Author: johnmeadowsphotography

An amateur photographer in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Watching and Waiting

· Leave a comment ·

Today’s image was created using my Yashica TL-Electro: my very first 35mm SLR camera, purchased in 1977 when I was fifteen. It has sat idle for almost 20 years until I recently decided to pick it up and see if it still worked. (It did, once I sourced non-mercury batteries). The image was taken inside the Eaton Centre is downtown Toronto of a man who appeared to be watching and waiting. In fact, the somewhat melancholy mood of the photo reminds me of the Moody Blues song Watching and Waiting.

Watching and Waiting

 

(Yashica TL-Electro, 135mm/3.5 Pentax Super Takumar lens, Ilford Delta 400 film developed in TMax developer)

Behind the Veil

· Leave a comment ·

Today another image from High Park, shot on Rollei 80s film with a red filter. I continue to be amazed at the different reality I get with this film/filter combo. It’s look pulling back a veil.

High Park(Pentax K1000, 28mm/2.8 Pentax lens with 25A red filter, Rollei 80S film developed in Rodinal 1+50 for 14 minutes)

 

At Water’s Edge

· Leave a comment ·

I don’t know what it is about being by the water that gets people to stop and contemplate. maybe we are unconsciously communing with our distant ancestors who lived in the sea before evolving to live on land?

Scan-130911-0003(Nikon F2, 105mm/f2.5 lens, Tri-X film)

 

Different Eyes

· Leave a comment ·

I’e talked about using filters for different light, but today I’m talking about different eyes. Not the eye of the photographer, but the eyes of the small child in this image. Imagine how large and magical this location would look to her!

Fairy Tale from Afar

 

(Pentax Spotmatic SP, 135mm/f3.5 Pentax Super Takumar lens, Ilford HP5+ film, developed in Tmax developer)

Different Light

· Leave a comment ·

Yesterday afternoon I was at High Park in Toronto, shooting Rollei 80s film. This film has a very high red sensitivity, and to enhance this sensitivity I shot through a red 25A filter. To my eyes it seems the landscape became transformed, almost magical or alien.

High Park, Toronto

 

(Pentax K1000 35mm SLR, 28mm/f2.8 SMC Pentax lens, 25A Red filter. 
Rollei 80s film developed in Rodinal 1+50 for 14 minutes @ 20 degrees C)

Faded

· Leave a comment ·

One final image from the shoot with Arnika last weekend, and again this is one of the reclaimed negatives from a Fuji FP-100C instant print.

Scanning these negatives is a challenge — they don’t have the orange background mask that conventional C-41 negatives do, and film scanners invariably get confused. It took a couple of tries, but I ended up with this tonality tha I really like, faded in a retro kind of way that reminds me a bit of the Autochrome process from a century ago.

Rescanned

Out of Control

· Leave a comment ·

Another from my Guild Wood shoot with Arnika this past Sunday. This time, I used the negative from a Fuji FP-100C instant colour print. the black backing is removed with bleach, and the developer “goop” from the emulsion side is gently cleaned off with lukewarm water. I like the colours this process gives me: retro, but with a raw intensity, not even pretending to be accurate.

Scan-130903-0001

Match Made In Heaven

· Leave a comment ·

Yesterday I had a great shoot in Guild Wood Park with frequent creative partner Arnika Autumnstone. This shoot was the first time I used Rollei 80s film for female portraiture, and I am hooked on the results —  I just love the skin tones I get with this film! It will be my go to film for this kind of shot from now on!

Joanna in Guild Wood

(Pentax Spotmatic SP, 135mm/3.5 Super Takumar lens)

 

Take What the Light Gives You

· Leave a comment ·

Yesterday morning was quite gloomy from a lighting perspective in Toronto, so I had to adjust my shooting plans accordingly.  I decided to have another go with a roll of Adox CMS 20 film. This film is basically a super high contrast micro-film, which can provide conventional tonality when developed with specific developers, and/or specific development techniques that can tame the contrast. I developed this roll using Diafine two-bath developer, 3 minutes in each solution. One challenge is the fact that the dull light that made the contrast tameable also made for challenging exposures: this film is very low speed, and I was shooting at E.I. 20, which meant shooting with the lens wide open-much of the time.

Old Railway in the Don Valley

(Nikon F3 35mm SLR, 28mm/2.8 Nikkor Wide-Angle lens)