Thanksgiving. It pours; a menacing sky. I hope for a break in the rain so I can take pictures. That seems unlikely: it won’t clear up until Saturday. I retreat to the studio, fondling some of my medium-format cameras: a Mamiya RZ67, a Hasselblad 500 C/M, a Rolleiflex and a Fuji GW690, a monstrous rangefinder that produces exceptionally sharp photos. The beloved Hasselblad now has a prism finder and I’m eager to try it out: the glare was too much in bright sun.
A series of 6X6 photos has been on my mind for a while, maybe enough for a book. I love the square format, something inspired by the work of Vivian Maier and Robert Adams, among others. I find it easier to compose in 6X6. Medium-format images are exceedingly sharp because the negative is four- to six times larger than a 35mm negative. The general wisdom is that not even digital can match that crispness.
I lack a project, but it may be time to revisit the Rosicrucian grounds in Oceanside, a beach town in San Diego. I’ve taken pictures at the Rosicrucians (below) for years and planned a book, but the project lacked uniformity, since the images were taken in black and white and color with different cameras. I realized that I may have to retake the pictures I had taken in those four years. Most of the pictures in “The Open-Air Bookstore” (a recycling center shown below) were taken in this format, along with the pictures in the newly released “Fragments (the last five images, which were taken with a Holga, a plastic camera. Holga make for blurry, poetic images). I’m enjoying digital but am excited to resume shooting film. I will be posting more images as the adventure unfolds.
[“Fragments” is available on Blurb.]



Interesting pics. Thanks. But why “four to six times larger”? Why not exactly 4.1666… times larger?
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Interesting. I must have picked it up from one of the sites I visit. I think that’s about right. Gotta love those large negatives.
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I do love ’em! Have a bunch of TLRs.
60 x 60 = 3600
24 x 36 = 864
3600 ÷ 864 = 4.16666…
Re-evaluate that site.
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Thanks. I had the 6X9 format in mind, not just 6X6.
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I especially like the images with shimmering, blurring light effects
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Those are favorites, too. I took them with a Holga, a plastic camera that leaks light and adds cool effects.
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