…or should we call them phone-cameras?

I posted a link to an article about the Nokia Pureview 808 41MP camera phone back in February and I freely admit that I continue to be impressed by the capability of the digital cameras that come with cell phones these days. Here is a shot of the kids enjoying the fruit of their labor right after the annual Easter Egg Hunt at my house.

This was taken with the 5MP camera in my Samsung Galaxy S. I noticed this idyllic scene and didn’t have my camera handy so I decided to capture it with the camera phone before the kids scattered (which of course they did just seconds after I took the picture). 

Although it doesn’t have a built in flash the camera in the Galaxy S easily captures beautifully clear pictures even in low light situations. My only complaint is that it frequently gets hung up while taking pictures and I have to re-boot the phone to get everything working again. I assume this is just another Android bug that will get worked out in the fullness of time.

 

Kodak 400TX Results Disappointing

Recently I shot a roll of Kodak 400 TX thinking it was the 21^st century equivalent of the old Tri-X 400 I used to shoot back in the last century. Boy, what a disappointment! This stuff is very grainy with high contrast - the exact opposite of what I recall of the older version. The photo above is the “pick of the litter.” It’s another one of the Biloxi beach sculptures I blogged about in an earlier post.

Here’s another really cool shot. I just happened to be there when a fire truck went by with the siren howling. Too bad I wasn’t shooting color at the time! Anyway it looks to me like an old grainy picture taken 50 years ago instead of a modern B&W photo.

I realize it may have something to do with the fact that I was shooting in the late evening near the ocean so that everything was either bright or dark shadows and I haven’t done this kind of thing in a while but still – I expected better results. I have some more of this film including some 120 roll film for the Holga so I’m not done with it yet but I will have to rethink my choice of black & white film if future experience with it doesn’t improve significantly.

In the meantime I am patiently waiting for a roll of Ilford HP-5 to be processed so I can see how it compares. I also used this film back in the 20th century but I always thought the Kodak was better. We’ll soon see if that has changed in the 21^st century.


 *****September 5th, 2013*****

I just re-read this blog post after noticing some folks had been reading it lately and thought I'd better update it. You see I subsequently realized my problems with my Tri-X experience was not the film at all but rather with the scans. If you "zoom in" on the photo you quickly discover it's not grain you see but pixels!

As far as the contrast, many folks like Tri-X for its contrasty look. I always thought it had incredible shadow detail and dynamic range but that with Tri-X blacks are truly black and the whites are really white so it looks more contrasty thank it really is. In this case shooting on the beach near sunset just multiplied the shadows and created more contrast than usual.

In more recent experiences I have confirmed to myself that Tri-X is still the same beautiful B&W film I have always known and loved. In fact I recently commented to a friend that I find it amaxing that when browsing Flickr it seems that about nine out of ten of the B&W photos that I am drawn to turn out to be taken with Tri-X!

Mac-Fire Hydrant!

Here’s another fire hydrant for you.  As many of you already know I am into photographing fire hydrants but even I miss them sometimes. They are so ubiquitous they're almost invisible! I have been stopping here for breakfast about once a week for months and finally noticed this one.

I know this blog is about film photography but the only thing I had with me when I saw this was the Nikon P-300. This one was taken at f3.2 and 1/50 at ISO 160 on a foggy Monday morning.

I also shot a couple rolls of film last week and sent them off to The Darkroom for processing so I should have some more "real" pictures to share with you soon.

New Life For Old Films: A Lab Service For Past Processes | Shutterbug

I ran across a really great article that George Schaub did for Shutterbug recently about a company called Film Rescue International. They specialize in processing and recovering old film. Obsolete film sizes and film that requires obsolete chemical processes is their specialty.

If you have old film that you want to have processed but don't know where to bring it, here's your answer. Even if you don't this is still an interesting article because you never know when you may run across a roll of old film in an old camera that you great aunt or uncle left behind.

Who knows what treasures an old roll of film may hold.

Here's the link for the article...

New Life For Old Films: A Lab Service For Past Processes | Shutterbug

....and here's the link for Film Rescue International...

www.filmrescue.com/


Check it out!

Biloxi’s Amazing Katrina Sculptures

Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast in 2005 but like every dark cloud it too had its silver lining. Beginning in 2007 “chainsaw artist” Dayton Scoggins and sculptor Marlin Miller converted trees killed along the beach just west of the Biloxi Lighthouse by Hurricane Katrina’s tidal surge into beautiful works of art.

 

There are probably 20 – 30 of these amazing sculptures stretched out along a couple miles of the median of US 90 which parallels the beach from Biloxi to Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi. I was driving home one evening and stopped a couple times to take pictures of the ones that were still lit up well enough by the setting sun to show off the beauty of the workmanship.

All of these shots were taken on Kodak Ektar 100 with the Vivitar V3800N body using the 135mm f2.8 Pentax lens set at f4 for the first photo, f5.6 for the second, and f8 for the third one; with a shutter speed of 1/125.

I have a few more shots I will post later and I would really like to go back again but earlier in the day when the sun is higher so I can shoot the ones that are in the more heavily shaded areas.

Green!

“Green” means different things to different people and “Green” is the theme of The Darkroom’s (my film processor of choice these days) latest photo contest.

For some “Green” is associated with ecologically sensitive. For others it elicits visions of spring flowers and the greening of lawns & trees at this time of year.

My first thought for a photo to submit in this contest was a big burly red headed Irishman stripped from the waist up and painted all over with vivid green body paint, hoisting a cabbage in one hand and brandishing a pitcher of green beer in the other, against a background of the Saint Patrick’s Day parade and captured in vibrant Kodachome color.

Unfortunately the very last roll of Kodachrome film was processed last year and I never made it to the Saint Paddy’s Day festivities so I will have to settle for the photo above. This one shows Mr. Bee busy about his seasonal occupation on the beautiful wisteria clusters against a background of (yep, you got it) green!

Shot on Ektar 100 film with my Vivitar V3800N body using the 135mm f2.8 Pentax lens set at f8 and 1/125, this picture captures the essence of the “spring –e-ness” that is now invading my yard.

This is my first experiment with the Ektar and I'm pretty impressed so far. Beautiful colors!

Almost Summer!

One of the reasons I love living on the Gulf Coast!

Don’t bother telling people here that it’s only March and not yet time to enjoy the beach.

This photo was shot about 6:00 p.m. one evening on the way home from work with the Nikon P-300 set on full auto (photos for dummies). I was on a quickie photo safari with my 35mm camera and just happened to snap this idyllic scene with the digital as I was getting back in the car.

The film from this outing is being processed as I am writing this so stay tuned as I hope to be sharing them with you shortly.