tonight I shot film...

Definitely not one of my best self-portrait poses, but I wanted to show the success of a New55 negative that I captured tonight. I shot this one using the new wood wall in my studio/darkroom as the backdrop. Alot went into this shot to set it all up and photograph myself with the Toyo 4x5 camera and Fujinon 210mm lens. An overwhelming success on the focus. I think that this is as sharp as I can expect from a self-portrait. Lots of guessing on the location of my face, but I got it right tonight. For the lighting, I used one strobe and tripped the shutter using an air-bulb cable release. All-in-all, this is the result of needing something to take my mind off all of the stress from the day. Sometimes I watch TV, sometimes I listen to music, sometimes I read books. Tonight I shot film...

before we left...

Today, I wanted to use a film that I hardly ever use and take it in a place that is not my norm. The film was expired Polaroid Type 59, the camera/lens was my Toyo-View G 4x5 / Fujinon 210mm f/5.6 and the location was in my office using cloudy window light. Because of the scarce lighting, I used a shutter speed of 1/2 second and hoped for the best. Sherri is becoming more accustomed to me surprising her with another hairbrained idea for a picture. I have taken so many pictures of her lately with all of my different cameras and film, she is probably becoming numb to it. This picture was a spur-of-the-moment photo request when we were on our way out the door. I had the camera set up in my office with a film holder loaded for the occasion.

Not for sure why this particular box of film has the orange band across the middle, but it has been there on every shot. If the exposure is dark, it seems to show up even more. Even with the orange band, I can't wait for more pictures with this film. Glad I still have almost 3 boxes of 20 left...  

a new chapter...

One of my struggles with having many types of cameras is never really "focusing" on any one particular camera. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy them all, but I probably miss out on becoming an expert on any one camera because I am constantly switching out between types of cameras. I recently got my Hasselblad back from being repaired/CLA'd. Seems that during the past week I have been shooting it more than any other camera (thus my decision to include it in the photo). Tonight I decided to finally dust off my Toyo 4x5 camera and shoot my first frame of New55 film. I have had the film for a few weeks, but I just haven't had time to set up the 4x5 camera to try it out. Not the most exciting shot, but I can now say that I have shot New55 film. The positive and negative both seem to be true to what I metered. I am beyond excited to find some more interesting subjects so that I can shoot more of this film...

the result of boredom...

Been a while since I shot my Toyo 4x5 camera. Was at home tonight with little to do, so I got the camera out and shot a couple of large format selfies. I look at this process as creativity as a result of boredom. It is so neat having instant film, like this Polaroid Type 59, to get such unique photos that you can hold in your hand as a finished product within minutes.

joy in the imperfections...

Felt like I needed to get out and shoot my 8x10 today. The weather was not exactly cooperating with me but I decided to try the shot. It started raining on me (and my camera) in the middle of taking the picture, so I got in a bit of a hurry. I guess I pulled the film holder away from the camera and let in some light. I lost some contrast, but I still like the final image. 

Such a surreal winter scene from the viewpoint of a winding/disappearing road through a local cemetery. As weird as it may sound, I love visiting cemeteries. Any time that I stop at a cemetery, it always makes me reflect on my own life. More than anything, I realize how fragile this life really is. Just as many of the details in this image, some days I feel that my life is disappearing before my eyes. My takeaway for today is to slow down, enjoy the things around me and cherish the memories (no matter how imperfect they are)...

I'm positive the negative is a keeper...

I totally missed the exposure on this one (see above). I thought the film was 100 ISO and it turned out that it was 640 ISO. I didn't peel the film until later that night and realized that I had really messed it up. I decided to wash the negative and scan the portion that would fit in the Epson V600 scanner to see if I could get a better image (see below). I was floored at the detail that was buried in the negative. The 1200 dpi scan shows pores and eyelashes. That being said, the print and the negative are both pretty amazing...

justin and the beard...

Met up with Justin today at my house to get to take this 8x10 before he shaves the beard. I would have to say that I am envious of a man that can grow a beard like this. The beard deserved to be captured on 8x10 before it was gone. I took several different instant and 35mm photos, but this one was the one that I was looking for. Thanks Justin for stopping by and spending your lunch with me...

bailey - double take...

Got the opportunity to take a couple of 8x10 portraits of Baily while he was in Texas helping out Tyler with a wedding. Took the photos in Dallas in an area where I couldn't use the processor. I was afraid of a divot ruining one of the photos, so I took two. The first one was taken with the new Impossible film and the second one was taken with an October 2012 batch. Luckily both of them turned out better than I could have ever expected. If I had the choice of only one instant camera, I would trade in all my others to keep my 8x10. I am so hooked on this film...

don't move...

Took this one of Pyper with my Toyo 4x5 camera and a Fujinon 210mm lens using a Polaroid back with Fuji FP-100C film. The depth of field with shallow and the focus was on her one eye. To be honest, I can't believe that she stayed still long enough for this one to be taken. Such a neat thing to be able to spend time with her taking pictures...

the beauty of film...

Took this photo over a month ago. I was going through my instant photos the other day and realized that I had not posted any of these images from that day. This one is my favorite because of the tones that are rendered from the expired Polaroid film. A few things are technically wrong with the image, but I won't focus on them here. Instead, I will focus on the beauty of my oldest daughter embracing the latter stages of carrying baby Allister. Her arrival is imminent and we are all so excited to greet her into this world...

just another photo of me...

My first attempt at expired Polaroid 4x5 Type 59 film. Shot this in a studio setting using two strobes. Really love this film...

a man and his dog...

Was able to capture this photo of Tyler and Wilco on Sunday afternoon with my Toyo 4x5 camera on Fuji 4x5 instant film. Love being able to catch special family moments on so many types of film and cameras...

shawn roller...

Shawn is another one of "those people" that I met on Twitter and ending up meeting in real life. I messaged him last Friday night and ended up meeting downtown McKinney for some coffee, coversation and a portrait. The coffee at Spoons Garage was excellent, the conversation was definitely the highlight of the morning and we ended the time with a few portraits. I slightly overexposed the 8x10 and evidently somehow produced a light leak. My guess is that I didn't compensate for the film being so cold. I think that I redeemed myself with the Fuji FP-100C portrait taken with my latest acquisition (a Polaroid 180 Land Camera). Will have to give the 8x10 another try to show Shawn what the Impossible 8x10 film can really do...

a moment in time...

Here is a portrait of Sadi that I shot today before she left to go back to college after spending her Spring Break with us this past week. What at great week it was! I am so glad that we still get these opportunities to spend time together as a family. 

As I become more intentional with my family photos (both analog and digital), I have come to realize that every picture has the potential of becoming an important moment in time. I try to take as many candid snapshots as possible, but the occasional posed shot is just as important to stop that moment in time when you were exactly who you were at that moment. I want my kids and grandkids to have tons of printed analog images to occasionally sift through and have the opportunity to talk about the moment that they were taken. I want each and every portrait/candid to be something that I remember, but more importantly something that they will remember much later in life...

matt ronan...

Had the opportunity to photograph Matt again today. As always, it was a little difficult to actually meet up, but it worked out in the end. In my opinion this photo made it all worth it...

christian and me...

Was able to meet up with Christian and Elaine today in Deep Ellum to get a chance to shoot an Impossible 8x10 of him and let him shoot one of me. This was his first chance to get to shoot the 8x10 camera and all things considered, I think he did a great job. If anything, I think we didn't compensate correctly for the bellow extension and it underexposed the image slightly. Most of all today was about meeting up and having time to sit around and talk. In that sense, today was a total success. It was a great time to get to know a little more about Christian and Elaine. Had seen both of them at several previous polawalks, but never had time to really talk with them. Plus it gave me an opportunity to give away another packfilm camera and some film to reduce my hoarder status...

stratton...

Here are two images of my nephew Stratton taken when we went to Childress over the holidays. The first one was damaged when I peeled the image. I was able to clean the flakes from the photo in Aperture to save the image. Wasn't for sure how the first one was going to turn out so I took the second one when it was almost dark outside. I believe the exposure of the second one was 1 second at f/8.0. In the end, both images are keepers to me. Overall, my goal is to have 8x10s of as much of my family as possible by the end of 2014. Looks like there are lots of trips with my 8x10 in the future...

tommy...

Was able to take a couple more family photos over the past weekend while visiting in Childress, TX. Tommy just happened to still have his "santa" beard so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to capture it on an 8x10 Impossible print before it was gone...

rita...

Rita was another one of my volunteers on Thanksgiving day. I am definitely glad that she let me photograph her. What a solemn pose! When I told her to "hold that pose and expression", I know that she didn't realize how long she would have to maintain it. Everyone seem to just sigh after I clicked the shutter and told them I was done. Rita was no exception there...

the stare...

Here is another case where Tyler allowed me to collaborate with him and show up to take an 8x10 photo during an engagement shoot (even using one shot of his color film). In the end, this photo wasn't the best composition because I angled the camera down too much and created some un-appealing angles on the vertical planks of the building. That is probably being overly picky, but I seem to focus on that now when I look at the image. One thing is for certain, the only way to learn on 8x10 is to make mistakes. Because of the cost involved and the rarity of the film, you really pay attention from that point on after you make a mistake. That being said, in my opinion the warmness of the image and the couple's pose makes up for the composition. Because of that, I couldn't help but post this image. There is still nothing like an 8x10 Impossible color image...