From my last post, you could see that I wasn’t thrilled with how my photos shot on Fuji Pro 400H looked. I loved that film, but now that it is discontinued, I’m using up the last bit of my stock. I am completely out of 35mm at this point, but I do have some boxes of 120. The test on those will come soon.I don’t freeze my film, but I do store it in a cool environment, so those who freeze may have better luck.
Although I wasn’t happy with the Santa Barbara shots, the true difference was seen when I was shooting the Goleta Lemon Festival in Goleta, California, the next day. Half way through the pie eating contest, I completed a roll of 400H and popped in a roll of Kodak Ektar. These images were taken within the few seconds it took for me to change film:
You can see the difference clearly. A plus is that Ektar is still in production so you can get fresh film!
More expired Fuji Pro 400H:
More Kodak Ektar 100:
You can see from my previous work with Fuji 400H, it loved the sun and had gorgeous greens and blues. I really miss that film, but it’s time to move on.
We took a trip out west in September of 2023. I had a work conference in Scottsdale, and we hadn’t been to California in a few years. My son wanted to see Universal Studios Hollywood, and we wanted to see a friend who had moved to Santa Barbara several years ago. We stayed at the Santa Barbara Inn which is right next to the beach and is highly recommended. You can take in the view of the early morning cyclists and joggers from the patio as you enjoy your breakfast. We had a lovely stay, and look forward to returning soon. These shots are the last bit of Fuji 400H which I had in 35mm. It’s clear that the film looks much better fresh, but given that Fuji discontinued the film, there is really no option for fresh film. I do have some 120 left, so I had better get to shoot that before the beauty of that film is lost. All shot on the Canon EOS 1v with either the Canon 24mm f/1.4 or the 50mm f/1.2 lens.
From the blue-toned pavers to the rainbow of colors which adorn the building exteriors, Old San Juan, Puerto Rico is a alive with color. Come with us as we explore the streets of Old San Juan.
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All images shot on the Canon EOS 1v with Fuji Pro 400H.
I’m a firm believer in printing your photographs, and it’s really satisfying to create a zine of your images to tell the story of your travels. Here is the flip book of our latest zine, Farewell Fuji 400H: Miami to Key West. Enjoy!
Looking for a beach vacation with the glamour of an historic hotel, without leaving the United States? The Confidante, Miami Beach is for you. The Confidante brings to mind the classic Florida hotels of the past. It is “retro chic,” a modern hotel with a nod to the elegant hotels from the golden era that made Miami Beach famous.
Opened in 2015 as The Confidante, the hotel has been known by many names since its opening in 1940. Originally opened as the Lord Tarleton Hotel, it transformed into The Hyde Park, The Crown, and The Thompson Miami Beach. The hotel was built in the Art Deco style, 18 stories high, and was Miami Beach’s first skyscraper.
The hotel is an Instagrammer’s dream, with a retro, candy-colored palette and fun vibe. The “Backyard” is located between the hotel and the pool area, where you can enjoy a cocktail amidst the palm trees.
Art lovers will be in heaven here. During our visit, the hotel hosted, “The Real Surreal,” an exhibit of the work of Salvador Dali and local artists. The hotel is also pet-friendly, so if you cannot leave your furry family member at home, they can enjoy the vacation with you.
There are two pools at The Confidante, one for adults and one for families. Adjacent to the pools are a number of furnished cabanas. We were there during spring break, the week before Easter, but it never felt crowded.
Our stay included a day at a pool cabana, which was outfitted with electrical outlets, a couch, and two beach chairs. We were treated to chilled water and a fruit plate. Our wonderful attendant, Heather, made sure we had everything we desired, including cocktails and delicious fruit pops made by Cielito Artisan Pops. Cielito’s pops are handcrafted, and made with local ingredients, free of GMOs, artificial colors, preservatives and high fructose corn syrup.
At the beach, you will have no trouble locating a chair and umbrella, and the kind staff will help you find your way. The beach is stunning, greeting us with beautiful turquoise water every day of our stay.
The hotel is located at 4041 Collins Avenue, in the middle of Miami Beach – away from the crowds of South Beach but within minutes by car or cab. The property is now part of the Hyatt Unbound Collection so you can earn or spend your Hyatt points with stays. It doesn’t have the feel of a corporate property. It feels like a family-owned boutique hotel, with the personal attention you would expect.
The best part of The Confidante? – we are returning next year!
One of the most exciting parts or our trip was exploring the Historic Art Deco District of Miami Beach. I loved walking the area looking for the details that make this area so special. I could have easily spent a week here, and would have loved to have a long lens on hand, but we will return! In just a few hours, I was able to see so many buildings in the style of Art Deco, Mediterranean Revival and MiMo (Miami Modern). The area was added to the National Historic District Registry in 1979 and can be found between 5th Street and 23rd Street, along Ocean Drive, Collins Avenue, and Washington Avenue.
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 new Portra is so much better than it was before. It handles skin tones well, and accurately captures colors, with a wide latitude for exposure variances. I tend to shoot it at 320, and love the bright, colorful look. Some have commented that the colors are a bit warm, but I find it suits what I shoot well.
Mamiya Pro TL, Mamiya 80mm f/1.9, Portra 400
Canon 1v, Portra 400
Mamiya 6, Mamiya 75mm f/3.5, Fuji 400H
Fuji 400H
When I am shooting scenes with loads of greens and blues, I love Fuji 400H. The greens and blues are a bit cooler than on Portra 400. For images of mountains and trees, or where those colors are prominent, it is perfection. It’s also flattering to skin tones, making it a favorite of wedding and portrait photographers.
Mamiya 6, Mamiya 75mm f/3.5, Fuji 400H
Canon 1v, Canon 24-70mm f/2.8, Fuji 400H
Canon 1v, Canon 135mm f/2, Fuji 400H
Ektar 100
I love Ektar’s ability to capture the vivid colors of the Caribbean. It is super saturated with a fine grain, and I use it at box speed. The only down side is that skin tones on caucasians look a bit ruddy, so I avoid using it for portraits. However, when it comes to landscapes, it’s stunning.
Mamiya 645 Pro TL, Kodak Ektar 100
Canon 1v, Ektar 100
Canon 1v, Canon 135mm f/2, Ektar 100
Other Stocks
I just started experimenting with Fuji Velvia 100 on our trip to Nevis in June of 2017. Velvia 100 is slide film, meaning it is a “positive” rather than a “negative.” The colors are vivid and the grain is super fine. The only down side is that I have to pretty much nail my exposures, and the scene has to be consistently lit, not too contrasty. You can see a side-by-side comparison of shots on Ektar 100 and Velvia 100 here. It does not have the room for error I have with Ektar 100, but the color from Velvia is amazing. I still need more experimentation to see if it will work for me. The trouble is that with all the beautiful sunshine in the Caribbean, you tend to get a lot of contrast in scenes.
Mamiya 645 Pro TL, Velvia 100
On our next trip to Kentucky, I will be shooting some Kodak Portra 800 for the first time. Stay tuned!
“I’ve never been to a place where the palm fronds clack together,” my husband said while sitting back in his beach chair facing the calm of Kamalame Cay. Coconut palms surrounded our chairs on what seemed to be our own personal beach. “You have,” I replied. “You have just never heard them before.” We have been to quite a few private beaches and luxury resorts in the Caribbean, but Kamalame Cay was distinctive from the rest. It was like nothing we had ever seen, or heard, before.
Mamiya 6, Mamiya 75mm f/3.5, Fuji 400H
There are no televisions. We thought we would miss that, particularly with the NBA Finals going on at the time of our visit. We didn’t. We spent more time talking, and reading, and listening, hearing those palm fronds, or the patter of a late afternoon rain. You saw more. Perhaps it was the lack of distractions. You noticed the tiny marks left by the hermit crabs as they made their way across the sandy path. You saw the tiny birds, hopping from branch to branch. The loudest sound was the sound of the seaplane taking off, bringing new guests or taking new friends home.
Mamiya Pro TL, Mamiya 80mm f/1.9. Kodak Ektar 100
The water was calm and clear. In the early mornings or late evening, it was like glass, and in those early mornings, you were treated to the sunrise from your beach chair. The water is shallow for quite a distance, perfect for those uneasy with the surf, or those who just like to walk or lounge in the water.
Mamiya Pro TL, Mamiya 80mm f/1.9, Kodak Portra 400 Mamiya Pro TL, Mamiya 80mm f/19, Kodak Portra 400
There are personal touches throughout your visit. In the morning, a basket of breakfast goodies is delivered to your door, including freshly-squeezed orange juice, coffee, pastries, yogurt and fruit. In the afternoon, you look forward to the warm cookie delivery, wanting to be there the moment it arrives. The staff was warm and caring without being intrusive.
Mamiya 6, Mamiya 75mm f/3.5, Kodak Portra 400
It took me a while to put my thoughts together to sum up our visit. I left well-rested, yet we did more activities on this trip than any before. I felt pampered, yet staff members were not present at every turn. This is not the Four Seasons, or Jumby Bay, or any of the diamond award winners we have visited before. It’s difficult to compare, because they don’t compare. It is elegant, but in an understated way. A visit to Kamalame Cay may be best described as a visit to a friend’s beautiful beach house. You are welcome and comfortable, and if you need assistance, they are already there with what you need. But you have the run of the house, literally. You can pour yourself a drink, pick a book off the shelf, and settle in where you are comfortable. You can walk barefoot, anywhere. Relax. You are home.
Mamiya 6, Mamiya 75mm f/3.5, Kodak Portra 400
Lead image: Mamiya Pro TL, Mamiya 80mm f/1.9, Fuji 400H
All photographs in this post were shot on film, using a Mamiya 6 with the 75mm f/3.5 lens, or the Mamiya ProTL with the Mamiya 80mm f/1.9 lens. Processing by Richard Photo Lab.
This post was the winner of a bronze award in the 2016 NATJA Awards for Excellence in Travel Journalism in the category of Photography: Photo Essay – Online Publication. For more information, click the image below.
NOTE: Originally published on July 10, 2016 on our sister site, My Irie Time.
We took the film on the road and the results are back.We took the film cameras to Anguilla, the Canon 1V and the Mamiya Pro TL.We took a variety of film stocks, Fuji 400H, Kodak Portra 400, Porta 160, and Ektar 100.We experimented and burned a lot of film.Many lessons were learned.Here are my impressions of our efforts and the results.
1.Digital has ruined me for film – shooting the same scene again and again.I am so accustomed to shooting RAW and shooting multiple images to try to nail the shot that I wasted a lot of film.For example, I had the sense when shooting a sunset on Rendezvous Bay that I was not getting the exposure right.In digital, I shoot and adjust, and reshoot, and repeat until I feel comfortable. What I need to do is more thinking and less shooting.I found that I went from one mistake to another and never really nailed the shot.In the end, my favorite shots were the ones where I took one shot, and my least favorite were the ones where I somehow knew I wasn’t nailing it, but just couldn’t nail it, despite many, many efforts.
Canon 1v, Canon 135mm f/2, Fuji 400H
2.Digital has ruined me for film – part two – settling for OK because I can fix it in post.I was so excited to get out and shoot film that I found myself forgetting the basics.Errors in digital can be corrected.If I shoot RAW, and I always do, I can correct most mistakes in exposure. It promotes laziness.I can take the sunset shot without using my ND filter on digital and recover a lot in post.Do it with film, and I lose a ton of color. I need to strive more for perfection.Fewer shots and better shots.
Mamiya Pro TL, Mamiya 80mm f/1.9, Fuji 400H
3.Manual focusing is tough, especially when you have impatient subjects who want to get to the beach.I have been spoiled by my autofocus cameras.I took both an autofocus (Canon 1V) and a manual focus film camera (Mamiya Pro TL with 80/1.9 and 45/2.8).I used the Mamiya with the 80mm lens on our Christmas card photo shoot.It’s really tough focusing manually with any accuracy when the subjects are accustomed to getting in an out of a shot quickly.
Mamiya Pro TL, Mamiya 80mm f/1.9, Portra 400
4. My favorite film stocks were Fuji 400H and Portra 400. I went through my film scans to pick my favorites, not aware of what film stocks they were shot on. I just got my negatives back from Richard Photo Lab, and of 23 favorites, 7 were shot on Portra 400 and 16 were shot on Fuji 400H. Ektar 100 and Portra 160 did not make the cut.
5.I will travel with film again.It was not difficult to travel with film, especially with the Canon 1V.It uses all the same lenses (and filters) that I use on my Canon 5D Mark II, so it was hardly adding anything to my bag.Traveling with film was easy.I kept it in my carryon to avoid the high x-rays of the checked luggage.I never asked for handchecking by TSA given that my film ISOs ranged from 100 to 400and there was no compromise of the film, having gone through scanners three times.
As for my mistakes in exposures, I could spend more time on my shots and think more while shooting. I didn’t use my Sekonic meter, relying upon the meter in the camera for ease of use. I was not mindful of my need for my filters, circular polarizer and ND filters, and I will be more aware of that next time.I will take more time for my shots, and will shoot less.
Canon 1v, Canon 24-70mm f/2.8, Fuji 400H
Despite all the failures, I will travel with film again.A mistake is not tragic if you learn from it.I plan to keep the film thing going.It was worth the extra gear just for the portraits alone.The skin of my teenagers looked so much better on film than digital.I shot our Christmas card photo in both, and I preferred the film hands down. Even the shots of silly things, like signs along the way, I loved the look of my film shots far more than digital.The digital versions looked sharper, almost to the point of being too sharp, if that’s possible.I can see why people love film, how it brings across more of the feeling of the scene, rather that the technically perfect reality of the situation.Sometimes I need a little less reality, and a little more feeling, particularly when the snow starts to fall here and I look back on my shots of my favorite island.
Mamiya 6, Mamiya 75mm f/3.5, Fuji 400H
Mamiya Pro TL, Mamiya 80mm f/1.9. Kodak Ektar 100
Mamiya Pro TL, Mamiya 80mm f/1.9, Kodak Portra 400
Mamiya Pro TL, Mamiya 80mm f/19, Kodak Portra 400
Mamiya 6, Mamiya 75mm f/3.5, Kodak Portra 400
Mamiya 6, Mamiya 75mm f/3.5, Kodak Portra 400
