SX-70 Fade to Black

Finally tried out the Fade to Black film from ImpossibleUSA Shop. 1st shot is below. This is some pretty interestingly cool film. Love the tone shift and gradual loss of detail as it darkens, like it's melting almost, but with this beautiful warm chocolately coffee bleed thru. It definitely shifted quickest in the first 6 hours or so, then it seemed to just get more gradually dark. Planning ahead, I just setup my scanner and left it on the glass and just kept scanning it every hour or so for the first 10+ hours, then it sat overnight and I scanned a few more, but with 2 hour gaps. Definitely a greater commitment of my time in order to get all the scans vs waiting and trying one of the wet/dry techniques. I really do like all the versions though and I'm glad I have the option to choose. Either way, doing these in the field might prove to be tricky, unless you're prepared.


SX70 Fade to Black Mosaic, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Polaroid SX-70 classic camera, Polaroid Fade to Black film. Approximately 24 hours development.



Polaroid SX-70 classic camera, Polaroid/Polapremium Fade to Black film. Approximately 5-1/2 hours development.

Winter Sunsets

365 2.0/363, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Winter sunsets in the desert.

Polaroid 340 camera, Fuji Instant C100 film.

New Old Roads

365 2.0/362, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

An actual small town moment. I pulled over to take this picture, the climbing road perspective and crossing power lines caught my eye. Its a side road that doesn't usually get much traffic. I put my hazards on, stepped out and waited a couple of minutes for a utility truck to pass, took the shot (could have sworn that I had framed it better), got back in and just then a car pulled along side. Was expecting a hey watch out or something like that. It was an older man asking if I needed help. Smiled and told him no thanks, was just taking a picture and he proceeded to tell me that I could go over the hill and make a left to get to some great viewpoints. Thought, wow, how nice. I hardly recall any moments like that, and I grew up here.

Polaroid 340 camera, Fuji Instant C100 film.

stairs and hallway

365 2.0/354, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Finally got some of the Fuji Instant film (color and high speed b&w). Picked it up at Freestyle Photo, no crowds or lines and friendly/helpful staff. It had been a while since I been in there.

This shot came out a bit darker then I had envisioned, but very happy with it just the same. Not sure if the meter is a little off or if I need to over compensate a lot more for the film speed/camera speed difference then what I did here (or maybe a little bit of both).

Polaroid 340 Land camera, Fuji FB-100C instant film. Portrait kit attached.

Crows & Trees Diptych

Crows & Trees Diptych, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

I must be a scarecrow. There were about 2 dozen crows hanging out on the street, picking at leaves and bits of things on the street and sidewalk near my home. I drive by, they barely move. I park 2 houses down, take 2 steps towards them and they start cawing like crazy and start to fly up to the trees and surrounding houses roof tops. I swear this has happened to me every time I try get pictures of them. Tried to make the most of the moment and shot these two Polaroids (and a few shots with yet to be processed from my black slim devil). Was pretty happy with these as a diptych. Seemed to reflect the feeling and atmosphere.

Polaroid Artistic TZ SX-70 film, original folding classic SX-70 camera.

So That's How It Works!

This is a pretty cool video that someone over at Polapremium mentioned. All about how the SX-70 works, both film and mechanics. 1972.

Polaroid SX-70 Promotional Film from Ekim on Vimeo.

SX-70

365 2.0/340, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

1st shot with the Polaroid Artistic TZ SX-70 film. Ordered a couple of packs of ATZ and the Fade to Black film from Polapremium during their black friday sale. I really like this film so far. It has such a nice color palette to it. Plus, I'm thrilled that my SX-70 classic original still works! Many many moons ago when I was still an art student and aspiring photographer, I utilized Polaroids (sx-70 and peel apart) here and there, but not a huge amount simply for budget reasons. It was cheaper to roll and process my own black and white film. So I saved my polaroids for certain things. At the time, if you were on a budget, you had to choose. Now today, in the midst of everything digital and being able to shoot as much as one wants, I've had my own analogue film realization which has also led me back to Polaroids. I've become a very selective shooter over the years, even digitally, I usually (not always, but most of the time) know if I've got something I like within the first few shots. This applies to my holga shots and now to my Polaroid shots as well. Seems to suit my shooting style/method. Oh how I've missed this.

WTO Flashback

I lived in Seattle, WA for about 5 years. Back at the end of 1999 there was a little rumble going on in the streets. WTO - World Trade Organization had come to town. At the time, I didn't really know much about the organization, until I started seeing the masses prepping to protest, realizing this was something pretty big. This was the beginning of my own political awakening. For those of you who remember or have done your own research will find that it was a huge cluster fuck of a protest that became violent. The police handled it poorly to say the least. There were definitely those whose sole intent was to be disruptive/violent. However, police escalated things further and further which brought out more and more people resisting the cracking down on the right to assemble and protest.

The police were charged with maintaining a curfew thereby forcing the protesters out of downtown Seattle...right into the Capitol Hill neighborhoods. I can't remember exactly, but I think it was the 2nd night that the streets were flooded with police and national guard troops. Batons, tear gas and bean bag guns ready to thwart the locals.

After reassuring my wife that I would be ok and not take any unnecessary risks, I went out that night to see what the hell was actually going on, with camera in hand of course. I had never experienced anything like it. It was truly a surreal experience. One of the things I remember clearly was standing on the corner in a crowd of people, most of which were the local residents curious, confused, upset and yelling for the police to leave, then hearing a few voices that seemed to be really trying to antagonize and instigate something, weird vicious circle.

I photographed what I could as fast as I could. There was this thick tension in the air that you could feel increasing by the minute. The more police and guard that showed up, the more people came out. My spidey sense told me it was time to get out of there and fast, I had nothing to protect myself from tear gas or batons. As I started to double back thru the other side of the street I could hear the tear gas canisters being fired off over and over again followed by more yelling and screaming. The air quickly grew heavy with tear gas. When I got back to my apt, one block off Broadway and Denny, behind the Post Office, we could smell and feel the tear gas and we were on the third floor. Looking out the window and watching a line of police/guard marching down our street directly below us with helicopters flying over head pushing protestors further and further was, as I said, really surreal. Clearly there was plenty of blame to go around, people who just didn't give a shit and did what they wanted and took advantage and enabled more chaos whether by breaking store windows or via the cops indiscriminately pepper spraying people for standing and looking. It was like the cops were looking for a fight and there were those who were going to bring it. The Capitol Hill residents were caught in the middle.

The reason I am posting this now is that a Capitol Hill blog was doing some stories and updates since it had been ten years (oh how time flies). They used my images for one of the articles, which apparently some how, there weren't many other photos/videos taken on those nights. Almost like it never happened except for those who were there to see and experience it first hand. Glad that I can share some of my experiences and images about those nights.

Polaroid Fun

Been on the hunt for Polaroid gear lately in anticipation of The-Impossible-Project launch. I already have a SX-70 thats been sitting away in a drawer waiting to be used again. Haven't shot anything with it in about 6 years I think. Hoping it still works, I've had it for about 14 years. I have a few 600 and TimeZero cameras in storage (somewhere). Also have several 100 series pack cameras. Been trying to use my 340 (I have a close up kit that fits it) with some Fuji brand instant film and that has been a pain. First had to get a new battery. Then found film at Amazon for a good price and free shipping if I spend over $25, which means 3 packs, but thought I could get it locally at Samy's Camera, same price as Amazon, but get only one or two packs. Trying to keep the spending down (and didn't feel like waiting for it). : ) Waited in line for 15+ minutes, asked for 2 packs and they tell me its almost $30. Apparently their online price differs from their in store price. Didn't offer a price match (which is strange considering it's the same business), so I said no thanks. Polapremium had a Black Friday sale of their own in the morning and had discounts on their Artistic TZ and Fade to Black SX-70 film. So I ordered 2 packs of each. Great price and easy ordering. Via twitter, they even ensured that it shipped out same day and sent me the tracking number. Didn't even get a blink from the guy at Samy's, looks like I'll be ordering some from Amazon after all. Need to start checking out Freestyle Photo again. I do want to try some of the chocolate peel apart film that Polapremium is offering.

Yesterday, I found a One Step Closeup camera at the local Out of the Closet (kinda like Goodwill or Salvation Army) for $5 and it had what I thought was 3 shots left in it, turns out it had 8 shots (I think)! It counts backwards. Double score! Have no idea how old or how long its been sitting.

This was the first shot, of myself, and got some nice chemical streaking and undeveloped areas in it.

This was the second shot that I took today.

sin@julias

sin@julias, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Yashica Electro 35 GSN, Expired Kodak Gold 200 35mm color negative film. Processed normal C-41. Scanned from neg.

Black Slim Devil

A couple of shots from the first roll of my Black Slim Devil.

Black Slim Devil, expired Kodak Gold 200 color negative film, processed normal, scanned from neg.

pigeons on wires

pigeons on wires, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Not sure why, but birds on power lines in big groups always seem to fascinate me.

Holga 120CFN, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal c-41, scanned from neg.

: }

365 2.0/276, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

I had the fortune of winning a Black Slim Devil from Nic over at Four Corners Dark blog. Nic had a contest going to help promote his special limited edition, secret camera to be sold for 100 percent of it to go to his local animal rescue shelter charity. The contest was simple, closest guess wins. I guessed holga mod and that's what he had. Limited edition of 10, custom holgas from www.holgamods.com, with closer focusing, custom masks, plus some cool film from Nic's own rare stash and other accessories. I wish I could have purchased one, great kit, but the timing was not good for me unfortunately. A portion of all his sales goes to the animal shelter. Pretty cool. So I ordered a bunch of 35mm film to go with my new Black Slim Devil. Thanks again Nic!

fourcornersdark.com

fourcornerstore.com

Cheap, yes. Plastic, no. Goodness, lots.

365 2.0/273, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Expired Kodak Elite Chrome 400 35mm color slide film. Processed normal E-6. Scanned from film.

I had intended for this blog to focus on plastic cameras instead of traditional slrs or even medium format cameras, and even polaroid. However, I've found that with my new re-appreciation for film, comes lots of other options for cameras in general. Some are cameras from my own collection, and others are new finds. Needless to say, not everything on here will be pure plastic.

Introducing my new old Yashica Electro 35 GSN rangefinder built circa 1973. Found for $6 at shopgoodwill.com, $15 total with shipping. Add in $15 for a battery adapter from the yashicaguy.com and now I have this great little rangefinder of a camera. I've only run one roll thru it so far and am very happy with it. I haven't shot with a rangefinder in quite awhile. The camera has a few options, bulb mode, flash mode and Automatic. F-stops 1.7-16, with a minimum focus of about 2 1/2 feet. The lens itself is 45mm, barely wide. When in auto mode, you set the f-stop and it meters and calculates the shutter speed. If its over exposed, you'll get a red arrow in the viewfinder, if its a slow exposure (anything below a 1/30th) you'll get a orange arrow. The meter seemed pretty accurate so far. Its got more weight to it since it is metal, and the size was a little bigger then I was expecting. Looking forward to shooting more with it.

fairfax ave xpro

fairfax ave xpro, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Another from my continuing series on the Fairfax District. One of things I've been enjoying with cross processing film again has been the color shifts. With digital, its so easy to get fairly balanced white balance that its easy to forget how color temperatures can be manipulated and used to ones advantage (or disadvantage), granted, with x-pro its more extreme. This street scene feels more painterly then my other night shot/long exposures.


Holga 120CFN, very expired Fuji Astia 120 chrome film cross processed C-41. Scanned from neg.

Shoes on a Wire

Shoes on a Wire, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Holga 120CFN, very expired Fuji Astia 120 chrome film cross processed C-41. Scanned from neg.

/

/, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Holga 120CFN, very expired Fuji Astia 120 chrome film cross processed C-41. Scanned from neg.

All Saints

All Saints, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Holga 120CFN, very expired Fuji Astia 120 chrome film cross processed C-41. Scanned from neg.

Sunset Echo Park

Sunset Echo Park, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Hill top view in Echo Park. Haven't cross processed chrome to c-41 in quite awhile.

Holga 120CFN, very expired Fuji Astia 120 chrome film cross processed C-41. Scanned from neg.

crows flying

crows flying, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

I found that whenever I try to get a shot of crows, as soon as I get within 10 feet with my Holga, they take off. Almost mocking me as they're flying off. Every freakin time.

Holga 120CFN, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

Smena 8M Goes to the Laundromat

1. laundry, 2. laundry 2, 3. laundry 3, 4. laundry 4

Smena 8m 35mm, Ilford HP5+ 400 b&w negative film, processed normal, scanned from neg.

Click each link to see the full frame. Decided to try something different with this post.

chair

chair, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Holga 120CFN, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

Stop Bike

Stop Bike, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Holga 120CFN, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

sunset, palm and wires

sunset, palm and wires, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

As much as it sucks whenever California is on fire (since writing this, a whole bunch more fires have sprung to life, really sucks), the air quality is awful, allergies get all whacked and of course the loss of trees and homes. However, the light changes in a rather beautiful way. Due to all the crap in the air, the light gets filtered and we get golden glowing light during the day and almost orange red glows at sunset.

Been in a bit of photo slump the past month or so, in fact took almost that long for me to finish this roll of film (there are more shots from this roll that I will be posting soon). Hasn't been a terribly exciting or inspiring summer for holga photos unfortunately. Now that my holga is loaded up again (new film, Fuji 400H from FourCornerStore), and with the summer slowly coming to a close, maybe I'll be able to conjure up some creative juices again.

Holga 120CFN, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

_

_, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Holga 120S, very expired Iflord HP5+ b&w negative film, processed normal, scanned from neg.

Canters@night

Canters@night, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Holga 120CFN, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

Kibitz Room

Kibitz Room, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Holga 120CFN, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

Fairfax@night

Fairfax@night, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Another from my Fairfax series.

Holga 120CFN, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

holga kogi

holga kogi, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Two of my favorite things, Kogi BBQ lunch and film. What, so I'm easy to please...sometimes. : )

Holga 120CFN, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

Corn Flakes

365 2.0/218, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

How's this for some great customer service...ordered film from Four Corners Store (I highly recommend them by the way, part of the Four Corners Dark blog) and there was a mistake in the order which Nic promptly corrected and sent the rest out plus this cool little Kellogg's 110 camera and film! How cool is that?!? Check them out. Its where I got my Smena 8M and a lot of 120 film. Its nice to feel appreciated as a customer. : ).

www.fourcornerstore.com/

Fairfax Hair

Fairfax Hair, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Holga 120CFN, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

Canters Drive-by

Canters Drive-by, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Continuation of my Fairfax series.

Holga 120CFN, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

cafe plants

cafe plants, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Took this shot while having my lunch. Hadn't shot any b&w thru my holga in a few months, thought it was time to do some more. Now that I have two holgas, I can load color and b&w and be ready for anything!

Holga 120S, very expired Iflord HP5+ b&w negative film, processed normal, scanned from neg.

Vines & Lavender

Vines & Lavender, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Holga 120CFN, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

red tree flare

red tree flare, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

I have never seen a tree quite like this before, well accept for the other one across the street, other then that one, never seen.

Holga 120CFN, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

Robertson at Alden, WeHo

Robertson at Alden, WeHo, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Now that I have a Holga with a bulb function, I can experiment a bit more. A couple of lifetimes ago, I used to do a lot of shooting hand held with very slow exposures to get some of that movement feeling. Once again, back to basics.

Holga 120CFN, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

Purple Toes

365 2.0/200, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Seems I've got a foot series going, swear its not a fetish. ; )

Holga 120CFN, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

Summer Time

Summer Time, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Hanging out back on our little strip of back yard that my Mrs created.

Holga 120CFN, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

Sky Tree

Sky Tree, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Wile chowing down on my Kogi tacos, I looked up. Holga 120CFN, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

Traffic Light, Sun and Sin

Traffic Light, Sun and Sin, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Holga 120CFN, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

Gone International

Was invited to contribute 5 of my Holga images to a all lomo show in the Ukraine called Lomo Sapiens. Check out this Flickr group with shots of the exhibit, more info about it here. And this for those who participated. Another write up with pics here. Looked like a really good turn out with local news and everything. I think a couple of hundred (296) people contributed enough images to hit the 1,000 mark. Pretty cool I must say. Glad to be a part of it.