Film Friday - Some Refreshment

Just one for you today, as I haven't gotten my most recent film developed yet. But I thought a nice cold drink after a busy week might be just the ticket anyway.

Film Friday - San Francisco Woods

Let's do a little experiment, shall we? I'd like you to try to imagine California without any eucalyptus trees.

Hard to do, isn't it? And though they are controversial immigrants, there's something that's so relaxing about walking through a grove of them. Especially if they help you forget that you're in the middle of a major city, and that less than a mile away there is sure to be gridlock somewhere, or at the very least an overly full bus lurching away from a curb.

David and I climbed up Mt Sutro (not a real mountain, so please don't be impressed) and we brought along all our fun film camera toys once again and properly geeked out. Except I think he did a better job because he has a HASSELBLAD! and a LEICA! and I only have a (bronica).

I mean, it's not a competition, right? But if it were, he'd be winning the contest of film-camera-geekery. Just by a nose. Or perhaps a couple of lengths.

Backlit ivy, always worth a photograph in my opinion.

Not sure what these little white flowers are, but I thought they were sweet. White forget me nots? Is that even a thing?

These flowers I know. And I obeyed the law, I didn't harm them one little bit.

Happy Friday! Enjoy your weekend. Go take a hike, even if you don't leave the city to do it.

*Interested in a film or digital portrait session? Please contact me for details!*

*Want to see more film? Check out all the Film Friday posts!*

Film Friday - Japanese Tea Gardens

A few shots from a lovely afternoon in the Japanese Tea Gardens a couple of weeks ago.

You know me, I'm always a sucker for blossom photos.

Film Friday - Black and White Musings

Here are a few photos of San Francisco in black-and-white. The first two I shot on the same day as my first roll of Velvia with David - what a wet day! Whew.

And then these I shot on a day when I was on my way to a dentist appointment, and I took advantage of the little bit of extra time I had and made my way to the ocean. Something about that open space and infinity of beach and sky just gets me every time. And I knew it would look good in black and white. What I didn't expect, was to see the people working on the roof, or to be inspired by the row of houses all exactly the same except for the color (somehow still expressed well in black and white). 

And the calla lilies, effortlessly elegant as usual.

I've been experimenting with doing a little bit of meditation every day when I can manage it. There's something about five minutes of just relaxing not doing anything that really focuses the mind.  

Shooting film is like that for me. When I'm shooting a roll with only twelve frames, I don't think about anything except my next shot (and I know there's only going to be one photo of this particular subject, unlike my digital work) and that's very freeing. With digital I can take any photo I want, so somehow I don't want to take them as much. 

Of course, there are some limitations. For example, shooting film that's 50 ISO is really difficult. Even on a bright sunny day I find that there are compositions that are too dark to make the photograph. This is a problem you never have with modern digital. 

But maybe that's the point. Maybe it's the problems that make the solution feel more elegant. Get rid of the problems and what's the point?

*Interested in a film or digital portrait session? Please contact me for details!*

*Want to see more film? Check out all the Film Friday posts!*

Film Sunday - Feeling Positive

Well, I missed Film Friday. This is what happens when I half-finish posts in advance - I feel like they're done and so I stop thinking about them, but because I haven't scheduled them to publish, it's like they weren't done at all.

Nothing very earth shattering today anyway, just a few shots from a recent roll of Fuji Provia, the same 'positive film' I blogged about before.

A couple of people asked what positive film is, and I'm no chemist, so I can't give a really in-depth explanation, but most film is what we call negative film, and so when it's been photographed on and then developed, when you look at it the picture appears inverted in terms of light and dark tones. This is true for color or black and white negative film. Positive film, on the other hand, also known as slide film, looks like the picture you took, only smaller. It also tends to have more saturated color and more contrast as well.

And I'm having a lot of fun playing with it. The only trick is that it has a pretty narrow range of exposure values, so it's easy to get clipped blacks or blown out whites. Also, it's more expensive to buy and to develop.

But it's also just lovely.

Hope you're having a beautiful Sunday, spending some time outside and soaking up these gorgeous days.

*Interested in a film or digital portrait session? Please contact me for details!*

*Want to see more film? Check out all the Film Friday posts!*

Film Friday - Maria

Maria and I met up on a gorgeously sunny afternoon at the top of Strawberry Hill in Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park. We had two rolls of film, and a mission: to get some lovely portraits of her.

Maria, you're stunning.

I just love the character of Fuji's Acros 100 - hands down, it's my current favorite black and white film, so crisp and fine and clean, and with just gorgeous tones.

Then we switched to color, and made use of the flowering plum trees.

The light was fading fast, so this last shot isn't quite in focus as I'd like it to be (one argument for shooting digital, definitely!), but I just love the feeling of it.

Thanks Maria!

*Interested in a film or digital portrait session? Please contact me for details!*

*Want to see more film? Check out all the Film Friday posts!*

Film Friday - AnnMarie and Paul

Another recent film portrait session. AnnMarie and Paul were troopers, meeting me just after dawn at Stow Lake in the bitter cold. (Okay, bitter for here, anyway.)

We took advantage of the beautiful light and managed to get some great portraits of the two of them as well as their trusty sidekick Leo.

I just love the look of film, the buttery highlights and the soft bokeh. Digital is convenient, yes, but it doesn't have the same special feel.

Thanks again, AnnMarie and Paul. It was a wonderful morning!

*Interested in a film or digital portrait session? Please contact me for details!*

*Want to see more film? Check out all the Film Friday posts!*