new mexico—part 1

We went to New Mexico last month! 

My wife is a teacher, and her spring break was at the beginning of April. We used that as an excuse/opportunity to travel to Santa Fe, which we were both interested in visiting. Our plan was straightforward; we would hike and we would eat, taking plenty of pictures along the way. I have a particular camera for vacations: An autofocus 6x4.5 medium-format rangefinder, made by Fuji. With 15 exposures per roll of film and fairly large negatives, it's perfect for sightseeing. I brought it along to New Mexico, where it got a lot of use.

These photos are from my first two rolls of film in the Santa Fe area. They were taken during a three hour hike of the tent rocks, a well-worn but still fantastic sight about 45 minutes from the city. For the color shots, I used Fuji Provia, for the black and white, I used Kodak T-MAX 400 and a a yellow-orange filter to darken the skies. There's also one photo from the 35mm point and shoot I brought with me. My favorite shot is the first one in the slideshow. It's of one of the narrow passage ways you have to walk through to get to the main climb. The light kind of creeps in, illuminating the formation and revealing the many layers of rock. By the time you reach the foreground, the shadows are dark, but there's still detail. Nothing quite goes to black. I like it quite a bit.

march 2017—roll 10

Ah, my last roll of March was in color and shot on medium format. My wife and I had taken the metro down to the National Mall to catch the annual kite festival, an ideal subject for color film, especially Kodak Ektar, which gives great saturation to primary colors like blue, red, and yellow. You see this in the first shot in this batch, of the Washington Monument with surrounded by kites and flags.

That is my favorite photo from this roll. The best photo, I think, is of the MLK Memorial. It's a different perspective than the black and white shot from earlier. This one captures the scale of the memorial as it compares to its surroundings. And the cherry blossoms that border and frame it are a nice touch. Obviously I'm a fan. What do you think?

march 2017—roll 9

Hey, we're back to 35mm! I hardly ever shoot color negatives on small formats, but this was a special occasion. Lomography released a new color film—allegedly aged in for some time—and I was eager to give it a shot. I was traveling when I loaded this into my camera (a Leica M5, equipped with a medium wide lens), so some of these shots are of airports or other places in the country (like Iowa City).

My favorite shot is one of the last ones on the roll (but the first one in this set). I took it while walking along the tidal basin in D.C. There were some fraternity guys posing for photos, and being me, I offered to take a photo for them, then asked if I could take their photo. I didn't ask them to pose or smile—my only direction was a simple "be natural." I liked how it turned out.

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.