Tag Archives: wide angle lens

Landscapes, Intersections, Personal Vision, Themes, Film Photography Projects, My Inner Monet

IR Sensitive Films: Retro 400S

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I thought about writing a summary of the origin and significance of the Retro IR Sensitive films as an aerial mapping film. But then I found an excellent history/summary by My Favorite Lens reviewing the Retro 400S. So check it out…………

Now we take up Part II of our IR Sensitive Film Tests. Here a comparison of Rollei Retro 400S and Ilford SFX-200 (My Standard). We again applied the IR 695 filter to both rolls. We know from our previous experience that this filter adds contrast to the Retro-films. So let’s jump in………

Images on the left are from SFX-200 and on the right from Retro 400S:

We ca see the obvious difference in Contrast. But it this first image it works.

Above, the contrast in the clouds for the Retro 400S makes it more interesting to me.

In the four images below,the lighter contrast (SFX-200) allows iu to see more detail.

Agai, here I think you choice my depend on personal aesthetics. There are qualities I like in both images.

S, we have determined in both cases that perhaps the Retro Films don;t really need IR-filter enhancement. So for our next test we are going bare. I’ll be comparing the Retro 80S with no filter to the SFX-200 with the IR 695.

Landscapes, Nature, Intersections, Personal Vision, Film Photography Projects

Frugal Fim Project: August 2020

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A Trip to the top of my world. Loveland Pass is my Favorite High Mountain Pass.\:

Checkout my Frugal Film Posting for the details………

Architecture, Contests, Intersections, Street Photography, The Story

Kodak E100 vs. Fuji Velvia 50: The Showdown Begins

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I have to admit that I was disappointed with early my 35 mm E100 results.  I felt that the film was cold and realized that it was based on the old E100G, a film I only used with a warming filter.  My favorite of the old Kodak E-6 films was E100GX, the warm toned film.  I used it extensively in Patagonia and mourned its loss.  You can also check out our first Patagonia Calendar.

But I digress.  Let’s get back to the purpose of this study: Kodak E100 versus Fuji Velvia 50.  After my E100 doubts I happened upon this old Velvia 50 image of Boreas Pass and thought about a comparative test:

BoreasChasingFall

So I set up my two Mamiya 6X7’s for the test.  There was one difference:  The Velvia 50 camera had a 43 mm lens and the E100 camera had a 50 mm lens.  We can debate if that makes a difference, but for Showdown Part II, I’ll be using matching camera set ups.  So hold your argument for later.

Here are the side-by-sides: Think about which is which and I’ll tell you at the end.Peacocks_E100Peacocks_Velvia50

Owl_E100Owl_Velvia50

Details regarding what I learned from this Owl are discussed in my next posting…………

Coke_E100Coke_Velvia50

In all cases the top image is Kodak E100 and the bottom image is Fuji Velvia 50.  There were no adjustments made to color balance.  You may note that the Velvia 50 images are more color saturated and have some purple or pink in the sky.  The E100 is less saturated and has a colder sky. Now it’s up to you.  Which do you prefer?  Keep in mind that this is an overcast sky.  So I’ll add one more pair.  I wanted to capture my purple house, but in the morning the house was too dark.  But you can see that with a clear sky the Velvia 50 (bottom image) has the saturated blue sky:

Sky_E100Sky_Velvia50

The snow is still holding that purple cast in the Velvia 50 image.  E100 has a truer presentation of the snow.  Comments, perspectives appreciated.

Next, we’ll take a look at my Garden Flowers using my Mamiya 645’s both with 80 mm macro lenses..  Since I have something blooming all summer, I’m shooting two rolls of each film throughout my gardening season, and I’ll post as I go……..

Intersections, Landscapes, The Story

Retrospective: The Snowy Range, Wyoming

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I have posted two earlier episodes, but have never explained what ‘Retrospective’ is about.  I have a Photo Diary Blog.  It shows what I am out and about doing, camera in hand.  There’s a lot posted over there that my followers here will probably never see.  So I am pulling out a ‘Best Of’ from that blog and calling it my Retrospective.

 

FullShot1

 

 

Planning a Twitter Film Photographer’s Meet up in south central Wyoming later this summer.

Architecture, Landscapes, Personal Vision

My Personal Ilford FP4 Party at the Salt River Bridge

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My Emulsive Secret Santa sent me one roll each of 35 mm and 120 size film.  I know about the FP4 Party on Twitter, but had never participated and never shot any of this film before.  This Month I did post my best FP4 35 mm images.

So I was shooting on a drive through the mountains north of Phoenix.  We ended up at Roosevelt Lake (water very low as you can see) and the Salt River Dam and Bridge:

SaltRiverDam

But my real interest was the Bridge.  So I did a study of it.  First, a panorama made from two images using Photomerge:

SaltRiver_Bridge_Panorama

Remember when making a Panorama your images must overlap by ~30%, as you can see from the parts below:

 

 

And the most wide angle I could get from a single shot using my Minolta X-700 and Tamron 28-200 zoom lens with a nice reflection:

SaltRiver_Bridge2

A slightly different view, with interesting vegetation:

SaltRiver_Bridge1

Read my FP4 Review here.

As my Previous Post suggested, I’ll try the 120 FP4 film that I was given, but I’m probably going to stick with Delta100 or 400 when I want lower contrast than T-MAX 400.

Architecture, Landscapes, Social Commentary

Alternate 5-Frames: Carhenge

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5 Frames of Kodak Portra 400, Exposed @ ISO 320 (6X7 120 Format) by Kathleen E. Johnson

On August 21, 2017, thousands of people converged on Alliance, Nebraska, as one of the prime Solar Eclipse viewing locations in North America. NO you are not going to see eclipse images, but a bit of Americana I had heard of (probably on 60 Minutes as a child), but never thought that I would visit: CARHENGE. We thought about stopping by on Eclipse Day, but the traffic proved unmanageable.

The following November, we had an opportunity to return to Alliance and made our visitation. It was a lovely, sunny, November day.  And walking amongst the Cars, it proved much more photogenic than I had expected.

It seems like ages ago, but in 1990 I had an opportunity to visit the real Stonehenge. Those photos were terrible, so you’ll never get to see them here. But I can say the advantage of Carhenge is that it’s a true life-size model that you can walk around and experience as the Ancient Ones may have done at the real Stonehenge. And it has become a focus for sculpture built from car parts. But that’s another story…….

The camera was my favorite Mamiya 7 with the 43 mm lens. All exposures @f/8, and shutter speeds of 1/125 to 1/250 to capture details in the shadows. In my experience Portra Films have a wide exposure latitude. At ISO 320 color saturation is more true to life than Portra 160. I’ve settled on Portra 400 as my color film.

P.S Okay you can see my Eclipse Images on film HERE.

Architecture, Landscapes

Surprisingly Photogenic

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Last Fall we stopped at Carhenge.  It was a lovely, sunny, November day.  And walking amongst the Cars, it proved much more photogenic than I had expected.

See all the photos from my trip to Carhenge Here.

See Updated Post for Alternate 5-Frames Here.