Part of embarking on a long-run project is coming to terms with the constraints that you will be under as it develops. I always start my photo projects with a rush of enthusiasm only to find out that unfortunately my reach doesn’t exceed my grasp, and as I get further along a slow realization of what’s possible replaces what is just wishful thinking.
One of my self-imposed constraints for this Photo of the Day project is to take all the photographs with a TLR camera. I am lucky enough to own a fully refurbished Rolleiflex 2.8 F which I’m using on this project. It’s a beautiful camera, with an exceptionally sharp lens, but it is somewhat limited in the subject matter that can be captured (nothing that moves fast!) and the feedback that it gives you when you’re taking a photograph. The camera has a coupled selenium cell light meter, which, although over 60 years old, still works perfectly and is surprisingly accurate, so metering is one less thing I have to worry about (even so I still bracket the exposure). However, like all analog cameras, I’m not able to check and see if I “got the shot” until I’ve developed the film some days or, or in some instances, some weeks after the shot has been taken.
When I take a Photo of the Day, my typical process is to take a guide shot for my notes on my iPhone at two times magnification, which, when cropped down to a 1x1 square format is a rough approximation of what the Rolleiflex’s 80 mm lens shows me. However, sometimes when I take the photo with my iPhone I can get very excited by what I’m seeing and then become disappointed when I see the final black-and-white image developed some days or weeks later.
Case in point: my iPhone guide shot (below) showed some rather exciting lens flare, which added atmosphere to this early morning photo:
I have used lots of analog-era manual focus lenses where this type of flare can be induced relatively easily. So when I took the shot with the Rollieflex, I was hoping that I would be able to get the same type of lens flare. As you can see from the final photo at the top of this post I was able to get sun stars from the sun peeking over the horizon behind the house, but really it’s not quite the same effect, although the photo has a contemplative charm of its own. This is an instance of where the multi coated Zeiss lens on the Rolleiflex has acted in too modern a way! I really could’ve done with some old-fashioned flare here in order to get the shot that I envisaged when I first took the shot with my iPhone. But…the final shot although different isn’t too bad.
In conclusion, I need to accept that only so much pre-visualization is going to be possible with a film camera, and with no possibility of chimping the photo ultimately I will have to accept what comes back on the film roll. Part of the joy of film photography!
About the photo
This is a view out to the Intracoastal waterway with the Atlantic Ocean beyond from the golf course near my house. Despite not turning out as I imagined, I quite like the shot and I think it’s going to be a lot of fun to print in the darkroom. It could be printed at a very hard grade to maintain the silhouettes or really opened up in the foreground which will give it a totally different feel. I guess I’ll see when I print it!
Technical Details
Camera: Rolleiflex 2.8F
Film: Ilford FP4+ developed in Ilford Ilfosol
Shutter Speed: 1/125
Aperture: f5.6
I usually avoid HP5 and FP4 as I find they can lack contrast. No problem here though.
Darkroom Update
Having put my film developing on a more professional footing with the JOBO gear, my attention has now shifted to building out the printing side of my home darkroom. Choices on eBay abound; lots and lots of old enlargers, some of which are screaming bargains, some of which are the inevitable junk offloads masquerading as screaming bargains. In my research it’s been nice to find that some companies are even rethinking how enlargers are made, and I ended up buying this Intrepid enlarger from the UK, mainly because I know that it will print well for black-and-white and there is the possibility of using it for color down the line if that becomes interesting to me. Also, I really wanted to support a company that is still making new darkroom equipment. I’d love to hear from any of you who have used this enlarger and what your impressions are.
That's a lovely shot. I much prefer it without the iPhone lens flare. It's like a trumpet blast in the middle of Antonín Dvořák's Silent Woods (a quiet orchestral piece featuring a solo Cello). You got the better shot with the better camera. The distance from the house with the sun just peaking over positions me just far enough out on that wet marsh, alone and no doubt cold, but feeling very much alive.
I like the Hasselblad Photo much more. It is quieter which fits the morning mood better. But is just me!