hasselblad

Foggy Drive Part 1: Night

Roaming around with a roll of 120

There I was… lumbering through some foggy side streets with a camera that is older than me, one roll of film, and a good playlist. I was excited to see the fog earlier in the day, but didn’t get a chance to shoot until after the sun went down. I’ve really come to like shooting this way; hunting for a scene, slowing down, finding a place to park or just stopping long enough to get a shot from the car. The time flies by.

Cars in a foggy parking lot — Last few cars in the lot.

Person walking across a foggy field — Shortcut Home. There was something about these lights cross the field. I finally fired off one frame, and then noticed this person walking. I advanced the film and took one more shot.

Film still feels new to me. I learned photography shooting 35mm black and white in high school, and I’ve shot some here and there over the years, but this latest push is the most I’ve done in 20 years. My first foray back into it was with a few rolls of Tri-X and I had a blast shooting it. After waiting for film to be developed and seeing the price tag however, I decided to develop my own. I’ve only really screwed up one roll so far. There is a lot of room for improvement in my whole process, but it’s been fun!

Tree with fog and light rays parking lot — Parking lot rays

For this outing, I was shooting HP5+ 400 for the first time, and pushing it two stops. I shot everything handheld; I guess I wasn’t too concerned with sharpness. As I made my way through the roll, I realized how spoiled I have been with high ISO digital cameras with great autofocus and IS. After firing through 12 frames, I headed home.

Foggy Parking Lot — Another parking lot… lots of parking lots

Bridge and road in the fog — Blatnik Bridge

I’ve been surprised by how much I like developing my film at home. The process is meditative in a way. The anticipation of seeing if any images are there is fantastic. Scanning has been fun too. My setup consists of a mirrorless camera, a macro lens, and a little light table with some film holders. I’ve used a flatbed too, but I really like using the mirrorless. I’m not sure how “correct” my method is, but I’m happy with the results so far.

None of these are technically that great, but as a set, I like them. I like how they feel.

I definitely should have had a tripod for this one, and I knew it… but I’m happy with the motion.

Clock Tower — Central School. Some of the adhesive from the roll got stuck on this end of this frame and I didn’t catch it in the dark bag. I also, creased it a bit… I’m still practicing! I like it how it is. No big deal.

Lucky for me, the fog continued into another day and I was able to shoot in the daytime as well. Part 2 tomorrow.