Emulsion Transfer Process - A Special Artist's Portfolio

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Once upon a time in a land before digital photography there was this material called polaroid. The perfect media to create emulsion transfers.

Just the other week I saw a post on Facebook by, Hannah Rosenberg, an artist I had worked with in the mid the 90's. She had found in storage a metal portfolio using emulsion transfers we had created. I photographed the wire metal sculpture chairs with a 4 x 5 Speed Graphic, which I still have and use. I shot using Type 59 polaroid, if my memory serves me correct. Then we took the 4 x 5 polaroids and transferred the polaroid emulsion onto metal sheets which then Hannah bound together to make a metal portfolio. The transfer process worked beautifully to highlight and emphasize these unique miniature chair sculptures. I'm amazed at how well the transfers have held up over the years.

Hannah Rosenberg is a highly multi talented artist. Hannah has always had a love of creating “something from nothing” and working with her hands. Her first love was creating artwork from a variety of media.

Click here for more info about sculptures by Hannah Rosenberg.

Here is a step-by-step tutorial video showing the emulsion transfer process. Quite easy to do. This video was created also in the mid 90's. It would have been cool if they placed a sound track from A-Ha in the background. Hope you enjoy and get inspired to create your own works of art.

Mom & Pop Shop Series - Albanese Butcher

If only I had written down the darn address of the butcher's store, I said to myself, instead I spent 30 minutes walking around in the cold, with my camera pack on my back, zig zagging the streets looking for the joint. I was starting to think, "Maybe the guy finally went out of business", and was almost ready to give up when I spotted the store front. Notice the patriotic banner over the front door, looks like it's been there since the Grand Opening!


Walking into the store is like being time warped back to the 50's. Except for the meat... I hope! Everything in the place is original. On the right side of the store are the scales to weigh the meat. There is a single refrigerator with no light when you open the door, probably because the bulb burned out 40 years ago, so you have no idea what anything is as it's so dark.


The guys' mother ran the place until she was 97 years old. The shot to the left is a homemade poster of her when she was younger, it was used for decoration for her 90th birthday. Wonder if they had steaks for her birthday dinner?

The left side of the store is an office and what appears to be storage for the years of memorabilia. When I enter the store the owner is sitting with his feet up on some boxes in his makeshift office, which consists of a chair, a few boxes, and mountainous stacks of papers. He doesn't even look up, engrossed in how many pork chops he's sold that week perhaps. Anyway I break the ice by saying "I love your store, how long have you been in business?". He says, "Over 50 years", without looking up from his carcass stat sheet.

Part of me senses this guy just doesn't want to be bothered, but I press on by telling him about the project, and all the while he is flipping through his stack of papers. At the end of my pitch I asked if it would be alright if I take some pictures.
Finally he looks over at me, his face is lifeless, I mean, no expression at all, and says "Sure."
Then he goes right back to his paperwork.

The place has an eerie charm. The nostalgia of the old equipment... strange though to see on the wall a saw you could cut down a good size tree with or amputate a leg in hurry.


 
 As I'm unpacking my camera I notice some pictures of an actor I knew, named Vinny Vella, taped to a cabinet. When I was an assistant photographer working on fashion jobs, Vinny drove the location van we hired. Vinny, is your typical New York maffioso type character. He told these great stories that always had me laughing. Anyway, as I wanted the butcher to warm up to me so he'd let me take his picture, I say to him, "Wow you know Vinny!" After a second or two the butcher just says "Yep." So I go on and say, "I used to work with him when he drove location vans for Star Truckers", trying to let him know that we have a mutual friend and get some interest from him. No response from the butcher.

So, I finish shooting. I'm all packed up and just about to get my back pack strapped on, when the butcher asks me in his deadpan expressionless voice "So is this going to be in a movie?".


 
 
 
 
This Mom & Pop Shop photography / writing series is a project I've been working on for some time. My guidelines for the series is the shop must not be a franchise, in business for 25 plus years, family owned and operated.

Stay tuned I have several more to share from the series.

How To Create A Simple Music Video.

There are times when even simplicity can be stripped down to a simpler form. Is that too simple?

I work with many independent musicians to create music videos. Some want to create a linear storyline while others want an abstract visual. I enjoy both challenges however to create a music video down to it's most basic form, well let's just say this there is one question I always ask myself. "What can be taken out?" See most people want to keep adding on and adding on to try to make something better. In fact it works just the opposite. We've all heard the expression "Less is more.". The hardest thing is to create a simple yet strong visual solution.

Steve Messina of Blow Up Hollywood and I have been working together since the inception of his band close to 10 years now. Over that time I've learned about the kind of visuals he prefers. When Steve contacted me about creating a video of just him performing in his apartment my mind started solving all the obstacles. The apartment environment how to stage it so it is visually appealing, lighting, am I gonna need multiple cameras and sound quality. These are concerns to tackle and the best solution is to simplify.

Here's how I created the music video of Steve covering The Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony".

Lighting
A single Lowell Pro-light 250 watt
Placed up high to the right of the subject. The key is to feather the light off the of the subject's face towards the floor. Reason, I did not want to see the couch and to make the video have a darker vibe.

Camera
The Nikon P7000. That's right a point and shoot digital camera. Why did I use this camera when I could have used my broadcast quality Nikon D800 instead? The first thing the Nikon P7000 is light making it highly mobile. Two I like the subtle exposure adjustments that automatically are created by the camera itself.


J Rig
This is an articulated arm to use as a steadicam. When you hold the camera directly you get more shake. The J Rig actually helps to reduce shake by steadying the camera because your hands are not holding the camera directly. This example shows a Go Pro on the J Rig with Nikon P7000. I did not use the Go Pro for this video. However if you want to see what a music video looks like with the full J Rig in action go to this video I made for Risa Binder.

Sound
Of course having quality sound for a musician is super important. The microphone in the shot was just not there for visual purposes but fully functional. Gordon Davies is an excellent audio engineer. Davies mixed the track after the session and provided me with the audio that I synced to the video using Final Cut Pro X Synchronizing Clip feature.

 

Want to do a music video?
Let's create.
Contact me.

 

 

Invictus Wordpress Template - How to Add a Photo

This is a quick tutorial for Invictus Wordpress template to show how to add a photo.

Spencer Gordon provides not only photography and video services he also creates websites using Wordpress. Part of the website service is also training the user to manage and maintain their own website. Spencer gives clear and easy to follow tutorials. Contact Spencer for more details about creating your website today.

Creating Stop Motion Animation Video with Aperture

Creating stop motion animation video with Aperture is fun and easy. "But Aperture is a digital asset management program not a video editing program." you might say. Well you're right however the slideshow feature in Aperture is a simple yet powerful tool that I used to create a stop motion animation music video. How do like them apples?

"The slideshow feature is key."

See… the slideshow feature of Aperture allows you to adjust individual images for almost any specific time you set to show a frame or group of frames. This is perfect for timing the frames of the video so the stop motion animation will move with the beat of the music. Transitions can also be used between frames which will give a different feel and effect to your video.

"Make some popcorn and check out the presentation."

Wanna learn the details...? Watch the Keynote presentation below.


Stop Motion Animation Music Video Using Aperture Presentation from Spencer Gordon on Vimeo.

Or watch the actual presentation from the New York Apple SOHO Theatre it's in two parts. Yea YouTube only let's me upload 15mins at a time.

Part 1


Part 2


Contact Spencer for any of your photography or video needs.

He's a visual solutions specialist.

Spencer Gordon Shares Expert Aperture Tips at the Apple SOHO Store

 
Spencer Gordon will be sharing his expert tips using Aperture to create stop motion animation video.

Come to the Apple SOHO Store in New York on December 17th at 6pm.
103 Prince Street between Mercer St & Greene St in Manhattan


Spencer will share how he created the "What is Christmas?" music video, a single by Nadia Ackerman and Harvey Jones. You'll meet a professor from M.I.T. Bring your handkerchief you may even shed a tear.

 
 
 
 
 
 

What Is Christmas? Written By Nadia Ackerman and Harvey Jones
Original drawings by Nadia Ackerman http://www.nadiaackerman.com
Stop animation music video by Spencer Gordon

See you on December 17th at 6pm!!!!

More info about the Apple SOHO Store event.

Apple Retail Store - SoHo.

Creating Stop Motion Animation Video with Aperture | Apple SOHO Store Dec. 17th at 6pm

Creating Stop Motion Animation with Aperture

Apple SOHO Store
December 17, 6:00pm

Come see how Spencer Gordon created a stop motion animation music video by Nadia Ackerman using Aperture in less than 19 days.

This presentation promises to be informative, pull on your heartstrings and provide a few chuckles.

More info:

What Is Christmas? - Nadia Ackerman | Spencer Gordon Stop Animation Video.