In my second post on the beach at Bluffer’s park I am featuring a number of images of driftwood that caught my in the early morning sun this past Saturday. One piece of driftwood in particular really stood out, and is featured in multiple frames. All images created using my Hasselblad 500C/M, shot on Rollei RPX25 film.
Yesterday morning I went out early to the beach in Bluffer’s Park in Scarborough, Ontario. I was shooting on a low speed film (Rollei RPX 25), so everything was on a tripod with slow shutter speeds. The combination of the slow shutter speed and a decent onshore breeze (making for active waves) made for an interesting effect on the water.
Hasselblad 500C/M, 80mm/2.8 Planar lens
Rollei RP 25 film, developed in Rodinal
OK, one FINAL shot from the White Water Walk 🙂 What I like about this image is the fact it got accidentally photo-bombed by the young girl in the lower left hand corner, and originally when working with this image I cropped her out. As I looked at the image again though, I liked the sense of story created by having her in the image, looking down the trail.
Hasselblad 500C/M, 50mm/4 Distagon lens
Rollei RPX 400 film stand developed in Rodinal
1+100, 1 hour
When I finished up and developed a roll of RPX 400 film that had been in my Hasselblad film holder for a few weeks, I found a few more images of the White Water Walk close to Niagara Falls that I had forgotten about. A pleasant surprise!
Trees are like people: with characters and complications.
Hasselblad 500C/M, 80mm/2.8 Planar lens
Rollei RPX400 film, stand developed in Rodinal 1+100, 1 hr
Toning and Vignette added in post
I’ve lived long enough in Toronto to remember brighter days, when the city was described as “New York run by the Swiss”. Before decades of infrastructure neglect, enshrined through the selfish parsimony of the electorate, and the cowardice of elected officials. In today’s images, even though the park and the bridge are still in use, there is still to my eyes an atmosphere of neglect. All images created with Nikon F3, 28mm/2.8 Nikkor lens. Rollei Retro 80s film developed in Rodinal and toned in post.
It is very rare that I am happy with all twelve images on a medium format roll of film; one of my rolls from this past weekend in Niagara-On-the-Lake is one such example. It was a very hot day, with a brilliant sky and the ground baked hard under my feet. Fort George is a wide open space, with little respite from an unrelenting sun, and forme the use of a red filter to darken the sky and make the light more dramatic really helped capture the day. The camera was my Hasselblad 500C/M and the film was Rollei RPX400, developed in Rodinal.
As time goes on, my preference seems more and more towards using slower (less light sensitive) films and the larger negative size of medium format; it is hard to beat that combination for sharpness and fine grain. (Not that grain is always bad, quit the opposite) but this is the look that resonates with me these days. This set of photographs is from this past weekend in Niagara On-the-Lake, at Fort George. All were made using my Hasselblad 500C/M, shot on Ilford Pan F Plus, a slow speed (ISO 50) but wonderfully sharp and detailed film. Toned in post.
This past weekend as part of our trip to Niagara-On-the-Lake I drove along the Niagara Parkway towards the falls and went along the White Water Walk, beside the turbulent rapids. I made these three images using my Hasselblad 500C/M, and 80mm Planar lens with a red-orange filter attached. The film was Rollei Retro 80s, developed in Rodinal.
With the camera mounted on a tripod I had an exposure time of 1/4 second so that the rapid motion of the water would blur.
Again from High Park in Toronto.
Hasselblad 500C/M, 80mm/2.8 Planar lens
Rollei RXP 100 film, developed in Rodinal
My Third Eye 