The Lock Down & My Muse

Photo by Sandie Clarke on Unsplash

A few weeks ago, the term lock down was a rather vague concept of a building being locked in to keep bad people inside.  Today marks the 28th day of being locked in our house. Lock down is not about capturing evil people, it is about protecting people, both inside and out. We have stayed home with only three trips out, to restock our refrigerator.

For a Photographer, staying home does not have to be a bad thing.  We can take pictures of anything, from still life to macro shots.  But finding the inspiration can be tough after such a long period of time.  But I did indeed find some inspiration, my muse if you will. 

This time my muse came in the form of a red pepper.  A perfectly imperfect red pepper. For those who have seen my blog before, you know that I have a long standing admiration for Edward Weston's Pepper #30 and have spoken about it many times. 

This Pepper, perfectly photographed by Mr. Weston is so very much more than a pepper. It is a bit abstract, a bit translucent and completely out of the ordinary.

It has begun to rot a bit on the bottom right hand corner, yet the pepper only seems more real because of it. The smooth lines appear to be drawn by an amazing artist and the tonal range in the print helps establish this image as one of the best photographs ever taken.
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But this pepper was not my muse. I had long dreamt of taking a wonderful picture of a pepper and tried so many times, digital, film, pinhole, large format, medium format and 35mm.  I tried it all and failed each and every time.  It was not the pepper's fault, it was mine. I was unable to reproduce what was so very clear in my mind eye.

Then I saw her.  A perfectly imperfect pepper. She had the personality, the curves and the magical X quality that makes an object more than an object. Again the pepper was perfect, but my limitation was still the same, my own lack of talent.

But since I was in a lock down mode, with little to distract me on a long weekend, I decided to have a go.  In my mind I saw an image that was different than Weston's. Copying a master teaches you a great deal but never will live up to the original and often only serves to highlight the oceanic gulf between my own abilities and theirs.  My photograph, yet untaken, was a pepper that would disappear into a dark background. In my mind's eye, the pepper would melt into the background making it hard to know where the pepper began or ended.

First challenge was to select a camera, I was down to two options.  A Pentacon Six with extension tubes and a Mamiya C220.  This would allow me to get close enough to the pepper to fill the frame and still give me the large negative needed to make a wonderful print. I ultimately decided on the Mamiya.

Next was the film. I wanted something predictable, with little grain. Something with a low reciprocity failure because previous peppers had taught me that they reflect light like a mirror which would force me to use little light or wrist it being completely blown out.

Weston understood this, which is why no part of his pepper is blown out.  The light was carefully managed by a very long exposure and placing the pepper in a metal funnel that helped balance the light. The Pepper seems lighted from different areas, and this is the sun moving around the room lighting different parts of it.

I decided on Ilford Delta 100.  I knew I would shoot all 12 exposures of the pepper and I would move the pepper around to find its most photogenic side. 

I chose the location carefully, in front of a window but far back enough to control the light. I placed the paper on a black sheet with a bowl under the sheet. This helped keep the pepper upright, which allowing the sheet to cradle the pepper.

I used an external light meter to meter the pepper and calculated the exposure setting.  I opted for 1 second exposure at f/4.  I would bracket my shot with one slightly higher exposure.

Over the next hour, I took 12 images of my pepper, turning it around slowly.  Below is the contact print.  

I selected the second pepper shot and set it up in the enlarger. I then made a test strip and opted for filter grade 2 and 5.  With a 20 second exposure on grade 2 and a 15 second on grade 5 seemed to work.  I printed it and put it in the developer, stop and fixer. After 2 minutes in fixer I turned on the light...I had my pepper!  It was what I had imagined, a pepper that melted into the background. The negative is perfect, no dust particles or anything. 

I made a few tweaks to the print and had my perfect print.  I printed it on FB paper in 8x10.  I will now take it to a larger print.  

I am proud of my pepper.  I ate it that night in a. wonderful salad.  

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