Negative Thoughts

For me, there is something special about a large negative, like the ones produced by the Fuji 6x9, not to mention a large format camera. I don’t know if it matters all that much in terms of art, and I suspect it doesn’t, but the physical presence of the negative in the hand encourages inspection, invites a closer look. The tactile nature of analog media is just different from digital. As lens based artists, we have more options today than at any time in history. Do these many options free us or paralyze us?

Days of Heaven

The late afternoon sun was passing through a stand of bamboo in our yard and the atmosphere was similar to the memories I have of seeing the film ‘Days of Heaven’ so long ago. It was a feeling I wanted to capture on film. I had a roll of HP5+ in my Fuji 690 BL from the 1960s. It is the second copy of the camera I have owned, as the first one died in my hands while shooting a couple of years ago. There is something special about the large 6x9 cm negatives, especially when using the 100 mm f/3.5 lens. The level of detail and atmosphere is unique to my eyes. I digitized the negative using a modern camera rather than my scanner, and inverted the color file which I adjusted to taste in photoshop. I’ve been enjoying the split tone look this simple treatment gives.

Tasting notes: Fuji 690 BL, 100 mm f/3.5 lens, Ilford HP5+, DDX 1+4 for 8 min, digital camera scan.

Pixel peeping film negatives?

Sometimes a test shot ends up growing on you, and you find yourself liking it as more than just fodder for pixel peeping and analysis. Such was the case here. On this afternoon, I grabbed the big 6x9 Fuji camera, knowing that I would only need to find eight compositions for my test of Ilford SFX 200. I've used it with an IR cut filter before, but on this outing, I wanted to see how the SFX did when used as a conventional film (in other words, without a filter). I liked the way the film rendered the waxy magnolia leaves illuminated by the afternoon sun and I also enjoyed how the film handled the shadow areas. Not sure it really makes sense to use such a specialized emulsion as my daily driver but one certainly could.  

Magnolia seasons

I never saw very many of them growing up in California, but here in the Southeast, the magnolia is indeed a common sight. Over the years, I've become a huge fan of these majestic trees, although some folks can't seem to wait to cut theirs down. I guess the shallow root system can be pretty annoying and the leaves hard to rake, but I find them lovely to look at and don't feel compelled to rake, so that isn't a problem for me. Also, magnolias don't tend to fall on your roof the way the pine trees do, so there's that. In addition to their beauty, I've come to appreciate how magnolias help me mark the four seasons. In particular, once they start to bloom, you know it's fixing to get hot. 

This particular tree was a healthy specimen -- just look at the number of blooms. The photo was shot using a very old Fuji 690BL and the Fujinon 100 mm f/3.5 lens on Portra 400. This is the original model of the so-called Texas Leica, a beast of a camera producing an enormous 6x9 cm negative. I loved the older model because you could change lenses, and I used it until the day it broke in my hands.