End of Summer Round-up

I don't normally like to get behind on my film developing, but I found myself with a sandwich bag full of unprocessed film last week and decided to do something about it. Most of it was 35mm format, and at least one roll dated back to last spring. There were one or two rolls that, even when I took a glance at my notes in FilmTrackr, I didn't remember shooting. I had to actually pull them out of the final rinse before I could see what was on them.

Ilford hp5+ @ ISO 1600, shot on Canon Rebel 2000. Developed in Ilfotec DD-x 1:4 for 13 minutes. 

I'm pretty certain my only purpose for this roll was to practice pushing hp5+ to 1600. And it looks like I still need some practice.

Rather than create a new blog post for each roll, I decided to just post the best ones here. Or the best of the worst frames, as the case may be.

Ilford PanF+ on a Canon A1. Not the ideal for capturing motion on a bright sunny day, but shoot what you've got. 

In some cases, it's the end of a camera system for me. I've said good-bye to my Canon EOS cameras as I've sold off my digi 5DmkII and most of the lenses that went with it. My remaining Canon system is the resurrected A1 with some FD lenses.

Ilford PanF+ on a Canon A1.  Standard development in d-76 1:1. 

School is starting up again soon and, for my own internal calendar, a time to update and refresh things that are going on in my life. Out with the old, in with the new. For some people that takes place in January. Given my 28 years in and around school systems, mine occurs at the end of August.

Sacajawea at Fort Clatsop. Ilford hp5+ shot on an Olympus Stylus Infinity. Light leak from bulk loading (or at the factory), not from the camera. 

I'm continuing my 2018 goals of printing more of my work. I have some sitting at Blue Moon Camera as I write this. And, I still need to shoot more medium format film with the C220. I'm finding that that's not really the ideal walk-around camera, but something to be used deliberately and purposefully. It's really ideal for landscapes and portrait work, something I need to do more of. And I will as soon as the hot weather and smokey skies go away for the year. Those are my film plans for the remaining third of 2018.

I don't know how, but this shot made Flickr's Explore section for that day. Ilford hp5+.

I much preferred this one. 

Print Your Work

You've probably heard it before, but this year I made a commitment to it. The very first item from my 2018 Directions post was to print more of my film work. I'm pleased to report that I've been able to accomplish just that with both my landscape and paid portrait work. Blue Moon Camera and Machine in Portland, Oregon is one of the last optical color printing labs in the United States. I've been having them develop my color film (something I said I was going to do more of myself, by the way) and then print my favorites from each roll. What's cool is that their counter turns into a light table with the flip of a switch, so you can evaluate your negatives right then and there. Even though they're a couple hundred miles from me, I've been able to get in there several times this year to get it done.

Here are a few of my examples. These are direct scans from the prints and not from the negatives. The scans don't really do the prints justice, but it gives you an idea what I've been able to accomplish:

Bicyclist on the old Columbia River Highway at Rowena Crest. Fujifilm 160NS, shot on Mamiya C220. 

Spring flowers at Rowena Crest, in front of Dry Creek Bridge. Fujifilm 160NS on Mamiya C220.  

Abandoned convenience store in Kent, Oregon. Kodak Ektar 100 shot on Zero Image 618 pinhole in 6x9 format.

Jessica, Class of 2018.  Kodak Portra 160 in 35mm format, shot on Canon A1 with 50mm f/1.8 lens. 

Keomi, Class of 2018. Kodak Portra 400, shot on Mamiya C220 with 180mm f/3.5 lens.