My Film Archive
As I've got back into film photography alongside my digital work I've started scanning some of my (many tens of thousands) old negs, and posting work from decades ago into the 'Insert Current Month' Photos thread just seems wrong.
So I thought I would start a thread for my (and anyone else's) archived film work.
Five to get started from my honeymoon in Italy, way back in 1995, these were taken in Verona and Lake Garda on a Canon T90 using Fuji Reala 100.
Edit: Well it will have to be three for now, as I tried uploading better versions of the last two and the forum tools now just keep trying to re-use the three I've got above, even on a new reply, very odd.
Seems it just needed time to 'forget' my last post, here are the other two.
A few more (well six).
Canon T90 and Reala 100 again.
Quote from Cory Maben on July 28, 2023, 9:44 pmIt's a novel experience to see film shot in an era when it wasn't an aesthetic choice but rather it was just how you took photos. But even more interesting effect I think, is since I've been seeing a lot of modern film lately looking back at these photos makes them seem more 'human' and relatable. I've seen a couple youtube videos where people have colorized and interlaced video from the late 1800s early 1900s and people talk about how it makes them seen more like real people and less like historical figures. I think the popularity of film is having a similar effect just in reverse. Seeing film no longer looks 'old timey' as it used too.Â
Thanks, I've got a lot still to go as I grew up long before digital was a thing (and worked in photographic retail in the late '80s and early '90s as well), so I literally have tens of thousands of negatives; and as I still shoot film, more to come.
As such my perspective on the two mediums is (I think) interesting, as I love both but for very different reasons, however, the one thing that I do find fascinating is the way some YouTubers (not James) seem to believe film looked back in the 80/90's, with loads of low contrast images and washed-out blacks. The reality is quite, quite the opposite, I've prints from that period that are contrasty and heavily saturated (consumer film from the late '70s onwards was just that. For the low-contrast, washed-out blacks and creamy whites, you need to go back almost as far as you were referencing.
I also love that I now have the ability to mix technologies, as an example the image below was originally three separate 35mm shots from inside St. Marks Basilica in Venice (lenses wide enough to get it in one hit were rare and prohibitively expensive), so Lightroom (in this case) and the like let me breath new life into old shots by doing what would have been impossible (for me) at the time.
Uploaded files:
Please ignore - my internet connection dropped and double posted.
Time for some more:
Final batch from Italy in 1995, this time from the costal resort of Lido di Jesolo.
Change of pace now, from the colorful images of Italy we step back a few years to mid-1992, and images from arguably the most important roll of film I've ever shot (I even did a video about it). Some friends asked me to photograph their band and I ended up doing so with my Canon A1 and a couple of rolls of HP5+, one was shot with flash (old school Metz 45 hammerhead) and was the 'safe' option. The other roll was the important one, pushed two stops to 1600ASA and shot using available light only, the results changed my approach to photographing live music, and still influence my approach and style to this day. The video linked above shows every image (good, bad, and average) from the roll, I thought I'd spare you that and post some of my favorite shots from it.
Technical Info: Scanned with an E-M1 Mk2 and Olympus 30mm macro, processed using Lr and Negative Lab Pro to look as close to the original prints/contact sheet as possible.
