Arts Center + Ilford Delta 400

 My new job this year has me in a new town. I stayed after school one day a few weeks ago and explored an area near the Arts Center. These were shot on the Canon F-1 with (mostly) 28mm f/2.8 lens. Ilford Delta 400 developed in DD-x, 1:9 at 75°F.  The negatives looked great, even if my compositions and subject matter were less than inspiring.

 

As an aside, I'm probably just posting this for an audience of one these days. Even though I'm using Feedburner to create a (theoretically) seamless transition if you change your url, it seems that my viewers here dropped off dramatically after I changed from my personal domain to blogspot. Or, perhaps no one is just reading blogs anymore. Who knows. In any case, I'll keep using this place for the time being to get my thoughts down on this subject, when social media just won't do.

Mid-Year Directions: Looking forward by looking back

I've been shooting more film lately, especially the last month or so, but it hasn't been showing up on this blog. I thought I would do a mid year check in and do some reflecting around my film use. 

First of all, a quick look at a FilmTrackr report shows that HP5+ has now replaced Tri-x as my all-time most used film stock. I made the switch a few years ago as the cost and curl of Tri-x had finally become more than I wanted to deal with. It's taken this long for the data to catch up with that decision. But man, I have shot a lot of different film stocks over the years. Take a look:

Part of the fun of shooting film is trying different stocks, even from obscure brands that get put out from time to time. In the last year, though, I've narrowed down my selections quite a bit, with the vast majority being shot on HP5+:

Likewise, my selection of cameras has narrowed as well. I used to shoot both Canon and EOS systems, as well as medium format and a few different compacts. This is my all-time gear used:

 

 Not surprisingly, my sell-down last winter shows a marked drop in the gear I'm currently using. This is what I did over the last year:

 

Six months from now, that graph will narrow even further as I'm only using an F-1 and an A1 for my current camera gear, and possibly a little compact if I decide to.

Current film prices are causing me to shoot color less and less. I'm not great at processing it myself, and if I put good money toward that medium, I want it to look right. My current plans are to shoot some Ektar, ProImage100 and new Cinestill 400D this summer. Most of that will be while on vacation. For the rest, my current black and white stash is dwindling. I'm really down to my last few rolls, but I did just order a bulk roll of HP5+. I've got a bulk loader and plenty of recycled cassettes on hand (including black holders), so this is my most economical and versatile option without dropping down into Kentmere/Ultrafine territory. In addition, I might pick up a few rolls of Delta 100 and/or FP4+ for some lower speed/smaller grain options. Delta 400 has also been fun to shoot and process, but I likely won't buy any while I have this much HP5+ at my disposal. 

And finally, it's been interesting to see how my film habits have changed since 2013. My palette of choices is narrower but also more focused. It's taken me this long to get a sense of - and fully accept - the realities and limitations of the film medium. Shooting older equipment requires maintenance and upkeep. Which direction do I want to funnel my financial resources? Unto that end, I had to choose between medium format and 35mm. Now that I have two reliable, recently-CLA'ed camera bodies, I don't necessarily have to worry about what's going to break down next. I can shoot for consistency instead of just combinations of emulsions and developers.

Waterfalls & Ortho+

I finally shot up my last roll of Ilford Ortho+ a few weeks ago.  Covid had delayed me using it somewhat, but truth be told I was underwhelmed with some of the results I got when shooting landscapes. But then I started seeing some photos of waterfalls. What I noticed that, even though the surrounding green and yellow areas could show some muddy tones, the water flow itself would stand apart, separating itself from the rest of the image. It was a look I grew to appreciate. A few weeks ago, I ventured down into the Columbia River Gorge region to capture a few of these waterfalls on Ortho+. I think it was worth the effort. These were shot on my Canon F-1 using (mostly) a 28mm f/2.8 lens. Tripod mounted.  I developed the film in Ilfotec DD-x and scanned the negatives on my own Epson Perfection v550 scanner. 

 

I'm probably not going to rush out and replenish my stock of Ortho+. It has its place, but its just not something I will shoot very consistently. I do like how moving water looks on it, though.

Early January Snow at ISO 800

As I write this in the first week of February, I'm starting to look toward a change of the season just another month or so. We'll be getting out of the frigid weather and into milder temperatures at that time, and on to spring time. 

It was just about a month ago, the first week of January, when we had a snow storm blow through the area. I ventured out to a local hiking trail park near the Columbia River. It had been eons since I had shot anything significant. I loaded up the A-1 with some Ilford HP5+ and set the dial to ISO 800.  Sadly, the sun never made it out from behind the clouds, so none of these really show the lingering light that happens in January at the 45th parallel. Still, it was good to get out and shoot. I also attached the power winder just to automate things a bit. I was a little worried the 25°F temps might slow it down a bit, but it seemed to work like a champ from first frame to last. Also, the 28mm angle of view seems to work perfectly for a few of these. That lens was a great investment last year.

We still have a few weeks where we might get some snow. If that happens, I will try to get to one of my other usual haunts to get a few frames in. If not, this will need to be my one and only post for the winter season. And I'd be ok with that.

More 2022 directions: New blog address

After 15 years, I've decided to let my domain and web hosting go. So, this blog has a new address. I've kept the feed address the same, though (http://feeds.feedburner.com/RickOnFilm) so you're likely not seeing anything different if you subscribe that way. Frankly, I'm not even sure who's still reading this. I'm ok with doing it for an audience of one. 

I've already broke my 'no new film until I shoot what I've got' pledge and ordered a couple rolls of Kodak Pro Image 100. I love the colors from the prints last time I shot it. My color shooting is for special occasions only, but I should be able to shoot it as well as the Ektachrome E100 I've got on hand. Did I mention that Lomo Turquoise was making a comeback? That will be probably be added to my arsenal at some point as well. 

Next time I post, I should have some new images to go with it. I shot a roll of HP5+ in the snow a week or so ago, and I should be able to rescue one or two frames from it. We'll see what happens. 

2022 Directions

 I neglected to do one of these posts last year, mostly because we were moving back into our house after an extensive remodel. Some recent changes to my gear setup will have a significant impact on what I do with film photography in the coming year. The biggest of those is that I'm completely getting out of the medium format shooting category. 

My C220 had started to develop some problems that a CLA might or might not address. I just wasn't willing to put out the capital required to keep it going. Also, I just wasn't using my ZeroImage like I once did. So, in late 2021, I put it all up for auction on eBay. As of this writing, all but one item will be gone by the end of this week. Film included. The only thing that hasn't gone yet is the C220 itself. 

So what's left? Moving forward, my film work will be 35mm only. The Baker's Dozen series will remain unfinished. However, I'm still considering a new project in the upcoming year to take its place. There might even be a new YouTube channel to go with it. I've pared down my gear selection to two camera bodies: A Canon A-1 (with a really cool autowinder) and a newly-CLA'ed F-1 (original).  These two bodies will carry the load of my film shooting in the coming year and beyond. 

Also, I'm going to make a concerted effort to shoot up a good portion of my remaining 35mm film before investing in more. At this time, I have a few rolls of Delta 400, some hand rolled HP5+, as well as a roll or two of Ortho+ and some color rolls. I even found a few rolls of K400 that I had hand rolled maybe four or five years ago. It's not my favorite film, but I'll get it out and see what I can do with it. 

I thought I'd be a little sad about unloading all of the 120 gear, but it's been remarkably freeing. I don't have to make a decision about what to shoot; everything I need fits into one bag. The money I make from the eBay sales (and a few private ones as well) will go toward a wider angle lens I need for my Fuji X-T4. Speaking of which, my vision for shooting in the coming year is to do film work alongside, and not instead of, my digital images. Shooting Fuji makes this more achievable. 

So here's to a happy and productive 2022. I sincerely hope you and yours are well. 

Video: How I process my film negatives using (mostly) FOSS software

I shoot film, but that doesn't mean I'm a purist. After the development stage, I'm happy to use whatever technology is available to me in order to get the best presentation out of my image. This is a video I did last month on how I scan and edit my photos using a combination of GIMP, AnalogExif and the native Epson scanning software. Specifically, this photo is for an Instagram channel that I run called Columbia Inland Pinhole. Interestingly, AnalogExif is a FOSS application that lets the user apply Exif info to film photo scans fairly easily. It hasn't had an update since about 2010 or so, but it continues to work on my (Win10) machine. I wonder how it will hold up to the next iteration of that OS.  

How are you scanning your film images?