Fun with Caffenol!

Well, the gamble paid off.  I got the recipe right and have been successfully developing film for a few weeks now.  I'm a few rolls in, I guess.  Here's a sample from that first field test:

After this run I was so impressed with the results I decided to go again:

Took some more at a local street festival this past weekend that didn't turn out badly.  Haven't gotten a chance to process (resize and crop out scanning mask) those yet.  To now, these have all been shot on the Mamiya/Sekor 500dtl @ 80iso and meter. 

I just got a new camera from Lomography.  The Sprocket Rocket.  In comparison to the 500 it's very limited.  Single shutter speed, no film speed setting, 2 f stops for "sunny" and "cloudy."  So, I figured, it wasn't too sunny the other day I'd shoot a test roll and develop it at home.  So, I set it to the "cloudy" setting for more light and hopefully a bit over like the 80iso set.  I was pleasantly surprised with the results:

The first thing I did when I got the Sprocket Rocket was pull out the sprocket hiding mask.  I mean... why would they even send that with the camera?  Anyways, I was very happy with the outcome.  Granted, it's a little more foggy than I'd like; I can live with it, I think.

Now, I just have to mix my HC110 and get some more Tri-X.  Looking at bulk rolling The Tri-X rebrand and saving myself a couple bucks.  Just need to get that equipment.

Anywho, that's all for now.  Oh!  Meeting with a gallery owner about a possible show in November.  We'll see how this transpires.

Always Learning.

This past weekend I got to enjoy some quality shooting time with my old friend the Mamiya/Sekor 500dtl.  My wife and I went to the International Festival in St. Louis and there were just an immense amount of people there.

When I had time I found myself attempting to shoot like Winogrand:  I set myself up in a busy area and just stood there with the crowd moving and milling around me.  It was intense!  I felt so immersed in the people.  I tried to smile and make eye contact and hopefully keep a mug that would help people feel at ease and not freak them out.  I didn't get shouted at once, they just kept moving.  I got some weird looks, sure.  But, all in all it was event free. 

When I got home, though, I'd already begun thinking.  It was taking me far too long to find the shot, frame the shot, focus... focus... then shoot.  I'd preset my meter and stayed in an area where the metering would be ideal.  But, the focusing.  That's when I came across an article discussing the markings on a lens.  Now, I'd like to think I'm not some amateur jackass with a camera just pulling the trigger on anything... but, I guess I sort of am.  I don't have a formal education in photography, but I'm trying to increase my knowledge. 

To the point, though.  I learned, just last night, that I can overcome this focusing issue by finagling the aperture and film speed settings on my camera just so to produce a very wide zone for my focal depth.  I did not know.

This information would have been nice this past weekend.  But, I learned and hopefully at the Japanese Festival next weekend I will be able to utilize the information and take better pictures. 

The afore mentioned roll of film has not yet been developed, will post pictures later this week.

The Click

The last time I shot film was in 2002.  Since then I progressed through increasing megapixels, culminating in a 12 that I tried to create lo-fi-esque photos with.  I only ever shot with the pinhole "format."  It's a special setting under the "magic filters" of the Olympus SP600-UZ.  I photochopped them to have vignetting and cross-processed like looks.  De-saturate for age and filter for texture. 

Then, I discovered lomography.  These plastic cameras that create something wholly unique.  What you see in the viewfinder is not necessarily what will come out in the print.  What you see with your own eyes may not be what comes out - light leaks and double exposures and splitzters and the dreamy look of a plastic lens capturing life.

I bought my first lomo camera (Diana Mini).  I shot my first roll (Fuji 400 exp2002).  I shot my second roll (See first roll). I ordered a 2nd camera (DIY Recesky TLR).  I built a camera (Pinhole).  I'm eying more.

After that first roll, my wife and I discussed this phenomenon and what it all meant.  Why was this more fascinating?  Why was I so engrossed?  obsessed?  And it hit me.  It came to me as if in a dream.  Call it clarity:

Film is visceral.  Film is tangible.  Digital is instant gratification.  It's pristine, glossy, hospital steralized, perfection.  It beeps when it's done.  Automatic.

The sound of a shot.  Click!  The shutter, violently thrashing within the body.  Capturing the essence.  "Taking" the picture in that it takes something - grabbing it and pulling it inside.  That sound is like magic.  It's satisfying and refreshing.  It assures me that something happened.  I don't have to look at the screen to know that the shot happened.  The click tells me so.

Gears ticking.  When you advance the film you know it's moving, working.  You hear the sprockets rolling, physically spin the wheel yourself.  Sometimes I like to slowly advance the film tick by tick just to hear it.  It's reassuring knowing that there's more on that roll of film.  The tick, a whisper in my ear - encouraging.

The anticipation.  Some people like to shake their presents before Christmas.  I quite enjoy the wait.  Not knowing what will turn out and what won't.  Thinking back, considering if I focused properly or if I left the shutter open too long.  Imagining what the images might look like.  Trying to remember what the hell I shot... 

Thank you camera.  Thank you you wonderful thing.  Thank you for allowing patience in this mad-dash, two sheets to the wind world.