Last spring I met up with Ellen at her place for a casual portrait shoot. It had been some time since I had photographed her. She had told me that she access to the roof top of her apartment and as sketchy as it felt getting out the window, it was completely worth it. The sun started going down so we went back inside to this patio where we would wrap up the evening. I can’t wait to meet up with Ellen again sometime in 2024 to have our annual hangout/photoshoot!
First Roll: Lomography F2/400
Its not uncommon for me to keep a roll or two in my bag when I go take some portraits. When I was shooting with Ellen I also brought my Rolleiflex 2.8C with a roll of some Lomography F2/400 color film. (Check here to see the digital shots) Now, F2/400 is a color film that was purchased by Lomography, they bought an exclusive jumbo roll of film from an older company. And like a fine wine, they “aged” it and then distributed it. When they announced this film I picked up a good handful, which was a good idea because they sold out within a day or two.
After wrapping up our shoot I ran home and went right to developing this roll. I was super excited how the negatives would render let alone if they would reveal anything, which is always my feelings about developing but that’s what makes it feel like Christmas morning haha. Anyways, I shot this F2/400 at box speed and was extremely impressed in when I did a preview scan. I’m happy I bought a good amount of rolls. With that in mind, I will be treating this film like a fine whiskey… only busting it our for special shoots or something.
Ellen at home
A few months ago I had met up with Ellen because I had some new film to shoot from Lomography.com but since I was only using one roll for a test use of the roll, I figured why not shoot some digital as well.
Something that was exciting for me on this shoot was when Ellen asked “would you want to come to my new house and shoot there?” Pft, of course! I really enjoy shooting inside with natural light, more than shooting outside with natural light. The contrast and colors with available light are some of my favorite things about having shoots inside. Another plus of shooting indoor portraits is that it adds a some comfort to the subjects, they are somewhere they know and is personal to them.
Anyways, here is the digital set. I think I will create a separate post that holds the roll of film I test shot with my Rolleiflex!
Ellen On Film
A few months ago I purchased a 1970's era Yashica Mat-124G. I had been really, really wanting a square format (6x6) so the right deal came up and I picked one up. Now this camera was a TLR (twin lens reflex), the same sort of camera that Vivan Maier used to create her street photography, portraits, self portraits etc.
Now usually when I get a new camera, lens or whatever I have a few people I will ask to create some work with the new equipment. And in this gear test, it was my red headed friend Ellen. Now it was early December so it was freezing cold and Ellen told me she had this amazing window light in her living room. The rest was history. Now I did shoot some digital but I'm more interested in shooting more film this year, especially since I obtained my own chemistry to develop at home. (Real quick I'll tell those photo nerds who are curious. I shot with TriX 400, metered at 1600. Developed with Kodak HC-110)
As excited as I was to use this camera. I SOLD IT.
Why? You'll see on my next blog post when I develop, scan the next roll of film!
