Hen of Chicks...

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 40mm extension tube Foma Fomapan 400 Adox Adonal 1:25 - A just watered Hen an Chicks plant basking in the mid-day sun. My first experience using Adox Adonal (Rodinal) at 1:25 dilution. Sharpness is great and grain is better than expected. I love the magnifying effect of the water droplets.

Scanned with an Epson V500 Photo using Epson’s OEM Software.

Early Spring exposure no. 8

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 FujiFilm Reala Arista C-41 -  More with Reala. Sometimes you plan excursions to new or exotic places to find inspiration, sometimes it just grows in your yard. My home was built in 1928 and the half acre lot has been landscaped and re-landscaped over the years, and sometimes unexpected foliage pops up. I look at it as the previous residents making their presence known. Thank You for subjects.

Early Spring exposure no. 12

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 Hoya +4 Close-Up Lens FujiFilm Reala Arista C-41 - Spring is here, so time to break out the color film. I have always been a big fan of FujiFilm's Reala. It is ideal for portrait work, and great for outdoor work like the shot above. Colors pop without being over saturated and the grain is minimal even when scanning the negatives. Scanning seems to pick up more grain than conventional printing and most grain reducing software seems to compromise sharpness. Reala gets around this problem beautifully.

Salvaged Image exposure no. 1

Kiev 60 Arsat 60mm f2.8 Rollei Retro 400s Pulled 2 stops D-76 1:1 - Occasional I like to look back through my negatives and try to salvage a cast off. A frame, captured in error due to a mistake or malfunction, that I would normal grumble about and ignore. Sometimes the results are surprising. This image was originally from the this session.  It was the 1st frame on the roll and I had forgotten to move the sync cable from my meter to my camera. I am sure the mistake was followed by some sort of expletive, then I plugged in my sync cord and moved on. The resulting negative was painfully thin and heavily backlit as you can see. I scanned it with the rest of the roll,,, grumbled, and dismissed it. A few days ago while I was updating tags in iPhoto I ran across this image again and decided to try and salvage it. I rescanned it using VueScan and after a few different exposures I achieved the image you see above.

Dangling Robots Adox Art CHS 100 Adonal (Rodinol)

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 Hoya +4 Close-Up Lens Adox Art CHS 100 Adonal (Rodinal) 1:50 - More Robots. The Black and White roll was actually shot first. No backlighting on the circuit board on this one. Same front lighting. I really love the Adox Art CHS 100 Adonal combination. The grain is pronounced, but I have always been a fan of grain.

Dangling Robots Exposure no. 2

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 Hoya +4 Close-Up Lens FujiFilm NPH 400 120 Arista C-41 -  Another from the Robot Series. All the particulars are the same as Exposure no. except a different circuit boards.

Dangling Robots Exposure no. 6

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f.28 Hoya +4 Close-Up Lens FujiFilm NPH 400 120 Arista C-41 - Just a little fun in the studio with little Robots. The background is an old circuit board lit from behind. It is a multilayer board creating and interesting effect. Front lighting is from 2 Novatron Heads shooting through 42" white Umbrellas. I really need to get some soft boxes.

Fun with Color Exposure 12

Kiev 60 Arsat 80 mm f2.8 FujiFilm NPH 400 Arista C-41 Chemicals -  Just a little fun with color and these little creatures. Working with the Arista 41 Liquid C-41 Kit and a PhotoTherm tempering bath. Processing temperature is 101°F in a standard Paterson System 4 tank. I using constant stirring agitation during Developer step, and during Bleach/Fix constant stirring agitation during the first minute following by 10 seconds every one minute there after. I keep the developing tank in the tempering bath during the developing and Bleach/Fix Steps. I am extremely happy not only with the results, but also with the stability and capacity of the Arista C-41 Chemicals. I am storing chemicals in collapsable "Air-Vac" type containers to ensure the best shelf life,

New Years Eve 2012 exposures 6 and 12

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 Efke 100R 120 Arista 76 Stock - Nothing says New Years Eve like a Human Skull on a Goose Neck Stand. Ok, it is is a plastic skull, but it looks real enough. My second roll of Efke 100, this time processed in Arista 76 Developer Stock. Less apparent grain as opposed to Adomal   (Rodinol), with great sharpness and contrast. The experiments continue.

Drama

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 Efke 100R Adox Adonal 1:50 -  My first time using Efke 100R and my first time using Adox Adonal (Rodinal). I always charted a safe course with Black and White developers, sticking to what I knew worked. In my days working in a camera store in the 1980's Rodinal seemed to be of the "Old Timers", too stubborn to try new, modern developers. Pairing it with Efke 100R guaranteed heavy grain, but I know that going in. I like the look of both the film and developer provide. More experiment is on tap for both this film and developer.

Gargoyle Campfire Color Exposure 11

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 FUJIFILM NPH Pro 400 Arista C-41 - The warmth of color and tungsten. No corrections, not filters. I think it makes a nice effect. I have loved Fujifilm's NPH since it first came out.

Gargoyle Campfire Exposure 2

Keiv 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 Rollei Retro 400s Arista 76 Developer Stock - Another from the same series. I like these, but I think I will revisit the shot.

Gargoyle Campfire Exposure 9

Keiv 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 Rollei Retro 400s Arista 76 Developer Stock - An old Aquarium bulb and some fast film and lead to interesting results. I love the luck of the Retro 400s film, but am struggling with it's tendency to curl, making scanning difficult.

Gargoyle Exposure 12

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 FUJIFILM Acros 100 Arista 76 1:1 - Single tungsten side light. Please with Shadow and Depth of field. Last of his series. He looks a little more timid in this one.

Gargoyle Exposure 7

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 FUJIFILM Acros 100 Arista 76 1:1 - Single tungsten side light. Please with Shadow and Depth of field.

Gargoyle Exposure 4

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 FUJIFILM Acros 100 Arista 76 1:1 - Single tungsten side light. Please with Shadow and Depth of field. I like the dark moody feel this one.

Gargoyle Exposure 1

Kiev 60 Arsat 800mm f2.8 FUJIFILM Acros 100 Arista 76 1:1 - Single tungsten side light. Please with Shadow and Depth of field.

FUJIFILM Neopan Acros 100 no. 2 (Untitled)

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 FUJIFIM Neopan Acros 100 D-76 Stock - Another shot from the same set.

FUJIFILM Neopan Acros 100 no. 1 (Untitled)

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 FUJIFIM Neopan Acros 100 D-76 Stock - My first roll of Neopan Acros 100. I think I am in love. Perfect for studio work. Initial scans seemed a little flat, but tweaking the levels seems to clear that up. Grain and sharpness are great.

Film Noir #2

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 Rollei Retro 400s 120 D-76 Stock - One from the same series. Every picture should tell a story, what that story is, that is up to you.