Portraits of friends

One of the curses of life post-military experience is that the friendships which remain are often separated by physical distance. Fortunately we still find excuses to come visit even if only for a short period of time. Dan and Hannah both share a love of art and creativity almost as strongly as they love each other and were there for some of the best sitters I could ask for. This impromptu portrait session was created using my Intrepid 4x5 camera and a couple new film holders loaded with ilford hp5 ISO 400. One of the film holders I discovered after development had a light leak, but I think it added a very pleasant flair to the final image.

Also, I cannot get over Hannah's expression in her portrait. After I set up the camera, I asked her to look at her husband, clicking the shutter as soon as the expression formed.

First batch of film processed at home

Hello everyone!

I am very excited to share my first batch of negatives processed in my garage. This process was incredible simple to do at home. The biggest challenges to overcome were the question of what to do with the chemicals after the processing, and finding a place to hang/dry the negatives when they come out of the wash.

My solution for the chemicals: I looked up the dates/times my county has home hazardous waste drop off sites, purchased a couple 2.5 gallon jugs to safely store the chems and will drop them off so they are properly disposed of.

The drying the negatives I have not found a good solution for yet… the biggest issue is the negatives started sliding out of the clips I was using. This was weird because the clips themselves are very strong! I did not expect them to slip out. So I've opted to keep them in the reel… as the 4x5 prints don't touch while in the reel. I then place the real in a cardboard box so that the negatives don't get dusty or get my pets hair stuck to them. I think in the future I may try to clear out a cabinet that they can sit in.

Without further Ado here are the first negatives. All were shot on my intrepid 4x5 camera with Nikon 150mm lens.

The outdoor portraits were taken after work with a couple co workers who had never shot on a large format camera before. Had a lot of fun setting up the shots. And taking each other's portraits.

My breakfast table in north light.

I think kitchen tables are a photographic genre onto themselves. There is something so social about the kitchen table… with or without people in the frame, photographers are drawn to this type of image. I can't tell you how many I've seen this type of photo. There is more about this subject matter I would like to explore when I can find better words for the draw of this subject.

Meredith

My wife, whom I adore, the person who doesn't always want their photo taken but humors me nonetheless. The light was absolutely stunning here. The pop of the hearing, the silhouette of the plant, the contrast in this film is all fantastic.