*Crooked Cross*
Canon A2 + Ilford Ortho + 80
One of the things I really love in old cemeteries is those places where nature has blended with the graves. Here, the roots of the tree have shifted the grave and the cross quite significantly to it no longer stands upright. It’s a testament of the power of nature that I find important to keep in mind these days : the trees will be there and grow long after we are all gone.
*Mysterious Cherub*
Canon A2 + Agfa Scala 200 (expired)
From my first visit to the Hong Kong Cemetery I spotted this Cherub under the trees. The light hits it laterally, which is very nice although its face is always in the shadows. I quite like the way this shot came out although I would like to try it again with a non expired film and a reflector.
*Broken Wing*
Canon A2 + Agfa Scala 200 (Expired)
Shooting expired film (let alone expired slide) is always a tricky proposition. I shot this one overexposed by +1 (but processed normally) to try and get some oomph back from it. It came out pretty low contrast, but enough that I could work with it. In the end, it’s conveys an old photo quality feel that I quite like and also is very appropriate for cemetery photos.
*Quiet Sunday*
Canon A2 + Ilford Ortho Plus 80
I only ever shot Ortho once before and bungled that particular roll, so I was curious to see what the photos of the St Michael Catholic Cemetery in Hong Kong would look like. Turns out they really worked, with a lot of detail in the shadows and bright but not clipped highlights. Some dislike the Ortho grain, but I don’t see anything wrong with it. In this shot I was trying to capture this very strange and surprising tree in the middle of the path.
*Two Crosses*
Canon A2 + Agfa Scala 200 (Expired)
Shooting expired film is risky at the best of times and with slide film even more so. Still, I hate wasting, and I shot this roll of expired Scala overexposed 1 stop to compensate for age. I still had to work the contrasts heavily in post- but the result has an old photography feel that I find appealing.
*The Smirk*
Canon A2 + Lensbaby + Rollei RPX100
Model: Lilly
The thing I really love about film shot with a Lensbaby is the way the grain breaks down the more blurry the picture gets. This one is a really good example of that, with the edges of the shoulders not only blurred, but fuzzy. Also, Lilly’s smirk is priceless.
*Is it rain?*
Canon A2 + Lensbaby + Rollei RPX100
Model: Lia
Lia’s hat made me think of rain, so we had the idea for this composition. I love the way her eyes look at the « sky » or rather the ceiling of the studio.
*Mrs P.I.*
Canon A2 + Lensbaby + Rollei RPX100
Model: Patricia
This series of shot was largely unplanned, I just told the models to bring whatever accessories they liked. Patricia’s hat gave her a very « noir » look, hence the title. I like how one eye is in shadow and one in light on this one although to be fair I had a ton of spill light from the background lights, so luck rather than design.
*Out of Cinecittà*
Canon A2 + Lensbaby + Rollei RPX100
Model: Lia
Lia is Italian, but when I took this shot I was not particularly aiming for something Italian looking. And yet when I saw the results, it struck me how this evokes Italy in the 60s to me. Maybe Lia’s inherent Italianness just shines through!
*Wistful*
Canon A2 + Lensbaby + Rollei RPX 100
Model : Lilly
I did a studio session last week. The primary goal was to experiment with more silly double exposure ideas, but while I had these beautiful models along I thought I might as well do something fun as well, so I got out the old Lensbaby and shot a roll of portraits on Rollei RPX 100, a film I hadn’t tried before. It was rather less contrasty than expected, but that’s easily fixed in post. I love the delicate side of this particular shot, so that’s what we’re opening the week with.
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