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.
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!
(Pentax Spotmatic SP, 135mm/3.5 Super Takumar lens)
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.
(Nikon F3 35mm SLR, 28mm/2.8 Nikkor Wide-Angle lens)
In Greenwich, England the famous Tea shipping vessel the Cutty Sark is on display. Looking at all the ropes (I guess I should call them sheets, to be accurate) one can really get a sense of how complicated and sophisticated a sailing vessel can be. In it’s own way, very high-tech!
(Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 55mm/2.8 lens, Tri-X film)
I am a sucker for lines, straight, curved, whatever: I like the way they take the eyes on a trip through the image. This maze in a park in Canterbury, England is just full of lines, and so I was hooked 🙂
(Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 55mm/f2.8 lens, Ilford HP5+ film developed in Kodak TMax developer)
I have a few “Wallflowers” in my camera collection: cameras that I just never seem to get around to using. The camera I used this morning shooting in a Park in Toronto near Yonge/St. Clair is one example: one of three Pentax Spotmatic 35mm SLR’s I got for next to nothing sometime ago. The bodies were cheap because the meters didn’t work, but everything else certainly does — the Spotmatic has a lovely solid feel, and the shutter sounds like it will last forever. It is easy to see why the Spotmatic is considered a classic.
(Pentax Spotmatic SP, 55/1.8 Pentax Tukamar lens, Ilford Delta 400 film at EI 200,
developed in Microdol-X 1:1, 14.5 minutes @ 20 C)
This past Saturday I was with my Photographic friends Mike and Donna, shooting infrared film In Kleinburg, Ontario. I was shooting Efke 820 Aura infrared film, but the it turned out the filter (an IR 920) was blocking the wrong light, and when I developed the film that evening, I was horrified to see basically a blank roll :-(. All I have from Saturday is mosquito bites.
Not wanting to admit defeat, I went out on Sunday with a different filter (this time an IR 72) and a different infrared film to Guild Park in Scarborough, and had somewhat better luck 🙂
(Nikon F3, 28mm/2.8 Nikkor lens, Rollei Retro 80s film, IR72 filter, 1 second exposure @ f16,
developed in HC-110 Dilution H for 10 minutes @ 20 C)
Another image from England, inside what my be England’s oldest church, St. Martin’s in Canterbury (portions dating from the 600’s CE). A warm morning light was coming through a window, and illuminated wooden pews and cloth seat cushions.
England has a lot of amazing buildings that make for great images, but it’s important to resist the temptation to stand back for the big picture, and pay attention to details, texture etc. I found this door on an otherwise nondescript old building in Canterbury.
Today, one more image of Jennifer from what I am calling the Jennifer Gears project 🙂 Today’s image is one of the black and white film images I created. In addition of course to Ashley ‘s amazing technical work, I think it is really important to highlight Jennifer’s contribution today: her intensity and expression were as critical as any other success factor for the shoot! There is always depth and complexity in her expressions, and that makes her a rewarding model to work with.
I think special mention should be made of how patient she was during the multi-hour make-up/FX application, as well as removal afterwards!
Model: Jennifer Bettencourt
Special FX/Make-up Artist Ashley Vieira
(Nikon F3 35mm SLR, 85mm/1.8 Nikkor lens, Eastman Double-X film,
developed in HC-110 dilution B for 6.5 minutes @ 20 degrees C)
My Third Eye 