I’ve not been shooting film much lately, but whenever I finish a roll and pick up the CD from Shoppers Drug Mart ($3! that’s how I can keep it affordable) I am reminded why I still love film. The advantage to digital is immediacy (good for learning), time-saving (no picking up/dropping off film rolls), and cost savings over time once equipment is acquired. But in the final results, the proof is in the pudding: round emulsion trumps square pixels every time.

See? View Larger On Black

You can see the quirkiness in the focusing, which some may call a flaw but I think looks interesting.

I bought the Chinon CE-4 from Craigslist back in May, and I didn’t finish the first roll until June 29, when I went photowalking with Jose, Aubrey, Erin, and Francis. I generally shoot film only locally or when I’m on a road trip, because carting all the equipment on the plane isn’t practical.

Pictures from the first roll are taken from Doors Open in late May, the trip to NY/NJ/PA for David’s birthday at the end of May, the trip to Chicago in early June, and photowalking around Cabbagetown at the end of June.

more…

Introducing my freshly-purchased new (old: analogue) Chinon CE-4 SLR camera, which I bought off Craigslist an hour and a half ago. The Pentax f/3.5-4.5 28-80mm zoom came with it.

I got a nice surprise when I arrived home: the mount is compatible with my Pentax K-1000 and the gear is completely interchangeable!

I bought it off an art director who kept it in pristine condition, a man who buys photography and has a limited edition framed photograph of John Lennon and Yoko Ono shot by Ivor Sharp hanging in his house (see here, bottom left picture). He didn’t ask much for the camera, considering it was in such good condition. As with most photography hobbyists, he wasn’t looking to make money from the sale, he just wasn’t using the camera and wanted it to go to a good home. I bought batteries for it on the way home and have been playing with it since.

more…

I picked up my roll of film tonight of the photos I shot with the Pentax K-1000 on Saturday. They turned out so-so, which means I should either switch the type of film I use, the lab, or both. I’m super-cheap so I buy cheap stock and get $2.99 processing (straight to CD, no prints) at Shoppers Drug Mart. There’s always lots of dust on the negatives when they scan them even when I tell the person working in the film lab to watch for dust. I spend time cloning out the dust in Photoshop later, but I don’t really complain because for $2.99 I must lower my expectations.

I figure if I get a few decent shots per roll it’s worth it. I can pay more for better quality results, but imperfection in film is actually a pro rather than a con in many instances. Despite digital’s dominance in the field of photography, I hope analogue sticks around for a long, long time because it has a character that no amount of pixels and digital manipulation can match.

If you like Polaroids, there’s an interesting site devoted to the instamatic: http://www.polanoid.net/

Anyway, without further ado, some of those film shots I mentioned:

more…

I brought my film camera to Vancouver, but didn’t use it. Drat. But I’ve resolved to use it today at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington. It’s spring — time to get the Pentax K-1000 shooting again!

Here are some examples of what the Pentax K-1000 can do. It was my mainstay during my trip to Cuba at the end of 2006, and I still have rolls of that trip that haven’t been uploaded yet. I posted a few yesterday:

more…

Hi Gail,

I am delighted to let you know that your submitted photo has been selected for inclusion in the newly released third edition of our Schmap London Guide:

Southwark Cathedral
http://www.schmap.com/london/sights_churches/p=96077/i=96077_10.jpg

If you like the guide and have a website, blog or personal page, then please also check out our schmapplets - customizable widgetized versions of our Schmap London Guide, complete with your published photo:

http://www.schmap.com/schmapplets/p=44124342631N01/c=SE1001751

Please enjoy the guide!

Best regards,

Luke Ritchie,
Managing Editor, Schmap Guides

more…

Pentax K-1000 (film)

I took this on a stroll with Claude around Paris one week ago. It was strange to see true darkness after almost a week without it in Iceland. I actually had to keep track of it, to take photos before the light completely disappeared.

Technorati tags: Pentax K-1000, film, Paris

The last shot on the roll before I got it put to CD this evening. Taken in Dundas Square around 6 o’clock.

Have lots to accomplish tonight, the photo processing will have to take a back seat for now.

Tomorrow my older brother is turning 36, and David would’ve turned 40. I have a plane booked for 6:30-8:00 tomorrow evening to fly over the city, Lake Ontario, and the general area. Since I can’t get to Rhinebeck tomorrow, this is the next best thing: get up in the sky.

Some metaphotography at Dunmore Cemetery.

I can’t keep my eyes open for much longer after early-morning flying, visiting, driving, an afternoon party, and an impromptu trip to the hospital to see a friend who landed there yesterday. If the weather co-operates I’ll fly again in the morning before a meeting with the estate lawyer, wait for my new camera to arrive by FedEx, and set off for Toronto again.

More film shots to expand the Cannon-Lanphear wedding album. I cropped out quite a bit of the photo because there was something about Eric’s hand on Ali’s waist that was a picture in itself.

Pentax K-1000
Elmhurst, PA

This fellow owned the 1939 classic automobile hired for Eric and Ali’s wedding, and I took his picture while he was waiting for them to finish their pictures at the church. I told him he totally looked the part, too — a private eye going after Bugsy Siegel.

View Larger On Black

Technorati tags: tritone, sepia, vintage automobile