First Roll: Kentmere 400

It has been awhile since I have ventured out of my comfort zone and thought about trying a different film stock. When it comes to the big ones such as Kodak Tri-X & T-Max or Ilfords HP5+, FP4, Delta 3200 etc. Ive always loved them. However the buy in is getting pretty steep for me as a hobbyist portrait photographer. I’ve been seeing a bunch of others using Kentmere 400 as an affordable alternative. It has the connotation of being a “newbie” film stock for those new to black and white film. If you know me, this is not my first rodeo with film.

I rated this stock at box speed, 400 ISO. I love the tonality this black and white has. It sort of has an older film stock feel to it, which I won’t complain about! It doesn’t have a modern look to it. I think specifically in the highlights it gives that older black and white charm. My verdict for this film stock is: I loved it! Without trying a roll first, I bought a 120 brick (10 rolls) of this so I guess that’s a good thing I found it worth to have around in the film fridge.

For you super, duper nerds. I developed this roll with HC-110 using dilution B (1:31) for developing. Then DSLR scanned the negatives, turning these into positives with the amazing Negative Lab Pro software!

First Roll: Fomapan 200

At the end of October, early November I really needed a day off from school other than the weekend. Now a “taking care of myself” day means I’m not sitting on my butt, it means I’m waking up and taking photographs and thats exactly what I did! I met up with Jerusha in downtown Boise with my Bronica ETRSi and a roll of Fomapan 200. I’ve been very interested in shooting this film stock because of what I’ve been seeing others create with it and I must say it did not disappoint. I loved shooting this film stock and I probably will be shooting more personal portrait work/travel with Foma. It’s a tad cheaper than other name brand b&w films and it just has a more classic black and white look to it that I just really enjoy.

I’ve really been enjoying all these new film stocks I’m experiencing. Up next I have a roll of Ilford FP4+ that I shot some portraits with and had a rather interesting developing challenge.