The Click Means I'm Alive
Kodak is keeping the film side of its business alive and well. They’re finally realizing that their film business IS profitable and that the “niche” of film photography is still quite large. Go to the link below to read more.
In honor of this decision on Kodak’s part, all of the shots in this post were made with Kodak film.
Now it’s time to go buy some Portra.
Thank you again, Kodak, for keeping it real when the chips were down.
So about a year and a half ago, I was at a thrift store and happened upon a pretty little camera. I had never heard of it, but it turned out to be a real treasure. What did I find? A Pentax Espio Mini, aka Pentax UC-1 in the US. Everything about this little camera was so sleek and clean. When I learned of its razor-sharp lens, I was in awe. I had found something so special, I was actually afraid to use it for fear of somehow damaging it. They don’t show up regularly and aren’t easy to buy on a whim.
Well, I finally got up the nerve to put a test roll through it. I wanted to use it in a variety of lighting situations without flash, so I used Fuji Superia 400 film. Being a test roll, there’s not a lot of story in many of the pictures as I was trying to test the lens a bit. Here are some of the highlights. I hope you enjoy them.
Pirate!! I was especially stricken with this photo. The tones are beautiful, and she is such an easy model to work with. I’m still trying to figure out how to get rid of the noise in the right side of the photo. I did have to color correct these photos because my scanner made the colors very flat and grey. Once I had the photos consistent with the prints made from the negatives, I was left with this strange pixellated anomaly on the wall. Perhaps a book on Photoshop is in order, no?
An army of Santas.
Remember that Spotmatic? I decided it deserved a better portrait than my dusty iPhone lens could provide. Ahh.. much better!
This is a funky building I pass on the way home from work. The light at this intersection catches me every time, so I figured I’d make the most of my time.
If you can’t tell, I’m pretty excited about this little camera all over again. I hope you enjoyed them, and I’ll be posting a few more in the next day or two. Also, if there are some film photography bloggers you like here on WordPress, I’d sure love to know about them. If you have any feedback, comments, or blog suggestions, feel free to drop me a line. Thanks!
Too excited to take a better photo, that is. This Honeywell Pentax Spotmatic with a Super Takumar 1.8 prime lens was rescued from a Goodwill store for a paltry 9 dollars. I’ll post another (better) photo when she’s all cleaned up.
Since it’s so rare that I get to have Sunday off, I figured I’d share some lazy photos to fit the mood of the day. Hope you enjoy.
Top photo taken with Olympus Stylus Epic and Kodak slide film.
Next two photos taken with Yashica T4 and Afga Precisa 100 film.
This is a shot from the test roll I put through my first Olympus Stylus Epic. I wanted to test the focus to be sure everything was in order, but I also wanted to see how it would present depth of field in brighter light situations. I think the little guy handled it pretty well. The frog statue was a more-than-willing model for my test shot.
Taken with Olympus Stylis Epic (Mju II) and Kodak slide film.
Somebody sees something delicious on the other side of the window!
Taken with Olympus XA2 and Kodak slide film.
2011 was a fun year for trying new cameras and new film types. It was a lot of fun seeing the “personality” of each slide film really come to the forefront once it was cross-processed. One interesting aspect of cross-processing slide film, other than the very strong color shifts it causes, was that it did remove sharpness from the images in a very unpredictable way, as you’ll see in the photos below. Here are a few of my favorite shots on cross-processed film from my first rolls. I hope you enjoy them.
When I saw the image below, the first thing that came to mind was the interplanetary cities of the anime series Cowboy Bebop. Familiar things in unfamiliar settings, you might say. I saw the purplish skies of this photo as my idea of earth life migrated to Mars, like in the Cowboy Bebop series.
In the photo below, the Bradford pear tree blooms really popped out against the sky and other branches in the background. In the image above, the cross-processing seemed to really fuzz out the photo, which seems to be the norm. This photo below, however, is much sharper than the waxwing photo above.
In this last photo, the color shift is obviously much different from the previous two, and the sharpness doesn’t seem to have diminished as much. I’m actually surprised any photos from this roll turned out well, since the boat ride was a bit bumpy!
I hope you enjoy the photos. I’ve definitely enjoyed exploring the photos and blogs of those of you kind enough to follow, like, or comment on my posts. Like ’em or not, say something about my photos if you’re so inclined.
Cameras used in the photos were the Canon Elan II, Olympus Stylus Epic, and Yashica T4, respectively.
Taken with Canon AE-1 and Fuji Color film
A pair of tugs docked along the Mississippi River closeby to the Louisiana state capitol. One of the first rolls I ever put through my first film camera, a Canon AE-1. Taken with Fuji Color 100 film.
Fotografia 