Since the disappearance of Fuji FP3000b, I was almost too sad to open another pack. This weekend in Napa, I took the Polaroid Land 250 out again and took a bunch of photos. It’s like riding a bicycle and the photos turned out to be amazing as usual.
Here is a shot of Rebecca and Melissa on their visit to Napa this past weekend.
Rebecca and Melissa visit to Napa
Basil the westie is a happy and friendly dog and always bring joy to me whenever I see him. After a recent dinner gathering with his owner Natasha Hsieh, we decided to head back to our home studio and take some portraits. Basil was a superb model and here are some highlights of that shoot.
I was trying to teach Basil how to operate the Kodak 2D and he got the hang of it quite quickly. Photo below entitled: “His master’s visage”.
Finally took my umbrellas out of their boxes and setup some lights at home. Rick was visiting and took the chance for a portrait sitting. I tried several setups and ended up with two lights. One from the left back with diffuser at 45deg and one in the front with diffuser at about 45deg from the left. A reflector is also placed around waist level. Here is one from the shoot.
Shot with Burke & James Grover 8×10, Fujinon 400mm f8 lens, Kodak Ektascan B/RA film. Developed in Kodak d76. Scanned with Epson Perfection V700. Even though the Fujinon 400mm lens was meant to be used with 5×7, as seen here, at f8, the image circle is big enough for use with 8×10. The lights used are a pair of Yongnuo YN565EXII and a pair of YN622 and YN622TX triggers.
While cleaning up my photo gears, I see a box of Tetenal C41 kit that I got and opened a couple of years ago in Shanghai. Since then, it made its way to Hong Kong and to San Francisco. On arrival to SF, I discovered that one bottle of the Blix solution actually bursted and was leaking all over the box. All these items were stored in a storage that was certainly quite hot (30C+) for months before making its way to the US.
I also found a few 4×5 film boxes of Kodak Portra 400 that I loaded about two years ago. This is when expired chemicals meet expired film, a combination that has the word “disaster” written all over it.
I got my Paterson Auto Colortherm machine from Toronto some time back. I refitted it so that I can use the roller for my jobo tank. I mixed the chemicals into its three parts and noticed a few things. First, the clear blix mixture has a lot of residue at the bottom and was stuck. I warmed it out, it helped a bit but there are still chunks of it at the bottom. Second, the stabilizer bottle have merely 50mL left. 1L mixture required 100mL, what the heck, just mix it.
I took my Graflex SG with a Fujinon 400mm f8 lens on my roof for the test shots in one late afternoon.
I shot the Kodak Porta 400 at ISO 200. I developed the sheets slightly longer than the recommended times. Developed 3:30min, Blix 5min. When I opened the Jobo tank, I see images, solid images. I scanned the negatives with my Epson Perfection V700. The unedited result is shown here.
All the details are there. The edges showed some funky chemical gradient that made the image looked like something out of a roll of lomography film. The overall look of it is vintage and reminded me of a postcard from the 60s.
Overall, I am happy with the result and I guess I will develop many more sheets with the Tetenal kit before it runs out.
Six months ago, I did some test shots with my Burke & James Grover 8×10. I finally got them developed and scanned recently. With a couple of flashes and remote (without any diffusion), I shot a few portraits when my friends Norris and Fiona were visiting. Here is the result.
I used Kodak Ektascan B/RA x-ray film metered at ISO50. Burke & James Grover 8×10 with Fujinon 250mm f6.3 lens. Lighting setup with two Yongnuo YN560II flashes on two YN622C and a YN622C-TX. Developed with Kodak D76 1+1 20C for 10 minutes. Scanned with Epson Perfection V700.
Lighting is harsh, this is due to the lack of deflectors (they were still being shipped from Asia at the time). The harsh lighting reminded me a bit of a prom shoot would of looked like in the 1960-70s. Nevertheless a decent shot for first trials.
The last test of 12x was slightly over-exposed so the new test was a 10x compensation for one minute exposure. It looks like a working combination. I was also testing out my Kodak 8×10 2d with a Goerz 12″ f6.3 lens. It’s amazing that a 91-year-old camera is still holding up and taking great photos just like it did when it was out of the factory. Film developed in Kodak d76 1+1 22C for 10 mins, scanned with Epson Perfection V700.
I had some doubts with the Goerz lens as it was over 90 years old. Initial inspection showed a perfect lens (with only two tiny tiny air bubbles in the front element that won’t affect the photo). The shutter is snappy (seemed accurate) and both B and T modes work. The middle of the photo is pin sharp. The left side however, was slightly off focus. At first I thought it was corner sharpness of the lens but then I was shooting at f8, so this is not likely the issue. I inspect the camera again and found that the rear tilt adjustment was off. The left and right gear was somehow off by at least three clicks. I think it had been in this position for a very long time and I had to spend sometime forcing it back to right position (without breaking it). Now both left and right gears are matched, this focus issues should be fixed on the next shoot.
I never shot Kodak Ektascan B/RA xray film at night. There were also no information online regarding the reciprocity of this film. This film is normally used for health x-ray applications and there is no need to worry about long exposure. I decided to do a test shot. Shanghai and TriX has terrible reciprocity characteristics. For 1 minute exposure, I generally compensate it by 8x and it worked well. I know Ektascan is probably equivalent if not worse, so I decided to try a 12x compensation for 1 minute metered exposure.
Here is the result. Burke & James Grover 8×10, Fujinon 250mm f6.3 lens, developed in Kodak D76 1+1 10 mins and scanned with Epson Perfection V700.
It looks like a working combination. I think it might be slightly over-exposed, perhaps I need to try one with 10x compensation.
Hardly shot anything in the past six months, I finally got my dark room setup last week. Rolls of 120s and tens of 8×10 sheets were waiting to be developed in the past nine months. Honestly I don’t even remember what I took in the medium format rolls. I mixed some d76 last weekend, got the development tanks, measurement cups all cleaned up. Timer, thermometer all in place. Dry hanging rack and enclosure all in tact. After studying past notes on development, in the past weekend, I finally developed my first roll of film in nine months.
Opening the jobo tank, I see images, images that I didn’t recognize and had no recollection. I didn’t think too much of it and let it hang dry. I scanned some of the photos today and saw this photo.
I looked at this and I was like wow. The Zeiss Ikonta is one of those under-rated cameras. It folds nicely, has a Zeiss Tessar at f2.8. The rangerfinder is also easy to use and you can focus really quickly. Looking at this photo, instantly, I wanted to go out and shoot more. Jaded from all the moving and change in the past year, I guess this was a catalyst for me to get back into what I love doing.
From the busy schedule of moving, I managed to get in the spirit of World Pinhole Photography Day (WPPD http://pinholeday.org/) and went up to the roof of my building and snapped a few photos.
Because of the move, all my chemicals are packed. I just went with the good old Fuji FP-3000b.
A few months ago, I did a shoot for Henry and Wendy for their anniversary in Hong Kong. Here are some photos from that shoot.
