Over the past few days I have been working my way through transparency and negative files dating back to 1982, primarily for the purpose of copying them and bringing some into the digital world for the first time. My interest, piqued by a post on Facebook no less, led me to the technique of using a lightbox and macro lens to get the job done (why didn't I think of that before?). It is a basic set-up but it works very well, at least for the purposes of the Internet, and is much quicker than using a scanner.
The one thing I miss about photography since turning fully digital is shooting with infrared film: both mono and colour, and the discovery of several long-forgotten neg sheets reminded me of this. Tricky stuff to handle in the field, and even trickier to expose for, the results with these films was always unpredictable purely because it depended on how much infrared was being reflected from a subject on any given day. On top of that there were the filters needed to get the full effect with either emulsion, but with care it could all work out just dandy.
The colour image of Christchurch Priory, Dorset, has been known to me since the trannies came back from the lab, but the mono picture - taken nearby but at a later date and developed at home - is seen by me for the first time since I never got around to making a contact sheet, let alone prints. I still have two 35mm film cameras but Kodak ceased production of the film(s) in 2007, blaming poor sales numbers. However, apparently there are several manufacturers - Ilford, to name but one - that still make the stuff (woohoo!), creating the possibility that come summer, and spurred on by my new-found copying technique, I may just dust-off the F5 and give it all another go.
Now, where can I get the chemicals, these days?
Top: Kodak Ektachrome EIR (yellow filter), rated at ISO 250 - May 2001
Below: Kodak EIR (Kodak wratten 25 filter), rated at ISO 400 - June 2004
© 2015
2 comments:
Strange and curious. I like strange and curious. :)
Me too!
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