Graindrop #25 - 35mm Roundup
North Cascades and Oregon Coast on 35mm FP4, Arcos, and HP5
I say it a lot on here and elsewhere, but 35mm film photography tells the story. Going out with a large format camera is amazing. I love my 4x5 and I love my 8x10, but I’m not coming back with images by which I can remember the experience. The set up and composition in large format photographer is a bit cumbersome and time consuming. Those cameras are always on a tripod, I’m composing and focusing under a dark cloth, and using a spot meter. That’s a lot of action for one shot. 35mm is what allows me to take in more of the experience of an outing from a handheld, more versatile perspective. However, if I shoot two rolls of 35mm on a trip, that’s 72 shots I’ve got to distill down to a sharable amount. I got backed up and hoarded a bunch of that imagery, which brings us to me just unloading a bunch of snapshots that I liked most.
All images shot on either a Nikon FM2 with a Nikkor 28mm/2.8, or a Nikon F3 with a 50mm/1.8, and I develop all my film in 510 Pyro.
Fuji Neopan 100 Acros II
How rad is that shot of the dog?? I had a real ear-to-ear smile after I developed this roll and saw that shot on the negatives as I was hanging them to dry. It’s one of my favorite 35mm shots ever, and as awesome as it was to see that scene and just experience it, I’m grateful to have the negative I can eventually print and hang somewhere.
Anyone who saw my last post on about 8x10 photography in this area should recognize some spots. But these are photographs I’d have otherwise never taken if I didn’t have the 35mm with me.
Even though I set out for a large format shoot in locations where the landscapes are stunning, I love that 35mm gets me shooting more man-made subjects in the small nearby towns. If something looks interesting, I can shoot it without any concerns about it costing $13 per shot or something - low stakes and high return on investment.
Ilford FP4+
FP4+ will always find its way into one of my 35mms on trips like this. If there’s enough light, I’m probably shooting FP4+.
That shot of the grass with the ocean and mountains in the background is one of my favorites from this set. Something about the grain and contrast, I’m not sure, but I love how it came out.
I feel like I’m just hyping up my own work here but I’m just sharing out my favorites from over 140 images. Having said that, I absolutely LOVE the contrast of that bright waterfall in the dark shadow with the bright left side splitting the frames.
Ilford HP5 Pushed to 800
Funny story - this was the last stop of this day trip to the North Cascades. I shot through all the 4x5 in one of my cases but knew I had another in the car. I set up the 4x5, composed, focused, metered, went to the car to get a film holder and I could not find the damn film case. I figured I left it at the motel. And so it goes. Anyway, I shot it on 35mm and it came out okay, but it doesn’t show off how awesome the lighting was all that well. Fast-forward and I’m back at the motel, start unloading my backpack, and there was the case holding 8 more 4x5 film holders. I had them with me the whole time. Okay, I guess the story is not funny.
HP5 pushed to 800 is my favorite form of HP5. Great for during the day, great when the sun’s not quite up or not quite down, just a real utility film for me.
That last shot is spooky as hell. Shot 1/60” at f/1.8 and hoped.
Alright, that was a lot. I hope it wasn’t too much. I’d love to hear what, if any of these shots jumped out at you. At the risk of sounding like a Youtuber desperate for engagement, let me know in the comments. That felt gross, but these images span more subjects and styles than I normally share and I’m curious what ya’ll think. Grateful, as always, for the kind words and support and any feedback on this big roundup shot on small film.
What a wonderful set of photographs, you must be very happy indeed. I also love large format in 4x5, but rarely shoot it nowadays as I always seem pressed for time.
Really awesome compositions here. I especially like the way the road(s) look leading into the mountains on the North Cascades shots.
This is coming from someone who's been to the Oregon coast and Northwest only once, but the thing I remember being so striking was the colors, specifically the greens and blues (and the contrast between the two). Do you ever find yourself missing shooting color, especially in this part of the world? Or have you seen enough of it from being in the area that you find it easier to focus more on composition and light when shooting black and white?