Phil Ackley: Photos

Fri, 28 Nov 2003 09:33:31 GMT

Even though it is nowhere near ready for prime time, I invite you to preview my new photography website: PhilAckley.com

Thu, 06 Nov 2003 06:44:01 GMT

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Washington to visit my mom, and arrived in the mdst of major flooding.

Thu, 18 Sep 2003 04:16:34 GMT

Last Sunday, I took a flight seeing trip around Denali. It was absolutely breathtaking.

But remember, when you are taking photos at 22,000 feet, be sure to wear your oxygen mask.

Thu, 14 Aug 2003 08:08:07 GMT

What I did last summer:

Wedding photography?

Tue, 05 Aug 2003 07:33:58 GMT

Wed, 16 Apr 2003 08:01:40 GMT

I'm not normally the begging type, but, since my birthday is coming up (April 20th!) and since I have a serious case of camera envy, and since I just sent pretty much the whole balance of my saving account to the dreaded IRS, I gotta say that if anyone wants to gift me a Mamiya 7 II for my birthday, I certainly wouldn't complain. Heck, I might even say thank you!

Fri, 11 Apr 2003 05:06:17 GMT

Sun, 16 Feb 2003 22:20:26 GMT

The results are in from the 2003 Fur Rondy Juried Amateur Photo Contest, and I am happy to report I AM THE BIG WINNER! ";->" Much to my surprise, I won 1st and 2nd place in the scenic B&W category, 1st Place in B&W sports, 3rd place in B&W unclassified, and BEST OF SHOW for B&W. How amazing is that?

Mon, 10 Feb 2003 06:54:36 GMT

It's that time of year again... Here are my entries for the 2003 Fur Rondy Amateur Photo Contest: I'm hoping for Best of Show, but would be happy just to get a shot exhibited. If you're in Anchorage, check them out at the Mall at Sears starting this Friday, the 14th.

Thu, 30 Jan 2003 07:52:18 GMT

The winter blahs have kept me posting too many photos (or much of anything for that matter) lately. Let's change that.

Mon, 06 Jan 2003 06:30:33 GMT

I took this shot of the Angel Rae while I was in Bellingham, Washington, a couple of weeks ago. Its the last photo I took before I came home, and I haven't shot anything since. One thing about living in Alaska in the winter is the complete lack of good light for shooting. Sure, its the magic hour all day long while the sun is up, but its only up for 2, maybe 3, hours. I'm considering branching out my photography to keep myself busy in the winter months. Next week I'll be shooting some portraits for a friend (Moody B&W portraits, of course!). After that, who knows? Maybe still life? Sports? Something indoors, thats for sure.

Sat, 28 Dec 2002 09:04:24 GMT

Eagles at the Bellingham Marina.

Fri, 20 Dec 2002 07:08:14 GMT

Okay, better 2 weeks late than never, here are Paul Frankenstein's Tmax 3200 Film exchange shots. Live, from New York, it's... Saturday Night Paul?

Wed, 18 Dec 2002 07:41:53 GMT

Tommorow I'll post the much delayed Holiday Film Exchange roll from my exchange partner, Paul Frankenstein. While my Radio was squlched, he went ahead and posted my (not overly bad) roll The image on the left is a teaser...

Fri, 06 Dec 2002 08:47:31 GMT

This is the part where I apologize for not posting too much lately. The new job is keeping me way too busy (but more on that tommorow), and yadda yadda yadda. You know the drill. But never mind that! Tonight I'm excited because I finally bought a film scanner capable of scanning 120 negs (instead of taking photos of the negs with my digicam). What you see above is an direct scan of a off-kilter shot I took on Ilford SFX 200 film pushed to 800 for big grain and high contrast. The shot is off kilter, I'm off kilter, and all is well in the world.

Sun, 01 Dec 2002 01:00:47 GMT

That beautiful peice of russian machinery is a Zorki 6 35mm rangefinder camera, manufactured in the former Soviet Union sometime before I was born. It's the camera I used (for the first time) to shoot my film exchange roll today. The light was was horrible today, and the skies were overcast. Not ideal shooting conditions for a "sky chaser" but I'm interested in seeing how the negs come out... I figure if there are three good shots out of 36, I've done my job well ";->"

Sat, 30 Nov 2002 06:49:54 GMT

Tomorrow's plan: 1) Shoot a roll of Ilford XP2 Super to send to Paul Frankenstein, my partner in the Photojunkie Film Exchange project. I'll be using a ~~brand new~~ gently used Russian Zorki 6 rangefinder... It's a fine Leica knockoff manufactured in the 1960's. Manual everything, no meter. Since I've never used it before, I might be tempting fate by shooting my film exchange roll with this russian wonder. 2) Buy some spiffy new clothes. Currently if they're not dockers for work or cargo pants for play, I don't own 'em. Maybe I should buy some blue jeans? and 3) Go to a party with the new girl--thats Johnny Cash girl to those who have been paying attention.

Thu, 28 Nov 2002 01:31:11 GMT

Do you ever wonder if you're about to step over an abyss, or into it?

Tue, 26 Nov 2002 08:44:56 GMT

This picture, though not especially stunning, is interesting because of the filters used to make it happen. This is a digital shot, infrared, taken without an infrared filter--I'd accidentally left that critical peice of gear behind. So what did I do to pull it off? I placed two polarizing filters on my lens, crossed, so that they were blocking almost all the visable light, and then exposed the image. I wsn't sure if it would work at all, but I lucked out. Visable light light stays out, IR gets in. Whee! I'm a genius. ";->"

Sun, 24 Nov 2002 01:46:12 GMT

I really like Agfa's Scala 200x Film. It's 200 speed B&W transparency film that can be pushed 3 stops to 1600 without noticable grain. The only problem with the film is that only 3 labs in the US process it. But after looking at the results of this roll, I'm thinking only 2 of those labs are worth anything. This slide is full of light leaks that don't exist in my camera. The only thing that could explain the unusal burning you see here is that film was exposed to light during not-so-careful handling. Roll film from this same film back processed by other labs has never shown this problem before. That said, on this particular frame the light leaks created an unusual and expected effect that actually works with the content of the photo. There's something to be said for serendipity.

Wed, 20 Nov 2002 07:42:09 GMT

Well, the snow didn't come through for us, but we're still that much closer to winter. You can tell snow will be here soon because the floatplanes are all beached.

Wed, 13 Nov 2002 07:57:37 GMT

Mon, 11 Nov 2002 05:40:20 GMT

Near Portage, Alaska.

Sat, 09 Nov 2002 04:44:53 GMT

This photograph wows me.

Sun, 03 Nov 2002 20:57:26 GMT

This picture of Hannah has almost nothing to do with her "look" or personality (I hardly recognize it as my own dog), but really, it was too funny not to post.