Graffiti On Rails...

Nikon FE2 Nikkor 35-105 f3.5/4.5 Ferrania P30 Alpha 35mm ISO 80 Adox Adonol 1:50

Nikon FE2 Nikkor 35-105 f3.5/4.5 Ferrania P30 Alpha 35mm ISO 80 Adox Adonol 1:50

Nikon FE2 Nikkor 35-105 f3.5/4.5 Ferrania P30 Alpha 35mm ISO 80 Adox Adonol 1:50

Nikon FE2 Nikkor 35-105 f3.5/4.5 Ferrania P30 Alpha 35mm ISO 80 Adox Adonol 1:50

Just random graffiti along the tracks of the lower basin in Lynchburg Virginia. I am still drawing from my first roll of Film Ferrania P30 Alpha, making it an extremely productive roll. The angle of the light was not ideal for these shots, so I am extremely pleased with how well this film performed.

Scanned with a Minolta Dimage Dual Scan III using Silverfast SE Plus Software.

A View With No Room

Nikon FE2 Nikkor 35-105 f3.5/4.5 Ferrania P30 Alpha 35mm ISO 80 Adox Adonol 1:50 - This is my favorite shot from my first roll of Film Ferrania P30 Alpha. This couch was sitting outside by an abandoned building surrounded by tall grass. I shot it from several angles and with several different compositions but settled on this one as the best. 

Scanned with a Minolta Dimage Dual Scan III using Silverfast SE Plus Software.

Talk About Old Werld (sic)

Nikon FE2 Nikkor 35-105 f3.5/4.5 Ferrania P30 Alpha 35mm ISO 80 Adox Adonol 1:50 - Keeping the Ferrania P30 Alpha shots coming, this was an interesting piece of graffiti on the lower half of an old door. I liked the detail of the leaves in the foreground and the varied tones of the door.

Scanned with a Minolta Dimage Dual Scan III using Silverfast SE Plus Software.

Hydrant no. 1

Nikon FE2 Nikkor 35-105 f3.5/4.5 Ferrania P30 Alpha 35mm ISO 80 Adox Adonol 1:50 Another  image from my first roll of Ferrania P30 Alpha. The grain structure and sharpness are great and it worked will with one of my favorite developers, Adox Adonol, a Rodinal equivalent. I used the R09 development time provided by Ferrari as a starting point and it seemed to be right on the mark.

Scanned with a Minolta Dimage Dual Scan III using Silverfast SE Plus Software.

First Roll of Film Ferraria's P30 Alpha

Nikon FE2 Nikkor 35-105 f3.5/4.5 Ferrania P30 Alpha 35mm ISO 80 Adox Adonol 1:50- A long time ago, 2014 to be exact, I backed Film Ferrania's Kickstarter to relaunch their color reversal film production. Needless to say, it has taken some time for my investment to bear fruit, but a few weeks ago I received two 35mm rolls of their new monochrome film P30 Alpha. True, it is not the color reversal film I was originally expecting, but they offered this as an alternative and hey... I love trying any new film. I also figured this would be a good time to revive my passion for analog photography and this Blog.

Scanned with a Minolta Dimage Dual Scan III using Silverfast SE Plus Software.

Farewell Kurokiba, Farewell....

Death is never more appalling then when it comes to someone who has barely begun to live. Kurokiba came to us after her mother was unable to take care of her at 19 days old. We took her in, bottle fed her and made her part of our family. Unfortunately, the long life that should have been was cut short by an illness the Vet was unable to cure and, at just 18 months, she passed from our lives.

Nikon FE2 Micro-Nikkor 55mm f2.8 Kodak Ultramax 400 Arista C-41

Scanned using a Kodak Pakon F135 Plus using Pakon's OEM scanning software.

1984 Michael Stipe of R.E.M. at the Virginia Beach Pavilion

Nikon FE2 Nikkor 50mm f1.4 Kodak Ektachrome 800/1600 E6 - Michael Stipe of R.E.M. during their Reckoning tour at the Virginia Beach Pavilion in Virginia. The Album "Reckoning" remains one of my favorites to this day.

Scanned using a Minolta Dimage Scan Dual III using Silverfast SE Plus Software.

1984 R.E.M. at the Virginia Beach Pavilion

Nikon FE2 Nikkor 50mm f1.4 Kodak Ektachrome 800/1600 E6 - Grain, grain go away, come again some other day,,, not in this image. R.E.M. during their Reckoning tour at the Virginia Beach Pavilion in Virginia. Shot from about two or three bodies back from the stage, I was basically guessing the focus and holding the camera over my head and shooting. In the days before auto focus everything that was the best you could do. Surprisingly I got a number of good shots with the grain, contrast and stark lighting really playing up the feel of the band at that point.

Scanned using a Minolta Dimage Scan Dual III using Silverfast SE Plus Software.

Rescued

Nikon FE2 Micro-Nikkor 55mm f2.8 Kodak Ultramax 400 Arista C-41 - Not a perfect shot, but damn cute, this poor little kitten was abandoned by her mother, and we are now bottle feeding her. She is curious, mobile, demanding and above all adorable. A mother's loss is a kittens gain, as she will spend the rest of her life as a pampered indoor cat.

Scanned using a Kodak Pakon F135 Plus using Pakon's OEM scanning software.

An Odd Growth

Nikon FE2 Nikkor 35-105mm f3.5/4.5 ORWO UN54 Adox Adonal 1:50 - An abstract of sorts, this one is all about textures and lines for me. I love the way UN54 rendered the tones.
Scanned using a Minolta Scan Dual III using Silverfast SE Plus 6.6.2r5.

Nature's Graffiti

Nikon FE2 Nikkor 35-105mm f3.5/4.5 ORWO UN54 Adox Adonal 1:50 - Nature is slowing writing her own message on this wall... She always gets that last word...
Scanned using a Minolta Scan Dual III using Silverfast SE Plus 6.6.2r5.

Vintage Building Signs - Downtown Lynchburg Virginia

Nikon FE2 Various Nikkor Lenses ORWO UN54 Adox Adonal 1:50 - Various examples of the painted building signs that are very common in downtown Lynchburg. Some are Original, some are restored, others are new painted to advertise new businesses in old buildings.
Scanned using a Minolta Scan Dual III using Silverfast SE Plus 6.6.2r5.

Stairway to.....

Nikon FE2 Nikkor 35-105mm f3.5/4.5 ORWO UN54 Adox Adonal 1:50 - Just a nice mix of tones and textures.
Scanned using a Minolta Scan Dual III using Silverfast SE Plus 6.6.2r5.

Craddock Terry Hotel - Lynchburg Virginia

Nikon FE2 Nikkor 35-105mm f3.5/4.5 AIS ORWO UN54 Adox Adonal 1:50 - Located in a renovated shoe factory, The Craddock Terry Hotel is appropriately adorned with two massive red shoes. This image shows the shoe mounted above the front entrance. There is a matching shoe mounted on the rear of the tower.
Scanned using a Minolta Scan Dual III using Silverfast SE Plus 6.6.2r5.

Vintage Sign - AAA Auto Club of Virginia

Nikon FE2 Nikkor 50mm f1.4 ORWO UN54 Adox Adonal 1:50 - Found on the corner of Main St. and 13th St. in downtown Lynchburg VA, this sign hangs in the window of the restored Hill Buggy & Wagon Co. Building. Downtown Lynchburg is a great place to just walk and see what images present themselves. ORWO UN54 is an ISO 100 Speed movie film, manufactured in Wolfen Germany. UN54 has similar characteristics to Kodak Plus-X and develops well in Adox Adonal (Rodinal).
Scanned using a Minolta Scan Dual III using Silverfast SE Plus 6.6.2r5.

From the Archive - The Las Vegas Strip 1985

Nikon FE2 Nikkor 50mm f1.4 Kodak Ektachrome 100 - Vegas Baby! A shot of the Vegas Strip in February 1985, taken on my one and only to the city. There for the PMA convention, I was 19 and to young to drink or gamble, so I did the next best thing, shoot film. It was amazing that these signs were bright enough for a hand held exposure with ISO 100 in the dead of night.
Scanned with a Minolta Dimage Scan Dual III using SilverFast SE Plus v. 6.6.2r5

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.

A Pinch of Salt

Nikon FE2 Micro-Nikkor 55mm f2.8 Orwo UN54 Caffenol-C-M +20g Iodized Salt - Probably one of the few good uses for Instant coffee is developing film, my adventures with Caffenol continue. This is a variation of the Caffenol-C-M recipe found here. My normal Caffenol-C-M mix is as follow:

Start with 1 Liter of water
Add 54g of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda, Stir until dissolved.
Add 16g of Vitamin C Power, Stir until dissolved.
Add 40g of instant coffee (in this case Original Maxwell House), Stir until dissolved.

I usually let the mix stand for 10 to 15 minutes before use to allow any small are bubbles to escape.
A good starting point for for developing time is 15 minutes at 68℉ for an ISO 100 film, with constant agitation for the 1st minute and then 3 inversions every minute there after.

For this image I added 20g of iodized table salt to the mix to act of a restrainer. This helps reduce base fogging and streaking that can be a problems with the normal Caffenol-C-M mix. The addition of the salt worked well with Orwo UN54 resulting in minimal base fogging and great overall contrast. Shadow detail is also outstanding as you can see.
Scanned with a Minolta Dimage Scan Dual III using Silverfast 6.6.2r5 Software

A Homage to Kodachrome - Dandy Point October 1985

Nikon FE2 Nikkor 50mm f1.4 Kodak Kodachrome 64 - I never shot a great deal of Kodachrome in my youth, it was slow, I was impatient, they two of us did not seem to have a lot in common. I was an avid Pre-E6 Agfachrome shooter, which had similar qualities and higher speed, but was never impressed with it once Agfa switch to an E6 Process film. After that I switched to Ektachrome, then Fujichrome, before moving on to shooting primarily negative films. I did shoot a few rolls of Kodachrome over the years and recently found this perfect example of the Kodachrome "Look." Shot is 1985, it could easily be 1965 or 1955, Kodachome's look was timeless. In hind sight I regret not using it more often and it is a shame it is no longer an option today. One of the sad casualty of the digital era.
Scanned with a Minolta Dimage Scan Dual III using Silverfast 6.6.2r5 Software

From the Archive - Passions of Youth

Nikon FE2 Sigma 16mm f2.8 Kodak Plus-X in Kodak HC-110 Dil. B - I have had 2 primary passions in my life and in this experimental self portrait I attempted to combine them both. Shot sometime in 1984 or 1985 at a time when I could not decide whether I wanted to be the next John Lennon or Helmet Newton, obviously neither plan quite worked out. In the end, photography, or at least related fields, won out as my career and my cameras see more use these days than my guitars.  Photography and music are linked for many people. Most of the people I have worked with over the years have played at least one instrument and many played in bands as I did. Maybe it is because the are both arts the have an underlying process or structure that must be observed. They both have their own math that must be honored. You can deconstruct, rebel against or try to rewritten the rules, but the structural underpinnings, never go completely away. This is both limiting and liberating, as it means the canvas is never completely blank, but the starting point allows for greater mental focus.