Film Photography Podcast – Episode 92 – December 1, 2013

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Show Notes

Film Photography Podcast – 1st of December, 2013 – Episode 92
Show Notes By Alex Luyckx

On today’s show, join Michael, John, Mat, and Leslie along with special guest Joseph Brunjes, as they discuss the recently canceled Fuji FP-3000b, Sun Prints, Large Format Wet Plate photography, Panoramic Photography and Direct Positive Paper! (image above: The Gang shot on the Wista 45d 4×5 camera / Kodak Ektachrome 64T)

HALF OFF AT THE DARKROOM! FPP’s lab of choice The Darkroom is having a massive sale just for you, the FPP listener base, from the 1st of December (today) for another ten days, at checkout enter the promo code FPPHALFOFF and receive 50% off of your order on anything (except gift certificates, taxes, and shipping)!
TRACK MAN! FPP Listener John Schroder along with a friend have developed a unique online and smart phone application called Film Trackr, to help you keep track of what film is in your camera, and where along your work flow the film is. Register today (it’s free) at www.filmtrackr.com.

Fuji Instant BW Film Discontinued! It is a sad day for lovers of instant film, Fuji recently announced it will end production of its FP-3000b instant film for Polaroid Type-100 Pack Cameras, ending the last B&W instant peel-apart film still available. The good news – there is still two more shipments of the film coming into North America. The first at the end of this year and then a second in the spring of 2014. While prices online have skyrocketed, the FPP on-line store prices are the best on the web.

SAVE FP-3000b! Want to help try and save this stock, you can sign the petition at change.org and more importantly, go out and buy and shoot the stock and post it online, to show that it is still loved!
AIRPORT X-RAYS! With holiday travel coming, film shooters may be worrying about sending their beloved film through the x-ray scanners at airports. Most scanners won’t harm films that are ASA-400 or slower. Still worried? There are a couple options, you can purchase special bags online that have lead to block the x-rays, or you can ask for the agent to hand-check the film (keep it in a clear bag in your carry on luggage).

NEW 35mm FILMS! The FPP Store is offering three new films in its store from the bulk loaders here at the studio. Direct from the Ukraine is Svema FN-64, an ASA-64 B&W film that has a big cult following – plus this is fresh stock! Looking for a unique colour pallet, check out the FPP Hyper Color! This ASA-125 film direct also from Svema offers colours that are completely different from what we’d expect from our C-41 films.

Next up is FPP Redscale – this ASA-50 – is reversed in the cartridge so your shooting through the base layer of the film to produce some truly interesting results This is a C-41 film, regular processors may scratch your negs, so send it to The Darkroom – they know how to treat it properly.

COLOR INFRARED FILM! Finally the most exciting new stock is FPP InfraChrome, yes, colour Infrared film. The stock is similar to Kodak’s famous Areochrome III film. Rated at ASA-400, but you can easily shoot it at any speed for more interesting results. It is recommended that you use a Yellow Filter to get the crazy results, or try an Orange or even Red filter.

 

 

 

SUN PRINTS! The biggest light source we have is the sun, so other than using it to light our photographs, how about making prints with it? Sun prints use a special paper that you can use to make photograms (placing objects on the paper, and then sitting it out in the sun), or as Leslie has been using it to contact print your black & white negatives. Processing is just by washing it under water, you can add a touch of lemon juice to darken it more. Great for kid’s art projects as there are no toxic chemicals involved! You can pick up the paper online and start experimenting!

WET PLATE TIN-TYPES! The FPP welcomes long time listener and large format photographer Joseph Brunjes to the studio. Joseph did some wonderful wet plate tin-type photos of the gang and now sits down to talk about the process.

The wet plate or collodion process dates back to the mid 19th century and still survives today with many photographers still practicing it. While Joseph shoots in many formats, he was drawn towards large format and then wet plate photography, eventually taking a course at the Center for Alternative Photography under the tutelage of Joni Sternbach (best known for  her series of surfer portraits on wet plate called “Surfland”).

This also dragged him into the world of 8×10 photography. Collodion is not for the faint of heart, he was concerned over safety when he learned that the fix contained Potassium Cyanide (however you can use Ilford Rapid fixer, much safer) – however the actual Collodion contains Either (explosive) and Silver Nitrate (could blind you for good). That being said, he still loves the process as it gives a truly unique and one-of-a-kind image.

It takes a lot of practice, especially when pouring the emulsion. Not to mention pushing himself as a photographer as the sensitivity of the emulsion really depend on the time of day, temperature, age, and humidity, so a normal light meter really doesn’t help much. Although he really wants a brass lens, he likes the results from using a modern lens as well to really help bring balance between the old process and the modern subject matter.

At the end of the day you really feel a sense of accomplishment, both as a photographer and a subject, Joseph mentions, because of the amount of time, practice and effort you’ve both put into this. What is next for his wet plate work? He is working on a project photographing men with their cars, he’s aiming mostly for unique cars, he has a WW2 army jeep, a Model T, and has a line on an Edsel. Want to check out his work? You can find it online at his website or on flickr.
Think wide…very wide.

At Photostock 2013, photographer Jamie Young brought along a rather unique camera, a Curkit, it is a large format panoramic camera. This ultra-large format takes 180 degree panoramic images on a unique roll of film (either 4 inches or 8 inches depending on the camera) then rotating on a tripod base, and with it created a totally unique group shot of all the photostock participants. While the Curkit is certainly the Rolls Royce of Panoramic cameras they are hard to come by in a working condition due to their age (first produced in 1904), you can still get film from Illford for them through their Ultra-Large format order day.

There are also plate panoramic cameras that use a custom curved plate and a swing lens. But what about for the average shooter? There’s plenty of cameras that use traditional roll films, such as 120 and 35mm. Well there are plenty of options available. There are the expensive cameras like the Hasselblad Xpan, Noblex, Widelux, and Roundshot. Not to mention offerings from Lomography, the Spinner 360, Sprocket Rocket, Horizon Perfekt and Kompakt, and the Bel-Air. And as Leslie points out, you can also built your own panoramic pinhole cameras. It is an amazing niche of photography and wonderful to explore with many options. Have questions or want to explore it more, you can check out Alex’s blog introducing the topic, or reach out to Jamie Young through his website. Do you shoot the format? Post some of your work to our Flickr pool or shoot us a line: podcast@filmphotographyproject.com!

DIRECT POSITIVE PAPER! Joseph also left Michael a little gift, a pack of Harmen Direct Positive paper. This is photographic paper that you shoot like film! You load it up into your film holders and go out and shoot away. Designed for use in daylight (Mat does not recommend shooting this under hot lights), it is rated at ASA-3 and you can develop and load it under a safe light because it’s orthochromatic (not sensitive to red light). You can better help tame the contrast by using a yellow filter or pre-flashing the paper under yellow light. You can pick it up in sizes of 4×5 up to 11×14 from Freestyle! Sadly this is the only direct positive paper still manufactured.

SHOP THE FPP ON-LINE STORE! Have a film head on your Christmas list? Check out the FPP store for all your film Christmas shopping need, cameras (like the Debonair) and plenty of fresh film stocks from 110 to 8×10! One stop Film Photography shopping!

Winter is a great time to get out and shoot and print, so get out there and we’ll be back in a short two weeks. Post in our pool, drop us a line at podcast@filmphotographyproject.com or send your holiday cards to Film Photography Podcast PO Box 152, Butler, NJ, 07405, USA, or leave us a festive message on the hotline: 973-850-6330. Super Positive!