First DSLR Scan

This is my first venture into DSLR scanning. Or a mirrorless XT-4 with attached Vivitar 55mm f/2.8 Macro lens, in my case. Edited in RawTherapee 5.8. It wasn't a quick process, but I showed that it could be done using FOSS photo editing applications. And it didn't hurt to have the grain elevator in the background as a neutral gray point. I have a few other photos from this roll that I did, but this is the best one.

Scanning like this offers some incredible results, but it's not without some challenges. Specifically, getting white balance and all the colors just right can be tedious if you don't have the right tools. Apparently there are some plugins for Lightroom that make this dead simple. However, I don't use LR simply because I refuse to pay Adobe $20 a month for the privilege. So, I will continue to refine my workflow with RawTherapee and hopefully the processing time will improve over time.  Moving forward, I intend for all of my scans to be done this way.

Zeroing in with HP5+

As a film photographer for the last eight years, I've been playing the field in regards to my selection of black and white films. I've tried the majority of them as this point: Everything available to me from Ilford and Kodak, with maybe the exception of P3200, and a few off brands in there as well. Bergger. Arista Edu. Street Pan. You get the point. Frankly, I lost count a long time ago. 

To really make film work to your advantage, though, it's important to stick with one film and then work to get reliable results at a given ISO and with a given developer. I've known that for years now, but haven't actually put it into practice. It's time to do just that. 

Ilford HP5+ is my emulsion of choice. It's versatile, (reasonably) affordable, and readily available in both 35mm and 120 formats. Several times when I have shot and processed it, though, I've been less than happy with the results. Too many grays. All of the tones bunched up in the middle, even when I try to spread them out. Other times, though, I've been completely happy with it. 

A few weeks ago, I headed out on a partly sunny day with the Canon AE-1, 28mm f/2.8 lens, and a roll of HP5+. I attached a yellow #8 filter and shot the roll at ISO 800. Afterward, I souped the roll in d-76 1:1.  The results? You can see for yourself. A lot of contrast with much of the shadow areas blocked up. In some situations, this might be ok. You might even think that approach is ok with these frames (one of them was Explored on Flickr).  I want some contrast, but I also want some even tones. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My next roll, which is waiting to be developed, was shot at ISO 200, again with a yellow #8 filter. I will develop it in d-76 again but at a 1:2 ratio. Yes, I'm changing two variables, but I think I can get closer to what I'm looking for with this combination. At least, we'll see what happens, and we can tweak it from there.  More to come.

Baker's Dozen #2: Ilford fp4+

If the first iteration of my Baker's Dozen series kept me at home, the second has me venturing out a little further on a familiar road. I spent a Friday afternoon after school along the Columbia River, crossing the Oregon/Washington border and traveling on through the Wallula Gap and its neighboring overlook.

Port Kelley, Washington. The first frame on this roll and my first stop on the trip.

This route is a great standby for me. A familiar friend that I join when I can't take a longer trip. Or don't have that option or the time. It hasn't gotten boring to me yet, even after dozens of trips over the last 12 years or so. And every time I go through there with a camera, I see something new. Or something old in a new way.

Twin Sisters, Washington is just around the bend from Port Kelley.

This particular mid-May afternoon had some beautiful, puffy clouds against a blue sky, with just a hint of a wind coming from the west. I chose fp4+ for this trip because of its familiarity and predictability with a red #25 filter. This is a contrast to my first post in this series, which involved a film that I was shooting for the very first time. Bringing along a film stock that I've shot dozens of times before in that scenario gives me the confidence to fully consider my compositions and what I want to accomplish with a photograph.

Hatch Grade Road provides some spectacular views of the Columbia River at Wallula.

Film photography being, well, film photography, we're subject to the mechanical limitations and inevitable failures of our equipment. As successful as this roll was on this trip, I did come back home with a casualty. About halfway through the roll, I discovered that the aperture blades weren't moving smoothly through each setting. I set the timer to bulb and gently tested each one. Sure enough, the blades weren't meshing from f/8 to all the way open at f/2.8.  I still had a few frames to shoot to finish the roll, so I left the aperture at f/22 and hoped it would do its job until I got home. We came in on a wing and a prayer, as I've heard a few WWII vets say in my younger years.

Ruh roh. Looks like I'll be minus a TLR lens for a few weeks. #mamiya #tlr #ishootfilm #believeinfilm #filmphotography #mediumformat #120format pic.twitter.com/an5ocfFkZQ

— Rick Scheibner (@rickscheibner) May 17, 2020

So, I'm sending the 80mm f/2.8 off to be serviced.  I'm told they'll have it 4-6 weeks, which doesn't sound unreasonable during this age of Covid. In the meantime, I do have a 180mm f/4.5 that I don't use nearly often enough. I keep wondering if I should do this same trip using that lens, and then see the difference.

An abandoned thresher sits along Hatch Grade Road in Eastern Washington. It deserves a little more of my attention when I go through there again.

Because, after all, the same route next time could bring completely different results. Here are a few more images from this roll:

Edit: As I look a little more critically at a few of these photos, I'm seeing a little light leak creep in at that top left hand corner. It's slight, and barely perceptible in most cases, but it's come up before. I need to be mindful of sunlight hitting that corner of the camera. When I shoot some higher speed film at 1600, I wonder how much of a problem it will be given the increased sensitivity to light? Looks like I need to do a test to find out. 

Agricultural-Industrial

It was good to get out one day after school last week. We were between rain storms and some nice clouds were moving in and out of the region. I already had some business to do in another nearby town that evening, so I brought along the C220 to try out my new 180mm f/4.5.  The only problem was, I neglected to bring the step-up ring so I could put a 52mm filter on the 49mm thread. Oh well. So, rather than throw in the towel and not shoot anything, I just reverted to the 80mm f/2.8 and utilized the red #25 filter that happened to be with me. I'll get to use that 180mm in a live setting one of these days, I promise.

Ilford fp4+ in Ilfotec DD-x 1:4.  

I haven't shot a lot of Ilford fp4+ in the past--probably never in this format--but I picked up a couple rolls on a recent trip to Blue Moon. This seemed as good of a time as ever to shoot it.

Where I live, agriculture comprises a large part of the economy and lifestyle. Farms, grain bins and other related structures dot the landscape, surrounded by wheat fields as well as some notable row crops.  At one point, our region supplied a lot of potatoes to McDonald's. There are even a few wineries in the area.

I can't resist a good straight road shot once in a while.

So when shooting conditions are good but I can't get very far away from home, these are as good of subjects as any to capture.

Surprisingly, there is a dearth of abandoned structures in our area. They're out there, they're just hard to find.  It seems as soon as a house, outbuilding, or grain bin is retired, it gets torn down to make room for something else. Technology in the agricultural sector here moves forward.

I developed these in Ilfotec DD-x for 10 minutes at 68℉. Negatives looked ok, but could have possibly used a little more agitation. Still, they scanned pretty nicely. After scanning so much 35mm film, I'm always amazed at how much more detail I get out of 120.  As stated before on this blog, this is going to be my main, go-to format this year.

On a side note, and very unrelated to all of this, I'm retiring the Canon A-1 that I had just put some money into CLA'ing. My last two rolls have been horribly overexposed, and it's just not worth troubleshooting anymore. I love that camera, but I can't shoot it if I don't trust it. I will instead rely on my EOS cameras (I have three) for my 35mm work. They're not as small and compact, especially considering the glass I have for them, but they're accurate and I will get good, consistent negatives from them. RIP Canon A-1.

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.

Winter light = Ektar time

For me, the best and longest-lasting light for landscape photography occurs in the winter months, roughly Dec-Jan. Of course, that might be different depending on where you are at in your hemisphere. But it's ideal here in the inland Pacific Northwest. That afternoon sun just hangs around as pleasantly as an old childhood chum who's come to visit.  It never gets more than 45 degrees above the horizon, and it takes a good long time to go down.The only problem is, where I live, we can get low-hanging, lifeless clouds for much of that time. Or fog. Or just ice without snow. Just not ideal times for color film photography.

But once in awhile the landscape gods smile down on us and treat us to some fresh snow and a nice, sunny day with a few clouds overhead. That was the case for me just before Christmas of 2017. School was out, and snow had fallen throughout our region, a good 6-10 inches on the ground depending on where you were. I had spent the morning paying a visit to my mom, who lives about an hour away, and was lucky enough that I brought my camera with about a half roll of Ektar left in it.

Ektar can go really blue in the shadows while leaving sunlit areas with good colors. It was cold out, after all.

Some morning cloudiness had given way to sunny skies and clear conditions, so I took advantage of the situation and left mom's house to take the long way home. Having brought my 4WD pickup along, I managed to make my way through some snowed-over gravel roads that made up most of my trip that afternoon.

I love the comp here, but I scanned a lot more turquoise than I should have.

These images represent about 2 and a half hours of cordial light and lengthy shadows, something you're never going to get around here in the summer months.

I'm getting the hang of developing c-41 myself at home. For the most part, my colors are coming out well. When they're not, it's a result of my scanning, which I'm still trying to improve and perfect. And in the end, my goals for these images aren't scans for the computer screen, but optical prints that get physically handled. That is what I have in mind now when I'm shooting.

We might or might not see any snowy weather the rest of this winter. Temps are supposed to be well above freezing for the forseeable future, but it's only the beginning of January. There's still time. If we don't, I'm glad I had the chance to get out and burn some Ektar. And if we don't get any more snow, I'll be patiently waiting for spring!

Cemetery Series: Craige Cemetery in Lomography Purple

Please see my first post for details on my Cemetery Series.

I spent a day traveling to and shooting Craige Cemetery in rural Southeastern Washington, just a few miles from the borders of both Oregon and Idaho. Although I shot a few different films, Lomography Purple (the newer stuff) seemed to be a good choice due to how green this place was. I had Blue Moon Camera and Machine develop the film, but I scanned it on my Epson v500.  I'm not sure if I got 100% of what the film is supposed to look like, but hopefully it got close. This is obviously a film with a different color pallet, so I wouldn't use it all the time, but in certain situations it makes for a nice effect. I do have a couple more rolls of it I'm going to shoot this summer.

Located in a higher elevation in SE Washington, near the Blue Mountains, this cemetery was quite green and even had some wildflowers when I was here in early July. 

Lomo Purple is supposed to turn green vegetation to purple and blue skies to a turquoise. 

I tried to coax her out of the shadows, but she just stood there for about 10 minutes before heading down the hill toward a little ravine behind her. 

I don't know how much maintenance is done here, but there are occasional visitors who pay their respects.