MorseBlog

As I started to write my post on Chromogenic film I realized I was digging deeper into the whole subject of printing C41 negatives and the reason why Chromogenic black and white film exists. It just so happens I had finished a couple of rolls of film in my Mamiya 645 Pro.  These rolls violated one of my rules of mixing color and black and white shooting in the same session. The great thing was I had some photos of the same subject taken back-to-back on both black and white film (Ilford HP5+) and color negative (Kodak Portra 400).  Here is the color version.  When I first got into film photography (over 10 years ago!) I preferred reversal (slide film) over color negative film. I had struggled to get good colors with scanned negative film. Eventually I learned enough to know how to get good color correction on color negative scans. After I came back to color negative f...

We are entering summer now and what I call the 'tyranny of green'. It is never a very productive time for capturing new images for me. I tend to stick with black and white as a result and spend more time in the darkroom as well. Ironic in that when the weather is nicer I find myself in s small darkened room! I have been taking a few photos with my Mamiya 645 after I had some meter problems which I adjusted. I broke my rule about not shooting black and white and color at the same time. I find each requires a different mind set and alternating film backs can be confusing and not very satisfying.  So I accumulated a roll of images on Kodak Portra 400 over the past month plus. I have a parallel roll of black and white I am not quite through the roll however. Despite mostly being snaps without any real intent artistically a few images came out well. I took most of these with my 150mm f3.5 lens sometimes with the 2x teleconverter. One image was with my 80mm f1.9 which is the widest l...

 I have often used Kodak Portra 800. I find the grain is acceptable in medium format and have printed 6x17 images to 20 inches and they look very clear.  The speed is great for shooting handheld in challenging circumstances. I have used it with my Fuji G617 a beast of a camera which is surprisingly easy to shoot handheld though it looks pretty ridiculous. Portra 800 works nicely because the 105mm lens has a center filter to reduce the vignetting of the lens. The center filter takes a stop of exposure however. So ISO 800 film becomes effectively ISO 400. The problem with Portra 800 is it much more expensive than Portra 400. This got me to thinking about using pushed Portra 400 instead. The internet is full of examples that looked pretty good.  Below are some examples of Portra 800 images.  Portra 800 Photos Taken with Fuji G617 (all handheld) I set up my Mamiya 645 Pro with a roll of Portra 400 and set the film holder to ISO 800 so the meter would think it had ISO 800...

This describes a few days of visits to Monk's Wood over a week.   Post Title Image Day 1 I have been neglecting Monk's Wood this last month or so. I have become enthralled with Holme Fen and the silver birches and deep fern undergrowth. This past morning I broke that fast drove out before sunrise.  I loaded up my pack and setup my tripod and changed shoes before heading into the mud tracks. Monk's Wood has a very heavy clay soil and is well trodden by walkers of all varieties even in the winter. The consequence is that by mid-winter some tracks can be almost paralyzingly slippery with mud. The mud one gets used to, but the inability to make progress in some places or the sense one will end on your arse in an unexpected moment can add a level of frustration to an otherwise wonderful outing.  Fortunately while it is muddy, it isn't at 'peak mud' yet. In the pre-dawn gray darkness I walk the farm track to the entrance gate and head up...