JCH Streetpan Double Exposure

The Coronavirus and some non-life threatening medical issues over the past few months have prevented me from shooting or processing much film. So, I managed to finish up a roll of JCH Streetpan and get it developed the other night. Turns out I had shot right on top of a roll that was exposed a year or so ago. I'm not sure how that roll got mixed in with my fresh film stash, but here we are. It's a good thing I've got several rolls left of this film, because otherwise I would be REALLY disappointed. As it is, I lost some good frames.

On the  other hand, a few of the images are pretty cool. Here are a few that stand out to me.

You can see the entire, 36-frame roll on my Flickr album here:

Cemetery Series: Sand Hollow

Note: See the first post in the Cemetery Series for more details about this project. Entire series here.

It has saddened me to visit a rural cemetery in the past and see blatant vandalism committed to the grave sites. Sadder yet is when efforts are no longer made to fix the damage done, to put things back together. The people who cared about them and marked their existence are now gone themselves.

I think this is more common in our rural pioneer cemeteries, away from anything resembling a city and away from the manicured green lawns and big, sprawling oak trees. We know that these people lived a hard life. In our efforts to create an idyllic past, however, we gloss right over the poverty and despair and hardship many of them lived through during that time. And life itself was never a guarantee. So many of these markers record dates of children who never made it past grade school. Some of them lie side by side by side, all from the same family.

Time has taken its toll at Sand Hollow Cemetery. Find A Grave reports that as many as 95 graves exist here. I personally question that number; it's just hard for me to fathom that many people in such a small area. But it's clearly more than big enough for the 19 that are known, and seven whose markers still exist today.  I think the vandalism left standing has kind of given way to a natural deterioration all its own. Some day, even the place itself will be forgotten.

The day I visited in January was cold and gloomy, just a hint of precipitation in the air with the fog just starting to roll in. I didn't stay long. Perhaps I would have if the day had been filled with better skies. As it was, there wasn't much to shoot, certainly nothing sticking up out of the ground. In fact, as I approached from the road, only one marker was visible. Everything else had been toppled over and lie hidden in the grass.

This had been broken for a long time. Also, light source at left: Not sure if that is a leak, or...

I shot these with my newly-repaired Canon Elan 7, a camera that I had given up as beyond repair when a technician told me he had a part for it. This has been my flagship film camera in the past, so it was a great relief to get it working again. Sometimes it's nice to shoot and not have to think about what I'm doing. And yes, I used a Lensbaby on this, a Muse actually, probably my only impulse purchase related to my camera gear. These were all shot at f/8, in case you're wondering.  I don't get this lens out often, but when I do I try to make sure its unique characteristics are used to benefit the photo, and not just as another toy. It's probably up for debate whether or not I accomplished that here.

The fog was rolling in just was I was packing up to go. 

Film/developer details: This is Ilford hp5+ shot @ ISO 1600. Developed in Ilfotec DD-x 1+4, 13 minutes at 68℉ (20℃). 10 inversions first 30 seconds, then 4x per minute in 10 seconds afterward. I don't know that this is the best developer for pushing this film two stops. It seems like the grain got away from me a bit. It's a little harsher than Microphen, which I used on my last development session.

Doing Work

My grandfather immigrated to the US from Germany in 1907. When he got here, he had no friends, no family, and had to create his own life from scratch. He settled in Oregon, and ended up doing a lot of physical labor work until he landed in a saw mill doing...more physical labor work. He eventually married, raised four kids and tried to retire at age 65.

I say 'tried' to retire because he was miserable in his retirement. His work had become his purpose, and that part of him was impossible to let go. So, within a few months, he went back to the sawmill, doing the same job he'd retired from earlier. (As a side note, I can well imagine that they put new hires with him on the board chain. If you wanted to work at that sawmill, you had to keep up with Dutch.)  Grandpa worked there until he was 75 and then retired for good. He lived another 15 years and was physically healthy and active up until the very end of his life.

I look at my Canon A-1 in that same way. When that model came out in 1978, it had all the technology that that era could muster up.  ISO that went all the way to 12,800. Three autoexposure modes: program, aperture priority and exposure priority, all under one roof. Fully manual operation if you preferred that. Solid metal construction. It was meant for work.

My particular camera was purchased in the early 1980's and was used by one guy for a couple of decades, reportedly taking thousands of 35mm film images during that time. He 'retired' it when he went digital, but that camera still had a lot of life in it and still needed to fulfill a purpose. It fell to me at some point in the last few years and I've given it a second career with my work.

I had reported my intentions to retire it for good when the dreaded 'Canon squeal' came up along with a sticky shutter. However, over this winter I made the decision to spring for a CLA at Blue Moon Camera in Portland. They assured me that that squeal didn't really mean an impending death; it just meant that some maintenance was needed.

So off it went, and was just recently returned to me, well, not 'good as new', but in very usable, workable condition with everything sounding as it should. The days of heavy lifting might be behind it, but that doesn't mean it can't put in a full day and carry a big share of my 35mm work going forward. Eventually, something will happen and we'll have to send it to that great Camera Lab in the Sky, but until then it's going to continue fulfilling its purpose. Because I've got a whole lotta 35mm film taking up space in the freezer that needs to get shot.

Faulty equipment

I'm somewhat at a crossroads in my film photography right now. No, I'm not having an existential crisis about what film to shoot, what format, Ilford vs. Kodak...nothing like that. I've had several cameras develop problems which have impacted my shooting abilities lately.

My AV-1 was overexposing by at least a couple of stops before I changed out the batteries. The sky is completely blown out here, of course, but you can at least see how Kentmere 400 deals with overexposure. Every frame in this roll was affected, several much worse than this one.  Souped in d-76 1:1.

To date, here are the camera issues I'm dealing with:

• Canon A-1 with a sticky shutter and infamous 'Canon squeal'.  I'm told that this is actually fixable, and I just might put out the funds necessary to get this done.
• Canon Elan 7, at one time my flagship film camera body, has a broken door shutter. Up until a couple of years ago this was easily fixable by ordering a $12 USD part.  Everywhere I'm looking that part is showing "NLA".  
• My Canon AV-1 was overexposing every single frame, and I thought something was wrong with it. A quick battery replacement solved that problem. 
• My Mamiya C330 continues to display vertical lines on either side of the frame, sometimes randomly, effectively turning it into a 645 when I crop.  I still am very interested in a regular 645 SLR/Rangefinder at some point.

Same camera, same film after changing out the battery. Note to self: Always check AE settings against what feels reasonable at the time. When in doubt, check with a DSLR or light meter. Saling House in historic Weston, Oregon.

As luck would have it, I just picked up a Canon Rebel 2000 in pristine condition, and for a very reasonable price. That will boost my EOS shooting, but I'm still not sure what to do when that film door comes apart...

Kentmere 400 in d-76 1:1, shot in a Canon AV-1 with a fresh battery.

So, I'm down to a single functions Canon FD and two EOS film cameras to shoot with. A Mamiya TLR if I want to put up with its quirks. And a Zero Image pinhole for those times I'm feeling all pinholey.

Kentmere 400 in d-76 1:1, shot in a Canon AV-1 with a fresh battery.

My priorities right now are to get my A-1 working again if possible, and replace it if not. Both are about the same cost when purchased from a reputable dealer (I don't do eBay). I'm really hoping that a door latch for the Elan 7 can be found. At this point, I'd be happy if I could get somebody to 3D print something. We're on the cusp of winter, and I'd like to shoot up some higher speed, bulk rolled films I have in the freezer.

Selecting a new 400 speed film

I need a versatile, bulk load-able 400 speed film that is readily available and that I can work with to get consistent results. As much as I'd love to bulk load Tri-x, that option is simply too expensive to justify it in 2017. I've seen prices for that stuff as high as $120 per 100' roll here in the US, which adds up to a lot more than what you pay for it per individual 36-frame cassette. There is simply no rationale for it.

So what's a film photographer to do for a 400 speed film with plenty of versatility on either end of the ISO spectrum? TMax, Delta, and even Kentmere 400 have all seen the inside of my camera at some point over the last several months, but I've decided to settle on Ilford hp5+. This is a 400 speed film that checks all of those boxes for me.

It doesn't have the gritty punch of Tri-x or the silky smoothness of a T grain like Delta/TMax. But as I work with it and refine my development, I'm starting to see how I can put it's own unique attributes to work for me. And there's a certain satisfaction knowing that Ilford is a stable company, and that hp5+ specifically comes from a rich heritage of hp-labeled monochrome films. My own dad shot hp3 in his Argus C3 back in the late 1950's.

So for me, financial considerations caused me to look elsewhere for my 35mm film needs, and I've landed on this one. As winter sets in and I turn my lens indoors more often, I'll appreciate being able to work with an extended ISO range.

Fujichrome Velvia 50 part 3: Rowena Crest

One thing about Velvia: Despite the occasional magenta cast problems, it picks up greens and blues beautifully. I use a Moose Polarizer in these, obviously set to full strength. Because, if it's worth doing, it's worth doing all the way, right? I'm wondering if a judicious twist of the polarizing ring might help to back some of that intensity off. But no matter, this is what I got.

I've always liked this comp that shows the lines from both the river and the freeway come together in the upper third of the image.

This comp, much tighter, virtually eliminates the river and accentuates the freeway. Those greens, though. 

The Washington side. 

Fujichrome Velvia 50, Part 2: The Painted Hills

More Velvia pics, these were taken in and around the Painted Hills in North Central Oregon.

Not the Painted Hills, but a scene on the road leading to it. I couldn't resist stopping to shoot this barn. 

Another photo on the road near the Painted Hills. 

Fujichrome Velvia 50, Part 1

I shot up a bunch of Fujichrome Velvia 50 in the summer of 2016, and just recently got it developed. Luckily, it stayed in the freezer in the year or so in between, so hopefully we were able to stave off any film degradation. I'll be posting more in the coming weeks.

Gulch at Twin Rocks, Wallula Gap. Warming polarizer used. 

Hat Rock, the first Columbia River landmark noted in the Lewis and Clark journals. Interestingly, they didn't mention how awesome the light was for taking photos at this location. 

Bridge at Hat Rock. 

Classic view of Hat Rock taken from the pond below. Fortuitous clouds that evening. 

Cemetery Series: Finland Cemetery

Rural cemeteries often tell intriguing stories about the past. For many, their final resting place just reflects who they were and what they did in life. For instance, the small, ordinary headstone at the far edge of the graveyard, the one you have to be looking for to see. Or the prominent, patriarchal dual site of a husband and wife who spent their entire lives together, obviously prosperous and well loved, and surrounded by their offspring. Or a single date etched on a featureless marker, nearly eroded now after perhaps a century. I am embarking on a project to visit these memorials and document their condition on film.

My first location is the Finland Cemetery located just up a gravel road from the Greasewood Finnish Apostolic Church in rural NE Oregon. It is surrounded by wheat fields and is enclosed by a fence. Although overgrown with weeds, an attempt has been made to maintain a map of the headstones at the gate. I may revisit this location at a future date and capture it in the morning with the light hitting the front of the cemetery.

These photos were taken on 35mm Ilford PanF+ and developed in Rodinal 1:50 for 11 minutes.

Forgotten Roll

I bulk load almost all of my 35mm film these days, so I'm occasionally at risk of holding a blank, unmarked cassette of exposed film and wondering where it came from. Such was the case the other day.  Is it Delta 100?  Is it PanF+?  Who knows! Good thing I had some Rodinal on hand to help me out. Turns out it was indeed the Delta 100.

Forgotten Fall

I had forgotten the story of this roll, but began to put the pieces together as I looked at each scan. This was last autumn, well after the colors had come and gone, but well before the first of those snow storms hit our region.

One for the Road

It was a random trip out to the Columbia River and the McNary Dam, just about a ten minute drive from where I live. This might have even been two or three trips, as I seem to remember wanting to get some shooting in before the weather turned for the worse. The light was hitting the atmosphere just right after I got off work.

Forgotten Fall #2

I think what attracts me to film is that the memories of that story are embedded in that strip of emulsive material, just waiting to be unlocked when I give the word. I can't erase them. I can choose to not scan and share a frame here and there, but they're there just the same. They're a part of whatever was in view of my eyes and my heart at that time.

The Dry Season

I've never felt the need to give justification for shooting film, but there it is. My upcoming summer is going to consist of mostly black and white film, some 35mm and some 120 pinhole. And perhaps a few frames from a TLR if I can get it operating correctly again.

County Line

Here's to summer.


Development details on FilmDev

Boardman Trees, Final Visit

Mamiya C330, Ilford PanF+ in Rodinal.

Ilford PanF+, 35mm format, in Rodinal

Cinestill 50 + Winter

For subtle yet realistic colors, it's difficult not to recommend Cinestill spooled for 35mm camera use. If you're not aware, it is essentially Kodak Vision 3 cinema film with the remjet layer removed. The problem is, you pay for that privilege. At over $11 USD a roll, it's not in my budget to shoot very much of it throughout the year.

I recently shot a roll of the Cinestill 50D after a snow storm in our area, on a sunny day when I could get some color in the sky. These were done on a Canon AV-1, so I had to rely on auto exposure. I set the ISO to 25 to get a more correct exposure level on the film. I processed it myself in my own C-41 chemicals. To my eyes, these are ideal colors for this purpose, with good shadow detail and (mostly) keeping the highlights in check.

Since I'm a DIY film guy, I will likely get the Vision 3 50D in the future and remove the remjet layer myself. It's not a difficult step (I've done it before).  If I bulk load it, I can pay as little as $6.11 USD per roll. I like that a lot better than $11.