This image is from an outing on January 1st, in a valley park in central Toronto. It was quiet and cold. I think I saw one other person while I was there.
Canon 7, 21mm/4 Voigtlander Skopar lens, Polypan F developed in Diafine 3 + 3
Tag: Diafine
Two for Two
Today’s image is from a roll I was using to test both a camera, and a film/developer combo. I was testing my newly acquired Olympus Pen F (replacing a faulty/not really repairable Pen FT). The Pen F is a 35mm half-frame SLR of the 1960’s and is truly a cult classic.
The second test involved pairing Eastman Double-X 5222 film with Diafine film developer to increase the speed to around EI 400.
I am happy to say that both tests were successful. 🙂
Another Backstage Portrait
I am writing this blog post from the backstage dressing room of The Crucible, as we await the start of our last performance, so I thought another backstage portrait would be an appropriate subject. This is Annie, at fifteen the youngest member of our cast. She is a remarkable, talented young actor who combines wisdom beyond her years with the spirit and enthusiasm of a child; as such she is perfect for the role of Betty Parris.
(Nikon F2, 50mm/f1.4 Nikkor lens, Tri-X film at E.I. 800, developed in Diafine 3+3)
Reunions
Yes, it has been a while since I’ve posted. My role in the Alexander Showcase Theatre’s production of the Crucible has kept me quite busy of late, but I did have time yesterday to get out and do some shooting with my Nikon F2 35mm SLR and 24mm/f2.8 wide-angle lens. It was a reunion with Eastman SO-331 film, a special process film that is designed to be very contrasty, unless developed differently I used Diafine 3+3 and it seems to keep the contrast in check, although I will be testing with other developers. I did a bit of work in post on this image (toning and sharpening) so it is a hybrid image, sorry purists 🙂
Take What the Light Gives You
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)
The Eyes Still Have It
When I take portraits, it’s all about the eyes and expression, and I love the expression worn in this image (taken on the way to PAB 2012) by Adam Gratrix, an extremely bright and creative podcaster from Surrey, BC. His energy really come through here I think!
(Pentax ME Super 35mm SLR, 50mm f1.4 lens, Tri-X @ E.I. 1000, developed in Diafine 3+3)
My Third Eye 