10 CUP RICE COOKER

There was a scene at the end of the second Star Trek movie (you know, the one with Ricardo Montalban as Khan) where Captain Kirk is attempting to sneak up on Khan's ship inside the nebula, and through observation, kirk determines that Khan is thinking two-dimensionally about how to maneuver his starship in the three-dimensional expanse of space. Kirk uses this information to his advantage. I feel a bit like Kahn today. I have always thought in terms of how to increase contrast. This negative looked quite good when I first viewed it. I thought it would print well. I fought with it for quite a while before realizing that I was only thinking in terms of increasing contrast. Very two-dimensional thinking. I'm glad that nobody was chasing me with photon torpedos. Obviously, I've used lower contrast before, but I was surprised about how long it took me to consider it on this occasion.

I have been reticent to include the film borders on my pictures on Flickr. I know that many large format photographers do it was a way to set their film images apart from the sea of digital images. I have not done it until now, and I only did it because I like the way it looked with this one. I may do it again in the future.

Finally, this is kind of a Valentine's Day picture. I was looking for a still life to do, and my wife suggested using her boots. I originally wanted something more elaborate, but when I got everything set up, I decided on a simpler image. Also, I didn't have much time to think about it, because the fire was cooking the flowers. Focusing was difficult, and I needed the flowers there to get everything right. In my haste, I clipped off the toe of the right boot. The boots, by the way, are the same brand as James Dean wore in Rebel Without a Cause.

Camera: Ansco Studio camera with 5x7 back.
Lens: 11" Voigtlander Euryscop Series II.
Film: Ilford HP5+ developed in Xtol.

Bare Island is located near Congwong Bay , La Perouse in New South Wales. The island was named by Captain James Cook in 1770. The concrete fort was built between 1881-1885 to guard against foreign invasion and possible attacks on the colony's water supply, which was located in the Botany wetlands. Originally the only access to the island was via a flying fox. Today you can access the island via a footbridge that is located on Anzac Parade. Due to the poorly constructed building a royal commission was ordered, which resulted in the resignation of the Colonial architectect James Barnet. The bridge to the island was built in 1887. Following the decommissioned of the fort in the early 1900's due to advancing technology, it became a war veterans home for fifty years before becoming a reserved historic site.The fort appears in the Tom Cruise movie Mission Impossible 2 during one of the many action scenes