ditchwater issue #1 is almost sold out

the premiere issue of ditchwater fotozine is just about sold out. there are 4 copies at Sound Exchange and 4 at Domy Books. issue #2 is all formatted, and the cover is copied. so i just need to clean up christmas and on to that task.

in other news, i gulped hard and spent my christmas bonus on paying off my way, way past due tuition bill and i have some leftover to enroll in the fall. darkroom, here i come! now if i could only score one of those SWEET lockers downstairs...

here's the cover and a couple of prints from issue #1:



born liars at rudyard's:



insect warfare at vinal edge:



the ka-nives:



immigrant rally:

fuji sensia 400 cross processed: point and shoot

i keep a point-and-shoot in my purse at all times. here is where my purse has been lately:

orion and pat rehearsing for their christmas choir mass:



i guess i should add that these are scans of the Rx lab prints. they veer into a yellow not seen on the actual print. so i'll keep that in mind as i use this post as a reference.

john and clara:



the actual print has truer fleshtones. don't let this image make you shy away from using it for nighttime portraits.

my in-laws front lawn. keeping it real, y'all:



the following 2 images demonstrate that sensia's strength is in how it punches up red, blue and even green in bright light. but if none of those is present, then you're gonna end up with blah...




curt and tom (and a little bit of kyle):



also of note is that blacks are really really saturated black. and can block up on you:



sensia needs alot of light. so flashes on, full sun and i know i'll get some "kapow" shots...

Fuji Neopan 400: Mexico, Orange Show

I'm using this blog partly as a notebook to document results, hoping that I only make the same mistakes 6 times instead of 12. So here are the results of a roll of Fuji Neopan 400 I shot this past summer.

Here's the Walgreen's print of my 67 year old mom, in our hotel's restaurant. We were in her hometown of Bustamante, Mexico. Man, I hope I inherit those cheekbones. And her grace. But mostly, the cheekbones:

Now here's the same shot, but this time, its the raw scan from the negative:



Wow. What a difference. For the amount of time it took me to scan in the negatives, I now know that for contrasty daylight shots, its best to just scan the proof.

Here are some film scans of bright exterior shots:





This is pretty spot on color-wise. A bit grainy but not bad at all. Plus, I probably overexposed.





The above two shots are both bright interior shots. The first is the raw scan and the second is the proof from the Rx lab. I can tell a LITTLE bit of difference on the mac but none on the PC.

My conclusion: the results are pretty spot-on to reality. But I should try to under-expose slightly, otherwise the image looks rather flat and pastely (which is ok if that is the look you're going for). This stuff is great in that you can get a six pack for $10 or so.

Continuing on with the Neopan 400.

Here are some shots of the Jana Hunter/ Bert Jansch show this past summer at the Orange Show. I'm not sure what possessed me to shoot color at the Orange Show because that place is such a challenge to begin with (I bet I forgot there was color film in my camera). There are two different colored spot lights on stage, if i remember correctly: a red and a yellow. And there's colored lights through out the interior, too.

Raw scan:



Print of same negative:



Raw scan:




Print:



Looks like the scanner correctly found the little bit of sky in Jana's first shot which produced a completely different image. The lab computer was completely thrown off.

Raw scan:



You'll just have to trust me that the print of this negative is way off kilter.

Good rule of thumb for Orange Show when shooting color - just skip the proofs altogether. Process only.

about this blog

this blog is not necessarily intended to be about the pictures i take (or the zine i publish). i hope it acts as a forum for talking about film photography and technique, and as a gathering place for local photographers (but no just local photographers) where we can bang out our bright ideas.

i'm a hobbyist and a beginner with 2 continuing education photography classes under my belt. please enlighten me.

gear:

• main cameras: nikon FA with a 20mm and/or 24mm lens and a nikon f2 with a 50mm lens.
  
• b/w film:kodak tri-x 400.
• color film:whatever is expired and/or half-price.
• developer:diafine.
• sb2400 nikon flash.
• also a couple of holgas one of which i cannot find.
• throw in 600 and spectra polaroid cameras.
• and a whole bevy of point and shoots which each have their idiosyncrasies.

focus: concert. candid. street.

smells like: gary winograd meets lester bangs.