Doll Face Exposure no. 11

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 40mm ext, tube Ilford FP4+ Adonol 1:50 - My first roll of Ilford FP4 Plus,,, ever. I have never shot a lot of Ilford film, besides the a few rolls of HP5, XP1 and XP2, if for now other reason than I was happy with what I was already using. I know several photographers who shoot Ilford exclusively and swear by it, but for me Fujifilm's and Kodak's offerings were getting the job done. I felt it was time to give Ilford a series try. First up FP4 Plus; shot in the studio and developed with Adox Adonol at 1:50, a Rodinal equivalent, this film has nice even tones and somewhat muted contrast. It does an excellent job rendering the subtle tones of this hand painted doll. Grain is what I would expect from anything developed in Rodinal and detail is outstanding. I have more rolls to shot and look forward to seeing how Ilford's Delta films perform.
Scanned with and Epson V500 using Epson's OEM Software.

Found on the Web: The Film Shooters Collective

I found another great site for those who still love shooting film. Great images and links for supplies. Check it out, link below.
http://filmshooterscollective.com/film-photography-blog/

Coal Tower Lower Basin - Lynchburg VA exposure no. 6

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 Kodak Tri-X Profession 400 Arista 76 1:1 - This coal tower is located in the Lower Basin switching yard, Lynchburg VA. This is actually my second attempt at shooting the tower, the first was on and overcast day and and the lack of shadows reduced the impact of the image.
Scanned with and Epson V500 using Epson's OEM Software.

Piedmont Flour Mill - Silos Exposure no. 1

Kiev 60 Arsat 45mm f3.5 Kodak Tri-X Professional 400 Arista 76 1:1 - These old grain silos were made to be shot with a wide angle lens... I love the Arsat Mir 266 45mm f3.5, this lens has just the right amount of barrel distortion and great sharpness. The love the vines growing over the 1 silos on the right, they almost look like a tree painted onto the structure.
Scanned with an Epson V500 using Epson's OEM Software.

Piedmont Flour Mill exposure no. 4

Kiev 60 Arsat 250mm f3.5 Kodak Tri-X Professional Arista 76 1:1 - This one is all about textures for me. The stone, bricks, wood and window screening all adding their piece.

Scanned with an Epson Perfection V500 using Epson's OEM software.

Instant - Snow

Polaroid Automatic 100 Fujifilm FP-3000B - Sunday was a snowy day in Lynchburg Virginia and this was the view from my office window. The first real test of my modified Polaroid Auto 100, an it worked perfectly. I was surprise how will this old cameras metering system handled the high Contrast scene, especially given that the ISO of this film is 3000!

Scanned using a HP Scanjet G4050 and HP's OEM Software

Piedmont Flour Mill, Back Door exposure no. 2

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 Kodak Tri-X Profesional Arista 76 1:1 - Tones of an old friend, I have had a lifetime love affair with Kodak Tri-X, for years it was my "go to" film for almost everything. My mantra for the 1980's was push, push push, I loved grain and contrast and Tri-X pushed to ISO 800, 1600 or even 3200 would give me plenty of both. I am older and maybe little smother now, so this is Tri-X shot at 400 and developed in Arista 76 (D76) 1:1. Beautiful tonal range, great sharpness and well controlled contrast, maybe I have mellowed with age, not likely, I have just gained more range.
Shot of the back door the the Piedmont Flour Mill, downtown Lynchburg VA..
Scanned with an Epson V500 using Epson's OEM software.

Alternative Energy Revisited

Mamiya Press 23 100mm f2.8 FUJIFILM Neopan Acros 100 Arista 76 Developer 1:1 - Created from a mistake during the shoot from my post Alternative Energy no. 2, this image contains a little more Photoshop work than I normal post here, but I believe interesting enough to share. I broke out my Mamiya Press 23 for the first time in many years and had for gotten that the film advance for this 6x9 rangefinder was a 2 stroke affair. Though I remembered after the 4th exposure, the 1st 4 frames were overlapped. What surprised me was the consistency and position of the overlaps. I used Photoshop to balance the exposure between the different sections of the overlaps, but decided not to blend the edges, as I believe the actually contribute to the feel of the image. I love the final result.

Below is the orginal "un-shopped" scan for comparison.

Scanned with an Epson V500 Using Epson's OEM scanner software.

From the Archive - My What a Big Popeye You Have

Nikon FE2 Nikkor 35-104 f3.5/4.5 Agfachrome 100 Pre-E6 - One from the archive, you never know what you will see when arrive for work a a shopping Mall. 10:00 AM in the parking lot of the old Coliseum Mall in Hampton Va. and I am greeted with the disembodied head of Popeye the Sailor. I did not realize he was quite that big. It appears Bluto finally got his revenge.
Scanned with a Minolta Dimage Scan Dual III and Minolta's OEM Software.

Polaroid Automatic 100 4.5v Battery Modification

The Polaroid Automatic 100 - This was my first instant camera. Actually this is the very camera used to take many of my baby pictures as it came into my family about the same time I did. To me, this is the classic Polaroid Pull and Peel pack film camera. Film is still readily available to these cameras in the form of Fujifilm FP-100c Color and FP-3000b Black and White. The original Polaroid Type 108 Color Film used in this camera was ISO 75 so you do have to make a minor adjustment for the slight faster Fujifilm FP-100c ISO 100 film.

Image source www.dianacamera.com Kai Yamada

The Achilles Heal of these cameras always seems to be the odd Eveready No. 531 4.5v battery that powered the automatic shutter. Generally only available from camera stores, the 531 was slightly larger than a AA battery and had 9v battery type connectors on each end. These batteries had a nasty habit of leaking when left in the camera too long, damaging the cameras internal connectors. Though still available the No. 531 is increasingly hard to find and expensive, so finding a more readily available and less expensive alternative is a must for those of us that want to continue using these cameras. The most common alternative is replacing the No. 531 with an external 3 AA or AAA Battery Holder. I chose the Radioshack Model #270-412 3 AAA 4.5v holder.

The conversion is relatively straight forward, simply a matter of removing the old 9v type connectors from the battery leads in the battery compartment of the camera and soldering the leads from the new battery holder to the leads of the camera. You can find detailed instructions at Instant Options, as well as a videos of the process on YouTube here and here. The battery holders demonstrated vary, but these are good starting points. To the left you can see my completed conversion with the battery holder mounted outside of the camera with velcro.

The biggest annoyance in the process is the fine gauge of the internal camera lead wires and the lack of slack for trimming and stripping the insulation. Any mistakes and the leads get short fast, so be careful and try to get the right the first time. Also if you do mount the battery holder on the back of the camera, remember to mount it a low as possible, mounting it to high can make focusing and viewing awkward. Do no mount it too far to the left as it will interfere with your ability to hold the camera firmly enough to pull the film after exposure.

The battery compartment door must also be notched to allow for proper routing of the new battery leads outside of the old battery compartment. The battery compartment door is thin aluminum and is easy to cut with a strong razor blade or wire snipes. The edges are sharp, I would suggest using a grommet or electrical tape to protect the wires from damage.

Mission accomplished, a new life for an old camera.

Polaroid Automatic 100 Specification

Lens: 114mm f/8.8 3-element glass

Shutter: Electronic; 10 seconds - 1/1200

Separate window view/rangefinder assembly (has a hinged base-- flips up for use and is held in place with a magnetic catch-- folds down for storage and fits inside the camera's plastic cover)

Viewfinder: Projected framelines and automatic parallax compensation.

Exposure Control: Aperture-priority automatic only

Film speeds: 75, 150, 300, and 3000 ASA.

Exposure compensation: Dial with range of -1/+2 stops 

Construction: Metal Body and metal shutter/lens housing; has tripod socket

Found on the Web: In a fast moving world… We could all do with a roll of 36 exposures

Great video. An excellent Blog post regarding it can be found here... http://blog.vincentlaforet.com/2013/03/07/always-remember-to-take-your-time-in-a-fast-moving-world/

Found on the Web:Ansel Adams, Photographer (1958) narrated by Beaumont Newhall

Found on the Web: The Collector... A man of my own heart

I would love to get my hands on this man's collection. Great Video!
The Collector from Green Renaissance on Vimeo.