What the Eff?!

Michael Raso from the Film Photography Project giving his "what the eff'?!" pose.

Also, Edwin Land is photobombing. 

Mike really makes this image sing with personality and humor, which is one of the reasons I love it so much.

Same technical jazz as the posting a couple of days ago:

I used the Polaroid Land 100 with the Portrait Lens Kit and Fuji FP-3000B film.  The grindy borders are the result of the negative being scanned.

flickr photos

For Whatever Reason

This is one of the most viewed images on my flickr stream:



Do you get it?  Please explain to me if so.

It is a street shot from the NYC FPP meetup 2012 taken with the MIGHTY Bronica.

Bronica SQ-A
80mm Zenzanon PS f/2.8
Expired Kodak E100SW

flickr photos

Let's Get the Camera Rolling

Has it really been three (3) months since I last made a post?   A lot has been happening in my personal life, but not so much in my photographic; I have not been making as many images as I should and perhaps my eye has dulled as a result.

I have taken a few photos this summer so I will try to start posting more regularly again.

So let's get the posts rolling with this portrait:



This photo features Dane of The Smoove Sailors and was taken at the Impossible Project during the NYC Film Photography Project meetup 2012.

Later, Dane smooved it up with an awesome mini set with the rest of the band.

I used the Polaroid Land 100 with the Portrait Lens Kit and Fuji FP-3000B film.  The grindy borders are the result of the negative being scanned.

Yes, you can scan the negative image!  I think the effect rocks and looks much better than a scan of the positive print.  You will definitely have to tweak the contrast levels, but that is about the only adjustment you will have to make.  Just make sure the negative is dry before you scan. 

I also highly recommend the portrait kit because you get get much tighter shots of folks with this accessory instead of being limited to a close focus range of a seemingly infinite 5 feet.  Be mindful of the adjustment you will have to make to your composition due to getting closer to your subject.  Parallax is a mother...

flickr photos

PX-100, Orange Flash

Things I have learned:

The SX-70 is not a discreet camera and is difficult to employ it as such. I am not saying that camera is not a good street shooter; it certainly gets some interesting reactions that might add to the overall image.

I was strolling along one of the piers at the Hudson River park and really liked the composition of this shot. I was trying to be very clandestine in order to get the person on the right of the image not to be aware of what I was doing.

I took the shot and immediately the loud whrrrrrrr of the motor and rollers caught the person's attention and obviously he knew what I did. At least that happened after the shot.

I do not have the best SX-70. The meter is slightly off and the fungus'd lens does not help with any possible sharpness an image might have. In fact I am not even sure the exposure compensation wheel works either.

However I do get an image that I am able to slightly tweak in post, and honestly, I love the results.

I used the Impossible Project's experimental Orange Flash film, and as it promises, is not a final version of a product. Still, it was a good deal and I wanted to have that Polaroid experience again.

I want to thank the Film Photography Podcast for inspiring a love for Polaroid.

Polaroid, SX-70
Impossible Project
PX-100, Orange Flash

flickr photos

Anton's Portra 160 Experience

Check out my review that is up on the Film Photography Project's website!

http://filmphotographyproject.com/content/features/2011/08/antons-portra-160-experience

Leave comments, thoughts, and positive vibes!

Listen to the Podcast!

Shoot film and join the group!

!

flickr photos

Thoughts on the New Kodak Portra 400

Well, this review is hyper late as the film was released months and months ago, yet I still felt like writing about it. I just finished the roll of 120 that I had popped into my Voigtlander Perkeo I back in mid May, but better late than never.

So I will preface this by saying that I loved the old NC (neutral color) variant of Portra because of the warm and neutral tones it imparted on an image. When I had heard that Kodak was consolidating their NC with VC (vibrant color) films into one flavor I was a little concerned, but in the back of my head I had a feeling that Kodak would not let down the film community. In many ways, I think they far surpassed everyone's expectations.

I had seen numerous reviews of the stuff and all were very positive, but ultimately I needed to decide for myself.

Here are a few images from my first roll:



Yogi/acrobat/contortionist in Washington Square Park collecting money after a show.



That is impressive.



Some cherry blossoms at the Sakura Matsuri festival in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

All in all, great colors and skin tones with an incredibly fine grain. Colors seem to pop where you want them and are subdued elsewhere - somehow a mixture of the aforementioned VC and NC is achieved.

I am also interested in a claim by Mat Marrash from the Film Photography Podcast who says you can shoot the film at an ISO of 3200 after pushing the film only one stop (i.e. shooting at ISO 3200 and developing it as if shot at ISO 800). There is another photographer who shot and developed the new Portra at 3200 with great results. Extraordinary, really.

I want to test the film out some more, but I have a feeling this will be my color negative of choice.

So there it is. I did not put the film through the ringer with overexposure and underexposure tests, but all signs lead to a high performance and flexible film. A bit more punch than NC and not quite as vivid as VC. I like it a lot.

Not to detract from the film, but I want to say that the 50+ year old Voigtlander lens performed quite nicely as well.

flickr photos

Film Photography Podcast Meetup

Shot by Michael Raso of the Film Photography Podcast

Weeks and weeks of anticipation led to a culmination of awesomeness on April 16, 2011, which shall be eternally known as the greatest day in podcast history. Yes, the greatest. A number of listeners of the Film Photography Podcast and the host, Michael Raso, gathered in Madison Square Park to venture around the east and west sides of Manhattan on an epic quest to explore the city, make friends, and take pictures.

At the onset of the day, while waiting for all of the attendees, those already at the park shared their cameras and lenses fondly talking about their history and feature highlights. Numerous people were surprised by the large size of the Olympus OM-1s viewfinder in such a small camera. One person even approached me after hearing about it from others! It may have convinced one or two people to check out the Oly system.

As mentioned earlier, I rocked the Olympus OM-1 that day (an entirely manual camera) and while I had an absolutely fantastic time, the rapid pace of the day was not conducive to my typically slow approach to photography. I certainly know I need to work on making decisions quicker (in regards to composition and exposure) in manual mode, otherwise, how could I be a good street shooter? The OM-1 should let me do this quicker because I have access to the aperture and shutter speed with the same hand in nearly the same location, but I need to get more used to the handling. Only practice will allow me to achieve this goal.

Anyway, here are some more images from the day:

A shot of me by Antonio Álvarez

Group shot by Mat Marrash:


Here is the set of my photographs from the day:
FPP Meetup 4/16/11

The most enjoyable aspect of the day was meeting all these people who share a love for film photography. Hopefully I can go out shooting with some of them in the future.

flickr photos

Polaroid

Due to the adamant enthusiasm from one of the hosts on the Film Photography Podcast, last week, for the first time ever, I used a Polaroid: the SX-70 from the late 70s.



I never expected to use the camera because it was an unintentional acquisition from ebay; it had been one of the cameras in a camera lot auction. Now that film is once again being produced for these cameras their prices have gone way up.

This beauty came complete with crumbling vinyl, fungusy lens, the ability to fold, split image focusing (it is an slr), exposure compensation, and surprisingly, a working meter.

I had no idea using a Polaroid was so infectious. The immediate satisfaction of taking a photograph and having a print within a couple of minutes is way more gratifying than an instant preview on a digital camera.

Granted the performance is not tack sharp (the fungusy lens lowers contrast and blurs the image a bit) and the quality of the film is bandit (especially considering the price), but these factors add to the surreality of the product and I love the images I can make with the camera!





Once scanned into the computer I had to boost the contrast, but that was the only manipulation I made.

I do have some gripes:
1) I can not control aperture or shutter speed - the camera automatically chooses it for me.
2) The damaged lens adds and detracts from the overall image.
3) The price of the available film is high.
4) I can not call the meter reliable.

Overall:
The camera holds a dear place in my heart. I shall name it Tom Jones. I do not think that is unusual.

flickr photos