The 52 Project, Week 32: Hasselroids & Polablads

Pro tip: get a GOOD used Polaroid back.

 As little as 8-10 years ago, when you were going to take a picture that needed to be absolutely, positively, sharp and well exposed, you couldn't look at the back of your camera (also known as "chimping"), you needed to take a Polaroid. Not the boxy, point and shoot style, integral film eating Polaroid 600 that we all know and love, but one made to take pack film (click the link for more info). On my Hasselblad, taking a test exposure is as simple as attaching the film back, taking the picture, and pulling out the instant film tabs. If you've never taken an instant picture with pack films before, I highly reccomend getting an old Polaroid Land Camera or Polaroid back and trying it. It's a thrill to peel apart the positive from the negative, held together by a thin layer of gooey, unused reagent (dont' eat this please). This is infinitely more fun than looking at the back of some glare-ridden LCD screen.

Save the model of camera used, this video perfectly illustrates the process of using pack film in a Polaroid back to proof your exposure:

Now, some of you that follow the news may be wondering, "where the heck can I get Polaroid film? Didn't they stop making film?"

The truth of the matter is yes, Polaroid no longer makes their signature product, Polaroid 100 series pack films. Thankfully, the guys over at Fujifilm in Japan have come up with their own phenomenal pack films, Fuji FP-100C and FP-3000B. The 100 speed is lower speed, vivid color film, and the 3000 is an incredibly fast B&W film. Each are great under a variety of condtions, and include self-terminating development. You can literally shoot all day, and peel your film when you get home.

 Considering the quick nature of instant photography, lessons can be learned quickly and to little cost to the user, leaving little for me to discuss in the typical good, bad, and ugly format. Instead, we'll talk about some things that can go wrong with your instant film, with examples from yours truly.

Lesson 1: Light Leaks - never, ever open up your pack of film after it has been loaded

 

Lesson 2: Overexposing is the Devil! - instant film responds to overexposure much like slide film and digital, by crying, blowing out highlights, and fogging your positive. >__<

 

Lesson 3: Don't Expect Expired Film to Perform - if it's more than 4 years old and hasn't been cold-stored, consider any kind of image a miracle. The images below are Polaroid 669 film from 1992!

Reagent is a liquid, it can dry up and do this.The background is more yellow than black.

Sometimes you get really lucky. ^__^

And that pretty much does it for this week. Instant photography is fun stuff, and the only way it'll keep being made is if somebody is out there to shoot it. So pick up that Polaroid Land Camera or Polaroid back today and get shooting!

Next Week: More fun times with the Hasselblad.

The 52 Project, Weeks 8&9: Playing with Pets

To be perfectly up-front and honest, this week's 52 Project doesn't offer any originality, unique-ness in shooting style, or variety of subject. If you're looking for a photographer that will bring nothing but groundbreaking, original work to his/her blog posts week after week, chances are that you've hit the wrong link. What this week's post does provide, however, is a series of photos surrounding a subject that I inadvertently tend to shoot  a lot of, pets. I could name five photographer buddies right now that would "poo poo" the idea of shooting everyday animals. I mean, sure it looks amateur, but for a good reason. Amateurs are still out there doing what they love, for free! Shooting pets is my way of coping with people that won't smile, agree, or pay their photography bill on time; and it also works wonders for finding a new perspective.

Anyway, lets have some fun, look at some medium format frames of pets, and be sure to comment on ones you love/think are silly/would like to see more of.

Scan 1: Portrait of a ChickenA regal rooster, some fine fowl...

My immediate impression of this rooster was "smug". He's proud, cocky (pun intended), and king of the coop, too bad he's only about half the size of all the other chickens. That comb of his is sharp, and I don't mean in the aesthetically pleasing way either; just click it to get a full size, this sucker is sharp!

Rugged and worn, this cat has had a hard life.

Scan 2: Sleepy Barn Cat

This sickly little guy and his scruffy face just wouldn't leave me alone. I saw the barn door/window light coming in, and this image instantly clicked in my head. If this cat were human, I'm most certain I'd find him in Central Park snuggled up with some newspaper in a cardboard cabin.

 "Hey Gary, I'm thinking about getting a dish..."Scan 3: Ducks' Conversation

There are two reasons human beings keep other animals around. The first is for consumption, we're hungry and most of us believe that literally every other organism is below us on the food chain. The second reason, however, is that we look for the small, glaring bits of human nature within other animals. Some people can really project this feeling, crazy cat ladies, and others merely find entertaining pieces of humanity, Lolcats. I believe I'm treading the fine line in pointing out that these two ducks appear to be having a discussion, probably cable vs. satellite.

Bob really needs to get a Brita filter.Scan 4: Bob Drinking from the Sink

This old indoor/outdoor barn-cat doesn't have much of a playful disposition or face, for that matter, but he does have an unusually high curiosity for dripping water in the sink. Being the devil's advocate I am, I went ahead and turned the faucet on just enough to make any environmentalist burst into tears. But the adorable lapping of said wastewater makes it ok, right?

She's this happy to see everyone, no joke.Scan 5: Maizey, the Happy German Shepherd

You will be hard-pressed to find any German Shepherd as inbred and as happy as my dad's dog, Maizey.  She was originally intended to be a guard dog, but she proved too friendly and now spends her days running about a three acre yard.

Wow, she actually looks kinda cute. Scan 6: Mitzi at the Window

Ah window light, you seem to compliment the Hasselblad so well. This gorgeous light even has the power to make this neurotic, sheds as a defense mechanism siamese cat look cute and contemplative.

Something Good: These two weeks were a joy to shoot. I was just having fun, composing on the fly, and spending literally no time post-processing these images. Heck, most of the images came out incredibly sharp.

Something Bad: Despite my warning at the beginning of this post, I'm bound to get flamed by my photography buddies. It happens, and I'll simply take my lumps.

Something Learned: Almost all of this post's work was done from a crouched or prone perspective. I've felt that my viewing angle has lately been confined to the position of +/- one foot from my chest. I think this has changed and will continue throughout the duration of The 52 Project.

Next Week: Some VERY interesting, different, and fun work courtesy of a NYC based photographer, Abish. Definitely stay tuned for this one.

The 52 Project, Week 4&5: Wedding Edition

Wow, it's already been a month and I'm still excited about film. Something must being going right for a gearhead like me to go analog for longer he typically plays a new video game. Just before we get to the meat and potatoes of this week's post, I'm going to change the structure a bit from previous weeks. Instead of just a few images, there will be about a roll's worth of them; this is because there were four rolls shot instead of the typical one or two. Thereby, top choices were harder to make, and besides, I just love shooting weddings*.

*couple getting married must be awesome like those you'll see below ^_^

Color Division

1) Katie's Gorgeous Dress

2) Just a touch of makeup

3) Moments before the wedding.

4) The cliche bouquet shot.

5) Meet Mr. & Mrs. Tomas Menec.

6) The Radl sisters, yes, Katie has a twin.

7) Baby with a Mohawk, nuff said.

8) We were all glad to see this cake go >__<

 The color shots were a little risky, IMO, because I'd never shot in the films used. To some it's not a big deal, but I like to know exactly how a film looks in a given situation. (See Week 1 and Week 2 of The 52 Project for examples of Portra 400VC vs 400NC) I even explained to this cool couple how I'd occasionally pop a film shot during downtime of digital (filled buffer, etc.). To my complete surprise, they were ok with it! Onto the mini-critique.

Shots 1-3 are shot in Fuji Pro 800Z and 4-8 are Pro 400H. I like the look of both, however, I noticed a lot of flaring issues with the 800 speed film in a lot of the getting ready shots. Compare the grain you see in shot 1 over shots 2 & 3. The main difference? Positioning from the window/main light.  This flare doesn't appear to be a lot, but that's about a 60 degree turn away from the window. Trust me, you don't want to see what the shot into the window exposures looked like. x__X And what about the 400H? Beautiful, accurate skin tones, little grain, and fantastic exposure latitude. I shall be working with 400H much more in the future.  My only gripe about shots 4-8 is that shot 4 shows the Aquiles Heel of the Hasselblad closeup filter; excessive, excessive vignetting. Sure it's not much, but it muddles Katie's skin tone in that shot; thank goodness the focus is the bouquet.

B&W Division

10) Copy & Paste the aforementioned.

9) Simple, elegant, and outdoors!

12) During the ceremony

11) Rings in a flower, who'da thought?

13) Dancing with Dad

 Not too much going on here that couldn't have been covered with the color film. Live and learn, I guess. Overall, the B&W came out great. I shot one roll Tmax 100 and one roll Tmax 400. They were hand-developed in D-76, and came out just as envisioned. The scanning, however, is a different story. I'm getting there, but there's still a long way to go with this Epson V700. Notable traits about Tmax 100 vs 400 were that 100 seemed to pull a much wider dynamic range while the 400 tended to yeild a very narrow band of midtones that needed to be "fluffed up" in Photoshop.

Something Good: I got paid to play around with my Hasselblad, and managed to score some real keepers for the album.

Something Bad: I took a HUGE risk in playing around with film during a wedding that was supposed to be delivered digitally (though permission was granted). Also that nasty flare thing with the 800Z.

Something Learned: Millers Professional Imaging, aka MPIX, aka the best print company EVER, are rediculously fast and good at what they do. They provided me with postage paid priority mailers to deliver film in. The package was mailed 7:30am, the Monday after the wedding. Once it got to them, rush processing with FedEx overnight, I received it on Wednesday afternoon at 2:00pm, processed, proofed, scanned, cut, and sleeved.  All this for ~$10 per roll. This was a very good thing considering Katie and Tomas were leaving for the Czech Republic the next day for ceremony number two and their honeymoon. If you're reading this and thinking about adding a touch of film to your next event, seriously consider Millers. No, I don't get a kickback from them everytime you check out their site, I'm just very impressed with the speed and quality of their work, coupled with top notch customer service.

Next Week: Slowing down back to the normal posting pace, but get ready for a LOT of the same film. I just scored a ton of recently expired 120 film that's basically carrying me through to the end of The 52 Project. Oh yeah, and 4th of July pics, whew!