Expired Polaroid Type 57 - Graflex Crown Graphic - Self

As something a little different for today's Polaroid Week post, I thought I'd take and share a self-portrait... though I should say semi-self-portrait as I had to have my wife come out and man the release cable for me. I would definitely have to say the self-portrait is definitely not my strong suit. Shot with a Graflex Crown Graphic and some expired Polaroid Type 57.

Fuji FP-3000 B45 - Graflex Crown Graphic - Hillary

Last week I shared two different posts (here & here) of different instant photos that I shot with Hillary. The first was some of the new Impossible Color Film for SX70 and the second some expired Polaroid Type 57 large format film. Today I have my last instant photo from this session to share, one of my favorite films that I will miss greatly when I run out - Fuji FP-3000 B45. Enjoy. 

Expired Polaroid Type 57 - Graflex Crown Graphic - Hillary

Following up yesterday's Impossible Color Film for SX70 photos of Hillary, I thought I'd share one of the large format instant photo's that I took during the same shoot. This was shot with my Graflex Crown Graphic on some expired Polaroid Type 57. Enjoy. 

Expired Polaroid Type 57 - Graflex Crown Graphic - Still Life

Slowly but surely I've been working my way through the 4x5 sheets of expired Polaroid Type 57 that I have. While I hate to see my stash of this scarce film slowly start to dwindle, I keep reminding myself that it's only going to degrade more and more the longer I hold onto it. If I truly want to shoot and enjoy this film, there's no better time than right now. 

Shot with a Graflex Crown Graphic these still life's were all taken at my parents house this past weekend. The place is full of things reminiscent to what you might find in my house... there's just more of it. It's pretty much made for shooting still life set-ups. 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).

Fuji FP-3000B45 - Graflex Crown Graphic 4x5 - Fashion With Ciarra

As I mentioned yesterday, I recently had the opportunity to shoot with a model that I've not yet had the chance to work with. Ciarra, a model local to Cleveland, has quite an impressive portfolio of images. If that's not enough, she was also kind enough to bring along an amazing makeup artist to work with us as well - Jason Kelly. 

Today's image is one of three that I shot using my Graflex Crown Graphic 4x5 Press camera with Fuji FP3000B45 film. I do plan to post the other two images (from a different look we shot) in the near future, but, I liked the look and feel of this image so much that I thought it deserved to stand alone.

Keep your eye out for more images from this and other recent shoots including a couple rolls of film that I'll be receiving back this afternoon.

Enjoy.

Fuji FP-3000B45 - Graflex Crown Graphic 4x5 - Tiffany

This past weekend was filled with photography and film. Saturday I shot with a new model in the studio and wrapped up my roll of film for Week 6 of the Coalesce 52 project. Then, Sunday afternoon, I shot two rolls of film with artist/illustrator Branden Vondrak in his home studio (which just so happened to wrap up my Week 7 for the Roll-A-Week project). And finally, in between those shoots, I took these photos with my lovely girlfriend at home. I'll be sharing all kind of images from those other shoots as well, but, seeing as how this is the first times Tiffany has ever let me sit her down and take a formal photo of her I thought I'd post these first.

Both of these images are from one of my final four remaining packs of the large format instant film Fuji produced - Fuji FP3000B45 - and both were taken with my Graflex Crown Graphic 4x5 press camera. I recently decided that instead of clutching on to this film and holding on to it forever that I should get it out of the fridge and put it to good use while it's still in it's prime. When I end up with photo's like this it makes me think that I made a pretty good decision. 

Enjoy.

Expired Polaroid Type 57 - Graflex Crown Graphic - Cassie

I just wanted to write a quick post this morning to share an image from a shoot I did this weekend with local Cleveland model Cassie. She's repped by a new local agency, Taxi MGMT, who seem to be growing quickly and have a lot of great talent in their ranks from what I can see. Although I didn't get to shoot as much film as I would have liked I was able to shoot a bit of Polaroid 664, which I'll post at a later time, and this shot using some expired Polaroid Type 57 in my Graflex Crown Graphic. I think I'm finally getting a handle on this film and the best approach for metering and exposing it. There's an interesting, almost pencil sketch, quality to this film that I kind of like. In any event, I'll continue shooting it until the sad day that I inevitably run out.

Expired Polaroid Type 57 - Graflex Crown Graphic

This past weekend was the first time in a long time that I got the chance to work with a new model. Hillary was nice enough to drive down from the Erie, PA area Saturday for a shoot. We shot a couple looks that morning with a variety of cameras and a few different film types. Down the road I hope to post a few images from my Mamiya 645j that I had loaded with Rollei Retro 100, and, perhaps an image or two from my Polaroid 250 using some original Polaroid 664.

Today's image, however, is more of a celebration for me personally as I've finally put to use once more my 4x5 Crown Graphic. It's a been a little frustrating to not have this camera out in recent weeks as it's become one of my favorite camera's to use, but, the disappearance of the readily available Fuji 4x5 instant films definitely cut into how often it sees the light of day. So finally, from my slowly dwindling supply of expired Polaroid Type 57, here's a new large format image. Despite the grainy, temperamental nature of this expired film, I really do enjoy using it and trying to get decent results from it. 

Maybe one of these day's I'll finally get around to developing some of the sheet film I've shot over the last couple months... or even start shooting more sheet film in place of the instant film supply I do have. At the very least, I could again shoot some large format color images...

Expired Polaroid Type 57 - Graflex Crown Graphic

You might remember, some time ago, that I mentioned purchasing two boxes of expired Polaroid Type 57. Well... it's taken just about a month, but, I finally have an image to show for it. Above is what I would consider my first successful shot on this 09 expired Polaroid Type 57 4x5 sheet film. By my calculations, this is the eighth attempt with this film - which to me just means I have 32 more good shots left in me.


Initially I thought the problem with this film was bad chemistry. Luckily, during Cleveland's Analog Pulse event, we did a large format walk with none other than Mat Marrash - a great large format photographer and co-host of the Film Photography Project's bi-monthly podcast. When Mat found out I was having trouble with my 57 he became determined to figure out why. What he found was that my film didn't appear to have any issues at all, but, it was in fact my Polaroid 545 back that was broken. Despite his best efforts, and many attempts at taking the back apart and reassembling, I eventually had to pick up another 545 off of Ebay.


All of that brings me to this week, and, up until this point I had probably wasted four sheets of film in learning that my film back was in fact never working. From there it only took one gross over-exposure, one bad pod with uneven chemistry, and then one gross under-exposure to eventually come up with this - Sheet number eight and my first successful (read useable) photo using this film.


It's not the best shot in the world, but I'm pretty happy to find this film in working order. There's definitely some grain and despite it's 3000 iso rating I'd venture to guess that it is actually closer to 2000 speed these days. Still, I'm shooting original large format Polaroid film. For a guy who really didn't even get a start in any analog photography until after the closing of the last polaroid factory... I'd say that's pretty cool.

Fuji FP-3000B45 - Graflex Crown Graphic 4x5 - Orange Lillies

Recently, I was fortunate enough to be presented with the opportunity to purchase two boxes of expired Polaroid Type 57  4x5 sheet film for my Graflex Crown Graphic. Unfortunately, I haven't had much luck with the film thus far.


Last night I tested two more sheets of the 3000 ISO rated instant film, and, thus far each has come out black. I'm unsure if it's a film problem, camera problem or a problem with my polaroid back. I've even tested with a longer exposure on my last shot to see if it would have any effect but it didn't appear to. The chemicals seem to be coming out of their pods, but no image is developing. I have yet to break into the second box of film to see if I have any better luck. If anyone out there has any thoughts, I'd be happy to hear them.


That being said, after spending the time setting up a shot to test with, I thought it would be a waste to walk away frustrated. So, I shot two sheets of Ilford Delta 400 and then fired off the last shot of Fuji FP-3000B45 that I still had loaded in my other polaroid back. Happily, I ended up with this beautiful shot of these Orange Lilies that valiantly sacrificed their lives to come inside for a photo-op. 


One other small detail of note - you might notice that this is my first image with the Crown Graphic in the portrait arrangement. Finally, after a few months of frustration and stupidity, I have realized that I do in fact have another location on the Crown Graphic body to attach my tripod plate, which, allows me to shoot vertically. In my defense though, the little guy was hiding under the leather handle that I have never used. Needless to say, that strap has been removed for the time being...

Fuji FP-3000B45 - Graflex Crown Graphic 4x5 - Little Kids with a Big Camera

This past weekend was spent mostly in Youngstown, Ohio and Erie, PA visiting with families. My brother and his wife were up with their three kids, and, there was a birthday party to attend up in Erie later in the weekend. I figured since I was going to be seeing so many of the kids in one weekend and had 7 or 8 shots of Fuji FP-3000B45 left in my polaroid back that it would be a good opportunity to take a portrait of each of them. 

These were all taken with my Graflex Crown Graphic 4x5 in open shade at about f/11 with an exposure of 1/100th of a second. Shooting kids with this type of camera is definitely a bit difficult since their patience is limited, but, it was still pretty fun. 


Little did these kids know, they were getting their photo taken with what is currently the last stock of 4x5 instant film in the US. Fuji has decided to discontinue not only this 3000B45 (which actually happened months ago) but also their FP-100C45 (which is already out of stock everywhere in the US). Hopefully this will not be the end of large format instant film and we will see the Impossible Project come to the rescue again in the near future.

The photos if order of appearance are Vivian (Tiffany's Goddaughter), Tommy (my nephew), Taylor (my niece and Goddaughter), and below... Jade (the dog). There is another niece, Samantha, who I didn't attempt to photograph with my 4x5. I did get a few shots using my Canon FTb and some Rollei Retro 100, but those will have to wait until I finish up the roll and get it developed. 

As a final note... I did end up buying 4 packs of the final stock of Fuji FP-3000B45 yesterday while I still could. I'm a little disappointed to find out about the color so late - the price has already sky rocketed on Ebay. But, at the very least, I now have 40 shots of this beautiful film left. I'll probably have to savor it and make it last until someone else steps in to save this format of instant photography. I guess on the bright side, this is going to force me to start getting my sheet film developed...

Fuji FP-100C45 - Graflex Crown Graphic 4x5 - Mahalls 20 Lanes Bowling Alley

I just recently moved from my apartment of 3 years in the little neighborhood of Tremont in Cleveland. I didn't move far (just out to what would be considered the suburbs I guess) but as a collector of cameras, antiques and everything vintage... you could say I had a lot of things to move. It took all of 3-4 days to break-down, clean, move, clean, set-up and finish the process. Luckily, since I'm moving in with Tiffany, she was so kind as to help me get everything moved and by mid-Monday we had everything pretty much done.


Now, you might be thinking, "Well thats a cute story, but, what's it have to do with your photoblog?" Well, last night was something like my night of decompression. A chance to reset myself. So, I set out and drove around with my Crown Graphic looking for some things to take photos of, eventually ending up at Mahall's 20 Lanes bowling alley. I've taken some photos inside of this alley before, but never of the sign that I've drove by so many times before.


This particular image is one of my favorites from the night and was taken with Fuji's FP-100C45 using a front rise and tilt and approximately a 3 second exposure. I've only shot with this camera at night before using Fuji's FP-3000B45, but, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the 100C45 could handle the long exposures just as well. I think the color and range of the film worked out pretty well for this image, but, I will say that thus far I'm not a huge fan of the bokeh on this lens when it comes to dealing with brighter lights in long exposures. I guess until I purchase another lens for this camera though, I'm out of luck on that one.


I didn't take many more shots last night, but, I did end up reloading my Polaroid back with a new pack of the 3000B45 and look forward to heading out soon to shoot some more night time images.

Fuji FP-100C45 - Graflex Crown Graphic 4x5 - Parking

There's not a lot to say about this photo - it was taken with my Crown Graphic 4x5 using Fuji's FP100C45. I took this a few weeks back while driving through town. This is a sign I've always thought about shooting and since I had my camera with me I decided to stop. This one is alright, but, after taking it I realized the photo in my head was in black and white and was taken at night. I might have to go back sometime soon and reshoot this.

Fuji FP-3000B45 - Crown Graphic 4x5 - Huntington Reservation

Yesterday was one of those 60-something days in the middle of March. That, of course, led to a long drive and some time taking photos in a few different spots along the lake. I had my Crown Graphic with me, but, in a moment of brilliance, had only brought a pack of Fuji FP-3000B45. 3000 speed film on a bright sunny day with a camera that will only shoot at 1/400 of a second just doesn't add up. So, since this was one of the few times I only had one extra camera with me, I ended up shooting with that - a 35mm Canon Ftb loaded up with some 32 iso Rollei ATP. I will get that developed sooner or later.


Since my obsession with my new camera runs pretty deep though (and because I came across this location that I absolutely needed to shoot) I ended up going back out last night near sunset. I found the 3000B45 a lot more difficult to work with than expected, but after a few shots I came up with the photo posted above. This one was taken after sunset, somewhere near 8pm, with a 1 sec exposure. At the time it was dark enough I could barely make anything out on the ground glass and I wasn't sure how this film would handle the longer exposure. To my surprise (and delight) it handled it quite well... probably one of my favorite photos I've taken in a long time.

Impossible Project PX 680 Old Gen - Shot in Crown Graphic 4x5

I spent most of Friday driving along the Lake Erie Coastal Trail with a couple of cameras. I had taken the day off with the promise of temps around 60 degrees. Unfortunately, that never really happened, but I still enjoyed the back road drive from Cleveland up to Erie, PA. I definitely didn't take as many photos as I had hoped, but there are a few decent ones to share.


The three that I am posting today were something of an experiment. While browsing through different resources for my new Crown Graphic 4x5 I stumbled upon flickr user Patrick J Clarke and his experimental runs of integral films through a large format camera. It sounded like an interesting idea so I figured before I headed out for the weekend I would load one of my Old Gen packs of Impossible Project's PX 680 into my 4x5 sheet holders to see what I could get.

The process is definitely more work than just popping a pack of film into your SX70 or 600. In a darkroom I transferred each shot individually out of it's film cartridge, placed it in the desired position in the 4x5 sheet film holder, taped it down and placed the dark slide over top. I then measured out and cut a matte for the ground glass of the camera so that I would know approximately what area of the viewable ground glass was covering the PX680 below. All in all, it turned out to be pretty accurate. 


After exposing the film I just placed the sheet film  holders back into my case and went along my way. It wasn't until hours later that I used a dark bag to remove them from the holders, place them back into an empty Impossible pack and run them through a 600 for development.

The work can be a little tedious, but there are definitely some positives to shooting the Impossible film this way too. Full manual control over exposure is the most obvious advantage, but, what I found most helpful is that I didn't have to worry about temperature. These were all taken outdoors with temps running below 40 degrees fahrenheit, but, since I didn't have to develop them immediately that temperature didn't matter as much. Once I was back inside and the film had returned to room temperature I developed and got the results you see here.


Sure, this takes the instant out of instant film, but I did enjoy myself and find it interesting to experiment with this film in different ways whenever I can. I think I still have a few issues to work out with the process in order to get the best results, so, I'll probably run a couple more packs through this way.  

Fuji FP-100C45 - Crown Graphic 4x5 - Creative light around the house

Last night I had a little more time to work with my new Crown Graphic after work. I did quickly get a chance to take a shot outside before the light faded entirely, but for the most part I was working in my dining room. The scene was definitely something to behold considering I didn't take any lights home with me. So, like I've done a time or two before, I pulled lamps from all different rooms to put together a couple different lighting setups.


The photo at top was lit with one of those cheap pole lamps you can get from target or Walmart (like this, but all plastic). The lower arm used as a key light causing a bit of the shadow you see, and the top lamp just bouncing into the ceiling for fill. It was still a longer exposure, but it worked out pretty well. The benefit of this lamp was the ability to mix my light temperatures - the key being a compact florescent (close to daylight) and the fill a regular tungsten. The combination of those two and all the other ambient light bouncing around the room seems to be what gave the photo it's washed out, almost sepia toned, color.

This second photo, an old(ish) coffee advertisement clock, was shot with a single light source. With the rest of the lights in the room off, I used one of those "paper shade lamps" which you can see there in the specular highlight in the glass of the clock. The light source here was completely tungsten which, with the daylight balance of the Fuji FP-100c45, shifted the color of the image more towards an orange/yellow tone. This shot also displays the extent of a close up for this camera/lens combo.


And, for good measure, here is that photo I mentioned at the top of the post that I was able to shoot outside before the light faded and before the cold ran me back inside. 

This ship, the Buffalo, has been parked in this shipyard in the Flats for a few weeks now for maintenance. It always amazes me the size of boat that is able to maneuver through this small area of the Flats and I've been wanting to get a shot of this one for quite some time now as it can normally be seen rolling down the river once or twice a week. I overexposed this image a bit more than I would have liked, but with the temperatures outside and the development time resulting from those temps I would have had to stick around for quite a while to see what my results were in order to shoot an adjusted photo.


In any event, I think I will be shooting more with this film/camera this upcoming weekend and I'll post some of those images early next week.

Fuji FP-100C45 - Graflex Crown Graphic 4x5

Months ago I decided that I wanted to get into large format photography. I did a ton of research, read up on all the different formats and types of cameras, looked into the accessories for each and all the different costs. I decided right off the bat that I was probably better off starting with the 4x5 format over the 8x10. Cost obviously played a factor in that decision, but, I also thought that something like a folding press camera would be a better way to become familiar with large format, film loading, composition, etc., without jumping directly into a large monorail camera that would require learning a lot more than the basic camera movements of large format (rise, fall, tilt, shift, swing) and the results of all of those combined movements on the photo. 


The camera I decided to go with is one of the most tried and true of the press cameras - the Graflex Crown Graphic. Here's a photo of the one I just purchased -

This particular model (there are many variations within the Graphic series) comes with the f/4.7 135mm Graflex Optar lens paired with a synchronized Kalart rangefinder. With it I also got some sheet film holders, a Graflex 23 roll film adapter to shoot 120 on this camera, and a Polaroid 545 back (which at this point is nearly obsolete.) To compensate, I also went out an got the Polaroid 550 back which holds the Fuji 4x5 packfilms - FP-100C45 and the discontinued but still available FP-3000B45. The seller also threw in a few extras like an original case, changing bag, two flashes and some sync cables.


This all arrived yesterday in the mail and to this point I've really only gotten to take two photos. The ones you see here in this post are the first two out of this camera and were both shot on the Fuji FP-100C45 pack film. I didn't have a lot of time, so I pretty much just took a walk around the block with the camera and a tripod till I found something I could shoot. I also didn't have my light meter on hand, so, both of these were metered with my iPhone's free light meter app that I had previously calibrated with a real meter. The image at top, my first photo, is of the Crittenden building downtown and I used a front rise and tilt on this image to get the tilt-shift look that you see. The one below, shot in the same area, is a more straight forward photo.

These two photos were pretty much all it took to fall in love with this camera, and, with large format photography. There's nothing that compares to viewing, framing and focusing an image onto a large ground glass like you get in large format. I am really looking forward to getting out to shoot more with this camera soon, as well as the opportunity to load up a few different sheet films. The only downside... I know this camera is just a gateway drug. The 8x10 monorail camera that looked so frightening during my research seems to have become an inevitable future investment at this point.


Stay tuned, I hope to have some more interesting images to share from this camera soon...