MF #6: Solar Pigeons

The last couple of weeks have been interesting. Shiff taught us a new darkroom technique called solarization. Basically, while a print is developing, you flash it with a bright light so that it all the whites are replaced by gray blobs. This is called the Sabatier Effect, and it's way good. Above is a solarized version of a photo of a group of pigeons hiding behind some kind of bush or something. It's really dark because this I actually flashed this print for twice the normal amount of time so that I could use it as a paper negative for the print below. You can still see a little bit of blobbiness, but not as much as you normally would.


This is a reversal of the solarization. When you reverse a solarization, it creates an extremely dramatic, almost pure black-and-white effect. Shiff says that this one is among the best she has ever seen, which is a little flattering.

This is a reversal of the first reversal. It eliminates even more gray, leaving a print that basically looks like a black-and-white pen-and-ink. This one looks a lot cooler in person than it does online, trust me. Shiff said this one was pushing it a little, but I still think it's awesome.

f-5.6, 1/125 sec

MF #6: Monkey Love

Okay, let me start off by saying that these are baboons, not monkeys. Let me also say that I do know the difference between a baboon and a monkey. That said, the name just fit.

I really enjoyed shooting the Animals roll, more than any other roll I've shot so far. About a month ago, I drove down to Phoenix and spent a couple of days at the Phoenix Zoo. I got a ton of really good photos, although only a few actually came out as I had planned (one photo was a group of giraffes in a perfect line that were supposed to take up most of the space in the shot but ended up microscopic).

I took this photo on Day 2, right after the baboons' feeding time that morning. I saw these two sitting next to each other quite lovingly and thought, "Eh, V-Day's coming up, why not?" It ended up becoming one of my best photos yet.

f-8, 1/60 sec

MF #1: Hidden Walking Bridge, Now With PHLAIR™!!!

The first assignment of the 2nd semester was to make a textured print, and the bridge was the first thing that came to my mind. I decided to use a canvas texture to give it an antiquated/painting-ey feeling.

And no, this is not the print I turned in. The one I turned in had roughly the same values as the original bridge print. Shiff decided to keep the one I turned in in a collection of sorts, so that's why I wasn't able to upload it.

f-5.6, 1/1400 sec, 45 mm

Heeeeeeeeee's Baaaaaaaaaaaaack

Like you care. Anyways, it's been a weird day. I've had the theme song from the Mary Tyler Moore show stuck in my head all day, and I decided to start updating my phlog again. To start off, here's the entire 1st semester of photos from Shiff's class, in no particular order, because I don't feel like making a post for each individual one:

MF #1: Hidden Walking Bridge

Another one taken at Embry-Riddle. I was going for a kind of "Here It Is" kind of thing with the trees surrounding the bridge, but Shiff said that this photo had a nice use of "symmetrical balance". Whatever works, I guess. Unfortunately, this print was also messed up by a (different) dirty enlarger lens, as you can see by the hair toward the bottom.

f-5.6, 1/1400 sec

Shiffer's grade: 49/50

MF #1: Arches

This is the side of a building (I think it's one of the aircraft design buildings or something) at Embry-Riddle University. I was trying to balance the arches to the right with the windows to the left, but as you can see the whole thing was turned to crap by a dirty enlarger lens. I cleaned the lens after I saw the white spots toward the top of this print, but for some reason the second print came out too dark, and it was too late to try again.

f-4, 1/350 sec

Shiffer's grade: 48/50

How I Ride

If you're reading this particular post, chances are you have no interest in photography; if so, poop on you. This is a photography blog, you numbskull--go read a real blog if you want some substantive writing.

Anyways, backstory. My name is Tyler O'neil Mulholland, and I am a senior at Prescott High School in Prescott, Arizona. I am currently taking a black-and-white photography class, and it totally rocks my socks. I've created this blog because I (for whatever reason) want my photos to reach out beyond Ms. Shiffer's desk. If you have anything at all to say about my photos, say it. Trust me, you won't hurt my feelings. I acknowledge that I may in fact suck big time at photography--and life--which is exactly why I am taking a photography class.

This is probably going to be a weekly blog. I'll post every print that gets graded by Shiffer, and maybe a few others that I liked, and since Monday Film only comes around once every other week, that's not going to be very often. Don't worry, there are many other good photo blogs out there that you can visit while you are waiting for my next posting. Otherwise, leave your computer for a little while and get a life.