Film

Roll of HP5 from the Leica MP

I spent the afternoon with my parents to celebrate their 62nd wedding anniversary. This roll of Tri-X was taken with the Hasselblad 500C/M and the 80mm Planar. Mom and dad My sister’s family Door into my brother-in-law’s pole barn Lula

A roll of Kodak Gold 200 was languishing in the Nikon F100, so I used it up taking photos of Alice on our deck. Turns out that’s what I did with the first half of the roll, too :) Processed C-41 in the JOBO and scanned on the V850 using SilverFast.

A portrait session with my aunt and uncle’s family. Taken using the Hasselblad 500C/M and 80mm Planar. HP5.

I brought the Hasselblad to my parents house while my daughter and grandson were visiting. I underexposed the roll a bit, but the hit rate was better than expected. I love this one of my sister and Lincoln. Jess and Lincoln My parents with Lincoln Crystal and Lincoln Mom with photobomb

Whenever I review my recent photos, I am reminded that I prefer film. Film is fun, if sometimes frustrating, to shoot. Film cameras are cooler. And I love the results.

Back in photo.net’s and rangefinderforum.com’s prime, there was a gruff, opinionated, brilliant, and helpful forum member and photographer named Al Kaplan. He helped me a great deal after I got my first Leica. When he died in 2010, his family sold mugs and T-shirts to raise money. I’ve kept the mug on my desk ever since. Silver is Better Al Kaplan mug. Leica MP. HP5. ...

Throwing some old film away has made me think about what I actually need to keep

I brought a Hasselblad 60 megapixel medium format digital camera to Africa with me. I took photos side by side with my film camera. The digital camera’s images were sharper. They had more detail in both the shadows and the highlights. The digital camera made photographing very, very easy. And I hated it. … In fact, had I photographed using a digital camera from the beginning, I’m not sure that I would have liked a single photograph that I had ever taken. ...

It’s always surprising to me how many frames I don’t screw up when using the meterless M3.

I know that film photography and Emacs are completely unrelated, but I have been thinking about both of them quite a lot recently. Since moving back to shooting film in 2003, I have regular thoughts of switching to all-digital again. It’s just easier. I have rooms full of “stuff” in support of film photography, and things would become so much faster and easier without all of that. A nice digital camera, a good RAW editor, an inkjet printer, and some hard drives, and I’m all set. ...

I took the MP on my walk and was determined to shoot an entire roll. It was overcast, dreary, and the path I walk is pretty boring, but I did my best and made it through the roll. This roll was shot at 800 and developed in HC-110 (Dilution B) for 7.5 minutes.

I tried, I really did. The Wise Old Internet guided me into changing my film scanning process from a dedicated flatbed scanner to using a mirrorless digital camera setup. I did everything right. I bought good equipment and the right software. I hated it. To scan using my flatbed, I load the negatives, hit “Prescan”, confirm that things look ok and press “Scan”. I go do something else for a while and come back to a folder full of JPGs. I edit the files by adjusting contrast and cropping as needed in Lightroom or whatever and I’m done. ...

Here a few from a recent roll using the Leica M3 and the Leica 50mm Summilux-M ASPH. Mom and Dad. Leica M3 Dad playing mini-golf on the Quest. Leica M3 Molly. Leica M3 Michigan Fucking State. Leica M3

I attended our annual family reunion in Newaygo this weekend. It’s always great to see everyone. I shot a roll of HP5 with the MP and 35mm Summilux. Aunt Joan and Uncle Bob Playing cornhole Smiles all around My cousin Aaron Judy and Norma

There was a roll languishing in the OM-2n so I finished it during my walk today. I really need to find some new subjects. Shot on HP5 Plus. Developed in HC-110 (dilution B) for five minutes. Scanned on the Epson V750. Mirror self-portrait. OM-2n. HP5 Plus Flag while driving. OM-2n. HP5 Plus Bridge. OM-2n. HP5 Plus

I had lunch with my parents recently and took a few photos with both my film and digital cameras. I shot about the same number of photos with each camera, with close to the same number of “keepers”. Which do I prefer? ...

I normally don’t like the high-speed films but I’m trying to use what’s in my fridge, so here’s a few from a roll of Kodak T-MAX P3200 shot at 1600 and processed in HC-100. Zazette ...

As usual, this roll contained a few self-portraits, a few of Alice, and a few of “stuff”. My favorites are the ones taken in my dad’s garage. Alice. (Leica MP. HP5 Plus. 90mm Elmarit-M) Dad’s workbench (Leica MP. HP5 Plus. 50mm Summilux-M) Self-portrait (Leica MP. HP5 Plus. 90mm Elmarit-M) Wall in dad’s garage (Leica MP. HP5 Plus. 50mm Summilux-M) ...

My wife bought an awful, kitschy plastic lamp and set it on one of the floor speakers. I, of course, balked. That was a week ago and somehow the lamp is still there. I hate the lamp, but I don’t mind the light that it throws against the wall, and my wife loves it and thinks “it’s adorable”. Who am I to judge? I took a photo of it. It’s just another boring snapshot by a film photographer looking for excuses to finish the roll. It’s exposed the way I intended and it’s composed nicely, but it’s not a great photo. I love it anyway. ...