Edward Weston Challenge

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RaglanSurf

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Today would have been Edward Weston’s birthday, he would have been 134.

Since a lot of us are confined to our home for the foreseeable future how about a Weston inspired still life challenge?

It really doesn’t matter what you shoot on or what you shoot but if you can make it in the Weston style that would be great.

tbh I think this is going to go on for some time so there’s no real need for a time limit but would be great to see some shots over the next few weeks.

What do all you lovely F&C folk think?
 
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I'm in. Been studying Weston for a bit so I'm sure I'll be flat last :)

Just a clarification I take it you mean F64 style, ultra sharp simple images?
 
ooooh, that's a wonderful Idea. I'd actually suggest that it's an open entry thing as well - post whatever you like in an entries thread, and at some point in the future, depending on submission numbers, we could even have a couple of categories - individual image, and "best panel of three"... I know some of us would perhaps be more prone to multiple shooting than others, and I'd love to see more "more than one single image" thinking in the forum in general.

ETA: I'm a sucker for the Weston veggie still life stuff - all interplay of light and shadow, seeing shapes and beauty in the mundane.. anyone who can make a cabbage leaf look as beautiful as he did needs celebrating.
 
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Great idea. I was toying with the idea of floating "in the style of..." as 12 monthly themes for next year's FPoTY. "In the style of Maier", "In the style of Adams", "In the style of Winogrand" etc etc. Didn't think it had legs though.

"In The Style of Weston" sounds good. All I need to do now is find somewhere I can get some veg!
 
Harlequin565 said:
Great idea. I was toying with the idea of floating "in the style of..." as 12 monthly themes for next year's FPoTY. "In the style of Maier", "In the style of Adams", "In the style of Winogrand" etc etc. Didn't think it had legs though.

"In The Style of Weston" sounds good. All I need to do now is find somewhere I can get some veg!
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Loving that idea, a whole year of “in the style of” that’s a proper challenge.
The Maplethorpe month should produce some interesting images :D
 
Harlequin565 said:
Great idea. I was toying with the idea of floating "in the style of..." as 12 monthly themes for next year's FPoTY. "In the style of Maier", "In the style of Adams", "In the style of Winogrand" etc etc. Didn't think it had legs though.

"In The Style of Weston" sounds good. All I need to do now is find somewhere I can get some veg!
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That would be a great challenge but probably need more than a month! Especially since you'll need to organise a F&C group trip to Yosemite :)
 
steveo_mcg said:
probably need more than a month!
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Agreed. Which was why I thought it didn't have legs. Perhaps if this thread runs for a year, we could kick off another one after that.
 
Harlequin565 said:
Agreed. Which was why I thought it didn't have legs. Perhaps if this thread runs for a year, we could kick off another one after that.
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But isn’t that part of the fun, I’d love to see Walsall town centre shot in the style of Ansel Adams, that really is a challenge.
 
I like it....now have I got enough film.?:D
 
How about Weston inspired pictures of toilet rolls, everyone must have loads.

I took some veg photos on Saturday as it happens. Hope my films get to AG and back.
 
I've had a go at shooting Weston style photos on a few occasions and it's a hell of a lot harder than it looks - even finding interesting shaped veg was a challenge :-) But yeah, why not
 
Looking through my Weston book again, Not sure if veg were just less uniform in the 1920's or he had access to a better selection than Tesco but his peppers are all much more interesting shapes than I've ever seen.
 
EU rules and shoppers' preference (at least as interpreted by supermarkets) leads to more uniformity. We see this with some supermarkets now offering "mis-shapes".
 
Good news, AG have emailed to say that my films are RECEIVED IN LAB, including the pepper shots. Apart from one of these films I don't have many pictures of veg in my repository so hopefully, early next week, InshAllah, I can post a picture.

Hope AG can keep going but I also hope noone is putting them selves at risk.

I should be looking at processing my own (black and white) but I'd rather support AG as long as it is still possible.
 
StephenM said:
EU rules and shoppers' preference (at least as interpreted by supermarkets) leads to more uniformity. We see this with some supermarkets now offering "mis-shapes".
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My local supermarkets don't tend to stock the "soup" bags as my wife calls them which is a bit of shame.
 
Ironic that the idea of using veg as subject matter has arisen now that the local market has been stopped for the time being as, depending on the stall holders their suppliers ( often themselves!) do regularly have strange shaped peppers etc.
The spar which is open, is under tight eu rulings governing uniformity hence why their apples are twice the size to what I prefer them to be.
The organic shop next door however, which is also open, sells smaller , more realistically sized and usually more tasty ones [emoji4]

Bigger is not always better except in film format of course [emoji13]
 
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Ok, here's a couple of attempts. Annoyingly modern peppers are hideously uniform.

Chroma, Nikkor 180mm f5.6 lens on Shanghai GP3.

F32 and a 2 minute 30 second exposure
Pepper No 1 by Andy, on Flickr

F64 and a 7 minute 50 second exposure.
Pepper No 2 by Andy, on Flickr

Fairly happy with the first attempts but the highlights need work.
 
Andysnap said:
Ok, here's a couple of attempts. Annoyingly modern peppers are hideously uniform.

Chroma, Nikkor 180mm f5.6 lens on Shanghai GP3.

F32 and a 2 minute 30 second exposure
Pepper No 1 by Andy, on Flickr

F64 and a 7 minute 50 second exposure.
Pepper No 2 by Andy, on Flickr

Fairly happy with the first attempts but the highlights need work.
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Great work Andy, the light on them is just right for me.
 
Got a few shots yesterday evening but the one I spent longest on is fogged looks like the dark slide has been pulled up at some point and exposed part of the negative.

I didn't bother with a safety shot as this is first neg I've messed up in ages!
 
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I'm not sure I know what "the Weston style" is any more but I'm probably over thinking it. Anyway here is a study in lighting and Scheimpflug focusing to fill a Sunday afternoon :)

Leaf by Chris H, on Flickr

MPP Micro technical, Ilford HP5 400, natural light, developed in rubbishy HC-110 (don't tell @AZ6 :LOL:)
 
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The second one is very nice indeed, lovely tones and contrast.
 
as an aside, i started reading Weston's daybooks. I dont think ive read such a dull book in all my life. He hardly talks about his photography in any technical details, only really says "woke up, took another wonderful picture today" Cheers Ed.. Compare it to Ansel Adams 40 Examples, or his 3 bibles and its like chalk and cheese. So much good info from Ansel.
 
Some more, stuffed up loading the roll so lost the first 3 frames. MPP micro technical with 120 film back (which is a pain to use BTW :-) ), Ilford Delta 100. I had a box of Perceptol which has been lying around for a couple of years so I thought I'd give it a try, it certainly lives up to expectations with regards to grain.

Pot plant by Chris H, on Flickr

Pepper1 by Chris H, on Flickr

Pepper2 by Chris H, on Flickr
 
I have a couple of books here about Edward Weston, and one touches on his personal life including the ladies. There's a quote from his diary "why this tide of women?" shortly after he left Tina Modotti behind in Mexico.

I wondered what the Edward Weston challenge might be!

But outside of that, you've all caught the EW feeling really well here. :)
 
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