Burned Out

Kodak Retina IIIS Schneider Retina-Curtagon 35mm f2.8 Orwo UN54 Arista-76 Stock - A beautiful old house in a bad situations on Rivermont Ave. in Lynchburg, VA.. It was hit by lightning, setting the roof on fire, burning out most of the upper floor. An owner of an old home myself, I hope someone takes the time and money to save this old Victorian.

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

Nature Fights Back...

Kodak Retina IIIS Schneider Retina-Curtagon 35mm f2.8 Orwo UN54 Arista-76 Stock - Nature is slowly reclaiming an old house undergoing a stalled restoration. Vines have nearly consumed the entire left side of the structure, and the once manicured bushes are now blocking the front door. This has all taken place in less then two years, and our very wet Spring is just speeding the take over.

Scanned with a Minolta Dimage Scan Dual III Using SilverFast SE Plus Software.

Deaf Child Area?

Kodak Retina IIIS Schneider Retina-Curtagon 35mm f2.8 Orwo UN54 Arista-76 Stock - I am not making fun on anybody's disability, but is a street really the best place for a Deaf Child Area? Another shot from my first test roll from my newly acquired Retina IIIS.

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

Leaves

Kodak Retina IIIS Schneider Retina-Curtagon 35mm f2.8 Orwo UN54 Arista-76 Stock - An abstract of layered trees. The sun backlighting the translucent leaves makes for an interesting effect.

Scanned with a Minolta Dimage Scan Dual III Using SilverFast SE Plus Software.

Back to Retina....

Kodak Retina IIIS Schneider Retina-Curtagon 35mm f2.8 Orwo UN54 Arista-76 Stock - My first experience with photography was using my Father's Kodak Retina IIIS. A gorgeous German made 35mm rangefinder that kicked off not only my life long love of photographer, but also my undying love for rangefinder cameras. Sadly, the shutter in that Retina broke several years ago, so I have been unable to use my first love. Recently I tracked down a replacement on ebay, and this is fruit from my first test roll. The optics are as good as I remembered, crisp with perfect contrast. More to come from this camera.

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

Come into my parlor....

Nikon FE2 Micro-Nikkor 55mm f2.8 Orwo UN54 Arista 76 - This American Funnel Spider has occupied a corner of my bedroom window for over a year. This summer she seems to have double in size. Her body is just over and inch long and with her legs she measures just over 3 inches. A thin layer of silk is between the spider and the glass of the window I was shooting through, creating and interesting diffused silhouette effect.
Scanned with a Minolta Dimage Scan Dual III using Silverfast 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.

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.

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

Backyard Archeology exposures no. 2 and 5

Nikon FE2 Micro-Nikkor 55mm f2.8 Orwo UN54 ISO 100 Arista 76 1:1 - I was digging out an old cooler some previous owner buried in my backyard, and run across this. What I thought was just an old cooler appears to have been the sacred tomb of some small creature. Since the occupy being had long since departed these crumbling bones, I decided not to pass up the interesting subject. Shooting Orwo UN54 ISO 100 again, this time developed in Arista 76 diluted 1:1. This developer film/developer combination has very nice grain and sharpness with nice tonal range.

Abstract Landscape exposure no. 5

Nikon FE2 Micro-Nikkor 55mm f2.8 Orwo UN54 Adonal 1:50 -  Another shot from my first roll of Orwo UN54. At first glance it looks like a rocking outcropping on a shear cliff, but it is actually a woody outcropping on a rooting tree trunk. I took a number of frames, and it took me a week to pick the one I liked most.

Orwo UN54 in Adox Adonal 1:50 exposure no. 21

Nikon FE2 Micro-Nikkor 55mm f2.8 Orwo UN54 ISO 100 Adox Adonal 1:50 - Another from my first roll of Orwo UN54. This one really shows it's tonal range. Scanned using a Minolta Dimage Dual Scan III.

Orwo UN54 in Adox Adonal 1:50 exposure no. 12

Nikon FE2 Micro-Nikkor 55mm f2.8 Orwo UN54 Adox Adonal 1:50 - I recently bought a 100' roll of Orwo UN54 ISO 100 35mm film from Orwo North America, having read several reviews singing it's praises as a good replacement for Kodak Plus-X. Orwo was originally an East German film company, the fell into obscurity after the fall of the Soviet Union. In the Late 90's production of Monochrome films restarted in the original Orwo Wolfen Germany factory, primarily for use as motion picture film. I am a sucker for exotic film. My first roll was developed in Adox Adonal, a Rodinal equivalent, and yielded great results.