Tripping with the Trip 35

I’ve been out a few times with the Trip 35 loaded with Kodak TMax 3200 and I’ve even tried pushing the film or no real need nor reason (unless a child creates a situation during development).

I’ve been mainly Night Tripping for the most part but there are a few from early morning light and mid-day. Mid-day light? are you mad? No, I live in Scotland!

If you don’t know what I mean because you live somewhere that gets sun, think ND16 on that guy in the sky and you’re getting close.

We do get to the see the sun every now and then but that’s usually by mistake and is quickly rectified in a few hours.

During the day or early morning I usually set the Trip 35 to ƒ22 and at night I open it up to ƒ2.8. Pretty simple really.

Now, pushing 3200 film, with ID11 anyway, gives you some insane grain so be aware of that if that’s not what you’re into. I love it.



Like I said, things can easily go your way during the day. The mechanical shutter speed is 1/40 which is pretty slow for ‘street work’, not that I really know anything about that, and is too slow for lots of movement.

For ‘Still Life’ it’s fine.


Keep shooting and keep believing in film.

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by sibokk on 20 February 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Day To Day, RetroCam, street photography, Film Photography
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Posted by sibokk on 20 February 2012

http://streetlifeedinburgh.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/tripping-with-the-trip-35/

Saturday’s Photo-Stroll

On Saturday I dragged my decrepit ill body out of pit with the family for a walk into town while managing to bring 4 cameras with me. As you do, or at least I do.

I had my Crown Graphic (Adox 100), Titan Pinhole (didn’t use it), Cmena 6 (super slow duplicating slide film rated 12ASA by me so it could be anything!) and the recently fixed – Cmena Symbol (Kentmere 400).

I saw this tree from the bus in the morning though I have actually been seeing it for weeks ever since that windy day when my tenements 10ft. chimney was blown off the roof.

Before I got to the tree I saw this building which had been hit with an amazing setting sunlight on Broughton Place …

Sadly, I think I nudged the camera thus making the image wobbly which I’m very unhappy about but I did then hit it with a double Cmena.

Any way, on the way home from town, and starting to feel like I was an extra from Walking Dead, I met up with the tree.

While standing up there setting up and taking the shot(s) – another Cmena pincer attack – I got an interesting view of the street below.

I must admit, I never stop and look around any more. It was wonderful seeing the city life bustling past and get to watch a very large rottweiler take a massive turd then pester other smaller dogs.

Sadly, I managed to underexpose the shot a little but there was still enough detail to render an image (I think about 20-30 seconds at ƒ32.

After this shot I wandered of to shoot the horizon and the trees by the Holyrood pond where I got my ‘row’ for not taking a generic sunset landscape but I actually had.

Until next time – keep shooting!

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by sibokk on 20 February 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Day To Day, Film Photography, Large Format, RetroCam
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Posted by sibokk on 20 February 2012

http://streetlifeedinburgh.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/saturdays-photo-stroll/

Bronica Zenza S2A with Fuji Astia 64T

Camera: Bronica Zenza S2A
Lens: NIkkor-P.C, f2.8 75mm
Film: Fuji Astia 64T

I really liked the Bronica Zenza S2a despite it not being able to properly advance the film but alas it’s now become unreliable in the focus department. Time for a major CLA.

When focusing it the camera actually captures everything way behind what the view finder said you were focusing on.

Flickr user lebigwhopper hinted at a problem with the seating of the mirror giving a false reading so I’ll have to look online for any other hints on fixing it.

The Fuji Astia looks nice. The stock is quite slow and leans toward blue but over all I quite liked it.

Until I fix it or get it fixed I think the Bronica will be sitting on the shelf especially since I now have the Mamiya C330 again.

More picture here (if posting to the blog from Flickr lets me):

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by sibokk on 19 February 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Film Photography
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Posted by sibokk on 19 February 2012

http://streetlifeedinburgh.wordpress.com/2012/02/19/bronica-zenza-s2a-with-fuji-astia-64t/

Trees by Holyrood Pond, Crown Graphic – Adox 100

Camera: Graphlex Crown Graphic
Lens: Graphlex Optar f4.5 162mm
Film: Adox 100

Development: ID11 for 7 minutes
Exposure: f32 for 1 minute 20 seconds

As I was walking home after shooting the skyline when this scene caught my eye. There was nearly zero light by now but the fading light bouncing off the pond that framed the group of trees convinced me to stop.

The problem I now had was being able to focus in such poor light. The focus of the photo was supposed to be the trees but I didn’t have a strong torch with me to illuminate them to aid focusing so they ended up looking rather ‘soft’. The softness could also be down to the wind that was growing in strength wobbling my (crappy cheap) tripod a little.

I did get a shouted at by a lady for not taking a photo of the skyline behind me. I shouted over that I was using black and white film, the sky was quite orange, and that I’d already got one. She felt my answer was satisfactory and replied with a contented “good” then walked on. I could have scolded her for walking through the exposure with her friends but I left it be.

I like this shot better than the skyline even if it is a wee bit soft.

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by sibokk on 19 February 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Day To Day, Film Photography, Large Format, RetroCam
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Posted by sibokk on 19 February 2012

http://streetlifeedinburgh.wordpress.com/2012/02/19/trees-by-holyrood-pond-crown-graphic-adox-100/

Skyline with the Crown Graphic and Adox 100

Via Flickr:
Camera: Graphlex Crown Graphic
Lens: Graphlex Optar f4.5 162mm
Film: Adox 100

Development: ID11 for 7 minutes
Exposure: f32 for 29 seconds

I think I could’ve let that go a bit longer to get more detail in the landscape but maybe at the cost of the sky/clouds.

The only other problem is the large amount of artefacts all over the scanned negative, dust and hair etc. How many are from the negative and how many from the scanner bed?

I took four shots with the Crown Graphic yesterday and uploaded two to Flickr. Two still to develop when I have time.

I’m still loving this camera and the process.

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by sibokk on 19 February 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Day To Day, Film Photography, Large Format, RetroCam
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Posted by sibokk on 19 February 2012

http://streetlifeedinburgh.wordpress.com/2012/02/19/skyline-with-the-crown-graphic-and-adox-100/

Graphic Content

It’s been a wee while since I posted anything so I thought I’d start with a wee update regards my Crown Graphic.

I’m so into this camera its insane. I fumble around with the leavers and knobs like an excited child not knowing which one to twiddle first.

I was waiting for 50 sheets of Fomapan 400 to arrive from AG-Photographic to load up and empty like Rambo from First Blood Part 2 (again) but sadly they stopped buying in that type of film due to quality control issues.

The order has now morphed into 50 sheets of ADOX art 50ASA, yet to arrive. 50 sheets for £30.

I became impatient for the film to arrive and desperate to shoot the Crown G. I managed to find myself in town one Friday afternoon with free time so I bought 25 sheets of 5×4 Ilford HP4Plus 125ASA for just shy of £30 with my university discount at Jacobs Digital. Jacobs Digital? Yes. Jacobs Digital.

All these photos were taken using that film stock.

For my first trip out with the camera I went to a wee pond called St. Margaret’s Loch in Holyrood Park:

View Larger Map

This is where I shoot swans, not in the face I may add, and this is where I started with the Crown Graphic.

(Below) was the first frame of the day and my first ‘real’ portrait of my family, a portrait where I asked them to stand still and not move, though not everyone complied.

Like James Pearson had said, it captures Anna’s personality – very true, a rabid wee monster! – and I was presented with the alien-ness of using the ground glass during the day without an effective dark cloth. I ended up using my scarf to create a South Park-esque ‘Kenny’ mask.

I now have a Loupe to help with focusing but I’m still quite clumsy but I guess that’s the whole point – slow down!

I flippantly posted on Twitter “Just got 25 sheets of Ilford FP4Plus for the Crown Graphic. I wonder how long this will last?” expecting to blow it all in a weekend but the reply from @JohnMilleker was very true:

“Longer than you think! I thought the same when I purchased my 4×5 film. Even less the larger you go”

This is just the beginning of a fantastic journey into something else. Something wonderful, I hope.

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These negatives were developed using ID11 (stock) for 8 minutes 30 seconds and fixed for 5 minutes in Ilford’s Rapid Fixer (1+4 dilution).

I’ve shot a couple on Direct Positive paper but I haven’t yet gotten round to ruining them by over developing in my, probably dying, ID11 developer.

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by sibokk on 6 February 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Developer Developer Developer!, Film Photography, Large Format, Portraits
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Posted by sibokk on 6 February 2012

http://streetlifeedinburgh.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/graphic-content/

365 Project the Lazy Way


365 Project the Lazy Way a video by Sibokk on Flickr.

Back in March 2011 Idownloaded the Everyday App on my iPhone and have been snapping away every month, I’ll say month rather than day as I’ve missed a few here and there.

I think it might’ve been a paid app but very cheap but essentially it creates a visual diary for as long as you have space on your device (or some undetermind soft limit the programmers failed to mention).

This is just a rough sample or work in progress. It’s just my face with a few special guests but even for a few months its interesting to see how scruffy I really am plus the thumbnail on Flickr is horrendous.

I guess its also quite a vain thing to do though I wouldn’t consider myself as being vain (scruffy, no style, no taste in clothes, nothing to shout about).

It is interesting to see the time passing though.

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This is my first Flickr to WordPress post so hopefully it makes sense

Via Flickr:
This is the lazy way of doing a ‘shot a day’ 365 project type thing. I started in March 2011 so only a couple of months to go.

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by sibokk on 25 January 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Day To Day

Posted by sibokk on 25 January 2012

http://streetlifeedinburgh.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/365-project-the-lazy-way/

Pinhole Update

Slide film is something I’ve been shooting with for some time now but its only recently I’ve been getting them developed as slides. It’s quite something to hold a positive strip of film in your hand.

It’s something else to hold a 5×4 slide though.

The problem I had taking some of these shots was the wind up north. About 3 or 4 were very blurry.

I’ve only scanned a few shots so far because I have an Epson V500 that doesn’t scan 5×4 so its a wee bit tricky getting the registration right in order to piece them together.

I haven’t yet seen any colour 5×4 photos taken with the Titan pinhole camera but it certainly takes a lovely dreamy photo and I’ve been lucky with most of the exposures.

The small tree line shots were tricky again because of the wind. The first one was the Ektar 100 which was blown about a bit so I went Delta 100 for a more stable shot using the eBay film I keep talking about but actually really liked (below).

 

When I was up north I found I kept starting long exposures in low-ish light roughly around the time of day light falls quickest. Starting a 40 minute exposure as the light fades isn’t the best idea but I managed to get something here.

 

This Ektar 100 shot was from the first outing with the camera and almost identical (actually it is) to another using Delta 100.

 

This one was me trying to test the limits of exposure against virtually bugger all light. There is an image there, albeit faint, and its hard to believe it took around 10 hours to make.

 

I’m looking forward to trying out some exposures on 400 speed film when it comes for the Crown Graphic.

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by sibokk on 22 January 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Film Photography, Large Format
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Posted by sibokk on 22 January 2012

http://streetlifeedinburgh.wordpress.com/2012/01/22/pinhole-update-2/

Passing of the Crown

Like I mentioned in my last post, I finally bought the camera I was most determined to get.

I thought the Mamiya C330 was a beautiful construction but I’ll have to say the bar was raised by Graphlex. Its such an amazing looking camera.

Opening it was farcical at first until I stumbled across the nipple. A wee bump on the top of the camera almost completely hidden from sight but not touch.

The front flips down and locks into place to reveal rails. Under the lens board is a latch that when turned releases the lens board so it can be pulled out over the rails lock into place at full extension.

Focusing is similar to the Mamiya C330 and most other such TLRs by turning a knob at either side of the extended front panel. There’s also a lock to hold the focus.

Above the lens board is an extendable flexible frame and at the back of the camera is a retractable view port. You look through the view port and compose in the extended frame.

Using the ground glass was very strange at first, not because the image is reversed and upside down, but it was tricky to get my eyes and brain to understand what I was looking at. The image on the glass is so big and odd I had to train my eyes to see again. Like wearing someones glasses with a prescription.

It a was similar yet different experience from using the Mamiya C330 so I would hazard that having lots of experience focusing with that kind of camera, like a Yashica-Mat, might help. My only TLR, a Halina Viceroy, is fixed focus so the Mamiya C330 was my first time focusing with glass.

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Anyway. I was rummaging through my film boxes and found I still had one sheet of unexposed 5×4 so I went for it. The subject, Louise sitting on the couch chatting to her Mum. My pocket light meter said 1/3 at f4.5 so I took the shot even though I new chunks of the image would be blurry just to see if I can get an image out of the camera ok.

As you can see chunks are blurry but essentially it was fine. The 5×4 sheet was slightly F’d though, it was from a batch I bought off The Bay that hadn’t been stored properly.

I have 50 sheets of Fomapan 400 in the post which will be just amazing! I’ve also got five more double dark slide holders so that makes 12 shots in total per shoot.

There is a sad point though. The rangefinder element looks slightly off. When focusing with the glass I can see the subject in focus but looking through the rangefinder it says its out. I know the glass is always going to be accurate so it isn’t a complete disaster, it’s just a shame.

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by sibokk on 22 January 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Film Photography, Large Format, Portraits
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Posted by sibokk on 22 January 2012

http://streetlifeedinburgh.wordpress.com/2012/01/22/passing-of-the-crown/

Night Flash 2

I think this might actually be turning into a project but I guess I have little choice this time of year since it gets dark just after it gets light.

I’m not sure what the ‘rules’ might be for this project. Will it be flash only or will it just be night shooting in general?



So far I’ve been roving around with my GF1, Cosina CSR, FED 3, Zorki 4K and Olympus Trip 35. One or two cameras.



My film of choice so far has been Kentmere 400ASA which was a film I knew Aware of the void was very keen on and I was looking for another film to try.



So far I’ve very much enjoyed using the Kentmere film and I’ve been pushing its development times from 9 minutes 30 seconds stock for 400 speed film up to around 14 minutes which should be equal to around 800 – 1600ASA.



I have placed an order for a few rolls of 800 speed film which may pose problems for me because I’ve been mainly shooting 400 speed film so adjustments are necessary.



Most of my flash people shots have been pretty ‘safe’, shooting from the side or behind, but this is part of the process to get me comfortable with shooting in a way that will get you very noticed.



A few years ago I remember having my portrait taken candidly on the street using flash at night. The photographer stepped out from behind someone at the top of Broughton Street as I was passing and hit me with the flash.

At first I was WTF? but when I looked back I couldn’t make out who’d done it then I just went on about my business and thought nothing off it.



One thing I am able to do is see the shots my shriveled cajones won’t let me take. This is good and bad. Good that my eye has caught something I find interesting and I’m able to visualise the shot and see it as a print but bad because I missed it by experiencing it rather than shooting it.



One thing that will be aiding me now is the remote flash unit I bought on Amazon, iShoot.




The system works fine for any camera with an active hot-shoe and old cameras too via a PC connector adapter but in order for it not to short out on the cold-shoe you have to lay down some tape first. A minor problem but fixable.

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Anyway, I’ll finish this by saying I’ve finally bought a Crown Graphic 5×4/4×5 large format camera. I’d made a decent amount of cash selling stuff on ‘The Bay’ and was able to finally afford it.

Now I need film and more Double Dark slides.

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4 Comments
by sibokk on 15 January 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Digital Photography, Film Photography, RetroCam, street photography
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Posted by sibokk on 15 January 2012

http://streetlifeedinburgh.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/night-flash-2/

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