#24 - One Year/100 Paintings - Tugboat at the Baltimore Inner Harbor - Plein Air painting with Urban Sketchers Baltimore - gouache and watercolor in Moleskine watercolor album. This was the second painting of the day and though I do like the look of the painting, I feel that the tugboat appears to be sinking, much like the Titanic.
26 Instax Packs - #25
26 Instax Packs - #25 - Finding Dory Instax Mini Frame in Lomo-Instant Automat at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, MD. I thought the subject of shooting at the aquarium would be a good match for this character frame, but I was disappointed with most of the shots I made. I had thought that using a polarizing filter on the camera would cut down on the glare from the glass and water, but unfortunately, the aquarium displays were very dark and didn't reproduce well. I also forgot to bring my closeup lens, which would have made for more interesting shots of the jellyfish. I did manage to shoot two other packs of film that day that turned out a little better. Some were outside around the inner harbor.
26 Instax Packs - #5
26 Instax Packs - #5 - Baltimore, MD - Fuji Instax Mini Stripe Frame in Lomo'Instant Automat just after dawn (except for Magnolia Blossom). Closeup lens used for flower bloom photos, all handheld, on auto setting without flash.
26 Instax Packs- #2
26 Instax Packs - #2 - Lomo'Instant Automat with Rainbow Instax Mini Frame celebrating the arrival of Spring in Baltimore, Maryland. Most photos made with close-up lens attachment.
Kodak Brownie Fiesta
Week 51 - Kodak Brownie Fiesta Camera in original box with exposed roll of film found by a friend in a Goodwill Store in West Virginia. I successfully developed the roll of film and posted about it previously in "A Visit To Summersville Dam".
The Kodak Brownie Fiesta is a simple point and shoot plastic camera using 127 roll film that was made in the early 1960's. I had another roll of Triple Print Film that I had purchased in a lot from ebay to use in the Fiesta camera. The last roll turned out pretty well and I was hopeful this one would as well.
Nearing the end of my year long 2016 film camera project, I've found it difficult to find the time to finish it up with the hustle and bustle of the holidays. I started the roll in the beginning of last week by stopping on my way to work at the MICA campus on Mount Royal Avenue in Baltimore. I grabbed a few shots there and then in my hometown to finish up the roll. The camera is very easy, just frame up the shot and press the button. The camera makes a sort of springy sound when the shutter fires, seeming like the photo would come out blurry.
The photos seemed to come out in focus, but the quality of the shots was not as good as the previous roll. I had some difficulty removing the tape at the end of the roll of film in the changing bag and ripped the corner off one of the frames. I developed the roll in Kodak D-76 stock solution and scanned the negatives with Epson V500 Photo.
Spartus 35
Week 50 - Spartus 35 with leather case purchased at the Black Rose Antique Mall in Hanover, PA for $12. I was drawn to this simple camera with the sans serif font spelling out the name around the lens, on a day that I was hankering to buy another camera. I didn't want to spend much money but wanted to find a nice little usable one to wind down my 2016 film camera project. The Spartus 35 is well, a 35 mm camera, made by the Herold Company of Chicago. It has a lens with focusing from 4 feet to infinity, time and instant lever, and aperture settings of Bright, Hazy, Cloudy, and Dull, with a tripod mount on the bottom.
I loaded the camera with Film Photography Project's FPP EDU 200, but when I turned the film advance knob, it kept turning, so I wasn't sure how many frames had been advanced until I noticed the film counter dial rotating as I was advancing. The film is supposed to advance one frame at time with a sprocket release button being pressed to advance to the next frame. This one apparently was not working, but I correctly observed that the film dial turned one full rotation between frames but unfortunately I had wasted a half a roll of film or so by then. I managed to get 10 frames out of this roll on a nice lunch time walk around my office in Baltimore.
It's getting increasingly difficult to find fresh material to photograph within a lunchtime walking distance around my office, and its too dark by the time I get home in the evenings to go out and shoot. I do still enjoy photography with the various cameras that I've been using this year, but as the year is winding down to a close, I feel that my project will also be closing at the end of the year as well.
I developed the roll in Kodak D-76 stock solution for 9 minutes and scanned the negatives with Epson V500 Photo. I think the photos came out nicely exposed with sharp focus where I correctly guessed the focusing distance.
Kodak Brownie Starmatic
Week 48 - Kodak Brownie Starmatic from my collection, purchased with a roll of exposed film inside. I had developed that exposed roll of film and found only a couple of multiple exposed frames with a woman's face and a minivan. The Kodak Brownie Starmatic uses 127 roll film and features auto exposure with a fixed focus lens. The film speed can be set with a dial on top of the camera and exposure can be set to auto or adjusted with the EV (exposure value) dial on top of the camera. The film that I chose for this week was an unidentified color film with England printed on the wrapper. After opening it, the metal spool was rusted, who knows how the film had been stored over the years. Wondering what I would get from the photo results with such a sorry looking roll of film and an untested camera, I ventured out on my lunch break on a brisk, late fall day last week.
Not knowing the speed of the film, (I guessed it might be a 100 speed color film) I set the film speed on the camera to 50 and the the EV dial to auto exposure. I went for walk down to the Inner Harbor in Baltimore on this bright sunny day and shot a few photos along the way. I got a few of the usual touristy photos - the U.S.S. Constellation, Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum, and the Water Taxi with the National Aquarium in the background. I really was not confident that I would get any images on the roll of film, but I did enjoy going on that photo walk on such a nice sunny day.
I had mixed up a fresh batch of Kodak D-76 the day before developing and eagerly took the whole camera into the changing bag, just in case there were any snafus with the film roll. I usually have some difficulty spooling older 127 roll films onto the Paterson reel, the rolls are so tightly wound that it's difficult to get them started. I developed the roll of film for 10 minutes with my usual method (room temp developer - I don't take the temp), water stop bath, 5 minute fixer, rinse and then generic film rinse aid from Freestyle Photo. This method works for me (varying the developing time with each type of film) so I haven't experimented too much with different temps and developers. I use D-76 or Caffenol for black and white films, C-41 for color, and I've taken a stab at E6.
I was very pleasantly surprised at the quality of the photos I got from this roll of film, the auto exposure on the camera worked pretty well for this unidentified film. After developing, I hang the negatives from a clothes hanger with clothespins on the ceiling light fixture in my studio to dry, then scan the negatives with an Epson V500 Photo flatbed scanner. Photos are then spot dusted in Photoshop with levels adjusted.
Kodak Pazzazz Camera
Week 46 - Kodak Pazzazz 110 Camera that my stepfather found while going through his desk, which he then gifted to me (along with a few other lo-fi cameras). A web search for information on the Pazzazz indicated that it was manufactured in Mexico, but the model I have shows a "Made in U.S.A." stamp on the top. The camera came in two colors, rose and turquoise, and was a very simple 110 load, point, and shoot camera. There is an on-off switch for the flash, requiring two AA batteries.
I had not been shooting on the project for a couple of weeks as I was taking care of my mother in her battle with breast cancer and I was heartbroken when she passed two weeks ago. It's been hard to pick it up again, but I want to finish the project so that I can start the new year with hope for a less painful, loss-filled one than of 2016. My father passed in early spring, then our beloved family pet beagle, Cinnamon, two weeks later, and now my mother. Even though my parents have been divorced for many years, and I had been very distanced from my father, both of my parents had a significant, meaningful impact on my life.
My stepfather had been going through some things, and found a few cameras that he thought I might like, and this little pink (fushia?) camera was in the bunch. The name simply called out that I shoot with it, and I still had a fresh roll of Lomography Lobster Redscale 200 110 film to load it with. I had returned from work after being on family leave and wanted to get back into my routine of walking at lunch break and shooting photos of the city. I shot the entire roll of film on my lunch hour that day, but I admit, I wasn't very discriminating in my compositions.
As you can see in the resulting photos, this camera with this film requires lots of light, perhaps I should have saved a few shots to use with the flash on the camera. The film was processed with Film Photography Project C-41 kit and scanned with Epson V500 photo.
Generic Plastic Camera - 52 Cameras, 52 Weeks
Week 31 - Generic plastic camera purchased at Morningstar Flea Market Antique Mall for $10. The tag said "Argus 35mm Camera" on it and came in a bright yellow box with the words "Say Cheese" and "Storer Cable", whatever that means. It also came with a cheaply made pleather carrying case. I did an internet search but could come up with nothing on a plastic Argus 35mm camera, or anything using the other words on the box. I thought at best, it could be a generic Holga or Diana type of camera. It felt quite heavy, probably had a weight in the bottom of the camera.
On the front, the lens reads "Optical Color Lens, Auto Fix Focus 50mm Lens 1:6." It has a tripod socket on the bottom and a rewind release button. I used a roll of FPP EDU 400 Black and White film from the Film Photography Project, as my color chemicals were recently expired. Photos were shot on a morning walk around Hanover, PA and also around Baltimore, MD on my lunch break. I found that the lens was much wider than the viewfinder indicated, I could have gotten closer on some of my shots.
It was very humid on the day I was trying to wind the film onto a developing reel in the changing bag, which resulted in a first failed attempt where in frustration, I shoved the film into the tank to protect it from light. I cooled off a bit and went back in while in a cool air-conditioned room. As a result the film got a little banged up with a few scratches and creases. I don't think it detracts much from the low quality of the photos that I got from this camera, I was hoping for photos with a dreamy quality and a little vignetting. The film was developed in Caffenol and scanned on Epson V500 Photo.
Ondu MKII 6x6 Pinhole Camera - 52 Cameras, 52 Weeks
Week 24 Camera - Ondu MKII 6x6 PInhole Camera received as a reward for backing the Ondu MKII Pinhole Camera Kickstarter campaign. I love pinhole photography - the wide angles, the slightly distorted views, and the occasional sun flare. I truly admire the pinhole photographers that can achieve these otherworldly images. I can't decide if I like black and white pinhole photos with smooth tones or the sometimes wildly colorful sun aberrations achieved in color pinhole photos.
The Ondu MKII 6x6 Pinhole is a beautifully made wooden camera with a new design where magnets hold the camera back in place as well as the film advance knobs and film spool holders. Their Kickstarter campaign had a few setbacks causing a delay in shipping the rewards, but I must say the camera was well worth the wait. Everything was light tight and the first roll of film through the camera worked great.
I chose to load my Ondu MKII 6x6 with expired Kodak Portra 160NC and I went pinholing on my lunch break on a beautiful day last week. I walked to one of my usual places for lunch, the Mount Vernon area, with the Washington Monument and the Gothically styled architecture of Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church. I prefer when the skies are partly sunny with puffy clouds, they look awesome in pinhole photos. It was very bright outside, without a cloud in the sky, but I did achieve aberrations in a couple of photos, not intentionally, but that was a bonus. I also shot a few photos in the backyard and of course, a front porch portrait of Brenda.
The film roll was developed with the Unicolor C41 kit from Film Photography Project and scanned on Epson V500 Photo flatbed scanner.