Monday, December 17, 2007

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.

9 comments:

Chris said...

is ditch water about film photography only?

-canon power shot s2 (digital camera)
-supersampler
-holga w/ polaroid back

every totem pole needs a base!
i submit my application

ms. rosa said...

ditch water #1 is xeroxed copies of a bunch of my prints. so yeah, analog input and analog output.

oooo! holga with polaroid back. dreamy!

what is a supersampler? is that a lomography bundle?

JV said...

cool blog, Rosa!


for film stuff:

Contax G1 with 35mm f/2
Hassy 500c with 80mm f/2.8
Fujifilm GA 645 with 60mm f/4

I don't nearly break this stuff out as much as I should. Mebbe your blog will be an incentive...

ms. rosa said...

jayvee!

yeah, maybe i'll give assignments to keep us on our toes.

...but not until after the hollydaze, yo.

shoe said...

is that the nikon i sold you? anyway, i wanted to recommend ilford hp 400. it's the best bw film i've used..well besides pan 25 but impractical! anyhow, it's got super rich tones and fine grain especially for 400 speed.

my cameras:

active use:
rollei 2.8c
mamiya 645 pro tl
cambo/calumet monster 4x5 view (w/polaroid back too)
canon 20d

for show/too much trouble to hack to work:
polaroid land camera model 95
kodak tourist II (620 film)

i also have a box full of cameras like mamiya sekonics that i'll be selling.

i feel like i am forgetting something.

anyhow, the rollei was left to me by grandmother and i just recently started playing with it. i think i am in love. a square format feels like a breath of fresh air. i'm really digging it being waist level too.

the 4x5 is difficult. i mean i love what i am getting with the polaroids. but when i make the switch to film it's not working out as i had imagined. but i am gonna keep trying.

anyone working on any projects? i'm experimenting with nightclub photos like this
http://www.shulatif.com/stuff/numbers1.jpg that's digital but i'm going to try film out and see what i can get out of that. 1600 iso looks ICKY digital, 200 looks great but hard to get stuff out of it.

man i am rambling. i'm excited about photo talk!

ms. rosa said...

nice photo shu! is that you in the middle?

i do like square format too. some of my fave images i've made are square. right now i've only got the holga. which has as many limitations as it has charms.

i do like ilford 400. but i use diafine developer, which automatically pushes kodak tri-x 2 stops while increasing the grain only very subtly. FOR WHAT I DO, it's great. i get consistent results with just the right amount of contrast i like. on the other hand, diafine pushes FP5 one stop (and PULLS FP4!). so it doesn't really take advantage of ilford's best quality.

in other words, i shoot to take advantage of my developer, not my film, which i guess is a little backwards from what others do.

feel free to ramble anytime!

ms. rosa said...

oh and, sadly the camera you sold me, along with my entire 35mm SLR collection, was stolen last year. talk about set backs!

shoe said...

no, it's some random dude.

that sucks about your camera, i remember now you talking about this.

well we should go through my box and see what shit works well!

about the film: i understand the use of film because of the developer. have you tried any other developers? i have some i am never going to use. also, www.digitaltruth.com invaluable resource!

ms. rosa said...

i have tried other developers. ilfosol. kodak hc110. acufine. but i finally settled on diafine because its so economical.

$13 for a gallon and i have yet to exhaust it. my first batch i used weekly for about 7 or 8 months. i finally had to throw it out because i accidentally contaminated it.

on top of that, you don't use a stop (the tech sheet recommends against it) AND it reaches maximum development at 3 minutes.

but really for me the clincher is that you can use it in any (reasonable) water temperature without changing the resulting outcome. since i develop at home and can't control water temperature, diafine keeps me from having to check water temperature dozens of times per batch.

of course for many the limitations are insurmountable, but i've adapted to it.

sure i'd love to go through your box! snarf!