Color Film in Monochrome

Lately, the trend of cross processing film in chemicals designed for a different type of film has been attracting more and more attention and enthusiastic fans. Usually, color slide film is processed in chemicals meant for color negative film, but it can also be done in the reverse. 

The following photos have been cross processed as well, but with a different twist.

The images were taken on a roll of color 120 film, using a Holga. I was curious about the images and  wanted instant results... so mailing in the film for processing in a professional lab wasn't my first choice. Instead, I developed the film using the materials I already had on hand: instant coffee, soda ash, and pure vitamin C.

Those three ingredients are mixed with distilled water to create a stain developer called caffenol (or more precisely, caffenol-c, since it's the variant with vitamin C for speedier development). Caffenol is normally used to develop black-and-white film. But why not try it with color film as well?

Reflected tree line

To my happy surprise, the film did just fine in the caffenol, and all the images turned out mostly clear... maybe with just a slight haze. I chose to scan the film in color, leaving the color cast just as the scanner read it. It varied a little from one photo to the next, some appearing brown-toned while others have a green, golden, or even eggplant tint.

Harwood Mills

Peeking into a barn

 

Smithfield

I'm sure I'll be processing color film in caffenol again soon!

World Pinhole Day

In celebration of World Pinhole Day this past Sunday, I took a walk around our neighborhood with my trusty Holga WPC (Wideangle Pinhole Camera) in tow. Pinhole photography is an enjoyable challenge in that it takes photography back to its foundations. A pinhole camera is nothing more than a dark box or chamber of some sort (a camera obscura, literally) with a tiny hole in one side and light-sensitive material inside on the opposite side. And that's all you need to capture an image! As impressive as modern advances in technology are, sometimes it's refreshing to go back to the basics.

 The Holga WPC does offer a few conveniences over a bare-bones shoebox or coffee can pinhole camera: it has a shutter mechanism with a cable release and of course the advantage of being able to shoot a roll of film rather than a single image. But the concept is still wonderfully simple: dark box, pinhole, film. No viewfinder, no light meter, no camera settings at all. I enjoyed my walk and eventually decided that these flowers in my neighbors' yard would be my chosen subject. 

I've been warming up to the Holga WPC over the past few months and getting a better sense of the correct exposure times. I'll be ready to share more results soon!

F-Stop Magazine: Optimism

Check out the December 2011 issue of F-Stop magazine here, and don't miss the group exhibit entitled Optimism. I'm excited and honored to have contributed!

Look for the following four photos: 

Direct links to the images in my portfolio:
Sunsoaked
Leafburst
Blossom
Upside Up

Parchment Paper Frame

For the past year, I've enjoyed experimenting with different analog photography projects. But one of my recent projects has quickly become one of my favorites so far. It involves creating custom masks for the plastic Holga camera that will show up on each frame. The images below were taken with a piece of parchment paper mounted inside the camera body. I carefully tore a large hole in it to create a frame, then taped it down so that each photo would include the torn parchment paper edges. Simple!

Or perhaps not quite so simple. On the first attempt, I didn't tape down the parchment well enough, and this was the result.

On the second attempt, I made sure the paper would stay put.

I took the camera with me to a local Virginia Beach park to try it out. And it worked!

And now, to experiment with different shapes and materials! The possibilities are endless...

The Holga in Naples

A few more Holga images from our favorite city:

The 15th century Porta Capuana, next to Santa Caterina a Formiello and not far from where one of our good friends lives.
Ciao, Gianni!

Piazza Bovio

And a muti-city multiple exposure: I took a photo of the Pantheon in Rome, then forgot to advance the film before I photographed laundry in Naples hanging out to dry from a balcony.

Piazza del Popolo through a Plastic Lens

This photo makes me so happy that I'm giving it its own blog post. Taken with a plastic Holga camera loaded with 35mm film and developed in caffenol-c, it shows Piazza del Popolo's quasi-twin churches. I couldn't get enough of this square... there will be more photos of it to come! And if it wasn't before, the Holga is definitely a favorite now.

More caffenol!

This time, using color film!

More coffee!

I was so happy with the first roll of film developed in caffenol that I simply couldn't wait to try it again. I was curious to see whether it would work with black and white C-41 film as well. So... what better way to find out than simply giving it a try?

So I broke out the Olympus again, this time loading it with C-41 black and white film from the local pharmacy. With all the beautiful trees around here, it didn't take me long to finish the roll. And voila, the coffee and vitamin c home brew did the trick!

The images are a bit more grainy, and they turned out a different shade of color than the first batch. But I like it.

My favorite tree. Caffeinated.

I think I've found a whole new way to be hooked on coffee.

Caffenol

Coffee and vitamin C. Good for a burst of energy and good health. But who knew that these two ingredients could also be used to develop film? It may sound a bit like science fiction, but surprisingly enough, it really works.

Developing film in a coffee mixture called caffenol can be done right at home. And it actually wasn't too complicated. A daylight developing tank, a roll of film, the coffee and vitamin C, plus some water, sodium carbonate, and dish soap is all it took. It's cheaper than having film developed, and it's more rewarding, too.

Not to mention completely thrilling. I felt a bit like an alchemist, and my good friend/film-developing partner in crime and I couldn't wait to check the film once all the solutions had been run through the tank and the film was rinsed.

We opened the developing tanks and felt like kids on Christmas morning - there were images on the film. Yess!

Most of my photos look best and brightest along the edges, where they're also a pleasant shade of coffee brown. The middle of many images is darker and a bit more blue-grayish, I'm guessing because the developing solution didn't flow over those areas as freely. I'll have to experiment with how much I agitate the tank while developing.

I'm hooked on developing film with caffenol — I didn't think I would have that much fun with it, but I really enjoyed it!

I used my Olympus Stylus camera to take these photos. I found the camera in a box at Christmas, together with photos and various college mementos. I haven't thought much about the camera in the past 10 years, but now that I've rediscovered it, I plan on using it much more.

Lynnhaven Marina

This was round 1 with caffenol. I'm sure there will be more to come!