Experiments in film photography- part 2

Welcome to this installment of my experiments in film photography, using vintage cameras. Today I'm sharing highlights from a roll of 35mm Lomography LomoChrome Metropolis I shot during the summer months with a Minolta Maxxum 50.

The film has a very desaturated look, with muted colors. From my experience and from reading about it, I'd say it's best suited for urban/architectural subjects. I really like the way it captured this tunnel on the Montour Trail near Pittsburgh. I've photographed it before and love the chill tones of this version.

I also tried it on one of my other oft-photographed subjects, the Veterans Memorial Bridge over the Susquehanna, as seen from the Wrightsville, PA side. It was a very bright and sunny day, and I think I overexposed it a bit as I would have liked to see more of the blue sky, but that's what experiments are for.

These are the best of my tries at capturing greenery. It's a vibe, for sure, but it's probably not my vibe going forward. 

These last images are from tour of the Carrie Blast Furnaces National Historic Landmark, which I can highly recommend is you are a fan of rusting relics, fascinating historical lore, and the role of labor in industrial societies. Our tour guide was excellent! 

It was a stunningly hot and sunny day, and again the blue sky is very faded, but I really love the colors and tones of the machinery. It's a vintage grunge look especially suited to the subject.

I would try this film again if I were planning on a urban/industrial shoot. "Metropolis" is right there in the name for a reason! It's great that the resurgence of film photography is making these specialty films readily available. 

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Experiments in wet cyanotype - part 92

 Welcome to installment 92 of experiments in wet cyanotype. Today's excitement comes from my discovery of a patch of tall blue lettuce, Lactuca biennis. It's a native wild plant here in Pennsylvania, and as the name suggests, it's a biennial. In its second year it sends up a 6-10 foot tall flower stalk, with leaves descending in size as they rise, topped of with a set of small blue flowers. It has a history of being used medicinally, and is just plain cool to observe. I started with a print on a long panel of cotton sateen, using the standard cyanotype chemicals with just a touch of Solarfast solar dye.  

I made two smaller panels on some cotton I had with small woven dots in it. I will miss this fabric when it is used up.

Here are all the panels after exposure but before rinsing. They are always so dramatic at this stage.

Here are the finished panels.

I had good weather for printing, hot and sunny, and was able to capture a lot of the details in the toothed edges.

So pretty! I am pleased.

I've used these leaves once before, way back in 2005, for the eponymously named Tall Blue Lettuce. It was very popular back in the day.  I'm grateful for the opportunity to revisit this imagery. I'm also grateful for the advanced in digital photography since then! 

Tall Blue Lettuce

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Experiments in film soup - part 2

 

It's time for more film soup goodness! This batch of photos is from a roll of Fuji film 200 in my Minolta Maxxum 50 camera, souped with lime juice, dried, and specially processed. (See my previous post for more details on how the process works.)

Again with this roll, the effects are subtle-to-mid, enhancing but not substantially changing the imagery. It's a happy space for me.

The Greer tunnel on the Montour trail is turning into a perennial favorite subject. The addition of the metal panels done during an extensive renovation just takes everything to the next level, in person and in photos.

St. Francis looks appropriately ethereal.

The effect on bare sycamores by a creek is a great enhancement of something that I wouldn't have thought needed enhancement.

A historic house, and a glimpse of a bridge through late winter trees-- it's just thrilling to me how this process adds another layer of interest and meaning.

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Experiments in wet cyanotype - part 91

Time for another round of wet cyanotype goodness! I started with a large panel of cotton sateen and some peony leaves.

Followed by a medium sized panel of cotton, with small woven details, and some fig leaves.

Next up, some mineral paper prints using Virginia creeper leaves.

And then some more peony leaves, also on mineral paper.

For all of these I used a splash of Solarfast mixed with the cyanotype chemicals.

Here they are after exposure but before rinsing.

I love the effect provided by the woven circle details in this cloth.

They are so pretty and interesting at this stage. Most of those brown and rusty tones will be lost in the rinse.

Here are the finished prints. I got just the right shade of peony pink on this one.

The fig leaves are slated for a current work in progress. I'm happy with the turmoil happening at the top.

These stayed lovely and delicate.

And these peony leaves are bold yet tranquil. I never tire of these experiments because they turn out different each and every time.

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Summer solstice 2024 pinhole images

I am celebrating the summer solstice once again in my favorite fashion, by unveiling a new set of pinhole camera images. 

I make the pinhole cameras, such as they are, using a beer can and some black and white photo paper, with a single pinhole to admit light.

I mounted these out in various locales around my place on the winter solstice in 2023, and have been letting them slowly expose until now.

Each stripe in the sky represents the path of the sun on a particular day.

Today I took them down and scanned the photos. I then inverted them to a negative image and did just a light bit of digital cleaning up and enhancing.

These may or may not be masterpieces, but they make me very happy and remind me that the visual world contains multitudes.

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