skip to main |
skip to sidebar
I guess I like to shoot fruit these days. I know it's cliched, but it's available and looks fantastic on this film. I took this one a couple of days ago on the new Impossible Project PX70 V4B using an SX70 sonar. Lighten/darken wheel set half way to darken. Natural window light. Left unshielded out of camera and developed unshielded right side up. Seriously loving this film.
If you're curious as to what these little guys are... the answer would be Plouts. Though they are also known as Apriplums or Plumcots. As you've probably guessed, this strange hybrid fruit is a cross between a Plum and an Apricot. The whole concept of hybrid fruits is a little odd to me, but, I have to admit that these Plouts are pretty tasty.
This morning will have to be a quick update as I am heading out of the office soon to shoot some video. We have had these flowers sitting on the table at home for a while now so I figured I'd see how the new Impossible Project PX70 V4B would render the bright yellow. I wanted to shoot them outside so I laid them in an old wooden toolbox that I have and framed a little grass off to the right. I was hoping to get a little more exposure in the grass so that I could have some brighter greens, but it appears to have metered mostly off the yellows of the flowers. Still, not bad.
Like most recent photos this was taken using an SX70 Sonar with the lighten/darken halfway to dark. The photo was left unshielded out of camera and throughout the development process which was under normal indoor lighting.
Just a quick shot from when I got to the office this morning. Anna's has become one of my favorite cookies, whether it's these orange thins or one of the many other delightful flavors, and I've always thought that they have really nice packaging design. I particularly like the color palettes that they use and figured this orange might be a nice color to test out on the new Impossible Project PX70 V4B. I had hoped to offset the color with a deep red background but because of the material I used on the table there was a distinct difference in the amount of light reflected compared to the cardboard of the packaging. So... I ended up losing all of my reds and instead got this moody little portrait of my orange thins.
This was shot on an SX70 Sonar with the lighten/darken wheel turned halfway towards darken. I used natural window light from the right and left the image entirely unshielded during ejection and development. As I've mentioned before and have seen a few others mention recently, you can really notice an improvement in the dynamic range of this new film. Even though I was not able to expose for the red background in this image you'll still notice that there is some pretty good shadow detail on the backside of the box closest to the camera.
Oh, and if I haven't mentioned it before - I really do love this film.
The new Impossible Project PX70 V4B test film really is brilliant. Everything you've been waiting for them to improve upon seems to be coming together with the most recent batches of film. The colors are more saturated and true. The film continues to get sharper and carry higher tonal range. The opacification layer has been improved and in my opinion is very functional for a shooter of any level of experience.
The only draw back that I'm seeing in this current run of film (the PX70 V4B and PX680 V4B) is the time it takes for full development. As I mentioned in some earlier posts, I'm estimating a near full development in the 30-40 minute range with some continuous color and contrast shift over the next 24 hours. Honestly though, I think the PX70 is shifting much, much less over the next few hours than the PX680 was, and, I assume that may be the case with the PX680 V4C as well since it is now optimized for color. When that film arrives later this week I'll be sure to let you know. As far as the long development times are concerned... I'm really not one to complain. This product has come so far in the past few months that it's hard to complain about anything. I, for one, am happy to trade speed for quality.
As for the two shots in this post, they were shot under very different conditions but resulted in equally beautiful results. The photo at top was shot in full sunlight (not a cloud in the sky) with temperatures at about 80-85 degrees. I left the photo unshielded as it ejected from camera but quickly grabbed it and threw it in my shirt pocket for development. The development time was long, but, this is one of the first times I have gotten a blue sky to render blue... for some reason cream has been the norm for me despite the number of beautiful blue skies I've seen from others.
The second photo was shot indoors under more controlled conditions. The light was available, natural window light from the right and the temperature was a much more tolerable 65-70 degrees. This photo was also left unshielded out of camera, but, unlike the photo above it was left right-side up under normal indoor lighting conditions throughout the development process. A bit of a different process, but, just another example of this films ability to capture a completely different range of colors and tones.
The new PX680 V4C should arrive later this week and I'll try to get a few shots with that film posted soon as well.
Normally I go into great detail when I shoot with one of the new Impossible Test films. For the Impossible PX70 Test film V4B though... I'm just going to refer you to my review of the PX 680 V4B. Read that, and just know that this version of the film is even better. If anyone out there still doubts how great Impossible's films are and will be, just go shoot this film and then let it rest.
I shot this photo this morning while literally walking out the door. I notice this basket of fruit sitting by the window, put all my stuff back down, got out my SX 70 Sonar and snapped this. The photo was left unshielded out of camera and then dropped in my bag as I headed out. When I got to the office this morning this was my end result. I think my jaw hit the floor when I pulled this out of my bag.
I can't wait to continue shooting this film. I'll be sharing more soon.
Wrapping up 'Roid Week with just one more photo that I took while out with some coworkers for lunch today. The one guy, Zach, was wearing an interesting combo of seersucker pants, checkered socks and orange shoe laces which seemed like reason enough for me to take a photo. You can't make out the laces very well, but, the rest comes across pretty accurately.
Shot on an SX70 sonar with Impossible Project's PX70 NIGO. Darken wheel about 2/3 towards darken.
Bud's Barber Shop in Edinboro, PA is today's image for Friday, the final day of 'Roid Week. I was hoping to share a few more film types this week but as luck would have it I haven't got to shoot much else this week. As always, though, I will continue to post all of my instant work here - 'Roid Week was fun, but, it's not the only time us die-hards shoot instant film (or any film for that matter).
This image again was shot with an SX70 using and ND pack filter. The film type is Impossible Project's PX680 V4B test film, and, as great as this film looks the new PX70 V4B opacification test film looks even better. Luckily, I just happened to order 4 packs of it this morning.
Stay tuned for a full write up sometime in the next week or two...
Today's 'Roid Week photo is from Little Italy in Cleveland. This cool little vintage scooter was parked off of the main roads behind an old school that's been converted into artist work space and offices - the perfect opportunity for a quick instant photo.
This image was shot on an SX70 with an ND pack filter using the Impossible Project's PX680 V4B test film. It was left unshielded as it ejected out of camera in full daylight and then left to fully developed in my pocket.
Photo number two for Wednesday of 'Roid Week. This one shot with an SX70 Sonar using Impossible Project's PX70 NIGO. I just took this little guy over lunch which is reason enough for me to make my second blog post of the day.
You'll also notice that while I pretty much never, ever crop out the border of my Polaroid/Impossible images - I have done so here. Because this is NIGO edition film each frame is a random color. This one just happened to be bright pink and quite distracting (I think anyway) to this particular image. So... Deal with it.
More instant love tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Today's 'Roid Week photo is from a little "Antique" shop in the small town of Cambridge Springs, PA. Unfortunately, this place was mostly filled with junk and a few random produce items scattered about the isles. Still, the sign was pretty nice.
Like yesterday, this image was shot on an SX70 using an ND pack filter using the Impossible Projects PX680 V4B test film. It was left unshielded as it ejected out of camera in full daylight and then left to fully developed in my pocket as I continued to walk about.
This week is the official 2012 'Roid Week. In the spirit of the event, I will likely be posting a new image everyday (except monday) and will also be trying to keep my write-ups for each day shorter than normal. If you'd like some more info on 'Roid Week 2012 you can check out The Flickr Page or read this informative and fun little newsletter that the Impossible Project put out recently.
Today's photo is from this past weekend and it is of the Swings at Waldameer Park in Erie PA. Shot on an SX70 using an ND pack filter this photo was taken using the Impossible Projects PX680 V4B test film and was left unshielded as it ejected out of camera in full daylight and then left to fully developed in my pocket. These swings in particular might look familiar from one of my more popular photos from last year that you can check out here.
That's all for today, but, come back for more instant fun tomorrow.
I've been shooting these Impossible Project films for some time now. My first shots in fact, were on their PX70 First Flush, which I believe was their very first publicly available "Color Shade" film - though Color was really one of the main things missing from the film. I mention all of this because I'm still consistently amazed with how far this company's film has come in, really, what is less than two years time.
Above is another example of the new PX680 Test Film V4b with the new and improved opacification molecules. I shot this in mid-afternoon shade on my back patio after pulling all of these fine items together from around the house. Again, because of the new opacification layer, this shot was left un-sheilded as it ejected out of camera and then was left sitting face-up in indoor lighting throughout the development process. This film, which is considered 'not optimized for color', has the capability to capture some really beautiful colors. My findings thus far are that lighter, brighter colors will inevitably blow out or expose as a brown/cream color, but, that darker, saturated colors will render just fine.
As I noted in my initial review of this film (which you can read in it's entirety here) this films development time seems to be longer than previous film versions - my original estimate of a full development being around 30 minutes. I'm starting to notice though, that the "full" development of this film might be taking even longer than that. If I had to equate it to something I would put it in a similar category with PX70 PUSH film in that it appears to be fully developed in about 30 minutes time, but, the color tones and contrast will continue to shift over the next few hours (if not longer). An example of this can be seen below (full view available for best comparison):
This shot is one that I took walking into work one morning last week. I waited for what seemed to be the full development time of about 30 minutes before scanning this image. I pulled it up to crop and resize for the web and decided it wasn't a shot I really liked, so, I set it aside and didn't end up posting it. Later in the week I revisited the photo while scanning the earlier image in today's post only to notice that the image seemed to have changed. The color had shifted away from an overly reddish/magenta tone and the contrast of the image had increased slightly. The whites were now truly white, and , the highlights were more developed if not a touch more overexposed.
This might not seem like a big deal to many, but, I've always attempted to scan my Impossible film as soon as possible after development to try and beat the unattractive color shift that many of the early versions of the film were known for. Now, it appears that waiting it out can actually give you better results in the end - even if it means just waiting a few hours longer than normal.
I feel like now is a good time to note that it may seem like a small freedom to not worry about shielding your images anymore, but, I must say that it has really been fun shooting this first pack of Test Film. Granted, I've become pretty used to, and efficient, at shielding my images over the past two years, but, it is definitely a nice change of pace to forget about the shield and concentrate on making the image. This is especially true when it comes to walking the streets shooting things as they naturally occur before you.
I hope to have more examples of this film and a few other instant stocks to post next week for Polaroid Week 2012. So, as always, keep an eye out for that.
Posts
