In Baltimore today, we've got Konica weather: the kind
of sky that just begs to be shot on VX, especially here
in the city where we have all these brown and grey and
beige buildings to catch the light in a VX-friendly
pallette. It's not my first-choice sunny-day film in
general, but there are certain combinations that it does
very well with. (The bluest sky I've gotten in a photo
was on VX _without_ a polarizer or a graduated ND.)
I happened to have VX 100 loaded, but the best images I
saw today happened while I was rolling past at 30MPH with
nowhere to pull over within several blocks. Figures.
Did shoot part of a church that's been catching my eye
for a while. One of these days (while it's still summer)
I need to get out and shoot that on foot.
Lime green, illegal dirt bike nosed its way into
traffic while I was at a red light and got away
while I was pulling the lens cap off. :-( I'll
get him later though, probably.
It's kind of cool to be out shooting in bright daylight
and using a reasonable-speed lens -- given how often
I shoot at dusk or at night or with long, slow lenses
or macro, it's refreshing to see numbers like f/11 @ 1/125
-- _and_ have that be a reasonable hand-held speed -- for
a change. (I was using my A 35-105/3.5 today, in
its "walking around lens" capacity.) Unfortunately the
purple flowers that look like the horn of a Victrola, in
my back yard, are playing hide-and-seek -- they're furled
up tight, which I'd thought they only did at night. (I'm
not sure what this film will do with that purple. I'm
interested in finding out.) But the rose vine has
bloomed again...
It's going to be a little warmer and more humid on
Sunday, when I plan to shoot miniature steam locomotives,
so I figured I should run my errands and enjoy this
day while I've got it. I should have gone shooting
around the Inner Harbour after finishing my errands,
but it was getting into rush hour and I didn't want
to be around there for that.
While I'm thinking about film, I got back a roll
of Ektachrome 400. I don't like it. The colours
are pretty enough, but boy, is that grainy. Is
it really as grainy as it seems to me under the
loupe, or am I being extra picky because it's slide
film? (I'll have to pull out some Agfa Optima 400
negs later and compare the grain.) But after
looking at Velvia, Provia 100F, and Kodachrome 25,
I was really disappointed with the Ektachrome 400.
Hmm. I should check some old Sensia 400 slides
too, to see whether I'm really being fair. But
I suspect Provia 1600 will be a closer comparison.
I also finally got around to getting some
Neopan 1600 blown up to 8x10. I don't think
I like it as much as TMZ, and I don't think
it's any less grainy than TMZ, but it's certainly
_different_ from TMZ. It's less contrasty (though
I usually shoot TMZ at 6400, so that's not an
apples-to-apples comparison). Very natural-looking
tonality, to my eye, so I can see how it'll be
useful in comparison to the moody starkness I
like in TMZ (and Delta 3200). Espcially for
daytime shade shots with a long, slow lens,
where "image leaping out of the gloom" doesn't
suit the moment. (And that's what these shots
are.) I wonder what it looks like at 800.
(I think a faster lens, a tripod, and Tri-X would
be even more to my liking, but film is cheaper
than glass, and right now that counts.) No,
it's not going to replace TMZ for me (especially
since 1600 is sometimes Just Not Enough, but
also because I like the way TMZ screams, "This
is a night shot!"), but I'll certainly want
to keep some around.
-- Glenn
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