Sunday, December 19, 2010

Neither Cheap Nor Plastic

Charlie, originally uploaded by LeandroF.
Been a little while since I ran a roll of film through my Hasselblad. I was having some problems with the lens shutter sticking at slower speeds since it had been sitting. Managed to loosen it up by leaving the camera in a warm part of the house and rotating the various f-stops and speeds on the lens everyday and it eventually started working again. Definitely need to get it properly cleaned and overhauled.

Most of the shots from this roll were a bit on the underexposed side, but it seemed like more then enough information was there to pull out an image. Strange thing though, a weird texture of some kind is on the film. I don't know if something happened at the lab or if it was just something peculiar about this expired roll. Basically makes it near impossible to save the image, at least with my scanner. This shot was my favorite anyways and was better exposed. If anyone has any clues as to what would cause the texture I'd love to hear about it.

Hasselblad 500C/M, expired Ilford FP4 film. Processed normal, scanned from negative.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Xpro Urban & Nature

Dusty Wires

DuckPond

Always amazed at how some cross processing can yield crazy results and other times it seems to barely shift. The sky/wires image looks fairly normal, while the duck pond almost looks like its on fire, and they are both from the same roll. This particular film seems to hold together pretty well for being cross processed. Maybe its not expired enough.

Holga 120CFN, expired Fuji RXP 400 chrome film, cross processed C-41, scanned from negative.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Oakwood


Oakwood, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Overcast days with some xpro.

Holga 120CFN, expired Fuji Provia RXP400 chrome film, cross processed, scanned from negative.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Lomo Does The Getty

Getty Scuplture
Polaroid Mio, Fuji Instax Mini film.

The Lomography Store here in West Hollywood have started to do what they call "Lomo Adventures" instead of a workshop at the store, they head out with some sort of theme in mind, this one was to The Getty Center Museum. It costs a little bit more then the workshops, but for $25 not to bad. Pretty sure this was their first one (they've done a couple of others since, a double decker bus touring L.A. and also an outing to Día de los Muertos festival at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery). Just had to be at the store at noon (return by 4pm). Got a choice of a Lomo loaner camera and a roll of film (I went with the Lubitel 166+ with 35mm mod), plus chartered bus to and from The Getty. Also, there would be a special surprise waiting for us and another loaner camera, which turned out to be a scavenger hunt! Off everyone went with Diana cams with Instax film backs to capture the items on the list. Had to track down various sculptures and garden items that were printed on the list. Had fun running walking quickly around the beautiful grounds at The Getty. The regular visitors seemed to not notice us much and the hunt itself was harder then I thought it would be i.e. didn't win...it was fun though.

My only real complaint was that I didn't get a chance to check out any of the exhibits. We left late from the store since a few people were running behind, the scavenger hunt itself lasted longer then I think they had planned for and then in the process having a roll of film that I needed to get thru at the end meant no casual time to wander in the nice comfortable galleries (it was warm out). Then again, I guess if I had won something then I'd have nothing to gripe about. ; ) All I'm saying is that it would have been nice to still have the time to appreciate the art and wander around in addition to the surprise scavenger hunt, it just didn't work out that way for me (I think a few people opted to just wander). Did get to meet some cool people that day and got to spend a nice afternoon in a beautiful location with great views and most importantly, took some photos. There are some iPhone Hipstamatic shots on my flickr page that I took as well.

As for the loaner camera, I found the Lubitel 166+ to be a really great camera. Offers a lot of precision control for what's supposed to be a plastic camera. A full range of F-stops and shutter speeds. You can double expose as well since you have to cock the shutter on the lens, which is quite sharp by the way. The 35mm mod was cool to use. Has a screen in place with the 35mm marks in the viewfinder so you can properly frame it. Since you get the normal width of what would be medium format 6x6 film and sprockets you get less shots per roll. For a 24 exp roll of 35mm film it worked out to 12 shots. One nice thing about it being plastic was that it didn't feel like you were lugging a heavy metal camera like a Mamiya C330 even though it looks like one and performed great. Adding another camera to the want list.

Lubitel on Chair


 Flowers  Greens


City View  Cactus
Lubitel 166+ with 35mm mod, Klick color negative film, processed normal C-41.


Check out their site for a schedule of upcoming events. I know there are a couple of Diana F+ workshops coming up plus they're doing a closing night party on Nov 14th. The parties are pretty fun. They have a band play, plus snacks and a open beer bar. Good times.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Polaroid Week Fall 2010

Just thought I would post my shots from Polaroid week which just concluded on 11/5. I shot mostly Impossible's new film PX600UV since I had just received the 4 packs I won the week before (yah, perfect timing!). I did also shoot some PZ and some ATZ edge cut. I went into it with the intent of posting new recent shots as well as trying to get some new shots during the week itself, which I was able to do. I managed to challenge myself a bit in the process as well.

I've only shot one pack so far of the PX600UV film and had a variety of results. In some ways it seemed more like a first flush pack, had a lot of shots with artifacts and weird splotches, not sure if it was just a funky pack or something to do with the cold clip during processing (or maybe a little bit of both). Most people seem to have very positive results though. At the same time, I got some fantastic, deep black and white tones in some and others were very sepia or charcoal like. I don't have a 680 camera, so I had to use a ND filter on the lens of my SX-70 and tried to remember to keep the exposure wheel dialed dark.

The PZ600 film keeps coming back as a fave of mine of the monochrome films. They seem to have a found a good balance of quality and stability. I'm also finding that I'm enjoying shooting with the Spectra SE camera more and more as well.

I really love the quality of the ATZ edge cut film. Just beautiful tones and colors. I only have a a few shots left and then one more pack...

pod
Day 1. ATZ edge cut

PZ Palms
Day 1. PZ600

Mailbox
Day 2. PX600UV

Converse
Day 2. PX600UV

Onions
Day 3. PX600UV

Flowers
Day 3. PX600UV

Flared Toes
Day 4. PX600UV

Self
Day 4. PX600UV

Good Morning Sunshine
Day 5. ATZ edge cut

Mmm Gooood
Day 5. ATZ edge cut


One of the nice things about Polaroid Week is how much positive attention it brings to everyone. So many people participating and sharing. Finding lots of new and talented photographers/artists and in general, just being inspired by so much great imagery. Already looking forward to next Spring!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Diana F+ Pinhole Fun

An afternoon with friends, taking a stroll around West Hollywood during a recent Lomography pinhole workshop (really inexpensive by the way). Made for a fun afternoon. Next time I use a Diana pinhole, I'll attempt some better hand holding techniques!

West Hollywood Psychic

Bird in the Window

x\|

Weeds

Pinhole Shoes

Diana F+ pinhole, expired Fuji Pro 400H, developed normal C-41, scanned from negative.




Thursday, October 21, 2010

I'd Like To Thank The Academy...

Just a quick post to say thank you to Jeff at the art of waiting, the impossible project and Anne Bowerman and Dave Bias for selecting my Polaroid diptych for The Art of Waiting "Autumn" instant theme contest. They're sending me 4 packs of the new PX600uv+ film! How cool is that? Needless to say I'm very happy about this.

Crows & Trees Diptych
"Trees and Crows" - expired Artistic TZ film.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Boba Fett and Flowers

My first few shots with Impossible's PZ600 film and a Polaroid Macro 5 SLR camera. I really like the quality of this film. It has nice subtle tones with pretty good darks and its really sharp as well (despite the out of focus Boba). I didn't use a light shield with any of these, but its indoors and with the built in flash. Pretty much flipped them over and left them alone for 5 minutes. The tone does seem to take a day or two to really set.

Discovered in the Galactic archives - a rare early glimpse of Boba Fett

,

.

Friday, October 8, 2010

An Afternoon at Venice Beach & Abbot Kinney

I've lived in LA for about 10 years now and there are still so many areas that I have barely explored. This time around, my friend Julia and I went down to Abbot Kinney and Venice Beach (which is very close). Its a cool and funky area with lots of shops and places to grab good food and drink. Plenty of people watching as well as interesting things to photograph. Originally I had intended to try to get some people pictures and ended up not getting much in the way of people at all, more atmospheric. Venice Beach is always an interesting scene with many many different kinds of characters, performers and musicians. It was a bit overwhelming though, to much activity and people. I've decided that next time I'll need to really hang out for the day and people watch and just take my time. A revisit sometime over the Winter could be interesting.

I usually carry more then one plastic camera and in this case had both of my Holgas, Black Slim Devil and a Polaroid SX-70 Sonar.

Red Chairs  Yellow Chairs
Polaroid SX-70 Sonar, ATZ Edgecut film.

Face Masks
Holga 120CFN Fuji NPS160

Venice, CA • Canal
Holga 120CFN Fuji NPS160

Venice Palms
Holga 120CFN Fuji NPS160

Bikes and Beach
Holga 120S Ilford HP5+

Beach Rings
Holga 120CFN Fuji NPS160

Seagull
Holga 120CFN Fuji NPS160

Handball Courts Venice Beach
Black Slim Devil Kodak Gold 200

Venice Beach
Holga 120CFN Fuji NPS160

Palms
Black Slim Devil Kodak Gold 200

Flowers and Greens
Holga 120CFN Fuji NPS160



A Summer afternoon around Abbot Kinney and Venice Beach during Labor day weekend. Its strange, I shot these images a little over a month ago and yet it feels like its been longer then that. Time, always messing with me...

Sunday, September 26, 2010

PX70 FF

A mini review with some of the shots I've done with my first two packs of Impossible's new PX70 Color Shade First Flush edition. They did something different this time around when they announced the film. You could buy it in 3 packs, but at the price of two since its new and still some what of a beta flavor as far as color/exposure and all that goes. I think that was a really smart thing for them to do. Especially since its so new and unpredictable in some ways. Plus, its almost like a thank you to the customers for helping to test this out early on. The temp issue seems to be fine, light exposure is still an issue though. Had to accept that for the time being and make regular use of a light shield. I have to admit, I feel like I got a better handle on this film, much quicker, then I did with the PX100 FF. My first pack of PX70 was mostly about what to expect (and not a lot of great shots either), so by the time I got to the second pack I felt like I was finally getting shots that I really liked and was able to replicate somewhat. I found that with my SX-70 Sonar OneStep, I needed to either over or underexpose by half a wheel turn on the exposure dial. It seemed to be the only way to get more color to come thru or something with some darks to it. Like the PX100, it is on the lower contrast side and in general has a blue-green hue. You can coax it out though in other ways. Some are using warming filters on the camera to boost color and contrast. However, Impossible states that this film can take several days to finish developing. Most of mine I've waited 2-5 days before scanning. I do notice a gradual change in the overall color and density. It does tend to improve over time. Plus some of the darker areas take awhile and can look a little splotchy, some refer to it as lizard skin. Impossible has already announced the new version of PX70 at Photokina and should be on the market sometime in October. The samples looked nice, more color and contrast, but still with that nice old vintage quality to it. I'm looking forward to trying the new batch when its out. I do like the quality though of this edition. I think thats one of things I enjoy about the Impossible films in general is the variety of quality/experience with each edition.

PX70_Palm_Exposed
Light shield flipped up, but I still like how it turned it out.
PX70_PalmTreesWires

PX70_Self

PX70_Tuber

Hands

Eagle

Golden

.

Check out the ever growing and complete set of my PX70 shots on Flickr.


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