Wrapping up photography for the year.

Wrapping up photography for the year.

It's the end of another year and things have gone quite well. Not really sure if I should brag, boast or be humbled by all that has happened. Maybe it's all three and more but I truly had a good time shooting photos this year.  Been to several events, met some new people and learned more. With photography if you don't learn something or try something new, did you fail? I got out of my comfort zone , stepped into a new comfort zone, loved it!

The change has been great, for example being at track side infield during a stock race. Being in turn three as a car spins out and heads right at you. Even going to a hill climb on a whim and being at the top to see motorcycles going 3.2 seconds in 110 feet. Whoa and the wooded areas during a motorcycle/atv hare scrambles, being inches away from being squashed.

Tri-City Speedway-Thanks Tammy and Kevin

The new people I have met, awesome people I tell you. Take Drew and the crew at Cahokia Creek Dirt riders for letting me climb up at the hill and coming back for vintage bike day. The vintage bike day I met Bill, one of the coolest guys out there and  got me a spread in ARHMA.org magazine I think. Plus the CycleUSA magazine published a few shots and Chuck the man, fantastic read on the article.

Talked Tim from Belleville Honda into letting me get down in the infield for flatrack racing at Belle Clair, oh almost forgot then he crashed at the Springfield Mile while I was there shooting photos, thanks to IMDA for hosting.  Out of the city and to southern Illinois to check out Matt's track, nice and going through some growing pains but this will be worth it, will be heading back.  

Steve Nace KART racing

The craziest thing was going to see Steve at the Illinois fairgrounds for in KART racing, just blew my mind. Always my favorite place to go Splinter Creek, met quite a few new people, the staff are great there. So many riders/drivers I have met, two stick out the most for me, I'd like to think of them as the best thing to hit my lens. Met up with some photographers as well, Paul from up north doing up the FreeMotoPix.com comes to my mind. Gonna have to head north one day to see how he is doing.. Thanks to everyone that has let me photograph them at these events.

Springfield Mile 2013

Going to start the year off in a event that I can't pass up. The Speedway bikes racing on ice are my favorites and that how think I should do the year full throttle no brakes. Hmm, maybe I should try my luck at making a movie, kinda like On Any Sunday. Just wanted to wrap this blog up for the year and get ready for the next. Maybe I will see at track side and if so wave as you go by. Conclude, thanks for a great year and hello to a new year.

Print up some photos in a book but who should I have do it, Artisan State.

Print up some photos.

This year has been great for me, in a photography sense. I really like heading out to the new adventure scenario for photography. Most of the time it's the same stuff like a wedding, family photos or just hitting up the nature scene. This year I really pressed hard to get out  for something different, something my peers are not doing. So, let's go racing ! I headed to Tricity Speedway in Granite City, Splinter Creek in Fosterburg, Midwest Atv in Marion, Cahokia Creek in White City, Belle Clair in Belleville and one of the coolest places and race the Springfield Mile in Springfield. 

Over 600 photos at the Springfield Mile race, that is about normal for me at the races. Grabbed the Canon T70 and some expired color Kodak film as well, man did they turn out great. The colors of the riders, bikes and the dirt flying up in the air. After seeing these photos, someone posted on a common social media site about this company doing a little black book. I dare clack on the site in fear of being some bogus site, but I did.

Shayna Texter Racer 2013

Artisan State offered a "Little Black Book" for twenty bills and 16 cents, sound to good to be true, right. Well it was pretty good deal for me, twenty pages of mix digital and film shots of the race, the full page photo looks great, it's called a flush mount. Heavy, thick and colors are they way I sent them,  you say they didn't change any thing, that's correct. Imagine the person doing all of these racing photos for a company that specializes in wedding stuff, think they were scratching their head,ha.

Springfield Mile race 2013

The books are not really for a on the shelf sell type but more of a gift type of book. I gifted myself a really nice "Little Black Book". If your in market to do up some prints and want  a nice show piece or coffee accent, try them. Here is the link for you.

Artisanstate 

Editing tools for photography, more like a small lie.

Editing tools for photography, more like a small lie.

  These tools really improve your photos, no really they do. Well maybe they do and maybe they don't but still everyone uses them at one time or another. From the person who spends days on one photo or the person that spent ten minutes on cropping out something.  The abuse and the lack of when to edit is obvious when you see so much of these days. More or less the gist is what to use when editing photos, what do you use and why? In today's world of photos everyone is snapping photos and dumping them to the internets with out any concerns for others eyeballs.  Persons that does edit some of the photos prior to posting to the internet is  always trying to convey a difference from the original content of the photos taken. We all  want a better looking photo and the world deserves it, right. Take the phone photo of that hamburger and throw on some cross-process and vignette and bam the lie is there for all to see. If you look at a large corporations you don't see a lot the hipster-y stuff but instead more technical editing, a very large array of spectrum of editing out there. 

   What tools should you use? How do I pick the right tool/software? First go and look at at everything, magazines, advertisement on signs, billboards, menus and on and on. Get familiar with what looks good to you and what looks like something you want to avoid. From this point on you need more than one tool, go to a mechanics garage, see all of them freaking tools. They don't use only pliers for every job, or a hammer . Be a fact they are not only using many tools but many different brands. You are aware that many editors use a primary software but there is always another software. One may do vignette with a slider or a larger color wheel or different brushes  but each one has something you may need. Take a photo, edit in one software, then edit in another and try it another, results are similar but each adds another element to your edit. So, you need more than one tool. .

   Having  several tools/software programs is essential  and don't let some ass munch convince you that you need to spend hundreds of dollars just to edit. You should considered asking others on what software they use and if they only use one, avoid them. Most likely those people feel above others and are far superior, or to afraid break away from whatever trend they follow, example PS CS6 and Bamboo.  Those people feel the need be very pretentious and lack a lot but do love to over edit, with the rave of how great they are. That last sentence is very common in the photography arena but a tool is a tool, right. Ego plays a lot more to the editing process, than you may think. Ok, blah.

  Go for the  editing tools like Getpaint.net, Getgimp.com, Microsoft's photo manager, Picassa and Elements. Don't let people tell you these tools suck, they work great. I have had people tell me that these tools suck and it's always from someone that doesn't know how to use it. Software engineers have spent decades on creating these tools. So, the suck most likely comes from a user, whom really needs more of a status symbol versus good editing tools.  Go find the tools on the internet or go to store or wherever but you need several tools . Create at the magic lie for your photos, this maybe the only lie you can do, so do it well.

The tragedy you see in the news one day. Photographer gets trample to death by  flowers, a photographer took another photo of flowers and they uprooted and trample all over the photographer. Photographer dies from over saturation, while taking a photo of a rainbow a photographer stared into the rainbows color to long and gets saturated. Photographer gets paper cut from a photo when scrolling thru an internet album.

Lenspens cleans the lenses, gleaming glass

Lenspens cleans the lenses, gleaming glass

I was out and about in Belleville and did a quick stop at Creve Couer Camera. I wanted to get something to cleanse the ol' lens, if you know what I mean. Really after those two nights of stock car racing, it really needed it. I have in the past just used the micro clothe but there was always some residue. I grabbed a Lenspens and ran for the door, giggling away. 

Okay, I read the instructions and simple enough to use. Hold the lens firmly, dust with brush and begin to apply Lenspens all over in circle motion. For the tough spots try the HOT BREATHE trick, awesome result, quick breathe and then apply, bam gone, Ring ,ring the wife calls and ask me what I am doing. I tell her that I am busy with my hands going around in circular motion, she paused and became quiet. I then had to explain to her that no tissues will be used for the cleaning and everything is now a handy dandy Lenspens cleaned.

LensPen for the cleanest lens in town.

It does well, removed any debris and oil from the lens. Note caution though, the bristle do break off and can become lodge in the camera. I found this out by cleaning the mirror, one look through the view finder I see a bristle and freaked out. I eventually got the bristle out and the scare avoided.

Truly a need to have in the camera bag, clean right before a shoot or after. I say, yeah get you one, it can't be any worse damage to your lenses, if your like me on cleaning. I have used t-shirts, snot rags and anything clothy.

Link to their site: LensPen.

Basic essentials for Foreclosure Real Estate photography.

Basic essentials for Foreclosure Real Estate photography.

Some of the basic items for getting photos of foreclosed, REO and other real estate are a easily obtained at any store. Such as a camera, ink pen, some kind utility knife, batteries both rechargeable and not. You can get any of the items at just any store or when in a pinch at a gas station.

Cameras need not to be a DSLR but more of the better point and shoot type. The DSLR are to cumbersome and require extra care, you need some thing light and fast to grab. The DSLR also has a terrible time with battery life as well as the point and shoots but the point and shoots battery can be swapped out quicker. The point and shoot really needs a decent zoom, flash components and date and time stamp ability. Time stamp isn't always required but may be needed but the date is a must for photos.

Batteries for the point and shoot need to be the standard double A style, very common and can be purchased at just about any where. It doesn't make a different on brand, just due to the fact that the batteries eventually crap out. So, get some rechargeable ones and use those mainly but having an extra set of regular batteries for back up or in a pinch is always nice. I use a portable charger in my vehicle, on my way out, toss the rechargeable ones in and by the time you get to your destination they are ready to go.

Camera, Batteries, Pocket Knife, Ink Pen and Charger.

Other items I like to keep on myself are the pocket knife and inkpen. The pocket knife comes in handy for removing any ties or strings and some times plucking a lock open. The inkpen, well if you need to really know why, then maybe you shouldn't have one in your possession. Great for log in sheets or writing down a phone number or just letting someone borrow it.

Going into these types of home can be very dangerous, sometimes they are stash houses, squatters, unwanted animals but general empty and full of cobwebs. Any way watch your steps and be careful.

This is batman..........toys from previous occupants. 

Photographing Foreclosures

Photographing foreclosures can be a nightmare.

    Some asset manager sends you an email telling you that they have a new property and would like you to go and check it out. Normally the asset managers have little or no information to offer up, but most of the time they just are not willing to give information out. You head out to the property, given the info you have it's going to be a mystery.

Front Shot of house on stilts.

    You pull up to the property sweating in fear that some home owner is going to chase you off, luck be with you and it's vacant. Grab your keys and start heading for the door. Keys work and push the door open but before you go in you wait for the cock roaches finish falling and anything else that runs free. Stepping over the trash and adjusting to the stench,

Bedroom with dresser.

you start shooting, two shots of each room, the breaker, the furnace, and any damage. The whole time you creep through out the house hoping some one is not hiding in the house and the dead cat in the basement doesn't come alive and eat you.  You carry a three size D battery flashlight as if it's the best protection for you but most of the time there is really nothing in the house. Mean while you still need to get those photos done and you notice the is a barn, shed or some kind of out building you have to  check out as well. You get there and WTF there is a dead horse, dead dog, wasp and or it's full of junk and trash , I like it when it's an empty out building. 

Kitchen and trash.

  Some photos I have taken over the years have netted me a nice collection. One of the stranger things is the left items of people that did live at the property. You find some personel items  like family vaction photos, food, and the most odd stuff is always in the bathroom. The stuff people buy and do in a bathroom amazes me.  

Is this your bathroom

 Photos of the property needs to be what your asset manager thinks they need. Some basic photos are front, left, right, rear, mechanicals, address, trash in the house, at least two photos of each room, roof and street shots. This is only one part of the photos that you eventually will be getting, soon there will be trash out before and after photos, marketing photos and any repair that is going on. 

   Enjoy a few photos of some foreclosed properties, oh believe me these are the tamest ones I could post.

The Canon PowerShot SX160 IS review for Real Estate

 A quick review of the Canon SX160IS PowerShot camera.    
 One the most versatile cameras for Real Estate photography, it has all the needed options. Easy to handle, easy to store and meets the requirements of getting all of the shots. Simple to use and not also the power to be a great standard in your gear bag.

Street Views Canon SX160IS

      Let's discuss power of the the two AA batteries that make for convenience anywhere your at. I use six AA rechargeable batteries , always two of those batteries in the car charger. Depending on the brand and the age of the batteries, the camera with flash on can be drained quickly. When the flash is not in use the the batteries can last quite some time,
      The options of 640 x 480 is a must when shooting real estate foreclosures. The photo quality is better than expected at that size. Zooming in it gets pixel but that's a good thing, most other cameras try a corrections at that size and detail is lost. Why the size, storage is the biggest issue. If you can imagine that close to hundred thousand photos a week uploaded to an Asset Management company.

Kitchen Canon SX160IS

       You can look at Canon's website for greater detail but this is the camera that comes complete out the box ready to work. Real estate foreclosures, huds, reo, fannie and freddie properties all standards in common. The camera is AA power, can do 640 x 480, SDcard and date stamp,  and most other cameras are dropping the AA and using there own battery style. Losing the 640 x 480 and or the quality is so bad you can't see anything, the SD card pretty common and the date stamp is not an option on a lot of them.
The only thing it needs is the ability to shoot RAW but the Macro is great and the Auto option is a plus. In low light like any camera has difficult time focusing. 

Low Light CanonSX160IS

   Wrap this up, I took a pass on Nikon L26 because the very poor quality at 640x 480. The Canon SX160IS is a very useable camera and work horse for getting those real estate foreclosures photos. Don't take my word for it but I do like this camera.
All of the photos are straight from camera and as you can see it performs very well. Thanks for reading this quick review on the Canon SX160IS.

The Bronica Medium Format Camera

 Bronica ETRS

Jim Kennett was selling his Bronica ETRS and I bought it. Wait , what, why didn't you buy like somekind of new digital camera, well (giggling) I really just prefer the film. My all time camera when growing up was and still is the  Mamiya C220orC330  Twin Reflex, none the less a move from 35mmm to a Medium Format is comparable in today's market. I can get a great camera like this Bronica that is not going to kill my wallet, plus pushing those skills that get lost using digital come right back into play.  Alright, enough babbling.

Let's chat about this Bronica, first it's Medium Format, the 120mm film loads from the back and the weight is manageable. You can either use the view finder or just look from the top to see what your shooting.  The variety of lenses is like any other camera, short, long prime but the basic is the 75mm 2.8/f.  The orientation of the mechanics is a bit awkward at times, you search around feeling for buttons, but that goes away quick after you realize it's not the digital camera you normally throw around. 

You hold it up to your right eye, left hand under it, right hand to maneuver the focus ring, advancing the film and trying to maintain level shooting. This  Bronica has DOF that is very exacting and the you need the patients of a monk to find that sweet spot. If I am shooting some landscape, no problem but when shooting portraits is where you really need a lot practice.  See the example above looks quite nice but the photo below shows that I leaned forward by about an inch. I had her in focus and believe she was in that sweet spot but for some odd reason I did just lean forward just a little.

 

I was focused on her right side of her face but as you can see her far left side is in focus. The only lighting going is a couple modeling lights and a quick test shot with a digital told me I had just enough light. The focus has very thin line as you can follow it all the way down the photo. I am going to figure this out and most likely will be packing the Bronica just about every where I go, it'll be worth it. Thanks Holly for being such a great sport. 

Ok, back from rambling.  The audio the film cameras make are so unique. My Mamiya MSX 500 has a great sound, the Nikon FG20 has great sound and so does this Bronica. The clack of the mirror, the button being be pushed, the hand cranking sound of advancing film, the moving parts all slapping around when you hit that button to take a photo, it's a sound that I just like to hear. It's one of those noises in life you don't mind hearing. 

Film, ran a roll Foma BW, Portra and working on a roll Kodak BW at the moment, when the roll is ready, grab up the chemicals and get all mad scientist in developing this roll.  I will link back the Portra shots later on.

Well Bronica is no longer made so getting accessories at time maybe challenge so, if you got one hold it to it some like me may need some thing.

Contrast my a**, try harder. Pssttt..try the side note today.

Contrast filters:
 I dwell into the basement, stumbling down the steps, grumbling as I go along. The thoughts running through my head on how to get what I want. I mixed my chemicals as usual, set-up the enlarger as normal and begin.
   Crap-o on the prints and then I final dial it in. What I wanted was hard blacks and whites, like back in the old magazines of some kind of perfume model out on the street sidewalk. I was always kinda of drawn to that look and have been trying to get to that stage in printing. Now a lot of people don't like that look and I really don't care but it's what I want in photo, a black and white photo.

Ilford contrast filters.

       So, the enlarger is set at 2 stops up fully being closed down. The timer is set at just about nine half second's. The number 4+ contrast plate was put in place and then I waited.  While shaking the pan and may I say I shake a good pan, the photo begins to appear. Hot chocolate I did, man there it was hard blacks and whites. Nope this has to be a fluke, did again and again, pretty happy the results.  You can check Ilford's contrast page at this link: Ilford contrast filters. Any way this was all done on 5x7 sheets, so some 8x10's are in the future.

Side Note:
First listen to the NPR radio show about the presidents photographers. Here is the link:NPR radio presidents photographers. The most annoying part is how Robert McNeely revels about film and then just goes into this horrid crash of What are you talking about syndrome. Clearly he has the only and last darkroom on the earth and all of the others have perished during the great digital camera evolution. See, the bad thing is that the film industry is still growing and is still recognized as the standard for film/photo.  Even as I type, there is a massive debate on 35mm being and remains the champ to the finest digital camera out there. So, dear Mr. McNeely come out of the basement and join the rest of us, I believe you may hold a great knowledge of something in film and it would be a bitch for you squander it away in a basement. ( I drop the mic hard to ground and exit left of stage, lights drop low, crowd goes silent)

Darkroom Chemical mixing for part ratio

Darkroom Mixing

 Darkroom chemical mixing to some can be  a bummer. Look if your new or wanting to start a darkroom one of the hardest things to find out is what/how to mix the chemicals. I never said I was a genius at mixing and it can be  a daunting task to a lot of mathematical challenged people.

    If you read the flyer on the chemical bottle or go to the dev chart and start reading and get confused don't stop there. It's actually not to hard to figure out. You need to know several things first, what is the size of the bottle your pouring mix into. I make small batches, I use the 354ml brown bottles. Next is the ratio for Developer, Stop, Fixer, I know these are stated on the flyer of the bottles. Developer from Ilford is 1 to 9 and we are only going to  use this example but the principal remains the same  for the rest. So, 1 to 9 parts.....crap head hurts...but mush through this you can do it.

     Take out your smart phone and click the calculator and take 354 and divide it by 9, that will get you 39.3 and I round up to 40. Now pour 40ml of developer into your measuring cup.Then  pour that into your brown bottle. Now add 354 ml of water to your 40ml that you just poured. Now your first chemical is mixed and repeat process for stop,fixer,photo flo and what ever else.

    This is also for processing your film and also for processing/prints in your darkroom. I highly recommend you follow the Dev chart if processing film and follow the bottles directions if making prints.

    I made a horrible video for you to watch.

   So, here it is again. 354÷9=40............40 added to 354= mixed.

Bonus:  

 Please remember that you are mixing parts and you will need to adjust. Depends on age chemicals, paper, film etc...this is not an exact technique and you can cause errors. Always rely on safety as well, you are mixing things. Mark your bottles well and trays as well. I always make a little extra developer  to add as I print to help keep up spent developer.  Now that's whole another blog in it's self.Developer....pffttt
Some links :Analog film group
Devchart

Walter's post Craigslist: Darkroom forsale

    I will make this short as possible. I already have an enlarger the Lentar69 and really wasn't in the market for a different. My thought was research what I need for a darkroom, you know the "stuff". I looked through a ton of material and everyone had the grandiose set-ups, all pro and crap. I stopped looking for a while then one day on Craigslist I glimpsed at a post "Darkroom for sale" scimmed thru but wallet was thin that week. So, I will check back later, you know CL has a 45 day posting ,right? So, a couple of weeks later I answered the CLpost and it was still for sale, yes(fistpump).
        I get the cash, call the guy up, hey be there in 20mins, ok, ok, boom I am there in the garage with the "stuff". I meet Walter. I am thinking well it's time to work the magic, how much do I get him lower the price. I started my speel but suddenly stopped,
       Walter tells me his story. He purchased everything new, his inspiration came from his father, a veteran war photographer ,dad loved his Rollie. Anyway Walter did BW darkroom printing and encouraged the children to get into photography. The kids used the darkroom as well for years and then they packed it all away. It lay in a basement for years and now Walter and wife are moving and stuff needs to be sold off.
            That's when I met Walter and so glad I did. I did a quick print wrote some stats on it, drop it off and went about my way.
   Now I got an entire darkroom, Thanks to Walter. Check it out in the photo's.

Darkroom Beseler 67C

You're such a pro....photographer.

  You're such a pro photographer , most likely  you thought that about some person in some kind of setting, right.  With that thought you also most likely went ,hey how, why, what and when did my photos not look as good as other photographers, what ever that person is doing I must do. I need to be a professional photographer and I must do what others do and that makes me a pro  photographer. I think of a pro photographer is one that sells and has to put everything down as income to some IRS paper. That's what a pro is today but maybe you can change  that and make it more about something else.

  When someone sees a great photo and they want to try and emulate it, naturally the photo they are trying to reproduce can't be done  by the average non pro photographer. People don't understand that what they see is staged and processed  in great detail. One great photo is most likely thirty and one, plus thousands of dollars in gear and a staff of ten, then back to a computer where the real photo of today's media is actually produced. Wow, wait it's not just about the camera any more now it's some software program as well. I have seen horrible photos turned into great photos by a software program and vice versa.
  You don't need to be a pro photographer, all you need to be is a person that doesn't have any limitations in photography. One of the things I find is you just need to stop being envious of others, lose the ego that others have and if the enjoyment is gone, packed it away and come back to it another day.  You maybe more of a pro than you really know it. Make it more about something else.

Canvas print from the Imperial'ist Model 666

Canvas print 8x10 from the canvaspeople.com

     I was wondering on  how  to get my hands into printing by the way of film but the Canvaspeople.com came through on a deal that could not be passed. Ok, I was going to go and buy a bunch of material, like chemicals, paper, build a dark room and anything else to do a print by hand, that's still in the future though.
      I was on  a search for all of the darkroom material when I found an online company called Canvaspeople.com, the offer was a free  8x10 canvas print,   pfffft   right. Well crap this has to be one of those cheesy ass marketing deals, right. It was not , actually the only thing I paid was the $15.00 for shipping and was more than gladly to pay that. Most of these company's want you to buy one get one free plus shipping on both and use this code, blah blah and it winds costing you a freaking arm and leg in the end.
      I would recommend them for a print or two, I was truly suprised at a real wooden frame and a nicely pulled tight canvas with a darn tooting good looking print quality as well.  I guess my next stop is to get the canvas print framed, hmmm sound like I am off to Micheal's maybe. Here is the link to them,   canvaspeople

Imperial"ist gets printed and mounted to wall!

St.Louis Arch and Old Court House

Yes, I nail his ass to the wall when I get it ,hahahaha. I did a few shot a while back with the Imperial Reflex and had negs done to digital. Today I ordered a canvas print and will be excited to get it soon. I went to the Canvaspeople.com and ordered the 8x10 of the shot sen below. I will get a darkroom together soon and still print but for the fastest way to see a print from a camera made in the 50's and in the USA is doing this canvas print.  Here is a link to canvas people site: http://www.canvaspeople.com/

Lentar L69 enlarger gets clocked cleaned

  The Lentar L69 will get cleaned today. The light will come off and the magnify plate will be dirt free. There is enough dirt on it to write your name. Looks like a vacuum maybe needed as well, crap when you get the free stuff elbow grease is required.  The plate is for 35mm and not 120mm , with that in mind I need to start prepping for the darkroom.  Time to be shopping, shhh don't tell my wife ok.
  The short video is how dirty this free Lentar L69 is, it only took about two hours to clean. Dismantling this relic and reassembling went flawlessly, but the giant ass lens gave me a moment to pause and wonder. One day I will shove that lens in front of camera. Any tips on darkroom? You got some?

                                                             Video on dirty enlarger.

Mr. Imperial'ist meet Mr.Lentar L69

   I got this Lentar L69 photo enlarger and it works. Sure hell yeah it was free, like all the bad good things in life. The glass is covered enough dust to write hello on it, the light works great, the red safety lens cover is intact and plus the lens and bellow are freaking there. Bell shaped blue monster may create a photo but it's coming this machine, why you ask, well because it only has a 35mm slot. That's the suck part of this whole thing, so I went ahead and crammed the 120 negative I there anyway and hit the switch. Thought for sure my ass would laying on the floor due to some electrical short but that didn't happened(sweating bullets).

Lentar L69 photo enlarger.

      Low and behold an image appeared out of focus and few quick turns the photo becomes clear. Now all of my chemicals are at Edward Crimm's STLPA.com studio, craptastic. So, I am going to rip this machine apart to clean it and take it to Ed's. If any one has a 120mm slide for the enlarger let me know.  When I print the photos, I will do a limited amount, if you would an original email me with details and I could send you one.

Imperial'ist resulted in crazy photos.

Orpheum theater downtown St. Louis ©2012

   Got the negatives back from Creve Couer Camera store in Edwardsville after having them scanned to digital format. The horrific vignette and the random blur is very noticeable in most of the shots. The film drags along the 2 1/4 film window and massive drag lines appear. There is no way in this great earth that could reproduce  the results achieved from this camera. No shop program could duplicate the results, that's one the remarkable things about shooting in film format. Plus with this being my first ever roll of 120 developed with Kodak products. Take a look at the shots and look for those crazy little imperfections. I am on the hunt for an enlarger and then back to buy some Ilford paper to make  prints.

Imperial'ist test time and broken virginity's

        After spending 40 dollars at Creve Couer camera in Edwardsville for developer, fixer bath etc.... I called Ed Crimm of STLPA.COM and asked if he would help tear through my virginity on developing 120 film. Ed had his own film company for awhile and so he had to get everything out of  storage. Any way we are at his his studio on Hoodiamont off the Delamr Loop. He got everything mixed, conquered the first roll with results. I did study every move he made. I got in the black box, looped the spool, grabbed the steel tank and went to mixing. We concluded 70 degrees and 10 minutes would suffice. I am super duper stoked on doing this,  crap'ola I get result. I am so glad that Ed was kind of enough to take time out of his day for schooling on developing film. I thought he said  it was years last time he had done this, like that poof  Jedi sense was there between student and master.

The Negative from the first roll.

  I have shot many of 35mm film and always out for to be processed by someone. When I got this Imperial Reflex I knew this was a must do by hand. So my cherry got POPPED on developing, so hooked.  The smell of the fixer reminded me of Maritz lab's in  Fenton,Mo. My mom worked in the developing department for their film, huge giant machines with pools of chemicals. A smell you can't forget.

Negatives inverted.

        I took the negatives to Creve Couer Camera to be scanned, suck's that I must wait about week to get them back but hey, this project is coming along. When I get the Digital back, we post it up on here.

The Imperial'ist Reflex went to the streets...

    Got my 120 film loaded and working quite nicely, if I say so myself. On May 5th I headed to the street of St. Louis #STL on Washington . I started off very eagerly and remembered hey "you ain't no digital cam". Slow and steady I went looking for that shot.
    I manage to fill the roll with enough eye candy that when the roll will be developed, it will be shit or great. I like to call that the craptastic theory in shooting film. Sometime this week the the roll will be sent out . Until then, waiting will drive me off to another project. As soon as the prints are back I post up the Imperial'ist reflex photos'. Here is a street shot from my Canon T1i for now.

The St Louis Metro Station

Imperial Reflex: Behind the red glass

  The Imperial Reflex has this red glass  window on the rear of the camera. Now that's ok'  if you have good light to see the advancing numbers and dots. The Fomopan 120 film has correlating numbers and dots that you have to patiently watch for while advancing.  Turn the camera into some good light while advancing, when you get to number one, take your shot. While turning the knob watch for  the four dots, they get progressively smaller until the next number appears. When you get to that next number, get it as close to center of the red glass.
    From what I understand, is that if your off some you may shoot onto the  next frame. But hey if I am wrong please correct and when the film is developed and scanned that will  confirm.  I did find that red glass eye hole is a true bitch to see anything though it, slowed myself down and got really keen on following the 120 film moving (mystical).

Imperial Reflex Grey camera

    Watching it going in it's cycle made the thought process more clear on shooting the next frame. You get pretty excited when shooting digital, 500 clicks and 470 deletes later, you just lose the effort  on taking your next shot.. I had some preachy crap coming up next but blah blah... anyway, try to treat your digital shooting as if you have to look at that red glass. Think of shooting the next shot as next frame on 120 film  and number ten with only four frames left. Each time you hit that shutter it's  a genuine two dollar bill coming out your wallet. Wow, I clearly see though that crappy little red glass dot on the back of Imperial reflex duo lens grey lee harvey oswald model 666 camera.