J&C Classic

Several years ago there was a small on-line film supplier in the St. Louis area... Overland Park, Kansas to be precise, that was importing and distributing European made large format film.  This was J&C Photo and John Anderson was the owners name, I believe. His company was a great supplier, providing alternatives to the main stream manufacturers, for the fine art photography market.  He was one of the first to bring Efke films to North America.  He also had a line of film branded with his own company name.  This was J&C Classic, and the emulsion was available in three speeds... 100, 200 and 400 ISO.  I experimented with the 200 ISO version as there was no other film of a comparable speed available.  A couple of years later J&C was forced to cease operation.  Partially this was because they lost the exclusive North American distribution rights to some of these products, but I also heard that there was a "frivolous" law suit of some sort launched against the company.  In any event it was sad to see them go.

I bought a number of boxes of the 200 speed version and have been shooting a little of it every year.  Each time that I process a batch I am encouraged by how good the negatives look, and vow to shoot it more often.  I have been saving up my exposed film for a number of years and now find that I have 50 sheets to process.  I use my Jobo processor and Kodak HC-110 developer with this film, and develop a little longer than normal to increase constrast.  The film has a nice grain structure and a bit of a gritty look to it.  I quite like it and it works really well with certain subjects.  I still have a few boxes left in my freezer, but once that's gone I'm not sure what I'll do.  Freestyle Photo in California sells a film that is branded with their own Arista name, and is available in a 200 ISO version.  Maybe this is the same emulsion, or at least similar.  I think I need to give it a try.

Earlier this week I processed the first batch of 20 sheets.  That film is now dry and I scanned the negatives this morning.  Here's what I ended up with...

These first three are from various camping trips and day trips back in the fall of 2009

Aspen Trunks, Tolman Bridge

Twice Fallen

Beach Grass in Wind

In the fall of 2009 the Monochrome Guild headed down to the badlands around Drumheller for our annual Fall Photo Weekend.  These two images were taken on that trip.  Both are detail shots, taken with a long lens, viewing downward onto some badland exposure.

Rills

Hoodoo Layer

These two images were taken at an old abandoned farm up in Lamont County in the spring of 2010.

Porch

 

Windows and Trunks

Hailey and I headed out for a Dad and daughter camping weekend back in the mid-summer of 2010.  We ended up in Beauvallon, northeast of Edmonton, and spent some time photographing there.

Old Chevy

And another in my "Playground Ghost" series.

On the May Long Weekend this past summer, we took our new trailer down to Southern Alberta.  These next two images were taken at Red Rock Coulee Natural Area.

Red Rock Boulders

Slab

Later in the spring we ended up down at Tolman Bridge for the annual Dad and Kids camping weekend.

Fence Line

Fence Post

When my cousin and her family were visiting from Germay last summer we travelled to the badlands and the mountains with them.  These two shots of the old Elevator at Dorothy were taken on that trip.

On this past September Long Weekend we went out with the trailer and headed to Southeastern Alberta and eventually over into Saskatchewan.  My Mom came along with us on this trip.  It was while we were away camping that my father passed away.  On the first day of that trip we stopped at the Mud Buttes.

Mud Butte Rills

Twin Buttes

Just a few weeks ago the Monochrome Guild headed out to Jasper for the 2013 version of the Fall Photo Weekend.  This was the trip that Hailey came along on.  These two shots were taken of the ice beginning to accumulate on the rocks of Portal Creek.

Ice Bells

Portal Creek