lovely shoulder

lovely shoulder, originally uploaded by Kaligari.

This shot is from a test roll of Ilford HP5+ in my Spotmatic. I think the meter was under reading a couple of stops. My initial temptation to treat a test roll without care and rush it was halted by Jo’s attention to detail.

I am getting the hang of filters a bit more now but I am still struggling with water marks on the negatives.
I found this course on Photography at Birmingham City University which I remember as Birmingham Polytechnic. It seems interesting as I am not bothered about getting a qualification but some help and ideas from someone who knows especially in the darkroom skills department.

self stuck

It surprised me that I felt the same way about doing a self portrait as I did about taking shots of Jo. The assiginment is a self portrait that does not include my face. So the date is set for next Sunday when Jo will assist with the focusing and light meter of my Spotmatic and she will then take the shots without looking. I will be vaguely in the way of the camera but will have no ability to frame it right. I tried with the digital but I did not like the shots, need to stick with film I think.
I did some more printing today. A test roll with my Spotmatic. I have since changed the battery but I think the shots were underdeveloped. There wasn’t a lot of light in the room but I will shoot another roll and see what the meter does.
I am going to send for some Foma film. Still not sure whether to go for 100 asa or 200 asa or both :)

Spotmatic.

I am the proud owner of a Pentax Spotmatic. It seems the camera is as old as me if not a bit older. Since getting my ME super I have developed a love for old Pentaxes and being lucky enough to be given a
K1000 made me a very happy man. I am not going to say I have enough cameras now but……A test roll of film is developed and just needs printing and I suspect the Spottie will be the camera of choice from now on for a while.
The next assignment is a self portrait without including my face. Jo’s idea is use the digital…and I think I will. I will try this tomorrow.
Mulling over going for bulk film….just scared of cocking up and wasting 30m of film. But it does seem a whole lot cheaper. We’ll see.

Assignment 1 complete.

After my descent into no-confidence hell, I am so glad I carried on with the assignment. The feeling that the photos would be naff and Jo would hate them really got in the way and the results are nothing like that. I am really pleased with the prints and processing film is not as difficult now I have a changing bag.

Thankyou to Jo for all the encouragement.

and another.

Jo 1, originally uploaded by Kaligari.

another print from the 2nd roll. I printed the shots with a no.2 filter on Agfa variable contrast paper.

Jo2

Jo2, originally uploaded by Kaligari.

This print is from the 2nd roll of film. Jo looking at me while I took shots with a cable release.

Jo smile

Jo smile, originally uploaded by Kaligari.

This print is from the first roll of film. The instruction to Jo was to look at the camera.

contact1

contact1, originally uploaded by Kaligari.

Assignment 1 contact sheet.

Pentax K1000. Fuji acros 100 (rated at 80) developed in Rodinal 1+50 for 11.5 mins.

lighting and camera setup as before.

Contact2

Contact2, originally uploaded by Kaligari.

The contact sheet for assignment 1.
Techy details…….
Pentax K1000. Ilford Pan 100 developed in Rodinal 1+25 for 9mins

Apeture open all the way, 1 sec exposure.
Lighting….table lamp, 7 tealight candles.

First Assignment

The first assignment is to take 36 shots over an hour of a person you know well. The person is to look directly at the camera and no talking is to take place. An additional task was to shoot another roll with the person looking at someone else off camera.

I took half an hour for each shoot. Jo looking at the camera was fine. But Jo looking at me while I photographed did upset me as I expected some feedback from her. Not talking was very hard and I felt like giving up. The pressure of creating deep meaningul portraits was a bit heavy for me. So I broke the rules and we did talk. Thankfully Jo convinced me to carry on. I will post the contact sheets when I process them complete with all the techy details.