Tag Archives: f8

Basil the Westie

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”.

Canon 5D3, Sigma 35mm f1.4
Taken with: Canon 5D3, Sigma 35mm f1.4

 

Canon 5D3, Sigma 35mm f1.4
Canon 5D3, Sigma 35mm f1.4

 

Basil checking out my work.
Basil checking out my work.

Rick Portrait Shoot

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.

Portrait of Rick
Portrait of Rick

 

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.

 

Expired Tetenal C41 Kit meets Expired Kodak Portra 400

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.

Expired Tetenal C41
Expired Tetenal C41

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.

Graflex speed graphic with fujinon 400mm f8
Graflex speed graphic with fujinon 400mm f8

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.

Expired Kodak Portra 400
Expired Kodak Portra 400
Expired Kodak Portra 400
Expired Kodak Portra 400

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.