Thodoris Markou 1/9/14 Thodoris Markou 1/9/14

a day on the mountain

a winter day on the mountain with the rolleiflex t, featuring: clouds, trees, vineyards and a pump action shotgun.

Dog: [indicates massive gun] What the fuck is that?Mickey: It's me Bren gun. Dog: Don't you think you could have thought of something more practical?

[rolleiflex t | kodak portra 400 | january 2014 | quote from lock stock and two smoking barrels movie ]

Thodoris Markou 12/31/13 Thodoris Markou 12/31/13

thirteen film portraits for 2013

a series of portraits taken during 2013, using analog cameras and film.

13 portraits taken during 2013, using analog media.

the images follow a timeline - first portrait was shot in february, last one in december. the hardest part was to choose the best (as in "most representative") portraits of the year, while also trying to include images that I hadn't posted in the blog before (or anywhere else, for that matter). keeping the number to 13 was also quite difficult, I had to remove a lot of good images. I also couldn't show a number of portraits that are yet to be published.

[ alkistis | pentax 67 | 105mm/f2.4 | kodak portra 400 ]

[ vinyl love | pentax 67 | 105mm/f2.4 | kodak portra 400 ]

[ nafsika lalioti | pentax 67 | 105mm/f2.4 | kodak portra 400 ]

[ magda | speed graphic | aero ektar 178mm/f2.5 | kodak vericolor III s 160 ]

[ theodoros chliapas | speed graphic | aero ektar 178mm/f2.5 | kodak ektachrome 6121 4x5 x-pro ]

[ sophie | pentax 67 | 105mm/f2.4 | kodak portra 400 ]

rolleiflex t | rollei retro 400s [ mary retsina | rolleiflex t | fomapan 200 ]

rolleiflex t | fomapan 200 [ fou mal | rolleiflex t | rollei retro 400s ]

[ fiona | pentax 67 | 105mm/f2.4 | kodak portra 400 ]

[ tamta | rolleiflex t | kodak portra 400 ]

Thodoris Markou 10/7/13 Thodoris Markou 10/7/13

sophie

a portraiture session: eight images of sophie, captured on kodak portra 400 film with the pentax 67.

the 2013/2014 portrait season opened up with sophie's photoshoot for fashionism.gr. we had little available time, since sophie's visit in athens was what someone would call "lightning", and I was really busy with the upcoming athens international film festival. a couple of evening hours were sufficient to complete a set of four outfits. I wanted to do a fully analog photoshoot, using the pentax 67 and the wonderful takumar 105mm/f2.4, but time was tight and the sunlight was fading, so I also brought the sony a99 with the minolta 85mm/f1.4 along. I shot all poses with both cameras, just to be on the safe side. the last shots were really tricky with the pentax, since the sun had set: I had to keep a 1/60 minimum shutter speed, fully open the 105mm at f2.4 and rely on the film's latitude.

I was very pleased when I scanned the negatives. kodak portra 400 really is a wonderful film (the last two frames were pushed three stops during scanning), and - contrary to popular belief - 1/60 is a hand-holdable speed with the pentax 67. I shot two films, a total of twenty frames, and I had the 8 images I wanted. I didn't even look at the digital stuff.

[pentax 67 | takumar 105mm/f2.4 | kodak portra 400 | september 2013]

sophie | portrait | pentax 67 | takumar 105mm | kodak portra 400

Thodoris Markou 3/27/13 Thodoris Markou 3/27/13

vinyl love

fashion meets vinylio club meets the pentax 67.

fashion meets vinylio club meets the pentax 67.

makeup: Emmanouil Apostolakis for Makeup Forever hair: Roula Marinopoulou models: Nelly B, Elena, Apostolis, Isidoros (Fashion Cult) fashion director: Konstantinos Koutsomichos designer: RATT (Rita Attala)

a couple of weeks ago I was asked by the wonderful miss tina sardelas to photograph her fashion video shoot at vinylio club. I told her I would only be shooting with my analog cameras, and she liked the idea. I wanted to use my latest baby, the pentax 67, but I also brought the faithful bronica sq-a along.

I loaded up the pentax with the new kodak portra 400 and fitted it with the takumar 105mm/f2.4, a truly great portrait lens. the club was quite dark (well, it's supposed to be this way) and I had to put the pentax on a tripod, shoot at really slow speeds (1/15-1/60) and wide open apertures, and rely on the film's wide latitude. I shot a total of 24 frames (two and a half rolls) with the pentax, before switching to the bronica.

pentax 67 | 105mm/2.4 | kodak portra 400 6x7

pentax 67 | 55mm/4 | kodak portra 400 6x7

using the pentax 67 was a joy, as I have grown accustomed to the 6x7 format for portraiture (very close to the 4x5 of large format cameras), but the slow speeds and the need to use the camera on a tripod (it really is not a camera you want to handhold at speeds below 1/125) were tiresome, so after Ι did a number of pre-imagined shots, I switched to the bronica and kodak tri-x 400. black and white meant that I could stop worrying about color rendition and combination, and kodak tri-x meant that I could push it a bit and achieve 1/60-1/125, which are handholdable speeds with the bronica sq-a. with the tripod gone, I was able to move freely, get tighter framing and different angles. two rolls of film went through the bronica although, to be honest, I had grown weary and repetitive by the first roll.

bronica sq-a | 80mm/f2.8 | kodak tri-x 400

some of the presented images (both from the pentax and the bronica) are quite alike but I didn't want to throw any of them away. in total I shot 48 frames in a space of a couple of hours. the bronica sq-a I have grown to love and knew what it would deliver, but the pentax 67 is a new acquaintance to me, and I was quite pleased with its handling and the resulting images. the takumar 105mm/f2.4 lived up to its reputation: it is a magnificent portrait lens, small, normal-to-kinda-wide focal length, fast, not too sharp but not too soft either. instant love.

Thodoris Markou 6/26/12 Thodoris Markou 6/26/12

thirty-five minutes of morning light

...35 early morning minutes, 8 frames of sweet sunlight.

the good thing about marousi is that it's cool during the summer night, and really quiet. it's an ideal place if you sleep lightly and cherish the night breeze. thus, it is only natural that murphy's law would apply - a perfect situation will always be disrupted by something surreal. up until a month ago, it was a rooster from the garden 20 meters away from my bedroom window. just as I noticed that the rooster had expired and gone to meet his maker, kicked the bucket, shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible, a new night-time torture began - the stork had blessed the house next to the garden with a newborn baby... so, yesterday morning I was woken up at 06:30 by the baby's crying. actually, the baby had been crying all night long, but that last bit got me fully awake, the sun was up, it was getting hotter, I just couldn't sleep again. so... I decided to capitalize on the morning light. I loaded up the fuji gw690iii with a roll of kodak portra 400 - I have been scouting the area around my house for a long time, so off I went, checking how familiar places were illuminated by the morning sun. the light meter was indicating a combination of 1/125 & f22, pretty good depth of field for the monster 90mm lens of the fuji.

7:23

the first frame was a no-brainer; I raced to my favourite scene and - lo and behold! - the daihatsu had not moved an inch. the sun was still too low, though, and I had to use a different angle because I kept getting my shadow in the photograph. one day I will make a book out of that daihatsu, really.

7:28

I kept cruising around, watching the shadows and the sun, when I saw another car scene that had dwelt on my mind recently - this abandoned fiat in the middle of a big empty piece of land was screaming for a portrait.

7:31

right back to another favourite place, an impromptu parking area, what greeks call "αλάνα" (and if you can find a proper english translation, I'll buy you a drink). I hoped to find a big truck here, the one I had photographed some days ago, but it was nowhere to be seen, so I had to settle for the only car available.

7:33

I immediately knew what the next scene would be - another place I've photographed in the past (although I still haven't developed that film), a nearby basketball court. the sun was still too low but the clock was ticking, so I snapped a frame and made a mental note to come back another day at 08:30 or something.

7:42

I was out of familiar places, no more pre-imagined scenes, and I had to push deeper into areas I had not scouted before - found this building, cursed the early time, this is another photograph that could be better at 08:30, snapped away, moved on.

7:46

uninspired by the places around me, running against the clock (the great deceiver...), more cars and people around, still three frames to go until the end of the roll, I decided to keep it simple - after all, everybody loves stop signs... don't you?

7:51

back to more open spaces, not much shadow play, but the sunlight was still sweet and kept giving a marzipan feeling to the buildings... had to snap away at something, looked around, a big white rectangle begged for a photograph.

7:58

the streets are getting crowded - it's the morning zone, and I still have one more frame before I can wrap this up. driving back to the daihatsu, I notice it has visitors. I'm thinking that there must be a place somewhere nearby where I can get a more interesting image than this, but my time is up, the opel twins wink their eyes at me, what the hell, they deserve a photo.

...later the same day, a trip to filmora for development, back home for scanning - always keep your head in the shade, the sunlight kills you and your photos during normal day hours - and here it is: thirty-five morning minutes, eight frames of sweet sunlight. I'm starting to like the neighbours' baby.