if I can find a phrase that I think applies.

Fire Ants

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:24:25 GMT

Tuesday I took down the work I had on display at the ‘Fire Ants Gallery”. The gallery is tucked away in the far corner of Tallahassee’s funky art quarter better known as ‘Railroad Square.’ Jonathan Markham runs the gallery and he invited me to show some of my work. The high point was the opening night which was on September’s ‘First Friday.’ There was a good crowd at the square and many of them came through Jonathan’s gallery, although it is so tucked away in a corner, that – with vans parked in front of it, it is hardly visible.

Taking down the work was actually pleasurable since the show had looked good. Alexandria had done a fantastic job of hanging it, and I had some of my favorite pieces up. In November I will probably be able to hang a few of my photos again. Looking forward to it. In the meantime, some of the work is going to go to Cedar Key, where a bunch of us have our work up in the dining room of the historic Island Hotel.

"Untitled"

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:05:26 GMT

Windows & Mirror

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:58:30 GMT

Portraits

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:05:59 GMT

Great Street Portrait Video from Wired

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 14:30:11 GMT

The "Suwannee Dawn" project......

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:02:30 GMT

This is a 'work-in-progress' and I am adding work, and changing things around as I am working. So, stay tuned.

"Suwanee Dawn - Bodice Rippers"

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:54:30 GMT

Recently I had a great photo session with my friend "Suwanee Dawn." Going over the photos later, I realized that some of them would look great as cover illustration on Romance novels. So, I went to the library and got several well thumbed copies, and just started on transforming them, using images from the photo session. So, here is my first go at my new "Suwanee Dawn - Bodice Ripper" portfolio.

"Suwannee Dawn & The Tarnished Mirror"

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:43:17 GMT

v2 Pecha Kucha Night - Tallahassee

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:21:43 GMT

Poster by Jessica

Portraits with MB - slideshow

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 22:57:56 GMT

Printing on Gold & Silver Leaf

Tue, 05 May 2009 19:57:25 GMT

Here are three more digital prints on gold and silver leaf. Photographing these so they truly reproduce the way the prints look, is something I have not been able to pull off. These are fairly close, but I feel they still look much better and interesting in ‘real life.’
They are all on 13×20 inch watercolor paper, with the metal leaf adhered to a ground of acrylic paint.

The top one is from a Holga panorama, the bottom left one from a 35 mm black and white negative, and the gold leaf one from three merged digital layers.

"The Dream"

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 18:09:28 GMT

Cedar Key Claming Boats

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:16:47 GMT

The is a panorama from three Holga negatives shot on expired Ilford XP2.The view is of some claming boats tied up at a clam processing/shipping business. I think it is called "Southern Cross" but I am not so sure - need to check that out. Despite the 'vintage' look, I just took these photographs.

"The Vortex"

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:53:24 GMT

A link to my new book:

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 01:40:03 GMT

19/98

By christian harkness

Book Preview

“In the Doorway” -- Zero 2000 - pinhole

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 01:26:12 GMT

The things I really enjoy about my Zero 2000 pinhole camera is that it uses 120 film, let's me make double exposures, and if I have a light meter handy, calculate the proper exposure time, although applying it depends on my ability to estimate seconds, or fractions of seconds in my head. And of course, I have to be able to to move my hand quickly enough to get it out of the way of the pinhole, and correctly manipulate the shutter. However, whenever I get image like this one, all that seems worthwhile.

My "19/98" Blurb Book

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:16:37 GMT

I am working full speed on my 19/98 book - so that I can get it out before Christmas. Right now I am still processing photos from our last trip, and inserting them into the Blurb Booksmart software. I am a little overwhelmed by all the color and all the images. As soon as I process and load all of them, I am going to have to print out a working copy and have Alexandria tackle the job of laying them out. Here is one ‘draft’ spread. It may not survive final editing, but I love posting the work-in-progress layouts of the book.

Diana in b&w and color

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:41:28 GMT

Black & white negative scanned as color neg. 2000/08

"Mermaid Smoke"

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 13:04:38 GMT

Film negatives & digital

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:59:04 GMT

In my working with digital and film I have come to greatly appreciate my system of filing negatives with the contact sheets. It makes it so great to look over past work, and reevaluate negatives. Every time I look at them, I bring something new to them. Having worked out some digital workflows that add interest to negatives that I previously found lacking in some respect, makes for great joy and wonderful surprises. I still firmly believe that one has to start with a good image, in order to end up with a good image. However, the digital process has opened many new avenues of approach for me that I greatly enjoy.

Work-in-Progress: 19/98

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:50:35 GMT

The drive from Cedar Key to Tallahassee, FL is about 150 miles, and mostly on a four lane, divided highway which has several number designation. A good portion of it is highways 19 and 98, so I simply refer to the entire stretch as ‘1998’. The part I drive is through rural counties which still look much like they did thirty or so years ago, with loads of interesting and funky buildings and places. For years I have said to myself that I needed to take my twin lens reflex and a tripod and start photographing the sights along the way.

Last week I finally concluded I would never get around to doing that, and if I still want some images of that part of rural Florida, I just needed to go ahead and photograph as I was driving or riding that road. So here are some of the ‘work-in-progress’ photos of my ‘Florida 1998’ project.

WaterWoman @ the Jiffy

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:42:09 GMT

We have a couple of Jiffy convenience stores in Cedar Key. This is the 'new' Jiffy - although it is about thirty years old. However this distinguishes it form the 'old' Jiffy downtown, next to the Post Office. This is the only place in town where one can get gas. To me it is one of the pictorial hubs of Cedar Key. Across the street is an old fish house, and to either side of the Jiffy is water. The local fishermen and clam farmers hang out here to get their gas, coffee, soft drinks, cigarettes, and stuff like that.

Below is Diana, one of the WaterWomen, inside the Jiffy with one of her sons on her hip.