July thoughts about film.

I was shooting a lot of film there for a while. And then I said, "I will not shoot so much film. It is expensive, and sometimes I screw it up, and that is disappointing. I will not shoot so much film." Then I bought a Rolleicord, and also, I am actually still shooting a lot of film. I committed to only shooting two rolls a month, but then I decided holidays don't count. And when we are going to the park at 7:30pm, taking a digital camera doesn't seem fun. I don't even know if I prefer my film images. I also find that my feelings about film images are actually similar to my feelings about using film presets. I think film presets are often used to hide imperfect or otherwise ho-hum images. I think film is sometimes used in the same way. Getting a bunch of expensive scans back and having them full of ho-hum images where you missed focus and clearly blew the exposure is a special kind of awful. All of that aside, though- there is a magic of film that can't be denied. Here are some of my favorite images from my most recent scans (developed by FIND), Agfa Vista 200 and 400 and Portra 400.

Hastings Museum

When I was growing up in Grand Island, Nebraska, every Saturday morning I would wake up and beg my mom to take me to the Hastings Museum. I thought it was the greatest place ever. We have a similar natural history museum here (a bunch of "preserved" animals, rocks, etc.) called Morrill Hall. My kids like it, and we go often, but it doesn't even compare to the reaction that they had to the Hastings Museum when we visited yesterday. We were there for three hours and they were not even close to ready to leave. I was so happy that they loved it as much as I loved it as a child. They have added a lot to it, but some things were just the same as when I was little. They still have the snake in a box where you push the button and the tail rattles. As a person with a snake phobia, this has always been both terrifying and totally enthralling. Adam and I were impressed with the fact that next to all of the birds on display, they had an example that bird's egg. They now have a nature center where you can touch things and look through a microscope, and they have added the Kool Aid museum and a public library branch into the building. Hastings is the place where Kool Aid was created. If you live in Nebraska or are driving through, it is totally worth a stop. And I am now motivated to actually purchase this book that has been in my Amazon cart for a while...

June Film Favorites

I am just wrapping up the Embrace the Grain workshop. As I may have mentioned, during the workshop I let myself try all of the film stocks I was interested in, and buy a medium format camera, and send my film to a few different labs. I really have fallen in love with film, and am so happy I immersed myself in this experience. As the workshop draws to a close, I will have to slow down on shooting film. I need to commit to fewer film stocks and master them. Also, it is expensive. Very expensive. Since all of my film work is personal work, I need to set some kind of limit on how much I am shooting. Three rolls a week is probably not reasonable. During all of that experimentation, I didn't settle on a lab. I tried FIND, and I don't really have a reason not to stick with them. I am guessing that I will probably end up using them. I tried Indie Film Lab, and I wasn't impressed with the communication or follow through. I love that they send you a text message preview of your scans, but for one of my orders, the scans didn't follow for over 24 hours afterwards- and that was after I called and emailed them. The part of the website where you could check your order was not working. I think in the long run, I would get frustrated with longer and unpredictable wait times on scans. I do have a voucher for Richard Photo Lab, so I will try them. And I have some interest in trying My Film Lab the next time I shoot black and white film, as I have heard they do really well with black and white.

While I didn't find a lab for sure, I definitely found my favorite film stock, and that is Fuji Provia. It is gorgeous. I love it. It is slide film, and costs way more to develop than regular 35mm film. Of course. But I would much rather shoot less and be able to shoot the film I love. Other stocks I really like are Lomography 100 color film, Agfa Vista 200 and 400, and Fuji 400H. I really, really disliked Ektar. I don't really love Portra, but it could be the way I am shooting it (how I have rated it, and I may like it better pushed a stop by the lab). I want to try the Cinestill films, and I have one roll of Fuji Natura 1600 that I am saving for I am not sure what. After seeing the Provia come back today, I don't feel excited about loading anything else in my camera. That is all I want to shoot! I have a box of 120 Provia on hand, as well as some rolls of Fuji Velvia 50 and 100 to try.

Since I had such a happy day of scans today, I wanted to take this opportunity to share my favorites. And after this, I will be back to primarily digital for a while. I start the Light + Life workshop at The Define School on Monday, and a few weeks after that, I will begin the Off Camera Flash course through Click Photoschool. It isn't going to be practical to shoot film for workshop situations like that, so I suspect I will be back to shooting my digital and mirrorless cameras most of the time. I am thinking I can still squeeze in at least 3 rolls of film a month, though. Or four.

So first, these were all shot with my Nikon F100, various lenses, and Lomography 100 film.  

And then here are some photos I shot with my Pentax 645N, the 75mm 2.8 FA, and Portra 800. I just got a new lens for the Pentax today that I am so excited about using, and I think it will be great indoors. It is the FA 45mm 2.8. I was struggling with the 75mm because of the very long minimum focusing distance, and this will give me a wider perspective as well. 

And finally, the Provia. I love these so much. This roll was 35mm, shot on my F100. The remainder of my Provia film is 120, so I can't WAIT to see how it will look coming from the Pentax. I really needed to see these after feeling so disappointed with the scans I got back the last time I posted.