Darkroom Woodshed, or How VSCO Beats the Film Companies At Their Own Game

VSCO Film recently released their newest set of film emulation presets, a lovely set of slide film reproductions that model classic Fuji, Agfa, and Kodak positive film.

And while the digital version of those classic films doesn’t exactly mimick the original, it’s enough to feed into the back-to-our-roots photographic trends that Instagram, Hipstamatic, and VSCO itself kick-started. Pros, amateurs, iPhoneographers – a lot of us are using film-style presets these days.

That got me thinking: why does it take a company like VSCO to come out with these film simulations? Why the hell didn’t Fuji, Kodak, and Ilford – with their diminishing film stocks and questionable financial future – come out with this kind of product?

Why leave it to a digital competitor to develop a copy of your signature films?

No, VSCO-style simulations won’t keep New York cities humming with manufacturing, but they could’ve helped film companies ease into the digital realm.

I take it that Fuji is doing okay with its new X-Series cameras. They’re supplementing their film business with a great series of cameras – cameras that, yes, are simulating Fuji films like Velvia and Astia.

But Ilford? Kodak? Agfa? How are they doing in this modern photographic age? Are they comfortable with staying a hyper-niche product for hobbyists and the declining number of professional photographers who still use film?

Why not say, “Hey, no one knows our film better than we do. We’ll help photographers simulate our classic films with a set of presets that we can sell for real money.”

It used to be that film stock, with quality glass, was how you achieved a certain look. Velvia was different from Portra was different from Polaroid. Now, in the digital age, it’s a combination of camera, software, lens, and (for those who use them) presets.

For film companies, their role in that process should be in the software/presets realm.

“Great photo!” an imaginary film company representative says. “Now make it look how you want it to look with our specially-engineered family of film simulations.”

Instead, companies like VSCO swoop in with the right mixture of finesse and quality and eat the film companies’ lunch. They also offer options for today’s photo enthusiast: desktop and mobile software.

Kodak? Their mobile app offerings look like a messy discount aisle in a dimly-lit drug store: nothing but apps for purchasing film(!) and printing photos (that last one is pretty handy – at least they’re encouraging people to keep printing photos).
Fuji film Velvia
Fuji is at least doing a bit better in this space. But still. Why keep those X-Series film simulation modes exclusive on the cameras? Why not make a few bucks selling a mobile camera app with those simulations, and beat VSCO at its own game?

I love Camera Noir and Hueless for my iPhone. But where is the Ilford app?

Don’t get me wrong. There are tons of photo filter apps – more than one could ever want or use. But shouldn’t the film companies be in this space and doing it better than anyone? Shouldn’t they have been here first, for crying out loud?

Developing software and apps doesn’t replace the film business. I get that. But what else are the film companies going to do? Wait it out like some passing phase?

When the world switches, you switch with it. As it stands, disrupting upstarts like VSCO are taking the film companies out to the darkroom woodshed.

(Photos courtesy Bryan Costin, with my “VSCO” addition, and Kevin Dooley on Flickr)


8/4/13 – Red to Black

8/4/13 - Red to Black

Early- to mid-June is raspberry season in Michigan. Everyone knows that.

But I didn’t know that blackberries ripen in late July. And there they were. Smaller than the kind you usually buy in the store, and not quite as sweet. Finding a bush full of free ones, though, was all right.

My grandmother’s house growing up had one of every kind of berry: red, white, and black raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and grapes. Diving into the pricker bushes was so worth it, just to get at those suckers.


8/3/13 – First Big Crop

8/3/13 - First Big Crop

It took a while, but this year’s garden crop is finally starting to produce.

The plentiful rain, the sunshine – a totally different than the hot and dry weather we had last year here in Michigan.

Tomatoes, squash, green beans, zucchini. All the usuals. This year’s new edition is cucumbers. I’m not a huge fan, but it’s fun to grow something new.

Nice to see my vegetable budget pretty much disappear during these months, too.


8/2/13 – Waiting for Action

8/2/13 - Waiting for Action

I pass almost nothing but farmland on the way into work. Vast soybean and corn fields.

Not sure exactly what this machine does, but it looks like it’s waiting for something.

Really, I liked the colors of this scene on my way into work Friday morning. Stop in the middle of the road, check behind me for approaching cars, snap the photo, and drive on.

Bingo.


8/1/13 – Driveway Grass

8/1/13 - Driveway Grass

Today’s photo was a quick one – I hadn’t pulled out of the driveway for my morning commute when I saw the sun reflecting (as it so often does) on my front lawn grass.

There are lots of pretty views on my way into work each morning. Usually the sun is rising over some mist-covered field, or the sky is painted with dawn colors. It’s one of my favorite parts of the day, my morning drive.

It’s getting to that time of year where the sun wakes up a little later each day, so by September the mornings will be perfect. Just perfect.


7/30/13 – Tagged

Sure, the big stuff in Detroit is great. The bridges, the Renaissance Center, the athletic fields, the Fox Theatre.

But so is the stuff in the alleyways between those great monuments. Everything is tagged. Right down to the dumpsters.

There’s not a surface that doesn’t have spray paint on it: from billboards to the stands that hold them.


‘On Taking Pictures’ Project

OTP Project

This Friday, I started the photo-a-day challenge from the guys at On Taking Pictures.

One photo. Each day. For at least a month.

This shot, from Woodward Ave in Detroit, isn’t the first. But it’s the first one I’ll share, along with some catch up from this weekend.

I’m in Detroit for some Google Adwords training, and spent my time after the seminar to do a little photo walk around downtown – something I’ve been meaning to for ages. And with the unseasonably cool temperatures here in Michigan this week, it made for a nice walk.

On the project: Taking a photo every day shouldn’t be too hard for me, usually. Usually I have my iPhone on-hand to grab an Instagram shot while I’m out and about.

What will be hard is taking some time and putting some thought into each shot. If I grab a bunch of photos, like I did tonight, which one will I share? What will I do if I’m not somewhere fun like Detroit?

The way I see it, this project will give me a perfect chance to play with my newest toy: the fire-sale’d Canon EOS M (only wish they hadn’t discontinued the white model!) with the 22mm f/2 lens. So far, so good, as you can see above.

It’ll also give me an opportunity to flex some creative photography muscles. Maybe try some different things.

When I get a chance, I’ll also share the photos on Google+ – and to the OTP Community.

Here goes nothin’.


7/28/13 – Slant of Light

Certain Slant of Light

I’ll say this about my photography hobby: it’s taught me to see the light.

Not just see it. See It.

I’m lucky in that, around my house, the light hits the main rooms in a lovely way, morning and sundown. The front and back yards, too. Just gorgeous light comes pouring in during sunrise and sunset. It doesn’t matter the season either. The Light is there.


Nostalgia, Ink: Going Out of Business

Nostaligia, Ink: Going Out of Business

I remember first walking into Nostalgia, Ink. at 10 years old and feeling like I was discovering a whole new world.

Up to then, collecting comics was a catch-as-catch-can operation. I’d find a few titles at book stores, or at the pharmacy, and once in a while I’d see a classified ad of someone selling their collection.

But a whole store? Devoted to comics? Heaven.

Nostaligia, Ink: Going Out of Business

From that time on, I’ve had an on-again, off-again comic habit. In the early days, I’d bike down West Washington Ave. in Jackson by myself once a month to get the latest issues. As an adult, I’d drive to the shop on Wednesdays to get the newest editions.

Then the editors of Amazing Spider-Man would piss me off with their latest bad idea, and I’d quit buying for a year or two. A habit’s a habit, however, and I’d always make my way back.

Nostaligia, Ink: Going Out of Business

So a month ago I get my usual Superior Spider-Man and Uncanny X-Men issues, and I notice a flyer on the counter: Leonard’s going out of business. He’s retiring.

I nearly cried.

I’ve been coming here since I was a kid. Through the comic bubble of the early ‘90s, through a Magic: The Gathering card collection, and now into adulthood.

Nostalgia, Ink: Going Out of Business

Not for long.

Until Labor Day, everything’s on sale at increasingly-discounted rates. Back issues, books, everything.

Leonard says it’s time to retire. He’s been looking for a buyer, for a way out after almost 30 years. No one (as of yet) has come forward to take the business over. But there are a few things in the works.

For now, he wants to unload everything. Clear out the inventory.

Nostaligia, Ink: Going Out of Business

And what an inventory. Miles and miles of long boxes. Bagged and boarded. Organized, roughly.

Not just comics, either. If you were into D&D, or Magic, or – hell – old issues of Playboy, Nostalgia was your place. Toys, shirts, posters, cards. Everything.

Hunting for the thing you wanted was half the fun. If Leonard didn’t have it, he could order it.

Nostaligia, Ink: Going Out of Business

Lots of good memories in this place. Maybe someone will swoop in and help spirit Leonard away to retirement properly. Until then, we’ll help him clear out that inventory.

Nostaligia, Ink: Going Out of Business

All the best, Leonard.

– – – –

View the full set on Flickr.

Read MLive’s coverage of the store’s closing.

(All color images edited with VSCO Film. Photos created with a rented Fuji X100. Many thanks to Leonard for allowing me all-access to the store.)


June

Chicago: Daisies

June
Came upon us much too soon
Then was gone
Gone
Like the mountains of the moon
At dawn

Then the sun came up on a sleepy day
And never went down at night
And the crowd kept on singin’ “Waste Away”
but it just didn’t feel right
And the prince and the drummer and the fire girls
Couldn’t get our guitars in tune
And I knew it was over when the sound man said
“I wish we were still in June”

Spock’s Beard – “June”


Ah, Summer

Ah, summer

Ah, summer.

It’s only summer, especially in Michigan, that you can take a group of co-workers, head out onto the college quad, and have an impromptu grill out.

And take pictures of co-workers’ bare feet in the grass.

I use a camera in a lot of my work social situations. It’s an easy way to get some practice in, and it seems my co-workers appreciate some of the shots. Especially when kids are involved.

At work, I’m “the camera guy.” So much so that I’ll purposefully leave the camera behind just so it doesn’t become an expectation.

“Where’s your camera, Dave?”

“Not here.”

But beautiful sunny days in May? Count on me.


A series of Instagram shots posted over the last few days, called “Cloud Atlas.”

It’s amazing what can happen when (a) the weather rolls in just right and (b) luck and timing line up for photo opportunities like this.

I created each image using the fabulous new Mextures app, which I’m really excited about – especially with landscape stuff, and running them through VSCO Cam.

The world of mobile photography is exciting, especially lately.


Things I Like: Wooden Buddha

Things I Like: Buddha

My little wooden Buddha has the best spot in the house, in terms of keeping an eye on me. He rests right above my TV, facing the couch, in the living room.

And it’s a good thing, too, because I trust his insight.

Or my insight, as it were. Because my little wooden Buddha reminds me to develop that insight through an on-again, off-again meditation practice I’ve tried to keep up with since 2006.

When I am practicing, I find it helpful. I can relax, concentrate, and unspool the tangled wires in my mind. But finding the time, as with anything, is hard. And even when I think I’m starting the habit again, it doesn’t take long for me to fall out of practice.

I often share the National Geographic story that helped me tinker with meditation as a way of life. I figured, if a Buddhist monk was, on paper, the happiest person alive because of meditation, surely it’s worth a try.

There’s also something about a philosophy/religion that tackles attachment and confronts desires that appealed to me. It still does.

So my little wooden Buddha sits up there, eyes closed, palm in palm, waiting for me to sit my butt on a cushion and close my eyes for 10, 15, or 20 minutes. And breathe.

I picked him up in a little gift shop on State St. in Madison, Wisconsin, in 2005 – when the idea of some sort of meditation practiced first took hold. Now, all these years later, he’s still sitting there calmly, waiting for me to begin again.


On Pulling Over

image

A few months ago, a friend asked me, “How do you take all those cool Instagram shots?”

My simple advice: pull over.

A lot of my Instagram photos are snagged on my work commute, through back country roads with great views of the sky. Some are grabbed when I’m traveling for work, or out doing errands. But the common thread is that I pull my car over, get out, and snap the shot.

Sure, keeping an eye out for possibilities helps. Also, I try to keep locations in mind so that, if I return, I can pull over and grab the shot.

But the kicker is to just get out of the car. That’s it. If I see something noteworthy, or worth grabbing, I pull over and snap the photo. This is how I avoid banal Instagram shots like food or coffee.

Step one: go somewhere. Step two: see something cool. Step three: pull over and take the shot.

image

There are times when I’m concerned about traffic, especially on highways. And if someone’s behind me, I tend not to pull over. Something about being on an empty road makes me more likely to pull over. But that’s why I keep a mental inventory, for times when I am alone on the road. If a car does happen to pass by, sometimes I’ll pretend like I’m looking for something along the road.

It also helps to make sure no one’s on the property. You avoid awkward questions that way.

I’m usually not afraid to take pictures of someone’s property. Sometimes the shot is worth it. In general though, and for the style of photos I like to share, #abandoned property is best.

image

For the above shot, I stopped by a house that I pass fairly often. I noticed the For Sale out front, and saw that some of the barns in the back looked pretty rough. So I pulled over to walk around the property to grab some shots.

I probably looked mighty suspicious to neighbors, who had a clear view of the property. But the light was just right, and the abandoned buildlings were in disarray. It was a great opportunity to do some iPhoneography.

All I had to do was pull over.


Things I Like: iPhone 4S

Things I Like: iPhone 4S

What can be said about the iPhone that hasn’t already been said?

Personally: I (gladly) waited for the second one. I love having a camera with me at all times. I sync it every night.

It’s my everything. My muse. My camera. My window to the world. My mobile fact checker. My jukebox. My communicator.

I’ve broken it. Dropped it. Had to replace it. Upgraded it. Traveled with it. Did my work on it. Everything.

I waited a long time between the 3G and the 4S models, and in a lot of ways that worked out well. Now I think I’ll stick to the “S” updates: the good made better. The beautiful, revised.

And when the new one comes out, I’ll get that one, too. Gladly. What else would I do?

// VSCO Kodak T-MAX 3200+ (switched to color mode)


Things I Like: Pentax K1000

Things I Like: Pentax K1000

At heart, I’ve always been a photographer. I was the one snapping pictures on family trips, at fraternity parties in college, and on cross-country vacations.

But besides some disposable Kodak film cameras (remember those?), it’s always been digital.

As I got more into photography, the more I toyed with the idea of playing with a film camera. There was a local camera shop in town that still processed film. Film is still relatively cheap. All I needed was a camera.

Then, last summer, we were cleaning out the attic at work when one of my co-workers stumbled on his old Pentax K1000 – the camera our communications department used before we switched to digital.

He was nice enough to offer it to me.

So I gained a whole new side hobby: film speeds, new lenses, not-quite-automatic exposure controls. Pretty cool.

I definitely use the Pentax differently. The shots are a bit more thoughtful, more composed, and (I’ll just say it) more artsy. With film, there’s only one shot to get it right. So maybe it’s a bit more my methodical speed.

It did take me three wasted rolls of film before I learned how to load the thing probably, though. So there’s that.

But the first developed roll turned out just fine. I stuck to fairly boring landscape shots, but I’m getting the hang of it.


Things I Like: The Radio

Things I Like: GE Radio

I’m reminded how much I like my AM/FM GE radio every time I have to replace the batteries in my shower radio.

It’s always the GE that comes to the rescue on mornings that I don’t feel like switching out the batteries. Plug it in and turn it on.

The GE comes in rescue, in general, all the time. Washing dishes, cleaning house, working on a project – switch that thing to the classic rock station or NPR and I’m good to go.

Everything I said about this little radio before remains true: sometimes the simple things are the best. An off/on switch, a tuning dial, and an AM/FM switch. That’s it.

And that’s what I love.


When Doctor Octopus Was Cool

image

Dr. Octopus has been with Spider-Man, and Marvel, since forever.

He’s also a tough customer. I mean, the guy took on the Hulk. C’mon.

But Doctor Octopus has never been a cool Spider-Man villain. He doesn’t have the edge of Venom, or the mania of Green Goblin. He just has those arms. And those glasses. And that gut.

Which is why my favorite rendition of Otto Octavius was Erik Larsen’s in the early 1990s.

Octopus was the scientist whose mechanical arms were grafted to his body in an experiment gone wrong (naturally), driving him to a life of crime. Probably Spider-Man’s most intelligent foe, Dr. Octopus was the schemer. He was also a good organizer, drafting the Sinister Six into existence.

But he was always so dumpy. A fat Roy Orbison in green tights. So not cool.

Until Larsen’s run, and especially in the early Spider-Man issues. Larsen portrays Otto with a snazzy double-breasted white suit and black shirt. The glasses stay, as does the bowl cut, but the simple addition of the suit does wonders.

Erik Larsen was my canonical Spider-Man. His rendition of Black Cat, his work on Savage Dragon, his return to Amazing Spider-Man, the weird way he draws…did I mention I got to meet him once? In Chicago?

Anyway.

During Larsen’s reign, Doc Ock was stylish without being handsome, exactly. He looked like a professional villain. With self respect. He’s all business.

image

Which is why the above panel is probably my favorite super villain quote ever. Strictly business, that’s what that is.

“You’re going to die Spider-Man. I’m going to kill you.”

Since then, Doc Ock has taken on many forms and appearances (Ock’s new career as Spider-Man is both weird and hilarious), but Larsen’s will always stand out as, at the least, the most dignified.