Things aren't always black and white - Kodak BW 400CN - #AllTheFilm

So I'm a little spoiled to being able to drop my film off and pick up my scans and negatives the next day.  I kind of suck at utilizing the postal service, and I have the patience of a wasp, so it just works for me to be able to drive two rolls into town, run some errands, and come back the next day or the next week, and I know they will be waiting for me.  There's only one catch.

They don't offer processing for black and white.

And this makes me sad.

So I decided to shoot a roll of Kodak BW 400CN, which is C-41 (color) process film.

The first thing I noticed: a rather beautiful inconsistency in tone, depending of lighting; as in some were almost a true black and white, some were more sepia, and some were this strangely beautiful cyan-like monochrome.

So without a ton of rambling, I'll just show you the resulting images from my roll, and you can see for yourself.

Is it just me, or do the highlights have an awesome cyan tone to them?

Notice the sepia tones are rather strong in this one.

I promise I have more than one kid, but this is the one that likes the camera.

So the results (for me at least) were fairly inconsistent; in fact, I did a slight desaturation on a few of them because the sepia was rather strong, and I'm not a fan of the brown tones in my black and white images, but I left enough for you to see the variations in the results.  It's an acceptable subsitute for decent black and white film, as long as you know you may need to desaturate if consistency in tones is important in your work.  It will definitely have a place in my bag, at least until I learn to develop my own, or develop enough patience to send some off for processing.

Until next time-

xoxox

Leah J

Technical Details:

Nikon F100

Kodak BW 400CN (rated at box speed)

28mm 2.8D

Lensbaby Composer Pro + Sweet 35 Optic

Processed at Dury's of Nashville and scanned on Noritsu

From a distance, almost everything looks real.

Sometimes the only dreams I have are the ones I make.

I miss dreaming.

I miss flying.

So I create a place for my thoughts to dwell.

I close my eyes and imagine my feet in the clouds,

my wings in the wind.

I hold my breath and wonder why my feet have to touch the ground.

I'm weak and I'm tired, but my heart still beats.

My lungs still breathe.

My wings are broken, but my song stays strong.

My tears still flow.

Sometimes I wonder if I kept going, could I find my way to heaven?

Why do my feet need the ground?

I miss dreaming.

I miss flying.

From a distance, everything looks real.

xoxo- Leah

Image Details:

Fujifilm X-e1

35mm 1.4

glass prism for reflection

Photoshop:

minor color and light adjustments

pincushion lens effect with Nik software

Ocean is Calling - Provia 100F - XP #allthefilm

Once upon a time, there was a girl who dropped film off to be processed, and in the chaos of life, forgot all about it.  Then one gloomy, January day, she got an unexpected call from her magical film lab saying, "You have scans waiting for you".  Suddenly, her gloomy, cold, January day was filled with anticipation.  She bundled up in a warm, wool coat and gloves and made the long drive into town, where she discovered her scans with a contact sheet that made her absolutely giddy.  She rushed home, loaded the scans into her computer, and looked with wonder and amazement.  She was instantly transported back to that beautiful June morning, when she stood facing the Gulf of Mexico, with the sun rising behind her, the sounds of waves and seagulls in her ears, the smell of salt in the air, and the ocean breeze in her hair.  She giggled and smiled at the images before her, thankful that she asked for the film to be cross-processed, thankful that she was shooting Provia 100f, and thankful that she had these images to remind her that the ocean is always calling.

I can smell the salt in the air, can you?

It's been a while since I have blogged, but these scans gave me instant motivation, and to shoot more film.  I'm pretty sure I can say that cross-processed provia is my spirit animal.  I adore the punchy contrast, cool, vivid tones, and all the extra grain.  I also adore the Nikon 28 2.8D for a painterly feel on landscapes, and for whatever reason, the updated G version lens just doesn't offer the same painterly quality.  If you want to see more of this film/camera/lens combo, click here.

Details:

Location: Panama City, Florida

Gear: Nikon F100 | Nikon 28 2.8D

Film: Fujifilm Provia 100f (cross processed)
Processed/Scanned: Dury's of Nashville | Noritsu

Until next time, 

xoxo-Leah

Stone Oak

Climb me, for I'm made of stone

Lean against me when alone

Come and rest beneath my shade

I am the place where dreams are made

Lie beneath me, call me home

I've learned so much as I have grown

Find beneath my ancient limbs

The wind here sings the wisest hymns

My Limbs won't break, my roots go deep

Your secrets I am sworn to keep

So come to me when hope is gone

And climb me,

For I'm made of stone

xoxo- Leah

Experimenting with Light - #FindingTheLightWithErinHensley

I have a lot of photographer friends. A lot. Really.  And I have learned from and been inspired by all of them at some point. But there's this one, Erin Hensley, that has a nifty little group on facebook, and every month she has a theme to inspire people to get out and shoot, and I really, really love it.  Not only is it filled with eye-candy of nearly 5k photographers (yes, nearly FIVE THOUSAND), but it's filled with lots of support and sharing of knowledge. August's theme was "Experimenting with Light", and since I had quite a few interesting images as a result of this theme, I thought I would blog them.  I am really loving the results of trying some new tricks and re-trying some old ones.

So, without further jabber, here are the fruits of my inspiration.

 This one was shot as I rode shotgun with one of my best friends, Amie (another amazing photographer friend), and she indulged my quirky desire to shoot landscapes at a slow shutter speed while in motion.  That's a good friend, y'all.

Another one from my drive with Amie.  I love this so much, I am going to name it and write some poetry about it.  Don't judge me.

 These two were also done while Amie drove and let me hang out the window of her car with my shutter slowed waaaay down (it was past sunset).  These two look to me like paintbrush strokes, or the pinkish one like a peacock feather and the blue one reminds me of wind.

 Now, this one looks to me like a reflection in a puddle.  It's actually an out of focus image shot through a glass door while it rained, with one of those little spiral shaker balls (like from a shaker bottle for smoothies) held about an inch away from the lens.  Neat, huh?

 Teensy-tiny little ant-sized bug of some sort, on a tiny little flower in my yard.  This one was captured "reverse freelensed", or with the lens detached and rotated backwards for the soft, dreamy effect with macro capabilities.

 Another reverse freelensed image.  I love the way freelensing catches and manipulates flare.

 This one and the next three, were done using a prism.  It's a nifty, but tricky little gadget and makes for some really beautiful, surreal, other-worldly images.

Very surreal, like a dream.

And this one looks like either heavy fog, or a pathway above the clouds.

This one makes my rainbow-loving, inner-child happy.

This lovely, glowy image was catured at dark, beneath Amie's porch light.  It's actually a multiple exposure using a prism. I think it's dreamy, and I dig it.

Technical Details:

Nikon D700
Nikon 50 1.4D | Nikon 28 2.8D
Prism
Imagination
Rad friend willing to drive while I hung out the passenger window

If you want to be inspired, or just have a hankering for eye-candy, join the Finding the Light with Erin Hensley group on facebook, follow her on Instagram and like her facebook page.  You can thank me later.

Love-

Leah