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!

Optiko: Analogue Photography Zine

I'm honored to have one of my infrared film images featured on Optiko's website. Head on over to Optiko to check it out: http://www.optiko.co.uk/#/blog/4553704839/Britta-Hershman-Magnolia/1496175

Magnolia

I'm happy that the chosen photo is one of my favorite tree. It was taken with my Holga loaded with infrared film and equipped with an infrared filter over the lens. The exposure time was just over one second — enough time for the fast-moving clouds to become blurred.

A big thank you to Steve over at Optiko!

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.

Santa Caterina a Formiello

Santa Caterina. I'm not sure I can put into words exactly what it is about this church and this neighborhood that I find so fascinating. But I'll try. I think it has something to do with its thoroughly Neapolitan character: Raw and real, it has the characteristic grittiness of downtown Naples, combined with the energy of scooters, kids kicking orange soccer balls, outdoor markets, and granita kiosks selling various flavors of snow cones. The church's beautiful interior is reason enough to visit, but there's so much more to see. Perhaps parts of Naples are an acquired taste for travelers... but for me, Santa Caterina gives me the thrill of exploring a well-kept secret, an area often overlooked by visitors.

On one of our walks through Naples, I pulled the Holga out of my purse for a quick photo. In the year that had passed since I saw her last, Santa Caterina had lost none of her charm.

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.

sand dunes

It looked like a sunny spring day...

...but the sunshine can be deceptive.
It was definitely chilly, yet as beautiful as always.

windy day

Sand dunes: Fort Story, Virginia Beach.

Taken with my Holga.
Long live plastic!

Winter ♥

Wintry tree branches, just the kind I love. Just for fun.
Taken with my Holga.

Old Point Comfort Light

Old Point Comfort Light

Old Point Comfort Light is located at the entrance to Hampton Roads, and at 207 years old, it is the oldest light in service in Chesapeake Bay. It is located on the grounds of Ft. Monroe, although its construction predates the fort by several decades. It is only 58 feet tall, yet its red light still serves to guide ships into the bay to this day.

Holga Love

You might remember me mentioning that friends and family seemed to have conspired to spoil me with the perfect birthday gifts that all work together perfectly: a plastic Holga camera, a set of filters for it, and a negative scanner to digitize the resulting images. You may also remember that I immediately loaded it with 35mm film and tried it out in Rhode Island. But the camera is made primarily for medium format film, and -drumroll- I finally had the first two rolls of 120 film developed. Here are some of the images from the first roll. I used black and white film and a red filter... hence the dark, über-contrasty look.

The Holga accompanied me on a trip to the Rosewell Ruins in Gloucester, VA.

I was charmed by the ruins themselves...

...as well as the surrounding woods. I was so happy to see that my Holga's plastic lens really does add a bit of characteristic blur around the edges. Just like it's supposed to.
Grain elevators in Parkston.

A photo of more railroad tracks in town, sporting the vignetting that is typical of Holga images.

And a tree. Vignetting and blur... yess!

This was the trial run for the Holga loaded with the proper 120 film. OPTEST Sat!

Holga in Rhode Island

It seems like my friends and my family conspired to give me the perfect birthday gifts this year. And the best part is that the all work together: a Holga plastic camera, a set of color filters, a 35mm conversion kit, and a negative scanner. I'm thankful for each gift... every one of which was used to create the images below. My first attempt to take photos with the Holga failed because I didn’t load the film properly… I was happily snapping away, not realizing that the film wasn’t advancing in between shots. But this second attempt was successful. I took the Holga with me on an afternoon walk along the shore of Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay and pointed its plastic lens at anything and everything I found interesting.

First up: flowers. I'm currently on a plants-and-trees from below kick, where I like to take photos looking up. I'm enjoying changing the perspective of the camera, seeing how the world looks through a lens when the camera is placed low to the ground.

The Holga comes with two masks that determine the size of the images on the film, either 6x6 square or 6x4 rectangular. But I chose to use neither, resulting in extra wide images and a bit of vignetting along the sides.

Rhode Island seashore. Taken with the Holga, black and white Ilford film, and a red filter for extra contrast.

One of my favorite spots in Newport: historic Trinity Church downtown.