The Photo Roll Project

Impossible Project Foray

John Masters — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:29:15 +0000

On a whim I bought a used and neglected Polaroid Sun 600 at my camera shop last month. I bought it with a vague understanding I could get film from some people who were still making instant film for Polaroid cameras. The camera was like 10 dollars so I figured what the hell. I get this camera home and it is pretty neat. It reminded me of all those family gatherings when I was a kid in the 70′s. Someone always had a Polaroid around their neck. As a kid my second camera was a Kodak version of the instant camera but I did not own that camera long before Kodak was sued by Polaroid for copyright infringement. Besides that I never actually owned a Polaroid.

Anyway after I got this camera home, I started looking for some film. First I searched for the authentic Polaroid film. Google produced a lot of expensive and outrageously priced results. Wow, holy crap, no way was I going to pay those prices for film. e-rape I mean eBay had some for as much as 300 dollars for a pack of 10 expired Polaroid 600 film. Next I looked into the Impossible Project for some film. Although still relatively expensive (about 23$ for 8 exposures) it was still pretty cool. These guys bought an old Polaroid plant and were looking to re-invent the film for the beloved Polaroid camera system. Admirable and very freaking cool idea. I decided to give them a shot. I bought a pack of the color shade FF and a pack of the silver shade (black & white). I gave them my 48ish dollars and eagerly awaited my film. Now to be fair this film is undergoing development and these guys are pretty much doing this ground up project from scratch. With this early version film there are a lot of technique rules you must follow. Namely light and temperature are your potential enemies. For instance when you take a photo the first thing you must do is shade it from light be either placing it face down or in the box it came in. I tried to follow the instruction the best I could but I probably messed up somewhere. The bottom line is I was not to impressed with the results on the color film. I have yet to try the silver shade. I will be sure to write more on that as soon as I shoot the pack. I do commend these guys for doing what they do and I will be keeping tabs on their progress. Perhaps I will buy a pack or two here and there to help fund their endeavors. I am rooting for them that is the bottom line. I hope they succeed in the impossible project.

There is a silver lining in all of this. After getting this film I was prompted to look a little closer into instant film and what I found is, glorious pack film. I was searching for a way to have instant results from time to time when I am looking for a certain look in film, would like to instantly produce products for someone or I want to test the scene out. Pack film camera (instant camera film) is the direction I decided to go. I honestly did not know much about pack film and pack film cameras until this moment. In true fashion I sent off for an old Polaroid Reporter camera (should be here any day now) and I will get some pack film which is still produced by Fuji. As soon as I get that all going and figure out just what the hell I am doing I will be sure to let you know how pack film test project works. I am actually pretty excited about the idea of instant film. It will give me one more avenue I can share my photography.

Filed under: Blogging, Notes, Photography

Double Take

John Masters — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:49:53 +0000

Sometimes you need a do-over when taking photographs. Understandably even the most skilled photographers need to “take it again” every now and then. As for myself I find this especially true when shooting wide open aperture with slow speed (ISO) film. With the aperture wide open the margin of error is greater and the zone of focus finite. During my brief foray into digital photography I became accustomed to taking what seemed like a million shots of the same subject and checking it on the screen in back of the camera. I would keep saying to myself no, next, no, next and shoot until I thought I had the composure and focus I wanted. Now that I am back in the familiar arms of film and film cameras sans the handy viewer screen, I still occasionally take multiple exposures of the same subject when something didn’t “feel” right. That part of the process is inescapable sometimes. The difference is instead of the 5-8 I might take with the digital, I take 2 on film. I can only speculate on why I treat the two technologies differently. One reason is with digital I can look on the back and see the changes on each image I made in real time. Being somewhat of a perfectionist,I might keep going until I got it just right. The second reason is with film it really doesn’t matter. I won’t be able to check the first frame much less the second. With that thought in mind a typical scenario plays out in a sequence. I take the shot and if my gut tells me something might not have been correct, I can only make adjustments and squeeze the shutter again. Beyond that it is the best you can do. Anything after a second try is just a waste of time.

With all that in mind I still am happy with the limitations of film and all that it entails. I guess there are many different reasons why digital did not take when I was courting that technology. The main reason that stands out for me is a lot less photographs of the same subject or what I like to call an excess of images on my hard drive. The second reason would be is I really enjoy the process of making photographs. Besides that I am at ease with the uncertainty when shooting with film. While taking a photograph of a really important subject, a dialog stats in my head. Did I get that awesome shot, and was it exposed correctly? Well I sure the hell hope so because if I did, it will be awesome. :) For the record the second photo below was my first attempt and as you can tell there is very little difference between the two, except maybe composure and small amounts of lighting variation.

Filed under: 35mm Film, Black & White, Blogging, Notes, Photography

Mountains of No

John Masters — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:17:16 +0000

Actually more like mountains of snow. Recently took a short trip up to the smokey mountains and there was lots of snow. I did not get the chance to shoot much up there, we were pretty busy and it was a really short trip. I was able to use a roll of FP4 I had laying around and I have to say, I really like that stuff. Developed in some Tmax at recommended times and temperature it came out a lot nicer than I remembered it to be. I definitely plan on replenishing my stock of the FP4 for future use.

Filed under: 35mm Film, Black & White, Blogging, Landscapes, Notes, Photography

Double Deuce

John Masters — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:41:12 +0000

I could really really use some of this right now. I am now drinking a regular coffee but this morning is different. I need my double red-eye of two shots of glory induced into regular coffee and cream with a small amount of sugar. I think in fact I would pay 100.00 for one at the moment. Here is to a great morning and hopefully yours is more awake than mine.

ILFORD FP4, Nikon FE2, Developed in Kodak Tmax RS

Double Deuce

Filed under: 35mm Film, Black & White, Blogging, Notes, Photography

Sprocket Holes Saturday

John Masters — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:42:56 +0000

I know that everyone is worried about Kodak’s future, especially the future of film. I am concerned as well, but right now I remain optimistic. I just hope that Kodak decides to keep their Portra line of film. The Portra film is fantastic and the colors scan really nicely. I am just getting used to having Portra around. If the worst was to happen and Kodak ditches film all together, then I guess we have some alternatives such as ILFORD (seen below), but I really hope Kodak gets their act together and does not leave film products out of the equation.

ILFORD HP5 – Nikon Processed in Kodak Tmax RS

Filed under: 35mm Film, Black & White, Blogging, Film, Landscapes, Photography

Anti-Instagram

John Masters — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:00:10 +0000

Everyone loves their instagram shots so I thought I would put some instagram-like images up. I know there is no cool filter on these but I will only go so far.

Filed under: Blogging, Film, Medium Format 120, Photography

Spaces Re-do

John Masters — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 05:35:20 +0000

I am still working on completing this project. As I mentioned late last year, we encountered some problems while trying to complete the spaces project. Namely getting access to the interior spaces of most buildings listed. I hope to resolve these issues or at least find a workaround I can live with and find a way to press forward. For the parts I can immediately control like project scope re-write, I will be editing soon.

Filed under: 35mm Film, Black & White, Blogging, Film, Notes, Photography

Frame 14

John Masters — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:24:30 +0000

14th (and 15th) taken during the New Year. The T4 is a fantastic little camera for a point and shoot. I think a lot of it of course has to with the Carl Zeiss lens.
Kodak Portra 800 , Yashica T4

Filed under: 35mm Film, Blogging, Photography

Gear

John Masters — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 06:03:58 +0000

Sometime in late 2010 I bought a couple of film cameras on a whim. By early 2011 I decided to abandon digital and go back into the loving arms of film for good. After making that decision, I set out to get some more gear. In fact what I ultimately ended up doing was finding and buying every film camera I have ever wanted while growing up. For the most part I got everything super cheap sans the Leica and Pentax LX oh and maybe the Mamiya. Besides those cameras, everything else was affordable. I successfully rescued dozens of cameras from the terrible fate of neglect and dis-repair. Which is a good thing, because I think a camera should be used and not be neglected and collecting dust. My rational for buying duplicates of some of the gear was simple. I might need parts some day to fix the main camera. Well, it made perfect sense to me anyway.

Now that I have been using film again for a solid year I have had time to reflect on my decision. First it has been a very positive thing for me to move to film. I once again enjoy the process of photography. The organic feel of choosing the right film, taking the photographs, and developing each roll in a soup that will give me the desired look to fit my mood.

Now the negative part. During these situations it seems there is a negative to counterbalance an insanely positive situation. If you were wondering what the negative is for me in this scenario it is a simple pit fall really. I now have too much kick ass gear that I enjoy using.

What this has transpired to is uncertainty and added trepidation on picking equipment. It happens before I travel or even to go on a simple shoot. Aside from being a believer in not letting equipment go unused, I also believe that it is not the camera that dictates a superior photograph. Sure there is some really super great equipment out there, but that does not mean having a fantastic expensive camera will make you take better photographs. Of course a superior camera does not make for better photography as I see it but it does mean you have a kick ass camera. I think you can take really good photographs from even cheap crappy cameras. Everything is in the eye of the photographer, but I digress. Even with that knowledge the line of cameras I have, makes my choices difficult. I do favor some of my cameras more than others, but I want to give them all equal time in the field. As stupid as it sounds I sometimes feel guilty when I take a camera out more than the others. Ok yes I know that is ridiculous but now you are starting to see the silly thoughts that go through my head. The bottom line is it makes packing for a trip a long drawn out and unnecessary process. I take more cameras than I need. In the end I often use just one camera even though I pack three. I waste energy and thought when I could be using it on preparation and picking my film.

Now it’s the beginning of a new year and I have found a way to resolve my issue. I plan on being more productive with my side projects this year. I will produce more series and finish more projects, in general more focus (no pun intended). To make traveling and documentary projects go more smooth I have created a camera schedule. This allows an unbiased approach to which camera to use. I mapped out the year in two month increments. Each camera gets its two months in the sun and I have my Leica and medium format cameras as anytime cameras. This way no matter where I am going or what I am shooting I will just grab the camera of the month. I do not know why I did not think about this sooner. Here is to an efficient productive year… cheers

Filed under: 35mm Film, Black & White, Blogging, Film, Pentax, Photography

True Statements

John Masters — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:04:43 +0000

There is something to be said for true statements that are repeated throughout our lives but often ignored. Statements like:

It can always be worse >> Things happen for a reason >> The porcupine does not like to be cuddled >> Polish women are dangerous, they break hearts!! :) ok that last one was a stretch… or is it

I am off to the Smokey Mountains. But I will return next week with some more photographs hopefully. Enjoy your weekend.

ILFORD HP5 developed in Tmax RS

Filed under: 35mm Film, Black & White, Blogging, Photography, Ruralscapes