Photography

Most of the shots on this roll were taken indoors in low light, so the Summilux was at either 1.4 or 2.0, meaning I missed focus quite often.

Some days I just really need to finish a roll. The photos of Alice relaxing in the sunshine reminded me how good film is at holding onto highlights. I feel like I couldn’t blow them if I tried. ...

Scanning 35mm film with a flatbed scanner isn’t great, so I bought a PrimeFilm XAs scanner to see if that would help. It didn’t. The XAs creates large, sharp scans…when it works. I was excited by the prospect of scanning an entire roll of 35mm film in one go. Just feed the film into one end and it comes out the other, leaving behind up to 36 5000dpi scans. Unfortunately, it hasn’t turned out that way. I was only able to scan a full roll once without issues. Alignment just never worked and I’d end up with offset frames for 3/4 of the roll. I never did figure out why it worked sometimes but not others. ...

I got to have lunch with Steve and Bryan at Founders. Here are a few snaps I took between beers. Founders exterior Pipes outside of Founders Founders Steve buying KBS at Founders Bryan shopping for T-shirts at Founders Fusionary Steve and Bryan in front of Founders

Charlie Charlie is 15 and has slowed down some, but can still be cute when he wants to be. I’ve been exploring color lately. I most often prefer black and white photographs, but I wonder if this is simply because I’m not good with color. I like the consistent, muted colors in this photo of Charlie.

I don’t have anything interesting for today, so here are a handful of images made around the house using the SL2-S and various lenses. Dog poop can Alice and my footprints in snow from morning walk. Leica APO-Summicron-SL 75mm Leitz Focomat V 35 enlarger. Sigma 24-70 f2.8 Art. Mirror self-portrait. Leica 90mm Elmarit-M f2.8 Dinner. Sigma 24-70 f2.8 Art.

I finally finished the roll that’s been idling in the M6 for a couple of months. I took it out of the camera only to discover it was a roll of Portra 400. Color, dammit. I didn’t have any fresh chemicals. The only reason I have some C-41 mixed is that I’ve been too lazy to dispose of it. Screw it, I thought, and fired up the JOBO anyway. Surprisingly, they didn’t end up blank or completely unusable. The color is inconsistent, but that’s always the case with me and color processing. At least I proved that you can keep C-41 chemicals mixed for almost a year and still get images from your film. ...

A roll of mostly self-portraits taken in the basement “studio”. A black cloth backdrop, Profoto strobe with an octobox on left, and a led panel off to the right. Washing negatives. Leica MP. HP5 Plus. Self-portrait with weird lighting. Leica MP. HP5 Plus. Darkroom bathtub after printing. Leica MP. HP5 Plus. Self-portrait. Leica MP. HP5 Plus. Camera identification selfie. Leica MP. HP5 Plus.

Let’s face it, film is meant for well-lit subjects. Every time I bring a film camera to somewhere like a restaurant or a friend’s house, I regret it. There’s just never enough light for candid snaps. I had an old roll of Delta 3200 in the fridge, so I thought I’d see if that helped. It didn’t. I like grain, but not this much grain. Good grief. Flowers. Leica M4. Summilux-M 50mm ASPH. Delta 3200 @1600. HC-110. ...

A few from the most recent roll from of the Leica MP. It’s HP5 Plus, processed in HC-110 (dilution B) for 5 minutes. Scanned on the PrimeFilm XAs. This roll is concerning because many of the frames have horizontal scratches, which could indicate a problem with the film pressure plate. There’s also boatloads of hair and dust. My process needs refining. Chuck the bulldog My Polaroid SX-70 kit Quotes on index cards Skeleton Trash, just finishing the roll Camera Identification Selfie ...

Leica M lenses are tiny little jewels with unmatched build and image quality. Leica SL lenses are giant monsters with unmatched build and even better image quality. And auto-focus. I prefer the small ones.

I’ve got nothing. Two rolls shot at the MSU tailgate. One with the MP and HP5 and one with the Olympus OM-1n with expired XP2. Lots of missed focus. Lots of too-far-away. Lots of dust. It’s dampening my enthusiasm for film, but here are a few anyway. Golden looking out back of party bus. (Leica MP. Summicron-M 35mm ASPH) ...

I miss Kodachrome. I was able to shoot a few rolls before Dwayne’s Photo, the last shop capable of processing Kodachrome, stopped processing it for good. The last roll was processed on January 18, 2011. For some reason, all of my original Kodachrome scans are fairly low-res, so I re-scanned the better images using my new Prime Film XAs scanner. Here are a few examples. It was beautiful film. ...

It had been a while since I used the Olympus OM-1n. The Zuiko 85mm f2.0 has been a favorite lens for a long time, so I put a roll through the kit while helping a friend take his boat and dock out of the water for the season. Olympus OM-1n with Zuiko 85mm f/2.0 The OM’s viewfinder is still one of the biggest and brightest I’ve ever used. The camera itself is actually smaller than a Leica M. It’s a great setup. Here are a few highlights from the roll. ...

Steve and Chuck The dogs were very popular, especially Chuck, the puppy Maybe too creepery, but I thought it was a beautiful and powerful configuration. Charlie was tuckered _25.jpg 600w, /img/size/w1000/2021/09/2021-Roll-031_25.jpg 1000w, /img/size/w1600/2021/09/2021-Roll-031_25.jpg 1600w, /img/2021/09/2021-Roll-031_25.jpg 2048w" sizes="(min-width: 1200px) 1200px" />My Nikon F3HP and motor drive _40.jpg 600w, /img/size/w1000/2021/09/2021-Roll-031_40.jpg 1000w, /img/size/w1600/2021/09/2021-Roll-031_40.jpg 1600w, /img/2021/09/2021-Roll-031_40.jpg 2048w" sizes="(min-width: 1200px) 1200px" />Megan and Aidan _55.jpg 600w, /img/size/w1000/2021/09/2021-Roll-031_55.jpg 1000w, /img/size/w1600/2021/09/2021-Roll-031_55.jpg 1600w, /img/2021/09/2021-Roll-031_55.jpg 2048w" sizes="(min-width: 1200px) 1200px" />Megan, Chuck, and Aidan

My 1962 Minolta Autocord has seen better days. I had an expired (in 2006) roll of Kodak BW400CN (C-41) film in 120 so I figured I didn’t have much to lose. The film looks ok, but the camera scratched the hell out of it on the way through. And the frame spacing was all over the place, including a couple of frames with no space between them. The old Autocord was fun to shoot, but I think it’s time for it to retire. It looks cool on the shelf, so that’s something. ...

Dogs, myself, and cameras are about the only things I’ve been photographing lately. I just don’t seem to have any ideas. Well, that’s not true; I have plenty of ideas, but I’m too lazy to act on them. So, I sit around the house and shoot what’s in front of me. I need to snap out of it.

The little Leica IIIf is adorable, tiny, and capable. Built in 1946, it’s showing its age a bit. Also, it’s kind of a pain to use, so I only drag it out occasionally. I notice there’s also a light leak. This time I used a long-expired roll of Ilford XP2 Super.

The best camera is the one you have with you. Unless it’s a shitty camera. In that case the best camera is the one you left at home. Idiot. Jack Baty, Twitter 2010