Fujichrome Astia 100

I recently shot up some Astia 100 expired film that I've had laying around for about 2 years. Its about 4-7 years expired, based on the rest of the lot that I purchased and I've shot a bit of it before (at night) that I was somewhat pleased with. This, however, took me aback. I sent the roll to Dodd Camera in Cleveland to develop, and it came back beautiful. I think this is the best color that I've seen from chrome film thus far, my crappy developing aside.

The Fisherman (Agfa Isolette Test)

Due to the great weather we've been having lately, Steph and I headed out this weekend to take some photos of what we could find.  We ran down to rocky river and shot the bridges and persons that we could find. I have recently received a gift of several awesome old cameras from a friend of mine, so I took one of the brutes down to the river with me, an Agfa Isolette, loaded with expired Agfa APX 100 film in 120.  

The camera is nice, the bellows are in good shape and the aperture/shutter is pretty snappy.  On many of the shots, I was much too close to the subject, resulting in blurred nothing, but I did get two nice photos. One, of a fisherman that we'll call "Jim". I later got a chance to take a photo of him with his personal camera holding a 30" Trout that he'd just pulled out of the river.

Strangely, this is the only shot with any apparent light leak on the whole roll...I'm wondering if maybe it's just a flare on the glass...

Photos are for the Road

I like to take photos while driving. I know that this notion has frightened some of you, but I do. Now, more often than not, I am a passenger, so it doesn't hurt that I am taking photos while moving.  There is a certain sacrifice that one makes when moving at 60 mph down the road, and at the same time attempting to capture a beautiful sunset, cloud formation, wildlife or what have you:  Things that are moving, look blurry.  Well, I like blurry, sometimes. Even when I was a small child, I used to look out of the window of my father's truck and focus and un-focus my eyes on the scenery passing by.  The fescue, barbed wire, or the gravel on the shoulder racing by in a grey blur.
I recently took a trip with Stephanie and Shannon back to the farm country where I was born. Here are some photos from the road.

 

And NOW....

I've made it back to winter again.  Next year, the 'year in review' will go throughout the month of December and not the month of January. I'll have more sense.  January has been 'The month of the Camera", insofar as we in Ohio are concerned. Due to the generosity of 2 friends and Steph and I's industriousness, our camera collection has grown by 6 new cameras.  We added a Mamiya MSX 1000, an Olympus Om-1 and Om-2, a Mamiya 135 ee, and a Honeywell/Pentax Spotmatic.  All cameras are in functional shape and with a bit of TLC and lens cleaning, (fungus) they'll be back on-line.  Stephanie, too, has caught the 'film-bug' and has finally finished her first roll of film in several years.  Its always good to go back to analog products and do what first sparked your interest in any given craft or art.  Also, due to my friend Derek, I've developed my first roll of 'found film'.  Derek sent me a roll of kodacolor II film from 1974-1981 (approx) and I developed it in acufine developer.  It took a week's research to determine what times and temperatures to use, and I did find several individuals that helped along the way.  The film was 127 type, which is 43mm wide and contains 16 exposures. Kind of an 'in-between' film for 135 and 120, now discontinued utterly.  There were 2 exposures that had been saved on the roll, all the rest were solarized completely due to someone opening the back of the camera after the film had been exposed.

Here is the result of my research. I developed for 8 min @ 22c in acufine developer.

I would encourage anyone who reads this to send along any 'found films' that they might have lying about, and i'll see what can be done with them.  You can always reach me at josephdecker0@gmail.com if you'd like to send along some film, or have an orphan camera that needs a home.  Broken is best!  It gives me an opportunity to learn something. :)  Thanks for all the views and the lessons last year, I hope this year is just as good!

Fall! part two

COLOR! For those of us who miss it. 

Kodak Technical Pan

Kodak technical pan film was an 'almost' panchromatic film, which means it responds to the whole spectrum of light.  We don't have to worry about this much nowadays, because all black and white film is panchromatic.  At one time, black and white film was Orthochromatic, meaning it responded very weakly to red spectrum.

In every photo forum I have visited, someone is there singing the praises of kodak tech pan film.  It supposedly leans more to the red spectrum of light, simulating the application of a red filter to the lens, and darkening blues (sky) and lightens reds.  I shot this roll at 200ASA, as reccomended.  It is supposed to have a very wide exposure latitude, but the sharpness I got with my new Mamiya Sekor DTL1000 and  sekor 55mm lens seems sufficient at 200EI...I might try 16EI with the next roll I come across to see if the claims about the film are true.  All in all, it was a great test for the new/old camera and even though the film was expired at least 6 years ago, it performed nicely.

Blast from the past, Agfa 400 Expired 1986

To be honest, I really wanted to load these up one at a time, and write poems for each of them.  They are good memories, and strong emotional images for me.  I may do so, at some later date.  This Agfapan film I picked up at Loomis Camera, a great place.  The owner often sells highly expired films, and always comments that "the dust is free".  There are many wonderful items there, enlargers, ancient cameras, accessories and lenses....but, I digress.  This film is 400ISO shot at 1600EI, developed in Tmax developer.  It did expire in 1986, and in retrospect, I should have shot it at box speed, and not pushed it at all...Live and Learn.  The tones it produced at a 2 stop push were pretty nice, by my standards, and even though there is some 'underdevelopment' going on, or 'underexposure', none of the highlights are blocked up and there is still a pretty wide range of tonality, even if I sacrificed some sharpness.  I'll never complain about expired film again after this.  I'll just assume I screwed up somewhere and try to figure out where. :) 

Red Rocks

The bones of the earth exposed in the sunlight

we were greeted by the birds

and when my lenses fell off a 30' cliff

I didn't even frown.

This is a place of magic,

a place of breathing the breath

that sustains life