Black and White Film

Reflections On The Columbia River

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Typically I associate the summer months here in the Pacific Northwest as a time with bright light that can be a challenge in the best of times to work with. I’m spoiled in that for most of the years I get to work with nice subdued overcast lighting that looks good from pretty much any angle at any time of the day. For two or three months in the summer however, I actually have to be careful when selecting the time of day I go out because the light can become quite harsh, bright, and full of unflattering shadows or highlights.

Photographed with a Hasselblad 500c/m and Ilford HP5 medium format film.

Earlier this week however I had a stroke of luck and found myself doing a photo session on a day with nothing but overcast and mild temperatures. Perfect!! I wish I could say I planned it, but really the weather just worked out in my favor by complete accident.

Photographed with a Hasselblad 500c/m and Ilford HP5 medium format film.

To take advantage of the day I traveling out to Rooster Rock which is a stretch of beach along the Columbia River to the east of Portland that is officially sanctioned as clothing optional. On a weekend when the weather is nice I tend to avoid this spot at all costs because it can get incredibly crowded. However, on a weekend morning when the temperatures are mild the entire place is nearly deserted. It’s the perfect environment where Floofie and I could take our time, work on poses, explore the best angles to get a solid reflection in the water, and not at all worry about looking over our shoulders the entire session.

Photographed with a Hasselblad 500c/m and Ilford HP5 medium format film.

As if I wasn’t lucky enough with the weather, it also happened to be low tide along the Columbia River which meant we could walk out quite a ways into the river and the water was only up to our ankles. Seriously, I’m not sure I could have asked for better conditions.

Isolation at the Oregon Dunes

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I’m planning another trip out to the Oregon Dunes in the next few weeks. It has quickly become one of my favorite places on earth to make photographs, whether I’m there by myself or with someone who is posing in the photographs. It’s a bit of a journey from Portland which can be a pain, but the road trip is worth it. If I take the long way along the coast the scenery is breathtaking so I really can’t complain.

Photographed with a Hasselblad 500c/m and Kodak Tmax 400 medium format film.

This photograph is from a few years ago on my very first visit. It was probably a bit later in the day than I would have liked it be as far as lighting goes, but since it was my first time making the trip I didn’t really know what to expect and I was just happy to be experiencing the Dunes for the first time. I like the way the results turned out anyway. I had my Hasselblad 500c/m with me and only a few rolls of Kodak Tmax 400.

Blind Cats and Street Photography

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I’ve always admired people who are good at street photography. I absolutely do not count myself as one of those people. I think it takes a certain kind of bravery, an ability to be in a singular world where you are an observer totally unaware of the way people are in turn observing you. For better or worse, when I take a camera out in public, I can feel eyes looking at me. The reality is, most, if not all, people really aren’t, and even if they are it shouldn’t matter. But I can’t help feeling a tad bit of discomfort about it every single time. The best street photographers probably don’t get this feeling. Or if they do, they turn that energy into great photographs. I haven’t quite figured out how to do that.

I’m sure it takes practice and perhaps part of my problem is I haven’t invested the time to get good at it. Very few things in this world come naturally after all.

Photographed with a Hasselblad 500c/m and Ilford HP5 120 film.

It’s because of all of this that my personal street photography tends to not be about people. Buildings, plants, flowers, random animals, old cars, that sort of thing are more my speed.

For this image I noticed a random cat just chilling out on the sidewalk. It wasn’t until I trained my camera on him that I noticed he was completely blind. It didn’t seem to bother him. He was friendly, purring on the warm concrete, only a few steps away from a porch with a cat door. Clearly he was well cared for so the scene didn’t make me sad. In fact, I envied the little guy. He seemed quite relaxed when I made a little portrait of him.

World Pinhole Photography Day (on 4x5 film!)

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Well, it looks like another World Pinhole Photography Day has come and gone. I certainly can’t be the only one when I say that it is hard for me to wrap my brain around the fact that it is currently the year 2023. Where on earth did the last three or four years go? I suppose COVID happened. That accounts for some of the whiplash. But still… I guess I’m just quickly hitting that age when time speeds up and the world around you moves faster than you’d like it to.

Photographed with an Ilford Titan Pinhole camera and Ilford HP5 large format film.

Perhaps it is for that reason that pinhole photography feels more important than ever in my life, and why I made it a point to go out and make some pinhole photographs on World Pinhole Photography Day. I’m no different than most people in that I spend the vast majority of my day in front of a computer. I even use that term “computer” very loosely. In reality I spend my day in front of a laptop with three screens, two smart phones, and several televisions pumping out 24 hour cable news. It’s mind numbing to say the least. Would I prefer to have far less screen time? Absolutely yes! But alas, I need a paycheck just like everyone else.

The simplicity of pinhole photography feels like a natural reaction to that unfortunate fact. It is my opportunity to slow it all down. To turn off every single screen. To work with a basic tool that requires slow and methodical interactions. Measure the light. Make an exposure calculation with my notebook. Compose. Open the “shutter”. Wait. Sometimes wait for a long time. Breath the air. Take in the silence. Repeat. It’s a refreshing experience to say the least. There are times when it actually feels like magic.

This year I decided to take out my Ilford Titan Pinhole 4x5 camera loaded up with Ilford HP4 film. I’ve been really happy with that camera ever since I bought it. While it might not be the most elegant looking of cameras, in practice it operates perfectly. It’s nice and light weight which means more room in my pack for film backs. Anyone who has ever worked with sheet film out in the field can understand the value of keeping the weight you carry with you to a minimum. Plus I like the focal length quite a bit. Equivalent to about 20mm on a 35mm camera the angle is nice and wide which is great considering composition is a guessing game with pinhole cameras.

Exposure time on this image was about 25 seconds metered at ISO 400. Negative was developed in Rodinal with a ratio 1:50 at 20C for 11 minutes.

Large Format 4x5 Film In The Studio

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It feels like it has been quite a while since I’ve worked with 4x5 film. After a recent photo session in the studio I think I intend to change that habit. For anyone who has ever worked with large format film you know that it is a slow moving process. Very slow. Like sloth climbing up a tree slow. But as I get older and the meaning and purpose behind photography changes for me over time, the slow methodical nature of large format film appeals to me more and more.

Photographed with a Calumet 4x5 Camera and Ilford HP5 Large Format Black and White Film.

From a technical perspective this image has a lot of failures. I think there is a bit of a light leak in the 4x5 film back I was using which was made all the worse by the fact that my studio lights were very close to the camera and the model. Either that or there is a light leak in my developing tank. I’m going to have to do some experimenting to figure out which of those two potential problems is true. In addition, when I developed the film my temperatures were a bit high making the final results a bit too contrasty for my taste.

However, for some reason i’m more forgiving of technical errors when it comes to large format photography. The slow methodical nature of the process makes everything feel more organic, including mistakes. I don’t feel as compelled to have perfect results like I normally would with 35mm, digital, or even medium format film.