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So I finally got the chemistry I needed to process my film and gave it a try today.  Here are a few of the frames from that first roll of Kodak T-MAX 400 B&W Film.

It had been a really long times since I last processed a roll of 35mm film.  I was a little nervous about messing it up.

Here are some of the technical details.

Canon EOS 650 – EF 50mm 1.8 MkII
T-MAX 400 Film
HC-110 Developer Dilution B (1:31) 7.5 min @ 68F
Ilford Stop 2 mins
Kodafix 5 mins

The negatives were shot using my Canon 40D with a 50mm lens and a 21mm extension tube.  I hope to make some prints in a week or two when I finish setting up my darkroom.

I received a film camera in the mail today.  That’s right film.  I found a used Canon EOS 650 (circa 1987) on eBay.  I have been looking for a medium format Yashica MAT twin lens reflex at a price I can afford.  I’ve set a very low ceiling on what I’m willing to pay, therefore I still don’t have one.  But, when I saw the Canon for $16 and change the price was right.   So far I’ve shot about half a roll of T-MAX 400 B&W film.  Here is a photo of it with my fifty 50 mounted.

I’m in the process of setting up a small darkroom so I can at least process some B&W film, and if all goes well I may end up with a second (or third) hand enlarger so I can make some prints.  I was about to order some HC-110 developer, but a friend of mine may have a supply of D-76 he doesn’t want that I may get.   I have a tank and some reels (35mm and 120), so all I need to do now is pick up the chemistry and a few other odds and ends and I can start processing film.  It’s been 25 years since I last did that, so I hope it come back quickly.

I’ll post another update when I successfully process a roll of film.

I’ve seen this done by both David Hobby and Zach Arias and wanted to give it a try.  One of my problems is lack of models.  I usually end up making my kids model so I can try out a new technique, but they get bored with me very quickly.  Thankfully, Sara didn’t mind too much and let me get a few shots off while the light was still pretty good.

It was getting dark fast when I finally got set up for this one.  I’m using my Canon 430EXII (manual 1/2 power) on a lightstand with a 45″ convertible (shoot-through) umbrella.  I was shooting at f/11 and this shot was at 1/100th sec and roughly 100mm.  I didn’t have my tripod out, so once I got below about 1/60th it was getting hard to hand hold.

This was shot just outside my back door so I was unable to take the full body shots I wanted because I didn’t want to include my neighbor’s house and dog kennel in the frame.  I stuck to head-and-shoulders to avoid background clutter.  Next time I do this, I need to go out on location, maybe to the lake.

Now that I’ve shot this technique once, I want to go back and try a dozen different ways to light it.  I especially want to shoot this with some back light on her hair.

I managed to get my son Will to stand still for a few minutes so I could try a few shots with the Octabox.  I really like the way the light wraps around him.  Here are the results.

Click for enlargements.

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Today was a nice warm February day, so I took a trip to the park with my camera.  I finally had a chance to try out my new 70-200 2.8L on some wild life.  Here are a few samples.

Click for big versions.

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I have been looking at several softboxes for a while.  I’ve done the shoot through umbrella to death.  It’s a nice effect for the right situation, but I wanted to get something a little bigger and flatter without all of the spill.  I had decided on a nice large rectangular softbox.  The problem is that for some reason, the boxes I had looked at were still all pretty expensive for my budget.  Then I stumbled upon an eBay store selling a lot of softboxes, octaboxes, brolly boxes and assorted other goodies.  Best of all the prices were right, the shipping was free and they were shipping from the USA.  None of the 10 day to two weeks wait from China.

They have octaboxes anywhere from 80 cm to 200 cm.  I decided on the Octabox over the rectangular due to the price and the round catchlight produced in portraits.  For some reason the Octaboxes are cheaper than similarly sized softboxes, which is backwards from everywhere else I looked.  The one I purchased was the 150 cm model; it included a speed ring compatible with my Alien Bees monolight, a egg crate grid and a carrying case.   I ordered it last Monday and it arrived on Thursday.  All for less than $80 shipped.

I chose the 150 cm because the cost vs. size ratio seemed like the best option for me.  I probably didn’t need one quite this large, but it wasn’t much more than the size smaller.  And this thing is LARGE.  The 150 cm is measured from opposite corners, but for me it is easier to consider that the opposite sides are 4.5 feet (54 inches) apart.  It is about 24 inches from the face of the box to the face of my monolight.  It is a beast.  I have it mounted on my Impact Heavy Duty air cushioned light stand and it holds it perfectly.  I wouldn’t go with anything lighter.

The construction is surprisingly good.  I was expecting a cheapish satin like umbrella material, but it feels more like a tarp.  The seams are well put together with the corners heavily reinforced.  It includes a  diffusion panel that clips  inside the box to eight elastic loops that help guide the metal support rods from the speed ring to the corners.  The front panel is secured with velcro as is the optional grid.  I had read that octaboxes were a pain to assemble, and it does take a little effort, but I didn’t think it was that bad.  The only tricky part was making sure that you put the correct ends of the rods into the speed ring.  The rods have caps on each end are they are different sizes, just match the larger end in the speed ring.

I will be posting some more detailed shots later as well as some shots of how it works.

I picked up this lens a few weeks ago, but haven’t had time to comment on it yet.  Here is a photo.  I took this one with my daughters XTi.

If you liked my previous post about using a leftover container lid as a lighting gel, then you may like this as well.  Today, I went to the local copy center armed with a USB drive with some solid color images on it.  They printed my colors on 8.5×11 transparency sheets.  They didn’t quite print edge to edge, but it was close enough.  I put one color per sheet because I wanted to test them on both my mono light and my speedlight.

As you can see from the image I only had seven printed today, Red, Orange, Purple, Dark Blue, Light Blue, Light Green and Dark Green.  They were $1.89 each before taxes and I wanted to give them a try before I spend more money.    I’m going back for more colors later.  I’m also going to design some sheets with 10 colors per page that will be sized for use with my speedlight only.  I’ll be able to get a lot of different colors on just a few sheets.  I may also try some textures and gradients.

Here are some test shots.

It’s been almost a year since I purchased my DSLR.  I had been interested in photography since I took Photography from Mr. Davis in high school.   But, I always considered getting an SLRs to be too big of an investment to get involved with.  Especially since I have a tendency to throw myself into my hobbies pretty hard.  I considered converting part of the basement of my old house in Williamston into a dark room.  Then I would have to equip it with an enlarger, chemistry and all the other goodies that make a dark room work.  I could see early on that it wasn’t the right time to launch my photography hobby.   Instead, I pursued other interests that I enjoy.

I spent a couple of years playing paintball and investing in equipment and other expenses.  Then the Society for Creative Anachronism caught my eye and I spent a summer buying and building armor to participate in SCA heavy weapons fighting.  I made medieval garb and traveled to events when I could.  I made some great friends and had lots of fun.  But the investment of time was too great so I dramatically scaled back my activities.  My life long enjoyment of shooting started  calling to me again and I starting going to the shooting range.  I got my concealed weapons permit.  Then I started picking up a few new guns here and there.  And of course I needed to reload my own ammo, so I purchased some equipment for that.  After I while I started missing the paintball and the SCA, but I wasn’t as young as I used to be and didn’t really want to wake up sore after a day of getting shot with paint or beaten with a stick.  So, I went back to the SCA, but this time I started fencing.  Fencing is still a good physical work out, but not as punishing as heavy weapons.  And the clothes are better.  But, I digress.

Continue reading ‘Looking back’ »

You improvise. As you can see from this image, I wanted to gel my background light, but I didn’t have any gels. So foraged around the house for a while and this is what I came up with.

Continue reading ‘What do you do when you don’t have any gels?’ »