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We never tire of the Bourbon Trail, so while visiting Keeneland for the Spring Meet, we hit the road to travel to Buffalo Trace, Woodford Reserve, and Four Roses. Mamiya 645 Pro TL; Mamiya 80mm f/1.9 or 150mm f/3.5; Fuji 400H, Kodak Portra 400, and Kodak Portra 800; processed and scanned by Richard Photo Lab.
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The road took us to Lexington, Kentucky for the Spring Meet at Keeneland, featuring the Maker’s 46 Mile. The Maker’s 46 Mile is a one-mile race for four year-olds up on turf, and was held on April 13, 2018. Keeneland is known for great horses. The 2018 Triple Crown winner, Justify, sold at Keeneland’s 2016 September Yearling Sale for $500,000. Justify was the 22nd Kentucky Derby winner, the 24th Preakness winner, and the 20th Belmont Stakes winner sold at Keeneland. Mamiya 645 Pro TL; Mamiya 80mm f/1.9 or 150mm f/3.5; Fuji 400H, Kodak Portra 400, and Kodak Portra 800; processed and scanned by Richard Photo Lab. SaveSave
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I am oftentimes asked why I shoot film. In 2007, I went from a film SLR, a Canon Elan 7n, to a digital SLR, the Canon 40D. I held out for quite a while. I was comfortable shooting film, but at that time, it looked as if film was in its last days, and it was either go digital or go home. So I made the switch. I loved the instant feedback of digital. Digital told me right away when I pooched a shot, and gave me a chance to try again. I was able to experiment with digital where I had not felt comfortable experimenting with film. When you…
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A few years back, I returned to film photography, and now shoot both digital and film while traveling. With a lot of hits and misses, I’ve come to find that several film stocks have emerged as my favorites, reliable from trip to trip, and perfect for the way I shoot. Although I will continue to experiment, these film stocks have proven their worth and will be in my bag on every trip, or as long as the manufacturers continue to produce them! Kodak Portra 400 Portra 400 is clearly my favorite of all film stocks. I used to shoot Portra NC and VC back in my pre-digital days, but the…
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Is this a cooking post or a film photography post? Well, a little bit of both. Today, I processed my first roll of color film ever, and processed it with a sous vide. Back when I shot film, I used to process black and white film myself. It wasn’t too hard, once you got used to feeling your way around a roll of film in a changing bag. I never got into processing color film, primarily because of the difficulty in controlling the temperature. I understood that temperature control was far more critical in color film processing, and I had difficulty getting the temperature right. Color film processing seemed beyond…
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Over the years, I have posted “What’s in My Bag?” about various trips. On the last two trips, I have traveled with both digital and film cameras, and I wanted to do a separate post on traveling for hybrid shooters. As you might expect, it’s easier to travel with digital. Memory cards are small, and you don’t have to worry about the effect of x-ray machines at security checkpoints. I also feel more comfortable experimenting with digital. You can try new techniques, and the only loss is your time. However, I find that there are times when I prefer film over digital, and it’s worth the extra effort. There are…
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One of the great features of digital photography, aside from the instant gratification of knowing you’ve got the shot, is that the cameras record your settings, the metadata, assisting you in evaluating what worked and what did not. Most film cameras had no way of recording the settings used, requiring that the photographer keep meticulous notes, which could be consulted once the film was returned from the lab. As film photography developed over the years, manufacturers were able to design film cameras which recorded the shooting information. However, extracting the information from the camera required special software and a cable proprietary to the manufacturer. In researching the purchase of my Canon…
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Lately, I’ve been back to shooting film, shooting both digital and film cameras on our recent trips to Anguilla, Antigua, and Barbuda. Along for the journey were several film cameras, including the Canon EOS 1v. The 1v was Canon’s last professional 35mm SLR camera, with a magnesium alloy body and weather sealing throughout. At 10 frames per second, it was a favorite of sports shooters for years. It is a solidly built camera, and fits perfectly in my hand like the later DSLRs that Canon produced. I have the HS version, which includes a detachable power booster, however given the bulk, I leave that behind. The beauty of traveling with…
