Everyone deserves a second chance

I was going through my scans from the last week or so, and I came back across this one. Before I dismissed it because it looked so busy. But this time around I really enjoyed it.

Me so lazy

I had two rolls of black and white left from my Alaska trip still needing to develop, so I went out and shot more pictures. Makes sense right? I shot slides, black and white, and one roll of black and white that gets developed as if its color. Because I'm lazy. Get over it. Here are some of the results from my walk. I went too early in the day, mostly becuase I got anxious, and so the sun was too bright, causing a lot of contrast. But I was impressed, and some of my better shots are actually purposely overexposed one stop, and I could've done more. And I could be lazy! Woo hoo! Now i have three rolls of black and white to finish up and I've seen that I can be lazy... Don't hold your breathe.

Lots of Color Shots from Alaska

All shots are Kodak E100G slide film. I apologize for refusing to edit digital images, but I shoot film to avoid using photoshop. Enjoy! In case you were super curious, the lettering in the black around the images, its the imprint of my shooting settings put there by my super heavy camera! I'm without my digital camera, and my time with the canon EOS system is coming to an end, so I am really making sure I love the camera I have!

Busy Busy Busy

Motivation

This last week I did nothing. Literally. I sold my digital camera and my favorite lens for the Canon EOS system, but other than that nothing. Oh and bought a motorcycle with a small portion of the money... but thats basically it. So last night I finally started on the 5 rolls of black and white film I'd shot while home in Alaska. I was out of developer, so I had to mix it, and I'm almost out of hypoclearing, so I'm making up all these great excuses not to continue, but I just scanned the first two rolls and it got me excited again. One roll was mostly family pictures around the campfire, and a lot of them didn't turn out too well as it was pretty low lighting. I also realized that sometimes black and white pictures are difficult to show depth, especially when scanning them, as the scanning doesn't have the same contrast effects as printing them, or the dynamic range. Anyways, here are some to start with.

Its the cliche that "you won't know how they turned out for a while" with film, and I think that got me a little down as I was sure none turned out worth a damn. But now I'm excited again and am going to drag my lazy carcass to the darkroom to do some printing! Or maybe I'll develop the remaining rolls... or maybe I'll sit at my desk drinking coffee and wishing the internet wasn't so easy to beat...

Turmoil in Transition

My trip to Alaska showed me a few things that I'd forgotten. First, a halibut charter in heavy rains in the Gulf of Alaska means you get really wet, and I brought my 1Ds because it was supposed to be ok getting wet. It was. I got a lot of pictures in the pouring rain without worrying about the rain and sea spray. However, it was a dark dreary day, and the higher iso speeds and poor lighting mean that normally unnoticable noise has crept up into my images. Noise, in my opinion, looks much worse than apparent grain. Grain is the correct color, just apparent. Noise looks like crap, its the wrong color often, it destroys any hope of a black shadow, and it reminds me of how much money I put into a camera with a bigger sensor to avoid it. Noise was one of the main reasons why I started flirting with film. Also, I don't often get into horrible weather like I was in, and so I rarely need that extra weather proofing. My camera of choice still remains medium format anything, whether its a fully mechanical Hassy or Mamiya, or my fully automated Mamiya. The discontinuation of Kodachrome announced on Tuesday has certainly changed my expectations of film availability a slight bit. Kodachrome hasn't been offered for medium format, which I normally shoot, for some time, and rolls for $9.00 and another $9 for processing means that my budget never offered me the opportunity to shoot it. But for Kodak to lay to rest an icon of the film era means something. I'm still digesting what. The trip also showed me why many people rejoice at not going through an airport with film. Security will still be a hassle, as they remove my lenses and camera bodies from my bag everytime, which is all thats in my bag, and put them through a second time. I am unsure of where the industry is going, and I know that ultimately if it goes too far I will have to follow. And the uncertainty is killing me.

Rundown

I am back at work, after yet another sub-six hours of sleep night. I have I believe 5 rolls of 120 to develop, but that number could be 7, I am not sure. I also shot three rolls of slide film, but dropped them off in Alaska to get developed. The place was waiting on a part to clear customs for their dip and dunk machine, and weren't sure when they would be done, plus they have to ship them to me. Hopefully later today I will have something to show of my trip, even if its maybe digital. Then again maybe I will just sleep instead.