shortscale photography thread.

DanHeron · Post by **DanHeron** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 6:59 pm

haha yeah I was joking. It's tempting to try and dry them though... waiting is always the worst part in anything lol

Post by **Hurb** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 7:11 pm

DanHeron wrote:haha yeah I was joking. It's tempting to try and dry them though... waiting is always the worst part in anything lol

Phew! thought as much but had to check.

DanHeron · Post by **DanHeron** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 8:53 pm

SUCCESS.

So pleased with how these turned out! Some are maybe a bit overexposed but others aren't. That must be me on the camera, not the developing.
Can't wait to go out and take some better photos now to develop. I got 38 photos off the '36' roll, bonus. I scanned them all, uploaded 23 to flickr:

► Show Spoiler

Thanks for all the info Hurb.

Post by **Hurb** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 1:37 pm

Nice one Dan! very pleased you enjoyed it. Do you think you are going to carry on with it? I love the process but I tried to get Lady hurb into it and she was pretty bored haha

You inspired me to get shooting today because I am desprate it to get developing again(after about a week of not haha) So I thought I would try a new camera. I am photographing a friends wedding soon for free. But when I went over to discuss it they pulled out a old Nikon f50 to give me! so thought today would be a good as ever time to try it. Have just shot a roll (just snapping around the doors) so will get it processed tonight. Hope the camera is ok because I quite enjoyed using it.

DanHeron · Post by **DanHeron** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 3:43 pm

Definitely going to carry on! The chemicals I used in the tank for this roll i threw away but in my instructions it says they can be used again. It recommends 3-5 times i think for the stop/fixer and the developer can be used again if you increase the time by 10%. So if I keep re-using stuff a bit things should last a while and be much cheaper in the long run which is one of the reasons I wanted to try it.

I found it fun as well. It feels good to be involved from the start of the process right to the end, without having to pay someone to do anything lol I'm tempted to look into developing colour film too... maybe when these chemicals run out

Post by **Hurb** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 7:55 pm

Nice one! I think the stop you use is the same as mine, it will change colour (from yellow to purple)and I have yet to change my stop. the fixer is easy to test. save the leaders you cut off the end. the cut them up into test strips. put it into the fixer if it clears in the time your fixer is supposed to work then it is still fine.

Just moved on to rodinal (well the modern version ro9) these are off the roll from the nikon f50 most of the roll is not very interesting. but I was just snapping.

DanHeron · Post by **DanHeron** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 9:10 pm

Cool. That fixer tip sounds useful, never heard it before.

Just seen these on your flickr. Love the blossom one, nice composition and shallow DOF.

Post by **Hurb** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 10:46 pm

Thanks Dan!

Post by **Hurb** » Tue May 01, 2012 8:26 am

More pinholes tried my hand at pull processing so shot this 400 film at 200 then reduced development time by 20% very long exposures.

DanHeron · Post by **DanHeron** » Tue May 01, 2012 10:53 am

That last one is freaky haha. In a good way. You're patient sitting there for 10mins.

What is pull processing exactly?

Post by **Hurb** » Tue May 01, 2012 7:01 pm

DanHeron wrote:That last one is freaky haha. In a good way. You're patient sitting there for 10mins.

What is pull processing exactly?

Thanks. patient or bored?

Pulling(or pushing) is basically a way to to shoot at a different iso than the box speed. So I was using kodak tri-x pan which was rated at 400iso. When I was working out my exposures I worked it out as if the iso was 200iso. Now if I developed it as normal the film would be overexposed. So the final bit of pulling is to reduce the developing time. Some sugest take away one minute for every stop you pulled but I didn't think that would be enough so I knocked 20% off which has seemed to work.

There are side effect to doing it low contrast less grain etc so it's not like using 200 iso film. But I happy with the results. you can push the film the same way but add 20% to development time.

the flower picture was really underexposed as I borked up working out the exposure time. but I quite like the grainy effect and I used a flash a good 10 times which is why the light is really uneven which I like.

DanHeron · Post by **DanHeron** » Tue May 01, 2012 8:20 pm

Ahhh i see, cool. The results look good.

Post by **Hurb** » Tue May 01, 2012 9:44 pm

DanHeron wrote:Ahhh i see, cool. The results look good.

The other development is with my new laptop I don't have photoshop anymore so downloaded Gimp and I fucking love it. for free it pisses on photoshop.

DanHeron · Post by **DanHeron** » Wed May 02, 2012 1:00 am

Haha really? What photoshop were you using? Im pretty fond of 5.5... Can't imagine gimp being better for me.

Post by **Hurb** » Wed May 02, 2012 7:48 am

DanHeron wrote:Haha really? What photoshop were you using? Im pretty fond of 5.5... Can't imagine gimp being better for me.

I was using cs 5 last I think but did have 7(i think) at one point. I don't think I would do away with photoshop for gimp if I had it. but now I am using gimp I am not fussed about searching out photoshop. It looks really slick and all the darkroom stuff I used photoshop for is there.

DanHeron · Post by **DanHeron** » Wed May 02, 2012 11:06 am

I had Gimp ages ago before I got a mac. Found it really confusing.. but i guess I was used to the PS layout/tools etc. It must have had loads of updates & improvements since then too.

Dillon · Post by **Dillon** » Tue May 08, 2012 9:41 pm

How long have you all been into film photography? I learned on digital and am really not sure I want to spend so much on developing film (or buying the gear to do it myself), but I'm in love with the look of old film photos. Lately I've been keen on purposefully taking photos of old/retro things so that I can edit them to look more like film. Some attempts:

Sorry for the watermarks, I highly doubt anyone would be stealing these but I accidentally left the watermark function on.

Post by **Hurb** » Wed May 09, 2012 9:08 pm

For me film photography is a bit like vinyl records. I find the process much more organic and exciting. Every shot is way more important and therefor thought about more carefully. I also in a weird way find it much quicker, yes processing film takes a little white. But so does post processing raw files in photoshop. especially when you have a memory card with 500 pictures on. I can go out and shoot a roll of film bring it home process it in half an hour leave it to dry a few hours and its ready. the slow bit actually comes with scanning them. but apart from that I don't do a lot to now digitalized negatives. Adjust the contrast and brightness control (sometimes add sepia) and thats it. The more time spent away from the computer the better. I enjoy the processing of film and don't enjoy photoshop. Because it is film I feel I need to be more honest so don't mess with them. with digital I find myself tweaking for ages and it becomes rather tiresome.
I like the car and guitar neck pictures!

I also find film cameras way more interesting just look up vintage cameras on ebay and if like me you will find yourself wanting them. flashy new digital cameras just appear so boring. It seems the digital age is all about sharpness and perfection I don't see much artistic merit in that. The instant gratification of digital also bugs me. I remember when taking pictures was a special event getting them developed and printed was a long process and all the better for it. Now every goon takes a picture and its on facebook in seconds while that in itself can be fun I suppose it has no longevity to it.

The medium of film makes storing of pictures more archival. So long as I look after my negatives (and get that fireproof safe) they should last a lifetime(forever?) jpegs stuck in folders scattered around hard drives that fail and corrupt encourages one to forget about them.

I have a large outbuilding in my back yard that I will one day turn into a darkroom from that point I don't think I will ever be happier !

One last point from me. I am shooting one of lady hurbs friends wedding next week I hope to use that to start a portfolio and if it goes well perhaps start charging. I will shoot digital because if I ever do make a living from it(unlikely) it will be a way of keeping my job/hobby separate. film is my hobby medium.

Plus it looks fucking lush!

Post by **Hurb** » Wed May 09, 2012 9:18 pm

I should also say that I am not a film snob, if you are having fun with shooting digital and have no desire to try film (or try it and don't dig) then it doesn't really matter does it!

UlricvonCatalyst · Post by **UlricvonCatalyst** » Wed May 09, 2012 9:33 pm

I picked up an old bakelite Kodak Brownie a few weeks ago and got some Fuji Provia and Velvia slide film just in time for the summery Spring weather turning wintry again.

The thing about shooting on film (which I'll have to pay to get processed) is it makes me reluctant to waste shots, meaning it could take some time to rack up 12 exposures. The limitations of the old Brownie - mainly the parallax thing meaning close-ups are pretty much out - doesn't help.

Even so, I can't wait to see that great Fuji slide quality again (though part of me thinks I'd have been better off just buying some Velvia for my 35mm camera).

My adventures in Lomography are only just beginning, though. This week I picked up a beautiful old Kodak folding camera which uses 620 film and seems to have more adaptability to it. I can see a Lubitel being my next purchase....