On my last travel to US I’ve got to visit some friends in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia area.

During my stay we drove around and went to a place called Ringing Rocks in Bucks County.

The place is really magic, with a nice forest and very dark rock and boulder formations.

I used some of my last rolls of Kodak TXP 320/220 B&W film to shoot some images with the lovely Rhus. Please find them in the updated “Artistic Nudes” gallery.

Kudos and again many thanks goes to all US friends I’ve got to see during my stay: Scott Nichol, Bill Earle, Lorna Doone, Edward Badham & Kristina Cher, Candace, Amber, Mike, Rebecca, Michelle, Eric, Nori and James… Forgive me if I’ve forgot someone :)

Enjoy and have a nice time.

Vernon

Ringing Rocks is a post from: Vernon Trent

The last months were pretty busy with plenty of work, creating new series of images as well as getting more practice with alternative processes. The new camera for the wetplate collodion process arrived at the beginning of January and I managed to create some new plates which have been published at Stern.

My lab has become kind of alternative process/printing center and I’ve been trying techniques that are quite old, but very interesting and the results are very pleasing, getting excellent “one of a kind images”.

Please have a closer look at the “Alternative Processes” album (quick link to the album on the right side), you may also find new lith, platinum/palladium and toned salt prints (all scans).

There is also a link to a new album, Still Lifes, which contains a selection of images shot on 4×5 large format film. All those images are scans from reference prints, which I’ve created to document the process for large print reproduction.

A new feature on this website is the “mobile readiness”, which means that iPhone/iTouch visitors can see a special version of this website and also have access to the flash based albums. Flash is still an issue for Apple’s mobile devices, but this is now very elgantly solved with no extra work from my side (which is really good).

Actually, the mobile version offers all the features that the “desktop” version has, such as blog, image galleries, contact and RSS. The interface is quite self-explanatory, give it a try if you have an IPhone/iTouch!

Here some screenshots of the mobile version.

Have a great weekend, take care.

Vernon Trent

New Images and “Mobile Ready” is a post from: Vernon Trent

I decided to upload them in the galleries, along with some recent images I’ve shot during the last months. Almost every gallery has new images, I hope you enjoy.

You will also notice that there is a new gallery called “Places“, which contains some of those old images as well others from my travels around the world.

The image attached to this post, features the fantastic and elegant model Stephanie-Anne from Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA taken somewhere at the Joshua Tree National Park.

Have a great time,
Vernon Trent

Icons is a post from: Vernon Trent

Phew, how time flies… It’s been a long time since the last update here, almost 4 months. The summer is gone, the fall is already here. In the meantime many things happened  and my life has been playing a bit crazy, good and less good events.

There will be new images uploaded in the galleries during the next days, but for now I just wanted to give a proof of life and also mention two new publications that are coming next.

First, the anniversary issue of Carrie Leigh Nude Magazine, which is going to be in stores from November 15th 2009, will contain a selection of my work. Don’t miss the issue, order your copy!

Second, although it’s almost done, I’m still working on a new book which will showcase the outcome from two sessions with the outstanding US Model, Candace Nirvana. The book is a homage to a wonderful model and person, but also a selective remembrance to a photographic film that will disappear from the market, the Rollei R3 film. Seems that the film market has more funerals than christenings these days and I’m really happy that I could envision my dream and finish “Exhausting the Light” with Candace… I’ll let you know when the book is going to be available to the public.

Until then, please enjoy this sneak preview and make sure you don’t miss the fall issue of NUDE magazine.

Peace and love,

Vernon Trent

While leaves fall… is a post from: Vernon Trent

After the shooting I need distance, yet some space to clear my mind and “refill my batteries”. This stage can take a day or two or sometimes one or six months.

There is no recipe or rule for what I’m doing, it’s just me using my imagination like an abbrasive paper, grinding all the surfaces from the unnecessary until I get what I need…

What remains is the essence, dipped in lights and shadows.

Today’s image is featuring the wonderful model Sandy Krebs, taken with a Hasselblad 501/Sonnar 250mm on Rollei Universal 200 film, exposed for the shadows and developed for the highlights using Adox A+B developer. It was an experiment, as the Adox A+B & Rollei U200 combination is not documented. I’m quite happy with the results, especially with the grey tones.

Have a wonderful time,

Vernon Trent

The Essence is a post from: Vernon Trent

I have tested the Rollei Universal 200, a black&white medium format film manufactured by Rolleifilm (http://www.rolleifilm.com) under conditions I normally use to take my pictures, including lots of structures, harsh light and deep shadows, using reflective clothes fabric and also a huge red scarf to test the red sensivity of the film.

What I can say now is, that the film honors the right exposure/metering with an immense amount of details and fine gradients from pure white to deep blacks.

I’m going to write a review with example images pretty soon, but for now I just wanted to leave these lines here and praise the film as my new film for the next shootings.

Have a great weekend, take care,

Vernon Trent

Stunned is a post from: Vernon Trent

I’m going to shoot a film test this weekend. It’s quite exciting to get invited to test a new product release for a renowned film manufacturer, with no given “test road map” or other kind of restrictions. Another highlight for this day will be a collaboration with two photographer friends, Michael K. Trout and Tilla Pe, which I know since about 5 years or so, but never had the chance to meet them in person.

So it’s going to be fun, fun, fun.

Last night I have finished my own road map for the shooting; portrait, emotions , nude and experimental photography will cover most of the settings but I also do hope that the models will bring some own ideas that we’ll try to shoot.

There will be five female and one male models available at a nice derelicted factory building. The weather forecast could not be more pleasant, sunny till slightly cloudly and 25° C, so let’s hope that the weather gods won’t change their minds :-)

Just three more nights to sleep… can’t wait!

No Restrictions is a post from: Vernon Trent

Finally, the “showcase website” is ready to go live. Since the initial announcement, over one year ago, I came to the conclusion that the simplest things work the best.

What you see in front of you, is an attempt to offer a simple, almost self-explanatory website which is easy to use and to navigate.

Some planned functions, such as an “exhibition calendar” and a “books” section, will be added during the next weeks. The “galleries” and the “series” sections require a flash player, so please make sure that your internet browser has the appropiate plugins installed, otherwise you won’t see any images.

This site has been optimized and tested for Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Opera and Flock. (Even the crappy MS IE 6 is able to display some information :-)) If you encounter some strange things, feel free to leave some feedback and I’ll try to fix it. Thanks.

I hope you like what you see and keep coming back.

Cheers,
Vernon Trent

Every journey begins with the first step is a post from: Vernon Trent