Point Reyes National Seashore Ranch
These are my first shots using film in quite some time. I want to thank Warren for re-kindling my interest in using film again.
A few observations and perhaps this will spur some comments on the blog; (a) I used the Ilford Delta 400 film noir blanc and for the subjects and given the weather it seemed to work, but the grain in my opinion seems rather large, on a clear day when you want to clearly depict a subject perhaps this would not be the film to use. (b) The effect b & w film gives vs. digital and converting to grayscale is significantly different. You can achieve a quality with film that cannot be duplicated even with post processing software. I don't know if I would say the same for color film vs digital. (c) Finally hiking around with two bodies (digital and film) and three lenses (wide angle zoom, telephoto zoom, and prime zoom is a lot of weight and gives you a good workout. The challenge is to have the right lens on the right body for spontaneous shots, and needless to say I missed some opportunities.
These photos are from the Point Reyes National Seashore at Pierce Point. This is a permanent exhibit at the Seashore and was a working dairy ranch supplying San Francisco up until the 1960s. Many ranches are still functioning in the area and produce dairy products including incredible cheeses.
Labels: First Film Efforts
posted by dan in marin at 8:13 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
You're welcome, Dan. I still enjoy shooting film because 1) you cannot reproduce the "look" of film using digital manipulation (or at least it's very hard to do), 2) I really enjoy shooting certain film cameras.
If one shoots with a camera that is very familiar (whether film or digital), and functions superbly, then I believe that it will inspire one to be more creative and possibly make better pictures. Take my recently processed, 36 exp roll of Fuji Superia, look how many pictures I posted here from that roll. I think that's a pretty high "keeper" count. I was using a Nikon F2, a camera that I really love, and one that I've used extensively since the mid-1970's.
I really like this set of pictures, Dan. They are all very good, and viewed as a set, they convey the feeling of that location very well, IMO. That tree in one of the pictures looks like it's defying gravity :).
As for the film, I find the grain very acceptable, certainly more fine than say, Tri-X (which I like to use for pure b&w). Perhaps what you're seeing are artifacts from the scanning process? How are you developing and scanning your film?
--Warren
Thanx Warren
I had Seawood here in Marin develop them at their lab, (6.95 per roll) and I scanned it with an epson scanner. I then cleaned up the shots in LR by doing some gradient filtering, cropping and dust removal. Maybe, I an too used to the sanitized look digital gives. Film does have a quality about it that is very appealing. Perhaps a good analogy is comparing records vs. cds. I still listen to records because of the "real sound" quality they deliver.
Dan
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