Saturday, December 28, 2013

Color Film Processing

Over the past week or so I have been working at processing my backlog of color transparency film.  This is mostly large format 4" x 5" sheet film, but there are also a couple of sheets of 8" x 10" film, and several rolls of medium format film.  I started out by mixing up a batch of Kodak E-6 chemistry.  I was a little leary... as the expiry date on this batch was 2008.  I decided to give it a try anyway, but then made the careless mistake of not properly warming up the processing tank prior to starting the processing sequence.  My first four tanks of film were all too dark, and the colors were somewhat off.  I attempted to salvage these images by scanning them and attempted to correct the colors in Photoshop.  Of course as I am color blind this is a bit a challenge and reinforces my need to stick to Black and White.  Here are the results of that first batch.  I decided to set aside this outdated chemistry and mixed up a fresher batch of Tetenal Colortec 3-bath E-6 to continue with processing the rest of my film.
I found this task particularly challenging as not only to I struggle with being color blind, and unable to determine between certain colors, but also, most of these images were shot with a Cokin Blue/Orange color polarizing filter, which imparts a reddish to purplish tone to many of the images.  On top of these issues, the chemistry was out of date, and in some instances the film was also out of date, which also imparts some unusual color casts.  The next couple of batches that I processed after Christmas were a lot more consistent.

Southern Alberta Badlands, 2011

Broken Cottonwood, 2009

 Crooked Trees, Saskatchewan, 2011

Dead Tree and Hoodoos, Kootenay Plains, 2010

Elk Creek [taken by daughter Hailey], 2010

 Flooded Cottonwoods, 2009

Four Spruce and Ex Coelis Mountian, 2010

Glass Block, 2010

Cottonwood Leaves, 2010

Confectionary. 2010

Abandoned Cars, 2010

Orkney Viewpoint, 2010

Elk Creek Rapids, 2010

Auto Dealership, 2010

Trees, Snow and Shadows, 2011

Spaca Moskalyk,2011

 Sunflower Field, 2011

Sunflowers, 2011

Upper Waterfowl Lake, 2011

Badlands, 2011

Spaca Moskalyk, 2011

Creek, Castle Mountain, 2011

 Backlit Aspens, 2011

Lower Waterfowl Lake, 2011

Medicine Lake, 2011

Mt. Cephren and Lower Waterfowl Lake, 2011

Mud Buttes, 2011

 Trunks, Rock and Leaves, 2011

Stone Wall and Tree, 2011

Window and Trunk, 2011

Winter Hockey - Games 15 and 16

The Renegades have not done well lately and our losing streak continues.  On December 14th we were defeated by the Chiefs by a score of 9-4.  Then just before Christmas, on December 22nd, we lost to the Old Hawks by a score of 10-8.  This one was particularly frustrating as these guys have a spare that is dominant, but has only made it out to play twice this year.  Of course this game was one of the times that he showed up and lit us up for 4 goals and 2 assists.  Hopefully the end of the year sees and end to our losing streak and we can turn things around in 2014.

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Merry Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all that follow my blog.  We all need to be truly grateful for everything that we have.  At this festive time of year I reflect back on the whirlwind that has been 2013.  Lots of great things happened this year.  I am saddened at the loss of my father back in the fall and struggle a bit through this first Christmas without him around.  For the last 50 years he has always been a part of my life and now I only have his memory to hang on to.  Life marches on and I find strength in my daughters and nieces and nephews.  Dad lives on in this next generation and there is nothing more wonderful than the excitement of Christmas for young children.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Last Batch of J&C Classic

Almost a week ago I processed my last small batch of J&C Classic 200 film in 4" x 5" format.  In fact, I am now finished processing all of my backlog of Black and White sheet film that is designated for processing on my Jobo Processor.  Over the holidays I'm going to catch up on my backlog of color negative and color positive film.  Once I am finished with all of this, then I can put the processor away for a while and focus on printing and hand processing.  
I quite like the look of this J&C film for certain images.  It is a little rough around the edges, and not of the highest quality, but this was reflected in it's very low price.  It has sort of a gritty, sooty look to it, which works really well with subjects like sand, snow and dirt.  It is by no means a portrait film and the mood that it imparts looks best with subjects that are rough, harsh and strong.
These last few negatives were all taken in 2012 and very early 2013.  I think the ones that work best with this film are the ones that have this mood.  The softer more delicate images just don't work as well with this material.








Sunday, December 15, 2013

More J&C Classic

Over a week ago I processed a second batch of J&C Classic 200 4" x 5" sheet film.  Once again this film was given plus development in HC-100 developer.  The film has been hanging around... literally... awaiting the day when I had a little time to scan it and file the negatives away.  That happened yesterday, so here they are.  Some of these are duplicates of negatives that I shot on different films, and processed with different developers.  It's interesting to see how variations in exposure, shutter speed, film type and developer can make the image look anywhere from slightly to markedly different...

Spring Runoff, Blackmud Creek, 2013

Aspen Trunks, Elk Island National Park, 2012

Bush Skeleton, Alberta Badlands, 2012

Cottonwood Leaves, 2010

Main Street [taken by daughter Hailey] 2011

Medicine Lake, Fall Photo Weekend, 2012

Medicine Lake, Fall Photo Weekend, 2012

One plus Four, 2013

Badland Rills, Fall Photo Weekend, 2010

River Rocks, 2011

Spaca Moskalyk, 2011

Sparling School, 2013

Abandoned Monastery, 2011

Stone Wall and Tree, 2011

Vines and Barns, Fall Photo Weekend, 2010

White Point, Alberta Badlands, 2012

Winter Rills, 2013

Cottonwood Skeletons, 2013

Forgotten House, 2010