The last blog was about why I went back to film photography and how I selected the film camera system to use. This blog is about the first roll of film I’ve shot in about 15 years. Hope you like the photos.

(Photo taken with a Canon 5D Mark III and 40mm f/2.8 lens)

I’ve always loved black and white photography, especially high grain and contrast images. So the first roll of film I used was the legendary Kodak TRI-X 400 black and white negative film. From the Kodak Alaris website about TRI-X 400

” The world’s best selling black-and-white film. Professional photographers like Michael Crouser have long relied on KODAK PROFESSIONAL TRI-X Film to express the human condition as he sees it. This classic black-and-white film allows for maximum pushability when he needs it, while its wide exposure latitude lets him leverage even the most challenging lighting situations. And the distinctive grain structure adds a level of realism as dramatic and profound as each subject”

My goal with the first roll of film was to test the Canon NEW F-1, 28mm f/2.8, and 50mm f/1.4 lens; and to get use to the exposure metering of this camera. To do this I took a walk around downtown Boston with my wife and her friend. The photo above was my first photo taken with the NEW Canon F-1. I think it took me a several minutes to push the shutter button. It’s a shot of the Quincy Market building at Faneuil Hall Market Place. Really like the grain and chalk-like contrast of the image. Its funny, after I took the photo, I instinctively looked at the back of the camera to see the image, then realized, “no LCD screen on the back of film camera’s”. LOL (Canon NEW F-1, 50mm f/1.4, Kodak TRI-X 400).

Frame two. The John Fitzgerald Kennedy Federal Building. This building is an example of architecture from the 1960’s and is an office for the US Federal Government (Canon NEW F-1, 28mm f/2.8, Kodak TRI-X 400).

Shooting low at the North End Parkway (Canon NEW F-1, 50mm f/1.4, Kodak TRI-X 400).

Busker in the Boston Public Garden (Canon NEW F-1, 50mm f/1.4, Kodak TRI-X 400).

The Boston Public Library McKim Building at Copley Square. This building was built in 1895 and houses the library’s administrative offices, research collection and exhibition rooms (Canon NEW F-1, 50mm f/1.4, Kodak TRI-X 400).

My favorite shot from the first roll of film was of the reading room in the Boston Public Library McKim Building. Really liked how the film recorded the highlights, mid-tones, and shadows; as well as the repetition of lights and windows (Canon NEW F-1, 50mm f/1.4, Kodak TRI-X 400).

Statue inside the Boston Public Library (Canon NEW F-1, 50mm f/1.4, Kodak TRI-X 400).

The fountain in the Christian Science Plaza. Love the film grain and the scratch marks in the film (Canon NEW F-1, 28mm f/2.8, Kodak TRI-X 400).

Reflecting pool at Christian Science Plaza. Was lucky to get the two people walking in the frame, which I think really adds to the photo. The person with a white jacket contrasts with the black background, while the person wearing the dark jacket contrasts with the white background (Canon NEW F-1, 50mm f/1.4, Kodak TRI-X 400).

Pen and paper at The Mary Baker Eddy Library. This library holds papers of Mary Baker Eddy (founder of Christian Science), a research library, museum, and Mapparium (a three story stained-glass globe showing a map of the world from 1934 that visitors can stand inside). The stained glass map of the world inside the Mapparium is pretty amazing (Canon NEW F-1, 50mm f/1.4, Kodak TRI-X 400).

The John Hancock Tower (aka. The Hancock) is one of my favorite buildings to photograph since the perspective of the building changes from the different angles you look at it. From this view, the John Hancock Tower looks like a flat sheet against a wall of white. This 60 story building was designed by Henry N. Cobb and construction was completed in 1976.  It’s the tallest building in Boston (Canon NEW F-1, 50mm f/1.4, Kodak TRI-X 400).

The Paramount theater was the first movie house to play talking motion pictures in Boston. The theater is now a Performance Arts Facility for Emerson College. The TRI-X film really makes it look like a photo from yester-year (Canon NEW F-1, 50mm f/1.4, Kodak TRI-X 400).

I guess you don’t need a cell phone to take “selfie” photos. That’s a photo of me, when I forgot to turn the lever to lock the shutter button (Canon NEW F-1, 50mm f/1.4, Kodak TRI-X 400).

When I got home, wanted to see what it was like to use the Canon NEW F-1 and 50mm f/1.4 wide open and to focus in low light. Here’s a shot of a sailing boat paper model, with the focus point on the bow of the model boat (Canon NEW F-1, 50mm f/1.4, Kodak TRI-X 400).

Went outside to take some photos, and forgot to lock the shutter button again. Funny thing is that I like the photo since the black and white object at the top left of the frame is our cat running away from me, since it doesn’t like its photo taken. I guess this is an artsy shot, and I’ll call it “bokeh circles of light with a cat in the background”. LOL (Canon NEW F-1, 50mm f/1.4, Kodak TRI-X 400).

The next day, I took the camera and lens to work, since wanted to go to downtown Boston to get the film developed. Had some more frames left on the roll, so took a short lunch-time walk. Food-truck near South Station (Canon NEW F-1, 50mm f/1.4, Kodak TRI-X 400).

Wanted to find some shadow and light, but this can be hard during midday. So walked down some back alleys and looked for shadows and light (Canon NEW F-1, 50mm f/1.4, Kodak TRI-X 400).

 

After using the last frame, dropped the film off to get developed and negatives scanned. About two days later I received an email from the film processing shop with a link to the scanned negatives. Was really happy and excited to see that the camera and lens worked okay. Looking forward to shooting my next roll of film, which I think will be Kodak Porta 400. Thanks for reading the blog.