Expired Polaroid ID Ultraviolet Film - Polaroid 250 - Jackie

As a quick follow-up to my last post of Jackie shot on expired Polaroid 664, here's an additional image of Jackie that I shot on the one frame of expired Polaroid ID UV film that was still loaded in my Polaroid 250. Enjoy. 

Expired Polaroid 664 - Jackie

Just a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to shoot with Jackie, a new model from the Pittsburgh area. Though she said she's only been at this for a few months, she's really quite comfortable in front of the camera already and very easy to work with. While she was in town I took the chance to shoot some of my final pack of expired Polaroid 664 that I had in the fridge. Enjoy.

Expired Polaroid ID Ultraviolet Film - Emily

It's been nearly two months since I've had the chance to post to this blog. Things are pretty busy, I'm shooting a lot of film weekly for my year long roll-a-week project and I've all but neglected shooting instant film or posting to this site at all. That being said, when I do get the chance I try to continue to add some instant film into the mix of my work and do plan to post here more and more after the new  year when my year long project and other blog has come to a close. 

All that aside, here are a few images from my most recent shoot with the always talented Emily Wallace. I've worked with her a few times now and posted some other images of her on this blog earlier in year. These images were all taken with my Polaroid 250 and some expired Polaroid ID UV film. Enjoy.

Expired Polaroid Type 100 Chocolate - Jay Elle

Today's quick post is just a follow up to my previous post to share some of the remaining Polaroid Chocolate that I shot with Jay Elle this past weekend. For more info or to check out the first batch of photos that I posted - Click here.

Enjoy.

Expired Polaroid Type 100 Chocolate - Jay Elle

This past Saturday I woke up early and drove into a rainy downtown to shoot with this model, Jay Elle, who was making her way through the area during her current travels. It's a rarity, but every once in a while one of these full time traveling models makes there way through my area and I'm luck enough to be able  to work out a shoot with them.  

While I did end up shooting a bunch of digital and a roll of 35mm for my year of film, part of my arrangement with Jay Elle was that I would pull out some of my remaining Polaroid Chocolate stock that I've been hanging onto and that after I scanned them I would sign a couple for her to take with her. Since most of my Polaroids just make their way onto a shelf or into a box after I scan them I was more than happy to make that arrangement. 

These three photos are just a few highlights from the pack of film that I shot with a Polaroid 250. Over the next few days I may post a couple more that I've got as well. Stay tuned, and enjoy. 

Expired Polaroid ID Ultraviolet Film - Alexandra

Last night I had the chance to work with another local model, Alexandra, from the Docherty Agency. We shot in a few different downtown locations throughout the evening. I shot mostly digital and a roll of expired Kodak Gold, but, did end up taking this one instant photo along the way. Taken with my Polaroid 250 and some expired Polaroid ID UV film. Enjoy. 

Expired Polaroid Softtone - Impossible Project PX680 Old Gen - Kids on Film

Just a few images of a few different nieces from this past week. Images one and two were taken with a Polaroid Spectra and some expired Polaroid Softtone. Image number three was taken with an SX70 sonar and some old gen Impossible Project PX680. Surprisingly good results from both films considering how far past their primes they are. Images like these are a good reminder of just how awesome and worthwhile instant film can be. Enjoy.

Polaroid Week 2013 - Expired Polaroid Softtone - Cassie

I feel like I haven't posted to this blog in ages. A lot of that has to do with the fact that I haven't been shooting quite as much instant film lately due to my year long Roll-A-Week project (which you can find here). However, this is Polaroid week and I felt it was necessary to make some kind of post this week while I still have the time. 

These images, all shot this past Saturday, are with local Cleveland model Cassie who's with Taxi Model Management. We shot a bunch of digital and some film throughout the day but I also brought along one of my last couple packs of expired Polaroid Softtone film to shoot with my Spectra. This film is most definitely past it's prime, but, as you can see I got some pretty good results from a couple of the photos that I took (the close ups working out much better than the wider shots.) 

Enjoy.  

 

Impossible Project PX600 BlackFrame PP - Ghostly Images with Emily Wallace

This past weekend I once again worked with the very talented Emily Wallace. You might recall from this post, that it was only a week ago that we worked together the first time. Since the weather was unseasonal and difficult that day (which I guess is actually pretty seasonally accurate for Cleveland any day) we decided to set up another shoot shortly after in order to head outside and shoot in a few different areas of downtown. Of course, while the weather wasn't quite as cold this time around, it was extremely windy and carried a forecast of possible thunderstorms at any and every moment. We lucked out though, and ended up shooting for a couple hour and getting some amazing photos.

While I shot mainly digital throughout this shoot, I did also end up shooting my weekly roll of film for the Coalesce52 project which will be posted down the road when I catch up with my developing and blog posts. This blog however, is where I tend to post most of my instant film work and that's what I have here today (obviously). These images were all shot using my SX70 Sonar and some of my last remaining stock of the Impossible Project's PX600 Blackframe Poor Pod film.  

This film has long been one of my favorite instant films from the Impossible Project despite of, and perhaps because of, it's obvious little defects. A quick browse through my archives will reveal a quite a few different photos that I've taken with this film and I'm sure that somewhere in there you will also find a lengthy explanation of what a Poor Pod is and my thoughts and reviews on this film. But, of course, in the highly likely scenario where you don't care about all that and you just like to see cool photos... well here are a few of my favorites from this film - Swings, Little World, St Theodosius, and '57 Chevy. Enjoy.

Impossible Project PX70 Color Protection Formula - Food Photography

This past weekend as part of my Roll-A-Week project I came into the studio to work on some tabletop food photography set-ups. I've always been a fan of simple, well-lit food photography and have lately been reading a few different blog posts that highlight some easy available/window light setups and so I thought I'd take an afternoon pretending to be a food photographer. 

Still life and composition is something that I've always explored when shooting instant film, and since it's been so long since I've shot with any of the Impossible Project's films in any serious way it seemed natural to bring along my SX-70 Sonar to shoot each of my setups  alongside my roll of film. The images that I have here today were all taken with the SX-70 and Impossible's PX70 Color Protection Formula instant film. Each was left unshielded out of camera and developed face down in a relatively comfortable temperature (somewhere around 68 degrees fahrenheit). Enjoy.

Impossible Project PX680 American Woods - Spring Daffodil

Today I have a really quick post of an image that I took late last week when the weather was particularly warm out. This photo (actually taken at the same time as this photo) was taken with a Polaroid SX-70 Sonar using Impossible Projects PX680 American Woods film, which is probably one of my favorites special editions that they've come out with to date. I've already gone through one of my three packs (with mediocre results at best... that being my fault) but look forward to using the other two soon as the weather continues to get warmer. Enjoy.

Expired Polaroid Type 57 - Graflex Crown Graphic - Asparagus

In keeping with the theme from my most recent post, I decided last night to take another food related photo. Again, this photo was taken with expired Polaroid Type 57 using a Graflex Crown Graphic. This film, far past it's better days, is quite difficult to properly meter and expose. Usually, it takes me two shots to get something I'm happy with... one initial exposure based off my meter reading, and a second exposure to adjust whatever went awry with the first. Considering that this is rare, hard to find film, I'm happy to say that I'm getting a little better at compensating my initial readings and that I got this photo on my first shot. Taken outside with available light, I metered this photo at f/8 - 1/250th and took a final exposure of about f/9 - 1/100th. 

Expired Polaroid Type 57 - Graflex Crown Graphic - Avocado

Admittedly, I've not been working on this blog nearly as much as I used to or as much as I'd like to be. The year long Roll-A-Week project that I'm currently doing (Coalesce52) has taken up a lot of my free time in terms of shooting, scanning, editing, and posting. Aside from that, I'm amidst a 30 day Paleo food plan (no sugar, no grain/gluten, no legumes, no dairy, no alcohol) which requires me to be in the kitchen quite a bit. Last night, thinking of how long it's been since I've posted here, I decided to take something that I've been working with a lot in the kitchen and photograph it in a simple, still life kind of way. 

Without further ado, here's the Avocado. Photograph taken on expired Polaroid Type 57 with a Graflex Crown Graphic using available window light (about f/4.7 at 1/10th).

Ilford HP5 Plus - Canon Canonet QL17 - Toronto

Toronto's CN Tower

Last week over on the Coalesce52 blog I posted some of my Fuji Astia 100 images from Toronto's Chinatown. While I was in Toronto I also shot a roll of 35mm Ilford HP5 Plus using my Canon Canonet QL17 GIII, which is what you see here. I must say, the more I shoot Ilford's films in any format the more I enjoy them. Take a look at some of my favorite images from this roll and then be sure to check out my Chinatown images over on the Roll-A-Week blog. Enjoy!

View from the CN Tower

Downtown Toronto

Lakeshore Blvd

Little Boxes on the Hillside

Expired Polaroid ID Ultraviolet Film - Country Winery

Today, I have a real quick post for you to share an image that I took along the road on my way home from Toronto this past weekend. While still on the other side of the border, I hopped off the highway for a bit to see the country side and drive along the Niagara wine trail. This photo is from one of the more interesting wineries that I drove past and seemed like the perfect place to stop to snap a few pictures. I shot this with a Polaroid 250 and some expired Polaroid ID UV film. 

Happy Friday and enjoy your weekends.

Impossible Project PX100 - 4 Photos with Sarah Starr

On Sunday afternoon I had the pleasure of shooting with a model I've not worked with before - Sarah Starr. Sarah is a model out of Pittsburgh (though currently in the process of moving to warmer weather) with a long list of credits as a model in both online and print publications. When I saw that she brought along this shirt that read "Keep Calm and Kitty On" I knew that it had to work it's way into one of our looks for the day. 

As I mentioned last week, I want to be sure that throughout my year long Roll-A-Week project I don't stop shooting instant film all together, so, I took this shoot with Sarah as an opportunity to shoot these photos using Impossible Project's PX100 in my SX70 Sonar. This is one of the original batches of the PX100 film and was shot with the lighten/darken wheel one notch towards darken, shielded out of camera, and then left to develop upside down in an ambient temperature of about 65-70 degrees fahrenheit. 

Also... even though I seized this opportunity to shoot some instant film, I of course also shot a roll of film for the Coalesce52 project which is currently being developed. Stay tuned here and over on the Coalesce52 blog for more from this shoot including that roll of Tri-X. Enjoy.

Expired Polaroid ID Ultraviolet Film - Polaroid Land 250 - Hillary

I realize that recently I haven't been posting a lot of instant photos - something that I used to do pretty regularly. One of the big reasons behind that is simply that I've haven't been shooting as much instant film recently as I've been so focused on shooting my film for my Roll-A-Week project. I know that in order to get through my roll each week I must dedicate a good deal of my shooting to using the roll of film for that week, otherwise, I will get distracted, start shooting with 4 different cameras, 6 different films and my phone. To that end, I've really limited the number of cameras and film types that I've been carrying with me when I go out to shoot.

Shooting instant film though, is one of my favorite photographic formats and something that I don't plant to stop doing anytime soon. While I may not be shooting quite as much of it this year, I will definitely be making a conscious effort to continue to use it regularly enough that I have a few extra photos to share here on the the blog. 

Today's photo is from a shoot I did this past weekend with Hillary, a model from Cleveland's Taxi MGMT. This is actually the only instant photo that I took through the entire session, but, I think it came out pretty well. The film is expired Polaroid ID UV and it was shot using a Polaroid Land 250. More images from this set, shot on 35mm Ilford 3200, will be coming soon over on the Coalesce52 Blog as part of my Week 9 post.

Enjoy. 

Kodak Ektar 100 - Canon FTb - A Little On Process

This past week I shot a roll of Kodak Ektar 100 color negative film using my Canon FTb with a 55mm f/1.2 lens for my year long Roll-A-Week project - Coalesce52. After getting the film developed I started to go through the slow process of scanning and organizing my negatives and was reminded of a video that I had watched a few months back over on FStoppers. Photographer Scott Kelby, during the Google + conference in San Fransico, spoke to a live audience about how to work your scene to find the best composition. He even went as far as to take you through his RAW images to show you his own personal process and how even a professional photographer can shoot many images before arriving at the final image. It's an interesting video and if you have time to watch it I definitely think it's worth checking out (I personally love listening to photographers of all genres and backgrounds as I think you can learn something from everyone).



Of course, this concept of high volume shooting to perfect your composition is much easier when you are shooting digital. Now a days, you can essentially take an infinite number of shots (that's only a little exaggerated) and have the ability to immediately see on the back of your camera what your results are. So, what if you're not shooting digital? Well, I was surprised to find that I actually do this a bit when I'm shooting film - more with 35mm, less with medium format, and, almost not at all with large format and instant films (unless the shot is very important to me for one reason or another... then I might give the subject two exposures). 

With that in mind, here's a look at my miniaturized process for two of the setups that I shot with this roll of film. My first final image is one that I featured over on the Coalesce52 blog and you can also see that image at top. Here, seen below, are the three images that I took right before I ended up with this shot (click for full view):

You'll notice, not a lot of change. These images, though, are very different in my opinion. My position moved, my distance from the subject changed and my rotation relative to the subject changed. Now, keep in mind that I wasn't thinking of the aforementioned video or process when I was shooting these images. I was simply going about my standard shoot process knowing that I wanted to get the best shot possible and that I only wanted to shoot 4-5 images on this setup. Had I stopped after the first exposure, I would have ended up with a decent image, but just three images later (I feel) I ended up with a much stronger composition.

Below you can see another example of my process, this time a bit more dramatic, as I worked my way through another setup. The first two images were pretty awful:

And I kind of felt that after I made these exposures, so, I rotated my position a bit to end up with my next two exposures - which were better, but not quite there yet.

And that's when my composition completely changed - I rotated even more to square myself to the subject, I raised the perspective and switched to a vertical orientation. Of course, as with most things, it's all a matter of opinion which of your images you like best, but I believe that my final image (below) is a much cleaner, stronger composition than the above four images that led me to it.

Now, I do undertand that what Scott Kelby is discussing and what I am showing here are essentially two different things. Shooting film though, is a very different thing than shooting digital. One of the key differences with my process (besides the limited number of exposures I'm shooting per subject) is that I can't see my images after shooting them to check for exposure and composition. I can't compare one image to the next. And that, is where pre-visualiztion and expected outcome becomes so important. 

Knowing that I was shooting a 36-exposure roll of film I was comfortable leading myself through this process of experimentation and making extra exposures throughout the course of this shoot. Of course, I didn't know that I was doing it and didn't realize it until I saw my negatives lined up - okay shot, adjust, okay shot, adjust, okay shot, adjust... Good image. Then, when I started to think about it, I realized that I actually go through a similar process when I'm shooting medium format, large format and instant film with one key difference - I don't actually fire the shutter. I set up my image and view it through the camera, I move and do it again, and again, and then back, and again... but eventually I end up with the final Image I'm looking for.

I'm not saying that my process is the correct one, but Scott's video and my most recent negatives made me consider my process and how it changes with the format I'm shooting. Personally, I think that's all that improving your process takes sometimes... something that catches your attention and makes you examine the way you go about things. I might not change significantly moving forward, but, with my next roll of film I will pre-visualize and think a second longer before I fire the shutter each time. That's what I love about shooting film though... it makes me stop, it makes me think and it helps me improve my approach to nearly everything, not just photography.

If you stuck with me this far, thank you, and if you'd like to see more from this roll of film please visit my Week 5 post on the Coalese52 blog. If you have any thoughts on process or want to share your own I'm alway happy to get a few comments.

Enjoy.