Around the Sandbox

I developed a roll of film two days ago and yesterday was my first chance to look at the negs. I never remember what’s on one roll or the other. It’s a surprise every time. I remember seeing this picture. We were all around the sandbox in the backyard (with me lugging around my C330). At the time it was the reflection in her eyes that made me want to take a picture. Looking at it now, it seems to be a secondary draw in the picture. Luck favors the bold I suppose.

I also managed to grab this picture of Sarah and Norah. I quite like it. But, of course, I’m highly biased. I say grabbed, but really there’s no grabbing a shot with the Mamiya. It takes me forever to focus!

Finally, this was our attempt at a group shot. Suffice to say that I had many hostile models that morning.

Technorati Tags: photography, champaign, illinois, family, tmax, 400, xtol, mamiya, c330, black, white, film

Arboretum Entrance

Arboretum Entrance

It’s a bit stark and bleak, no? We are heading towards winter and so all the plants, flowers, and leaves are gone.

6cmx6xm negative scanned then toned in Lightroom.

Technorati Tags: photography, mamiya, c330, tmax, 400, xtol, university, illinois, arboretum, film

U of I Arboretum

University of Illinois Arboretum

I shot a roll of film at the University of Illinois Arboretum last week. I’ll be posting a few pictures over the coming days.

Scanned and toned in Lightroom.

Technorati Tags: photography, film, tmax, 400, kodak, xtol, mamiya, c330, university, illinois, arboretum, urbana, sepia

TMAX Push

Lucy looking out the window (larger)

Continuing my trials with medium format, I wanted to try push processing. I am using TMAX 400 (TMY) and wanted to push it to ISO3200. When shooting around the house (especially in the winter), certainly 400 is too slow, and 1600 is pushing what I’m comfortable with hand-holding. Hence my desire for pushing to 3200.

Yes, I could use a bounce flash (sometimes) but I’ve not worked that out yet. Those are tests for a different roll.

I’d have to say that I’ve got mixed reactions. The picture above seemed to turn out okay. The contrast is definitely more that ISO400, but I think it’s okay.

Lily in the basement (larger)

The next picture is more typical of when I’d use a high speed push: in our basement. While there are several can lights in the ceiling, I meter to f/4 @ 1/30 (if I remember correctly) @ ISO 3200. It’s a high contrast pic, to be sure. I’m not terribly fond of the picture, but this just may be the overhead lighting and the subsequent shadows it produces on Lily’s face.

One aspect of shooting with the C330 is that I’ve only got full stops to work with. If I meter for anything in between, I invariably choose more light as opposed to less.

For what it’s worth, all of my development has been in XTOL replenished at stock strength. I’ve thought about trying XTOL 1:1 or 1:2, but that will burn through my developer pretty quickly. Using it replenished is very economical. 

Technorati Tags: photography, film, tmax, 400, tmy, mamiya, c330, 3200, push, processing, xtol, black, and, white, b&w

Medium Format, Frost, and Bugs

Asian Beetle on a Mum

I finally got a medium format camera. I’ve been hemming and hawing about this for a while: 35mm, 6×6 TLR, or 6×7 SLR? I finally went with a Mamiya C330 TLR purchased from KEH via Ebay. It was relatively inexpensive, but could use a good cleaning.

Frost killed tomatoes

The picture above is from my first roll of file through it, Kodak TMAX400. All in all not too bad, I’d say. The scans reveal an incredible amount of detail. It’s really quite stunning. I seem to have a bit of a lint issue somewhere, as all of the negatives have somewhat large squigly pieces of lint in them as well as regular flecks. I’ll have to think about my processing procedures and see where I can try to reduce dust contamination.

I’m very happy with the sharpness of the pictures. I also like using the waist level finder. It’s easy to get focus (though not fast). The biggest downside is the price. A single roll of TMAX400 film costs about $3.80. I get 12 exposures from a roll of film. Once the bloom wears off my new toy I’m guessing that I’ll shoot a roll a week or so. I had thought about trying some slide film, but the cost of the film plus processing is approaching $10 per roll. A bit too much for my blood.

I’ve already got a series of shooting strategies for my next several rolls:

• Hand-held push: My current roll has several shots at 1/30th shutter speed. I want to see how that will turn out.
• Under the lights: I want to see how the camera / film / pictures respond when using it for portraiture and my lights.
• Pushing: Push the film to ISO1600 and/or ISO3200.

I had 10 rolls of film when I started. I’m down to 8 rolls now. Soon to be 5.

Technorati Tags: photography, film, b&w, black, white, kodak, tmax, 400, tmy, mum, beetle, tomato

A Tale of Two Cameras

Lucy modeling for me.

I’m at a bit of a crossroads right now with respect to photography. You see, I like to use black and white film. I have made the decision that I’m done with my Pentax K1000, and it is time to replace it. And that’s where my dilemma lies.

I could get a Canon EOS film body (the EOS-3, to be exact) and then I’d get to re-use my lenses whether shooting digital or film. Very sensible. The one tiny issue is that, see, it’s fully automatic. Just like my digital. I’d sort of like to keep my film experience very, uh, non-automatic. In a discussion over the weekend, the suggestion was made to simply turn all that off and shoot fully manual. It’s a good theory, but I know myself well enough to know that I wouldn’t. I just couldn’t.

My other option is get a different camera. Like a medium format “different” camera. Probably a TLR as I’m cost sensitive. One problem is that my consumables cost really starts to take off. Medium format film is much more expensive than the bulk 35mm I’m using now. Another point is that, unless I get a Mamiya, I’m only using one lens forever on my medium format. Not the end of the world, but still….

I guess logically I would say “Get the Canon EOS body,” but there’s a side of me that wants to get a medium format rig and take it for a whirl.

And meanwhile, indecision is decision.

Technorati Tags: photography, lucy, high, key, white, background, tlr, film

Why do we pay for toys?

Playing with toilet paper

Honestly, why do we spend the money? This is a picture of my 3 oldest girls playing with toilet paper (clean, mind you) in the living room. They were using it like streamers and just having a blast.

Queen Lily

And Lily has it wrapped in her hair pretending to be a queen.

Who knew that toilet paper could be so fun?

Technorati Tags: photography, kids, children, playing, fun, toys, film, black, white, efke

Reprocessing my boat

Yesterday I posted “Boat as Bow.” Burstmode, who takes absolutely beautiful flower photographs, commented. While I can’t retake the picture (it’s a long car ride back to Shawano), I can reprocess in Lightroom. So, here’s the reprocessed version.

Reprocessed

And here is the original next to the reprocessed:

Original	Reprocessed

When I compare the two side by side, I tend to like the reprocessed better. But, the original is more like what I remember, sort of (isn’t memory a funny thing). It was early morning when I took the photo, and there wasn’t that much contrast.

It all comes down to this being a matter of intent, right? I feel the original is more “accurate” to what I saw but the reprocessed has more punch. I have to say, I’m torn on this one. I’m not a “purist” by any stretch of the imagination. But, the mood I was trying to capture (whether I captured it or not is another debate) in the original seems wiped away with the higher contrast of the reprocessed photo.

Still, I like the reprocessed picture. Well, no one ever said you couldn’t contradict yourself. Any thoughts, ideas, or comments?

Technorati Tags: photography, lightroom, processing, black, and, white, efke, 100, film

Boat as Bow

Boat as Bow

This image makes me think of a bow when I see it. I’m not entirely sure that I composed this as optimally as possible though. Use more negative space? Don’t cut off the reflection of the mast? Hmmm.

Technorati Tags: photography, sail, boat, shawano, wi, wisconsin, film, efke, 100

Sailboat on Lake Shawano

Sailboat on Lake Shawano

Technorati Tags: photography, efke, film, b&w, black, and, white, ilford, dd-x