The Holiday: Roll 3/10. Velvia 50

Those of you that know me or follow me on twitter (@givemeabiscuit) will know I am a big fan of slide film, with Velvia 50 a personal favourite of mine.

Thus there was no way I was going to Malta and not shoot a roll of this lovely film.  This time however I wanted to try something different and practise long exposure.  Thus I also had with my Lee Filters (10stop ND & 0.6 soft grad).

I tried some daytime long exposures with both filters and some at dusk with the soft grad.

When writing these blogs I always like to ensure I share both what works and what does not work.  It helps me clarify in my mind how/what to do better next time and hopefully provides you with some insight also.

So here come the images.  

The black slides are unsuccessful evening shots

Some normal exposure, (but I still over exposed!)

And daytime long exposure.  Lesson one get the framing right next time, lesson 2 if shooting into the sun, either don’t or at least have a the lens hood and lesson three read up on exposure techniques for this film more thoroughly

And in case you are wondering what total over exposure looks like, it is a completely clear slide that scans like below

Yes this really is the scan

There are some slides the lab did not scan (understandably) but I can see something is there, so will get them rescanned and check them out.

In conclusion, I really really ballsed up the roll of film.

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The Holiday Roll 2/10 Kodak E100VS

As per previous updates I shot 10 rolls of film on my recent holiday to Malta and am sharing how a I got on with each roll.  This update is in regard to a roll of Kodak E100VS.   This is a lovely discontinued slide film from Kodak.  The VS stands for Very Saturated (I think).

I managed to find a brick (10 rolls) of this film and this was the third roll from that brick.  The first roll came out OK and the second roll had a large Cyan cast to it, so I knew the results of this one could be flaky.

This roll was shot during the hottest part of the day (it was over 40 degrees Celsius)  in full sunshine.  I mention this for a reason.

All films on this and previous holidays have been through X-ray machines at the airport.  Whilst in the hotel room they are in air conditioned luxury, in my bag and camera they are not and can be carried around for a couple of days in full heat.  Whilst I am no way suggesting that we can safely keep our film sitting on a hot radiator at home, I do sometimes wonder are we over cautious with keeping films in the fridge and worrying about how they will be affected by heat.  I get storing them long term in fridges/freezers but day to day especially with fresh film we maybe do the resilience of film a diservice.

Anyway I digress.  This film as all the others was shot in my OM1n, some shots using a circular polarising filter.  I rated all shots at box speed.

Before I get to the images I want to say the following.  When I see others images with this film I love it and what people can achieve with it which is why I bought the brick.  Slide film can be tough to work with but I do feel we shouldn’t be scared of it because when you get it right slides are wonderful and the scans do not do it justice.  Yes it is expensive and tough but I do believe it is worth the effort.  That said I am disappointed with the results I got with this.  Partly because the scans required more than I normally prefer adjusting in Snapseed* but mainly because I have seen what others have achieved and I know I can do better.  I am finding this film tough.

*side note, IMHO adjust away the same as a darkroom adjustments but I do like to get as close as possible in camera

Enough said here are the results and oh yeah say no to x’pro E6 all the way

The Holiday: Roll 1/10 Oriental Seagull 100

The third instalment of the rolls of film I shot in Malta.  This time it is Oriental Seagull 100.   I was sent this film (and the 400 version) by @Emulsivefilm (Twitter) www.emulsive.org 

My research tells me this is a rebranded film based on Ilford’s Kentmere range.  The lab that developed this roll and the 400 used the development guide for Kentmere.

I very much liked the results I got from the 400, so was interested to see what the 100 would be like.  (400 example below)

Oriental Seagull 400. Daytime long exposure

The 100 was shot through my Olympus OM1n, at this point in the holiday the meter was working.  What I did however find interesting was I set the camera meter ISO to 100, it was a bright day but the meter seemed to be telling me (against my instinct) that it needed more light, it just didn’t feel right.   This was interesting to me as I am reliant on my meter, yet when I shoot with my Holga I don’t use a secondary meter and go by instinct.  I am slowly learning to trust my judgement with light and scenes.  

Anyway back to how I got on with the 100.  I like the film a lot and if it is basically Kentmere will definitely buy some more.  In terms of the pictures I have taken with it in Malta I am pretty Meh about them, they are only OK.  I believe I rushed this roll too much.  It was the first of 10 rolls for the Holiday and we were visiting the city of Valletta and in my head I guess I felt the need to finish the roll that visit as otherwise I would get behind finishing the 10 by the end of the Holiday.

Anyway enough of the words, here are the pictures so you can make your judgement