Yesterday morning I was taking some images of the stairs that lead to pedestrian bridge over the DVP in Riverdale. I was trying to get the focus just right (not always easy with my middle-aged eyes) and at the last moment a figure arrived in the frame. An accident, but I like the result.
Rolleiflex E3, 75mm/3.5 Xenotar lens
Tri-X developed in Xtol 1+1 for 9 minutes @ 20 C
Another image created with my Zeiss Sonnar 50/1.5 lens (on my Contax IIIa rangefinder). At a wide aperture (in this case f2) this is not a sharp lens, and it has a focus shift that makes it a challenge to work with. I do like its atmosphere though.
Contax IIIa, Zeiss Sonnar 50mm/1.5 lens
Svema Foto 100 film, developed in Xtol 1+1 for 10 minutes @ 20 C
Yesterday the model had to cancel at the last minute, the weather was dull and chilly, but I decided to go to High Park and shoot anyway, and I’m glad I did.
Rolleiflex E3 with 75mm/3.5 Xenotar lens
Tri-X film at E.I. 1000 developed in Diafine 3+3
My first blog post with an image with the new (to me) Rolleiflex. This camera is a work of art! Part of the allure of film photography for me is using classic cameras like this; the experience of image creation is as important as the end result.
Rolleiflex E3, 75mm/3.5 Xenotar lens
Fuji Neopan Acros 100 film, developed in Rodinal 1+50 for 13.5 min @ 20 C
Back to the Toronto Beaches, but this time in the evening. This man was enjoying his surroundings.
Pentax 67 camera, 105mm/2.4 lens
Kodak Tmax 400 film developed in Xtol 1+1 for 9.25 minutes
Old architecture reflected by a modern building. I love the distortions.
Nikon F4, 80-200mm/4 Nikkor zoom lens
Svema Foto 200 film, developed in Xtol 1+1 12 min @ 20 C
In 1976, when my father let me use my first “good” camera (his Voigtlander Vito B) he sent me to the store to buy film, with the instructions “Ask for Plus-X”. Decades later, here is an image from a test roll of Plus-X I shot yesterday — expired since about 1983, but still perfectly usable!
Olympus XA, 35mm Olympus lens
Plus-X, developed in Xtol 1+1 for 7.5 minutes
Photograph from recent Open Streets Day in Toronto. The title “Behind Bars” comes from a question as to whether we are urban prisoners in Toronto, slaves to the gods of endless construction.
Nikon F4, 28mm/2.8 Nikkor AI lens
Svema Foto 200 film developed in Xtol 1+1 for 12 minutes @ 20 C
The final post from my shoot with Grace was made with my Rolleicord Va Twin Lens Reflex Grace shows a dancer’s grace, and in a sense my old Rollei is part of another dance — over fifty years old and still going strong; its dance never ends either. 🙂
Rolleicord Va, 75mm/3.5 Xenar lens
Kodak Tmax 400 developed in Xtol 1+1 for 9.5 minutes @ 20 C
In this post, while Grace is amazing in showing character in her posing/expression, I am actually going to talk about the character of a film I have tried for the first time: Svema Foto 200 film, made in the Ukraine, and available from The Film Photography Project. What I like about this film is the grain structure: it’s not fine grain, but it is organic, it just feels right, and it has a lovely tonality! Now if I could only get it in 100 foot bulk rolls!
Nikon F4, 85mm/1.8 Nikkor lens
Svema Foto 200 film
developed in Xtol 1+1, 10.5 minutes @ 20 C
My Third Eye 