march 2017—rolls 7 & 8

I shot these photos on my other medium format rangefinder—a wide-angle 6x9 camera that gives you 8 exposures per roll. Despite this, I managed—once again—to get just a few photos that I was happy with. Part of this was just the weather. It was overcast and gloomy, making it difficult to get good contrast and proper lighting, which you can see with the meh photo of the Marine Corps Memorial. 

I was happy, however, with this photo of the cemetery proper. There's good tonality, helped along by the contrasty lens. And the seemingly endless rows of graves, coupled with the distortion of the wide-angle lens, creates an interesting effect.

march 2017—roll 6

Oof. This was a roll of Provia 100f—a slide or "positive" film—in 35mm. I shot it in a Nikon point and shoot I have since sold. I mostly just snapped away and it shows in the fact that, out of 36 exposures, I've picked just 6 to keep. The main photo is of a wine bar in D.C. that my wife and I like to visit on occasion. There's a neat mural in the main room, and I'm frankly surprised I was able to capture it without any blur, since there wasn't a ton of light.  The rest are just snapshots from around town, you know, the usual.

march 2017—roll 5

This is another roll where I wasn't thrilled with half the shots I took. With that said, let me talk a bit about this first photo, of a older woman protesting in front of Donald Trump's hotel in Washington D.C. I love this photo. There's her expression—one of determination and resolve. There's the fact that this is a candid shot (which I somehow managed with my massive camera), so her expression feels genuine. There's the technical aspects of the photo: it's well exposed with deep blacks and bright whites and every tone in-between. It was also easy to print in the darkroom, which is always a plus.

Yeah, I'm pleased with this one. As for the other shots, they're fine, I guess.

march 2017—roll 4

You'll notice that this "roll" of film only has five shots. That's because the other five shots (with this particular camera, you only get 10 exposures) weren't any good. And I'm not even that thrilled about these five. There are two I genuinely like: This first one—of the young woman walking up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, in her dress—and the shot of the MLK Memorial, which captures how imposing it is.

I'll say that the photo of the young woman was a darkroom challenge. She is underexposed, while the background is a bit overexposed. Getting a properly balanced print took some time, and I think I accomplished it. Although I'm not so confident that I would share the results on the internet.

march 2017—roll 3

I have several cameras, but I try to alternative between them and limit myself to using just a few every month. In March, I shot nearly all of my medium format on my 6x7 camera, which has a "normal" focal length, roughly equivalent to the typical person's field of vision. It's ideal for the kinds of shots you get when you're just walking around, which is largely what you'll find on this roll. The exception is this interior, from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, which is just a short bike ride from my apartment. The normal perspective makes interiors feel cramped, and for the first shot on this role—that of a small shrine—it works. The film is my usual, Kodak Tri-X, overdeveloped to extract more detail from the shadows.

march 2017—roll 2

I have no idea why it has taken me so long to write about these rolls of film, but it has. This second roll of March has one of my favorite photos from that month: A shot of Union Station around 8am, right when the morning sunlight was making its way into the main hall. Even on 35mm, it looks fantastic, with great tones throughout. I've been meaning to make a print of this photo and maybe I will the next time I'm in the darkroom.

february 2017—roll 10

My final roll of February was a roll of "redscaled" color film I put through an Olympus OM-1 I used to own (since sent to a good home). The red color comes from the fact that you are shooting through the red layer of the emulsion. It's a cool effect, and as I think I've mentioned before, it also means that you are capturing a mirror image of what you see, which is also pretty neat. These photos were more or less taken on a stretch of D.C around Union Station and the Capitol Building. I can't say I'm thrilled about them all, but I figured I would share them nonetheless.

february 2017—roll 9

I try to shoot at least one roll of slides each month, and this is that roll! Why shoot slides? Despite their expense and the general hassle of metering them well, slides offer a level of clarity and color that you can't quite get from color negative film (or digital, IMHO). This slide film is Fuji Provia, which offers moderate levels of contrast and saturation, making it a good general purpose film. The best photo in this batch, I think, is the street portrait of the middle-aged gentleman. It showcases the clarity and sharpness of both the film and the lens, an older (circa 1960) Canon screwmount lens for Leica rangefinders.

february 2017—rolls 7 & 8

These photos are from a short trip to Baltimore, which we took as an excuse to have dinner at Woodberry Kitchen (you should get on that, if you haven't). My favorite photo from this batch, as you may have gathered if you follow me on Twitter, is of the spiral staircase. It was a happy accident; I had taken the photo on my digital camera, and used the metering settings to take a shot on the 6x9 camera I brought. But I forgot to account for the ISO on the digital camera—it was 1600, versus the 400 speed film I was using. (Kodak T-MAX.) Despite this, the photo came out well and easy to print! Like I said. A happy accident.