This image perfectly represents the problems I have with 35mm film. The biggest issue for me is that it takes me so long to finish a roll. I am too methodical for 35mm anymore. I loaded this roll into my pinhole camera in August of 2022, shot 2/3 of the roll on a trip to Victoria, BC then promptly forgot about it. I set the camera aside, played with other pinhole cameras and then when I got the itch to shoot my 35mm pinhole again it was late March of 2024 and by this point I had forgotten there was even film in the camera still. I remembered quickly enough when I popped the lid of the camera and saw a roll inside rapidly soaking up all the light I was pouring into the camera. Thankfully this was not my first time inadvertently exposing a loaded roll of film and my reflexes kicked in and a dark bathroom got me the rest of the way to making sure I didn't spoil this roll. Even seeing the film once I had rewound it gave me no clue as to what I had been shooting with it when first loaded. It was not until I saw the developed negatives and realized this was a leftover roll from that Victoria trip that the pieces all came together in my memory. I guess if I am being fair, the length of time it takes me to get through a roll of 35mm is not the only issue at play here. There is also the fact that I have so many pinhole cameras that this one was able to sit out of rotation for way too long. And the fact that I really should be better about putting sticky notes on my cameras noting the film type loaded. But hey...

As far as what is going on in this image, I was using the Reality So Subtle 35R pinhole camera. It has two pinholes, one on the front of the camera and another on the back of the camera. You can expose your film either normally on the emulsion side, or through the reverse side of the film creating a redscale effect. Or, as in what I did here, you can make two exposures one via the front and then turn the camera around and make a second via the rear pinhole overlapping the normal and redscale images into a double exposure. Kind of fun and I kind of like kind of fun stuff. What else am I going to do while waiting for a drawbridge to raise?

Reality So Subtle 35R
Silberra Color 50

Tags:   Reality So Subtle pinhole redscale Double Exposure multiple exposures Victoria British Columbia Canada lensless film 35mm

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The Portland Winter Lights Festival is a pretty great idea. It was started a few years back as a means of coaxing people out of their homes on a dark, winter night. It has proven pretty successful. It also happens to usually fall right about my birthday each year, so it makes it easy to remember. This year may have been the busiest I have ever seen it. In past years you would get the map of the installations and often find knots of people or small crowds at some of the more popular attractions. We went on the opening Friday night this year and it was packed - not just at Pioneer Courthouse Square where the firedancers were about to perform and great gouts of flame kept shooting into the air, but at the World Trade Center complex as well which had several pretty cool pieces (my favorite being the tesseract).

Anyway, I had my Pentax 67 with the wide angle on it and a roll of Cinestill 800T that had been zapped through a couple airport x-rays and was waiting for something non-crucial to photograph.

Pentax 67
Cinestill 800T

Tags:   Pentax 67 Cinestill 800T Portland Oregon winter Winter Lights Festival PDX Pacific Northwest urban cityscape nighttime film Medium Format

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I don't need to go out in search of exotic locations, I often find them right under my nose. Well, not literally as this scene was on the fireplace mantel and several inches above my nose.

Zero Image 2000
Kodak Ektar 100

Tags:   Kodak Ektar Zero Image 2000 lensless pinhole film Medium Format at home

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For a relatively simple scene of the moon rising over a field, that could be any field almost anywhere, I remember this one quite well. We were driving up for a stay in North Cascades National Park somewhere north of Sedro-Woolley. The day was winding down over the countryside we passing through and while there was no dramatic or awe-inspiring sunset to speak of there was nonetheless a wonderfully magic atmosphere to the landscape. It was the definition of picturesque and it made for both a lovely and excruciating drive. The former because it was so beautiful and the latter because it was so beautiful and I wanted to stop everywhere. At some point we passed a field that caught my eye and a herd of elk that caught Angela's and after locating a good turnaround spot a quarter mile down the road we circled back around and came to rest at this pullout with a view.

I've made it an annual practice to get one good trip in each fall, with hopefully a companion trip in the spring. They are my favorite times of the year to travel and I really love to travel. The dedication to making this happen each year: saving the budget, scheduling the time off, making the plans and getting out on the road has resulted in several years of fond memories now. To me that is one of the most valuable possessions to accumulate. Most everything else (other than cameras) I can live without. This quiet moment was from such a great fall trip. Here in another couple of weeks we'll be heading back out for the Palouse for the spring version of annual road trips. I am keeping my cameras dusted off in anticipation (and yes, I have acquired enough cameras that some of them inevitably get a bit dusty.)

Pentax 67
Kodak Ektar

Tags:   Pentax 67 Kodak Ektar Washington Pacific Northwest 6x7 film

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One of the luxuries of photographing the annual cherry blossoms for over two decades is I feel a certain freedom making photos of a more uncommon nature. I cannot tell you quite why an overflowing garbage can positioned picturesquely under the delicate blossoms drew my attention but I can tell you I have never in 20 years prior made this particular photo. I might also be losing my touch with the Reality So Subtle and need to work that back into my repertoire more regularly. I wanted the framing to be a bit tighter than this turned out but I had forgotten just how wide this camera is. Also, I was using some Konica 400 color film that expired in the mid 1990s. I came across it at work, squirreled it away and decided it wasn't getting any less expired. This stuff predated my introduction to photography so I never got a chance to use it fresh but it isn't that bad 31 years after the fact. I rated this roll at ISO 100 but after seeing the negatives I probably should have gone ISO 50 thereby sticking to the rule of +1 stop/decade expired.

Anyway, overflowing garbage under cherry blossoms. Why not?

Reality So Subtle 6x6
Konica 400.

Tags:   Reality So Subtle 6x6 Dual Pinhole pinhole lensless Cherry Blossoms Portland spring expired film

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