The Often Overlooked

One thing I love about photography and always have is finding the interesting in the ordinary. Bringing permanence on film to the often overlooked.

Gas station interior, U.S. Route 54, Vaughn, New Mexico, November 2004

Hasselblad 500C / Zeiss Planar 80mm/f2.8
Fuji Velvia 50 reversal film

When The Stars Align

Sometimes when shooting film it's like the stars align. I was out driving around and looking to start back up my series titled "Concrete Cathedrals" when I came across this scene. It was like not only finding the perfect Cathedral, but a pope to go with it. The title of the large vessel is "American Victory", which I thought was suiting given the fact that the 4th of July is upon us this upcoming weekend. That coupled with amazing clear skies and the exact combination of camera and film that I wanted led to this shot.

U.S. Route 53, Superior, Wisconsin, June 2015

Rolleiflex SL-66 / Zeiss Planar 80mm/f2.8
Kodak Panatomic-X print film developed in Rodinal 1:50

Everything's (not) Always Bigger In Texas

I recently started scanning a lifetime worth of film from the last fifteen plus years with my new Epson V800. I want to share some of my favorites here on the blog. You know the saying "Everything's Bigger In Texas"? Well, I'm guessing that this restaurant didn't get the message! haha. Either way, it provided a great focal point in this shot against an always amazingly blue Texas sky that was even more so enhanced by the use of Kodachrome reversal film.

If you can't tell already, my passion for photographing the small rural towns of the U.S. and especially in Texas runs deep. 

Farm-to-Market Road 471, Rio Medina, Texas, November 2000

Agfa-Ansco 4x5 view camera / Wollensak lens

Kodak Ektachrome SW-100 reversal film

Scanned on Epson Perfection V800 film scanner

Happy Birthday America

Happy Independence Day, everyone!

U.S. Route 87 (Business), Abernathy, Texas, February 2002

Rolleiflex SL-66 / Zeiss Planar 80mm/f2.8

Agfa RSX-II 50 reversal film

All In A Hard Night's Drink

Milton, Massachusetts, June 2000

Rolleiflex SL-66 / Zeiss Planar 80mm/f2.8

Ilford Pan-F 50 print film

Glorious Fujifilm Superia 200

Mission San Francisco de Asis (Mission Dolores)
San Francisco, California, October 2014

It is not news that digital has almost completely overtaken film in the past decade.  Film users have been marginalized since around 2003.

But that does not mean that film photography has remained at a standstill.  Fujifilm has continually been improving the quality of its products, even in their consumer lines.  I was on a shoot in the San Francisco Bay Area  this past fall, and ran out of Kodak Ektar 100 print film, so I bought a 4-pack of the only film the Safeway in Petaluma carried.

I popped it into my Hasselblad Xpan, and hoped for the best.  But little did I realize I would get the best.  The tonal range, color fidelity, and saturation easily match Fuji's NPS-160 professional film of just fifteen years ago.  A most pleasant surprise, and a big thanks to Fujifilm!