Black and White Film

Storm in the Oregon Sky

in , ,

The wind was whipping around something fierce on this particular day out on Sauvie Island. High winds can easily be some of the most difficult conditions to work under. Cold weather is one thing. Cold weather with winds moving through your skin down to your bones is another thing entirely.

Photographed with a Hasselblad 500c/m and Ilford Delta 400 medium format film.

I feel extremely fortunate that despite the difficult conditions there are some excellent photographs that have come out of this session. You’d never know it looking at this image, but the model and I blew through twelve frames of Ilford Delta 400 in about three minutes flat. Anything longer and the model would have probably started turning purple. On top of that, it was impossible to look through the ground glass on my Hasselblad without my eyes becoming a watery mess thanks to the high winds. I ended up just simply zone focusing using the distance scale on the lens.

Photography isn’t always, in fact it is rarely ever, the glamorous activity people assume it is. I’m lucky to work with brave and very resilient people.

Columbia River Gorge with the Mamiya RZ67

in ,

It’s been raining something fierce here in the Portland area for the last few days. I don’t mind so much. I rather like the rain. It gives me a great excuse to curl up on the couch with my laptop, put on some very warm socks, and get caught up on editing images and watching movies. Over the next couple of days I plan on diving into a John Cassavetes box set I bought some time ago and will develop at least three rolls of film.

Photographed with a Mamiya RZ67 and Ilford HP5 film in 120 format.

I often don’t give my landscape photography the attention that it deserves. I’m keenly aware that it is less popular than the art nudes and figure studies and long ago I made my peace with that. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy doing it though. Heck, as I get older and more grumpy and have less of a desire to be around people I often enjoy doing it more. Landscape photography gives me the excuse to do something solitary without feeling lonely. There is something rather profound and good about that and I feel lucky to have a hobby that allows me to experience such a state of being.

I dragged my Mamiya RZ67 up a rather steep trail in order to make this particular image. I’m not the most physically active person on earth but I’m certainly not out of shape either. The trail up to this foggy hillside was a series of switchbacks that seemed to take forever, especially considering I had my Mamiya RZ67 with me (not a light camera…) a couple of lenses, a couple of film backs, a tripod, and a healthy amount of water and snacks. I don’t think it helped when you consider that it was a very foggy day and I couldn’t see the top of the hill where I was headed so I had no idea how close or far I was.

As always though, in the end it was worth it.

Imperfection With a Paper Negative in the Darkroom

in , , ,

I’ve mentioned on this blog before that I sometimes like to work with Paper Negatives. When using the Large Format 4x5 camera, paper negatives can be a great way to make images in a very economical way. A sheet of darkoom paper is still pennies on the dollar when compared to the traditional film one would typically load in a camera.

Photographed with a 4x5 View Camera and Ilford RC 4x5 Darkroom Paper

Paper negatives come with two challenges in particular. First, the effective ISO of paper is very slow. I typically expose at ISO 2 or 3 depending on how harsh the light is. This means very very slow shudder speeds at times. Part of the reason most of my portraits using paper negatives are so soft is because it is nearly impossible for the vast majority of people to hold completely still over the course of one or two full seconds. Second, paper negatives tend to have a lot of contrast in the final results. I find this is alleviated to a great extend by simply diluting my paper developer far more than I typically would when making a print from a negative. This tends to result in a more muted effect.

A third challenge with paper negatives can be illustrated in the image that comes with this post. When a lazy photographer such as myself isn’t paying much attention during development paper can get stuck together in the tray. This will result in uneven development as not enough chemistry reaches the paper emulsion. I’m considering this example to be a happy accident. I like the way the top of the model is brighter than the lower half. It’s an interesting segmentation.

That’s what I’m telling myself anyway.

Ilford Pan F 50 and a Figure Study

in , ,

I’ve long had a love for Ilford’s Pan F ISO 50 film stock. It captures a ton of detail and its exceedingly low grain can give images a very painterly kind of feel. It is also the film stock that I probably find the most challenging to work with and my results can be a little bit hit or miss with it sometimes.

Photographed with Ilford Pan F in medium format and a Hasselblad 500c/m

I have often found with Ilford Pan F that is it very easy to blow out the highlights and let contrast get out of control. With portraits and figure studies this is not such a great thing so I have to be very careful with my exposures and development. Often I find myself exposing the same shot, bracketing my exposure. In addition, the detail captured with Ilford Pan F can be unflattering with human skin.

Despite these challenges I like the give the film a go every so often. Usually I’ll pull out a roll after working with film stocks that are a bit easier to work with like Ilford FP4 or HP5 so if I don’t get results I like with Pan F then it is no big deal. With the image I posted here, this was exposed at the tail end of a session done in my living room. All I did was move my furniture out of the way giving me a blank wall to work with and a single strobe light to the right of the frame. It was a tight space to work in, but I think the results look rather nice.

Zero Image 6x6 Pinhole Camera at Five O'clock

in , ,

I’m one of those cliche photographers who always has a camera with me. Typically it is a 35mm compact camera that I use as a sort of daily diary. Just something I can pull out of my pocket and take the occasional snapshot that catches my fancy. I hardly ever consider the work particularly purposeful or note worthy, but I think it is important to do it all the same.

A few weeks ago however I decided to mix it up a bit and I carried around a Zero Image 6x6 Pinhole Camera around with me instead. The camera can do 12 exposures on medium format film and it is small enough to fit in the breast pocket of the coat I wear on most days. A little different maybe? Yes, but sometimes we all have to mix it up a bit to keep the creative juices moving in our brains.

Photographed with a Zero Image 6x6 Pinhole Camera and Ilford Delta 400 film in 120.

I usually start walking to work shortly before 6am. I tend to be an early riser in my old age, something I never thought I would say out loud. That means for a good chunk of the year I start walking before the sun even comes up. I knew that might make for some interesting opportunities, and interesting challenges with a pinhole camera. My exposures certainly weren’t going to be short!

This image was exposed over a period of about fifteen minutes. I set the camera directly on the ground and pointed it toward an intersection with a car dealership hoping there would be enough light. Even after a fifteen minute exposure the negative came out a bit thin and underexposed, but good enough to get a decent scan and share it here. Long pinhole exposures are a bit of guess work at best and this was no exception.