A Little "Instant" Gratification

I thought I'd share a few instant images on Fuji instant pack film from my Polaroid 600 SE.  These are from a bridal/trash the dress session from last week.  I photographed Ashli's wedding a few years ago and she was kind enough to be a guinea pig for my film exploration.  We drove to Gordon to her grandfather's farm and it was totally worth it.  The rest of the film is in California, but I'll post it as soon as it is back.  If these are any indication, the film should rock!

And, just in case no one has come up with this, here is a great way to recycle your Fuji pack film cassettes.  I use them as a frame to display my favorite image from the set.  It is, of course, the perfect size!

Analog Isn't Dead

When you start down the path to crazy, you find there are many others on the path with you.  There is a large community of film nuts all trying to save their beloved medium of choice.  Some are even finding new ways to create images using analog technology.  


One such person is Aaron Muderick.  He has created a technique to create negatives from instant Fuji film.  You might wonder why this is important.  Simply, you can create a 3x4 inch negative without a darkroom using only normal household items.  Here is a link to the Inside Analog Photo podcast where he details the process.  You can also see examples here and here.


I'll post some examples once I give it a try.

I Mean Old School

I found this post this morning on the blog of A Bryan Photography.  It is an 8mm movie shot at a recent wedding.  That would have been cool enough, but it shows the photographer shooting the groomsmen with what appears to be a Speed Graphic!  (Look at about the 2:30 mark on the video.)  That is commitment to the analog medium.


Our Wedding from Caleb Chancey on Vimeo.

Brilliant Inspiration

I found this throught Tim Gruber's wonderful blog.  Unfortunately, the link to the original post doesn't work, but I found another copy of it on Frank Chimero's blog.  (Frank includes really cleaver illustrations along with the text.)


It is a list of 10 principles that can either make your work better or worse.  I'm not sure how they could make it worse.  These principles are powerful and I found them very appropriate to my return to film.  Here are a couple of my favorites, but follow the links to read them all.  Then do them all.


8. Being too comfortable is dangerous. Most creatures die in their sleep. Keep moving, or get eaten. The only things you should be absolutely comfortable with in your creative process are your tools.


9. There is nothing keeping you from doing the sort of work that you wish.What do you want? It’s a hard, yet crucial question. We all do creative work to get happy. It’s why we let it beat us up, and it’s why we keep crawling back to it. Figure out precisely what you want, and realize that if no one will pay you to make it, you can still make it for yourself. And you still win, because you’re happy.

Straight From The Wayback Machine

Here are a couple of images from my original portfolio that I'm not embarassed to show.  I actually think they held up pretty well.

The first is an iris I photographed on 35mm film with my Canon Elan II.  I lit it with a work light from Lowes.  I was so pleased because it looked like I envisioned it.  It still hangs in my living room at home.

This is a portrait of a friend of a friend.  It was taken with my Elan II at Rose Hill Cemetery.  I normally tell people to avoid dappled shade, but I think it works here.

Fashion Bridal

I was lucky to get Jessica to agree to do a bridal session on film.  Knowing that she is a working model, I had my work cut out for me.  I sent her to my stylist (Kasey at Chadwick Hudson Salon in Macon) for a super crazy hair style and we spent an hour creating images that are unlike anything I've ever done.  


These images were captured on Fuji 400H with a Mamiya 645 AF with an 80 f2.8 lens.  I tried a new lab.  The scans were not to my liking, so these images have been post processed and cropped.

Dear Santa...

I would like one of these.  It is a film camera.  It is a Leica.  And it is Orange!  It is almost $15,000, and there are only 100 available worldwide.  Oh well.

Another Image

Here is an image from a recent "engagement" session at Washington Park.  They are actually already married.


Mamiya 645 AF with 80mm 2.8 lens on Kodak 400NC.

Film On The Move

The love of film can take many forms.  I choose to use the still image.  Joel Serrato uses moving images.  He using Super 8 film to capture the moments that make his clients' days unique.  His films are amazing.  They simplify.  They focus.  They capture.  Take a look here to see what I mean.

Simple Pleasures-Film Edition

Simple Pleasures is a concept I've worked on for years.  Most of them are food related, but I thought I'd do one devoted to film and film cameras.  Please feel free to add yours in the comments.


1.  The click of a Hasselblad shutter.  (Unfortunately, I don't have one any more.)


2.  The smell of film chemistry.  (It might cause cancer, but it is one of my favorite parts of going to Coke's Camera.)


3.  The look of an image in a huge viewfinder.  (This is strictly a medium format thing.)


4.  The feeling of elation when the film comes back from the lab.


5.  Polaroid!  (Ok, now it is Fuji, but it is still such a creative medium.)

The Film Is In

And, I'm hooked!  Here are a few of my favorites.  


The Thornton:Ferguson wedding was held at Pineola Farms in Ft Valley, Georgia.  The weather was perfect and this was a great location and great couple to use for my film experiment.


For the pixel peepers and tech geeks (I am one), it is all Kodak 400NC 220 film shot with a Mamiya 645 AF with an 80mm f2.8 lens.  Everything was exposed in aperture priority mostly at f2.8.  The film was processed and scanned by Bay Photo.  

Waiting

So, this is the hard part.  My film will be back tomorrow.  It will have been a week and a half since I shot it.  I'm so excited and nervous to see it.  The images were beautiful as I looked through the viewfinder (which is one of the big treats of shooting medium format) and I hope the film matches.  


Stay tuned!

The Film Is Out Of The Gate

Well, it is being shipped to Bay Photo today.


I shot a couple of rolls as part of the coverage of the wedding Saturday.  The wedding was blessed with gorgeous weather.  Even better, it was held at Pineola Farms in Ft Valley.  I'm very anxious to see the results.  I'll post some of the images as soon as they are back from the lab.

Why I Want to Switch

Here is an image I took in 2001 (I think) with my Canon A2 film camera.  It is from a friend's bridal session at the Terminal Station in downtown Macon, Georgia.  I still love it.  I have a print of it at the studio and it makes me happy.

The Current Lineup

I thought I would share the current film cameras I'm using as part of my exploration.  


First is the Nikon FE.  I've had it for a decade but never had a lens.  Special thanks to Hassel Weems for the 50mm lens.  It is small and light and I'll use it mostly for B&W film.

The newest addition and probable workhorse is the Mamiya 645 AF.  It is a medium format camera with all of the modern bells and whistles.  It will be used with color film almost exclusively.

The last of the group is my Polaroid 600 SE.  It is the big daddy of the Polaroid world.  It has a 150mm lens and creates 3x4 inch prints.  Since Polaroid has discontinued production of the film, I'm using the film from Fuji.  There is old Polaroid film still available that I hope to get and use for some special projects.  

So, I'm using the Mamiya and Nikon this weekend to augment the coverage of my wedding at Pineola Farms.  It takes a few weeks to get the film back, but it will be posted.  Wish me luck.

What Appeared in My Inbox Today?

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”

―Albert Einstein

F Day+ 1

F Day is short for Film Day. Yesterday, I received a new, well new to me, film camera. I guess I should rewind a little and start at the beginning.

I used to shoot film for everything. I can't count the number of weddings and portraits I captured on film. I became quite quick at loading Hasselblad backs and I really enjoyed leaving the color and density corrections to the lab. Then digital changed everything. The control was intoxicating. The ability to swap heads, remove blemishes, and shrink hips were all new and wonderful to me. I spent hours learning to quickly correct images, retouch zits, and ensure that the print from the lab matched the image on my monitor. Then I started to feel that all the options and all the work were getting in the way of me creating the images I wanted.

Photographing a wedding is amazing fun. I get to see a bride at her most beautiful. I experience the love a father has for his daughter as he kisses her at the end of the aisle. I remember the tears a mother cries as she dances with her son. I see the smiles as a couple runs from their reception surrounded by friends and family. Then I spend hours choosing images, correcting the color, and loading them to the lab.

I started to realize that the technology was getting in the way. I wanted to create beautiful images and catch emotional moments. I didn't really want to spend hours getting images ready for viewing. So, I started thinking that film might be the answer. I thought that a special portrait session shot on film would be a good way to start. Then I had the opportunity to assist a very accomplished photographer shoot a wedding using only film! It was amazing. He carefully crafted each image perfecting the lighting and pose. It was amazing. The smell of the film was like running into an old friend. I was hooked.

So, I started researching and found I wasn't the only crazy person who wanted to shoot film. There are other photographers who shoot only film! Their images have a quality I hadn't seen in years. Digital can capture every pore and wrinkle. While a little corny, I feel film captures more of what matters. Images on film seem to have almost a dreamlike quality. It doesn't document every detail. It captures the emotion.

Well, enough of that. I hope it wasn't too rambling or too sentimental.

So, I'm starting a journey. It will be a long one. I don't know the destination, but I hope that it is using film to capture portraits and weddings. I'll always use digital cameras for some images, but I hope to use film a lot more.

***NOTE***

Special thanks to Marc Climie for the inspiration, Teddy Madison for the idea to blog, and Heather Mason for the name of the blog. It takes a village. If you want to be a part of the village (ie. you want to be a guinea pig), send me an email. neal@inwardstudio.com