A Return To Film

I really want to love shooting film. At its best, it’s great practice for all photo mediums due to the fact that it trains my brain to slow down. The extra tactility is also enjoyable, plus it’s just fun to shoot on an old camera. Fun is what photography should be about, and fun could be what keeps my too-idle hobby alive.

Last week, I got the itch to shoot some film for the first time in five years. In particular, I wanted to play with the medium format camera I bought in 2019, a Fuji GW690iii. It’s a fixed focal length rangefinder camera, a style with which I have very little experience. I only shot one roll of film through the camera to make sure it was working five years ago, so giving it another chance seemed like a fun idea.

This particular roll of film was mostly about figuring out the issues with my processes rather than getting good photos. It’s been so long that I barely remember what I’m doing. I also have some interest in trying large format photography, but that’s a place I only want to go if my process is dialed in, as the costs associated with that format are much higher. In the meantime, this camera still produces some gloriously large negatives, and that was about half of the draw of digging it back out.

Since last week was Thanksgiving, I had to drive from Goleta to Redondo Beach on Thursday, then back up on Friday. I figured that would be an opportune time to fire some test shots, since a lot of that drive goes along the coast, and I’m pretty familiar with these locations since I ride my bike there a lot. I also figured it would be fun to upload every shot from this roll of film onto this blog. Most of these photos are bad, but I thought it would be interesting to document, especially since this camera only yields eight shots of 120 film.

So, without further adieu, here are the photos. You can click on any of them to make them larger and put them in front of a dark background, which I would recommend.

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My first film photo in five years! And it’s very… ordinary. I like the sky a lot though. Acros is fairly low-contrast film, but I really like what it does with sky tones in particular. Maybe I’ll need to buy an orange filter for this camera at some point too.

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Fuji GW690iii, Acros 100II + D-76, ISO 100

The next photo is my favorite composition of the roll, but unfortunately it suffers from extreme motion blur. It’s not a huge problem on the web, but this shot is not printable. The composition is worth coming back for, though if I was doing it over again I’d include more foreground rocks as well. It’s only a 30 minute drive from home, so there will be other opportunities, provided I remember to shoot them at low tide.

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Fuji GW690iii, Acros 100II + D-76, ISO 100

I drove further down the coast for this shot and I liked the haze blocking the bottom of Santa Cruz Island along with the little sandbar in front of the waves. The film also did great with the transition to the bright highlights on the left side of the photo. I’ll go more into the problems I encountered with this roll of film after I’m done showing the photos, but this photo has many of them. Somewhat oddly given the other issues, it is also by far the sharpest scan. Ultimately it’s a composition which would have worked better with a wider angle, an option this camera does not have.

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Fuji GW690iii, Acros 100II + D-76, ISO 100

The next day, still drowsy after stuffing myself with turkey, I decided to finish my film on the way home so I could develop it over the weekend. The conditions were less than optimal, with the nice light from the day before being replaced by varieties of overcast. However, the sunlight did briefly filter through the clouds when I got near Pt. Mugu, between Malibu and Oxnard.

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Fuji GW690iii, Acros 100II + D-76, ISO 100

Further up the road, I stopped at Sycamore Cove State Beach. The filtered light was starting to disappear, but I liked the idea of playing with the strong contrast between ocean foam and dark sand. I decided to leave some of the other beachgoers in the first shot. I like the mood of the clouds in this series, I just wish there was a bit more light on the background rocks too.

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Fuji GW690iii, Acros 100II + D-76, ISO 100

Standing in nearly the same place (but with the composition somewhat refined), I tried to time the curl of the waves with fresh waves in the foreground. It didn’t quite work on this one, but it was close enough.

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Fuji GW690iii, Acros 100II + D-76, ISO 100

Another attempt at the same composition. When I shoot seascapes on digital I can sometimes end up with hundreds of shots in order to find the right wave pattern. It’s an interesting challenge to try to find it with a limited number of attempts.

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Fuji GW690iii, Acros 100II + D-76, ISO 100

Finally, for the last shot, I turned around and waited until the moment after the waves started to recede to add some bubbles to the leading line. This is my favorite photo of the roll.

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Fuji GW690iii, Acros 100II + D-76, ISO 100

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So, what did we learn?

First, on the positive side: I shot a roll of film for the first time in five years, developed it at home, there was actually stuff on the negatives, and shooting these photos made me happy. The importance of all of that can’t be understated. It had been five years since I had last crossed film’s barrier to entry, and I crossed it.

There were still some issues, though. The primary problem was that the film had handling damage. Some of the shots had dark splotches on top, while others hand visible dimpling on the negatives after I was done. The main potential source of this was the fact that I had a lot of difficulty loading film onto the developing roll in the changing bag, which is a common source of frustration with medium format film. I’ve also heard that Acros can be particularly difficult to work with in this regard.

Also concerning was that most of these photos are not very sharp. If I’m working with a format that is obtuse in the interest of increased fidelity, that is not acceptable. A few of the shots have visible motion blur, which can obviously be corrected by setting up a tripod. A few of these were also shot at f/22 for full depth of field, but it’s possible that I was losing sharpness due to diffraction by that point. Beyond that, I also think my relatively cheap scanner is a problem, and I’ve already started taking steps to address that.

But, most importantly, would I do it again? Well, I already have another roll of film loaded, and I have a plan for where and when I want to shoot it. I wouldn’t say I’m fully hooked yet, but I’m enticed by the idea of solving the puzzles I’ve created for myself. For now, that’s enough to keep me going.

Home, Part 1

Two months ago, I took a big, life-altering gamble which I’ve been contemplating for a long time. I moved from the Boston area - which I called home for the past sixteen years - back to Southern California, my home for the eighteen years prior. While I will miss New England, this move represents a tremendous opportunity for my photography, thus I’ve started this new series.

There are several fundamental reasons why I want to document my local photographic journey on my personal blog:

1. I’m fed up with the way Instagram is displaying my photos. I’ll continue posting work there (it’s probably still the best way to show my photography to an audience of non-photographers), but I need a way to show my new work with quality that is more up to my standards. That place used to be 500px, but they’ve been pivoting more heavily into crypto since they were bought a few years ago, and I’m not interested in following them in that direction. I’m also just tired of Instagram’s algorithm burying my work because it’s not a Reel.

2. My new home area is absolutely beautiful. I’ve never had so many photography options within such a short distance. Additionally, living in the Santa Barbara area is probably not financially sustainable long-term so I need to take advantage of my surroundings while I can. I have at least some interest in getting some of my work into some of the more touristy shops around here (it seems like a good way to sell prints) and thus I need to build up a local portfolio as well.

3. Most of my photography over the last decade has been travel-motivated. I’ve posted very little from my own backyard, which means I have had less opportunity to practice and to grow as a photographer. Given the state of the world, fewer travel opportunities has basically shut me down over the past couple years, and I need to more frequently exercise my Photography Brain.

4. I just miss writing about photography. My last piece here was published in 2019. I’ve started and stopped a few since then, but nothing has come to fruition. I want to use this space more.

So there you have it, the motivation behind Home. I’m going to try to post about once per month with camera excursions at least once per week. Hopefully this won’t turn into one of the other abandoned projects I have on this page, but as of now the motivation is there.

Click on any photo to scale to the size of your browser window.

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The first location of this post is Ellwood Mesa, located about 10 minutes from my apartment in my new home city of Goleta, California. Ellwood can be broken up into two sections. The first is the butterfly grove and forest, where this first photo was taken. This area is locally famous (the city’s logo is a monarch butterfly), but outside of winter months the butterflies are usually elsewhere. Instead, this is just a pretty photo of a meadow.

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5/27/2022, Goleta, CA. Nikon Z6, Nikkor 24-70/4 @ 44mm, f/9, 1/100s, ISO 100

The extended drought in southern California has caused much of this wooded area to suffer. There is a sign at the start of the trail warning nature-lovers to beware of falling trees. In this particular composition, I was struck by the zig-zag pattern that these trees made and their interaction with the warm flowers.

The second section of Ellwood are the bluffs along the ocean, where I took this photo:

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5/27/2022, Goleta, CA. Nikon Z6, Nikkor 24-70/4 @ 64mm, f/9, 1/800s, ISO 100

This was taken almost directly into the sun, with a hazy blue cast over the entire photo. I spent a few days fiddling with the edit because I liked the composition, but I was only satisfied with the result after converting the photo to black and white, which removed the distracting color cast. I’m generally not a fan of using black and white to redeem a photo from subpar lighting, but for whatever reason it works for me here.

These cliffs are full of more photographic opportunities, and I definitely can see myself being a regular at this spot. I have several ideas which I’m eager to revisit when the light is more appropriate for those scenes.

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This next set of photos were taken along Camino Cielo in the Santa Ynez mountains. This road is known for its breathtaking views of both the ocean and the Santa Ynez valley, as it runs right along the spine of the ridge which divides the two. Like the photos from Ellwood, I only felt like I was scratching the surface of this location.

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Santa Ynez Mountains, CA. Nikon Z6, Nikkor 24-70/4 @ 25mm, f/5.6, 1/20s, ISO 100

This first photo was basically what I had in mind when I set out for the evening. In the field I enjoyed the light as well as the bush and rock leading the eye to Santa Cruz Island in the background. However, I didn’t anticipate how the dull haze was going to reduce the overall impact of the vista. This photo would have worked a lot better if it was completely clear, something which is difficult to pull off this time of year.

However, this next photo contrasts well with the previous one. Rather than being dulled by the haze, this was enhanced by it. Also in contrast with the previous photo, this composition was sudden and not pre-planned; I just looked over my shoulder at the same spot and this view of Lake Cachuma presented itself.

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Santa Ynez Mountains, CA. Nikon Z6, Nikkor 24-70/4 @ 38mm, f/5.6, 1/80s, ISO 100

I think if I knew what to look for in advance, I would have spent more time refining this composition and perhaps could have found a better view (lining up the notch in the mid-ground hill with the bottom of the lake would have been nice, but also may have involved walking off a cliff). It is a good reminder to be more mindful of the haze when up in the mountains, especially this time of year when there’s usually a marine layer in the morning and afternoon. I learned a lot that evening.

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Speaking of the marine layer, this photo shows off June Gloom pretty well. This is an iPhone shot, taken during a lunch break walk, but good photography is good photography, no matter which camera you use.

Santa Barbara, CA. iPhone 13 Mini, Wide Angle Lens, Auto settings

I love the split personality here. I do wish the tide was higher to better show off the different color of the two halves of water, but that’s obviously hard to do given the spontaneous nature of this photo.

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The last two photos from this post are from Arroyo Burro beach in Santa Barbara, better known to the locals as Hendry’s. Shooting here was an interesting experience. Arroyo Burro is an off-leash dog beach and a popular location in general, so finding a small composition and just dealing with people and curious pups running through shots was a challenge. I walked about as far as I could up the beach which did cut down on foot traffic, and the tide was high enough that most errant footprints were washed away in a few minutes.

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Santa Barbara, CA. Nikon Z6, Nikkor 24-70/4 @ 24mm, f/16, 1.6s, ISO 100

This photo was found using the most “correct” process of any in this post - arriving early, scouting, finding a composition, and waiting for the light. Said light did not disappoint.

On my way off the beach, I did manage to find a composition the “wrong” way, as in more spontaneously. However, I really enjoy the result.

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Santa Barbara, CA. Nikon Z6, Nikkor 24-70/4 @ 64mm, f/8, 1.3s, ISO 100

Both the person in the mid-ground and the family in the background managed to mostly hold still for this 1.3 second exposure, which was a nice bonus. This feels like the most “California” photo of the ones here, between the saturated orange sunset and the silhouette of the palm trees on the cliffs above.

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That’s it for this round of photos. Over the next few weeks I’m planning on sticking around locally, checking out some of the hikes in the hills above Santa Barbara and possibly making a trip to scout for compositions along the Santa Ynez river. Additionally, the morning marine layer could make for some interesting photos in the Ellwood forest, so I am hoping to return to that location at least once if I can find a foggy morning.

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