golden hour

My office is slowly taken over by negatives that still need to be scanned. By now it’s several different piles from different places and in different formats. I’m looking forward to some rolls, dreading others and I keep experimenting with different emulsions and developing methods. Today for example I shot some of my freshly rolled XP2 in my Olympus XA, although it was actually too dark and gloomy for an automatic camera. I wanted to know how I fared with my bulk loading experiment though and the XA was the best choice for weight, since I was also carrying my Rolleicord. Normally I wait at least a week before I even develop my film, but in this case I had to know and threw it in some Rodinal. From what I can see with the magnifying glass and from the look of the negatives this is definitely a roll I’m looking forward to scanning.

The pictures I’m showing you today are still from the same roll as the autumn shots from yesterday. I really like how these turned out although only one or two of them is along the lines of what I usually do. Every once in a while I need to shoot something different to mix things up a little.

All pictures taken with: Rolleicord V, Schneider-Kreuznach Xenar 75mm f/3.5.
Tri-X semi-stand developed in Caffenol-CL minus KBr, 30min.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

All afternoon it had been gloomy and then the sun came out. It was the last shot of the day. Nothing more needed after that.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

This view never gets old. Seriously, I used to live on top of this hill and walked past this view every morning. Even after living there for several months I still often stopped to enjoy the view for a moment. Unless I was running incredibly late, of course.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

I like how one of her feet is sharp and the other blurred!

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

The reason why I took this shot was the curved lines … they always fascinate me, because in our world everything is so straight normally.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

This couple was going through the moves of wedding photography. She was supposed to throw, he was supposed to catch and it was shot both as stills and as video. It seems like such an orchestrated approach. I hope they got some more spontaneous and candid shots too.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

My husband lighting his pipe with a broken lighter. I was hoping for a flame, but it was rather windy and the lighter uncooperative, so I made do without it. I really like how this came out!

Comments

  • Harry

    Along with your Autumn shots that is one great roll of film, your caffenol seems to be working well even though you have no Kbr in it.You may disagree but you seem to have given the Tri-X a touch of HP 5 about it. That is a nice view and the slide shot is really pleasing . Your husbands picture as a nice 3D quality to it, I assume the lens was wide open. Ever thought of giving that lovely hill view a night shot.

    Anyway I hope your XP2 turns out as well as your last roll, they had a lovely atmospheric quality to them..

    Kind regards Harry.

    • Lilly Schwartz

      Thanks Harry! I liked that roll very much as well. Even the one shot of this roll that I didn’t post was actually nice, but it was another beach vista and too similar to appear in the same post. I think it’s the first roll where I had 100% keepers. I definitely love medium format for that! As for the portrait: I think it was f/5.6 actually, but I can’t remember. Definitely some awesome bokeh on the Xenar! And yes, I definitely have to go back there for some night shots. I’m just generally too lazy to carry a tripod. I guess I might have some opportunity soon though since it gets dark so early now.

      Interesting that these seem more like HP5+ to you! That used to be my favourite film in Rodinal, but I haven’t shot it in ages because it’s pricey (I don’t like paying much more than 4€ per roll and HP5+ costs over 5€). I was considering it for my next 120 film order, but making Tri-X look like HP5+ with Caffenol is an option too 😉
      You saw that one roll of XP2 that I shot and that one was very atmospheric too – the post was called ghosts. I’m hoping to have more of the same tonality with the next batch of XP2. However, I think I’ll post some RPX400 in Rodinal shots next since I still have a bunch of those lying around that I’m curious about.

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