*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.
*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.
*Flower Hair*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Agfa Scala 200
Model : Virgile
I mostly focused on shooting leaves of various shapes on my texture shots. But I did shoot a few flowers. They came out lighter (because they were white or yellow) and that makes for interesting double-exposure. I am wondering though if I might not do a colour roll next time with only flowers and see how that comes out.
*Profile in Leaves*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Agfa Scala 200
Model : Olivier
The more I look at the Scala shots, the more I like them. Sure the blowing of the background didn’t work, but it’s still contrasty, and it feels to me a bit like those old portrait shots. I’m not comparing myself to Irving in any way, but these shots feel a bit to me like they are from the same era. I’ll definitely be exploring these double exposures further, and possibly writing an article about the process. Let me know if that is of interest.
*Swarmed*
Fuji XT3 (XPAN) + Agfa Scala 200
Model : Manuel
The long leaved plants convey a soothing, poetic look to the double-exposed portraits, but the small leaved plants have an altogether creepier effect, looking like a swarm of insects. I really like (in a nasty kind of way) how ravaged Manuel’s face looks on this one.
*Leafy Leonard*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Agfa Scala 200
Model : Léonard
When I was preparing this studio session, I shot all kinds of plant textures, walking around the parks in Hong Kong. I was looking for contrast, veins and patterns. The results of this shot looks how interesting long veiny leaves can be with the double exposure.
*Leafy Silhouette*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Agfa Scala 200
Model : Olivier
So the Scala gave very different results compared to using the Pan F. For one thing, the background wasn’t anywhere near as blown, resulting in a sea of grey rather than a contrasty black and white. This may have been due to the plant textures being shot on an overcast day, with low contrast. It may also be due to differences in dynamic range between Pan F and Scala. But it did give these shots a paint-like quality that I find quite intriguing, something of an Arcimboldo in black and white feel. What do you think ?
*Pensive Manuel*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Agfa Scala 200
Model : Manuel
Since my first session was experimental, a proof of concept if you will, I tried different films. Agfa Scala was probably not a very intelligent choice though. A combination of low dynamic range and excessive underexposure of the texture shots meant that the background was nowhere near blown enough. And yet… there’s something about these that really works, although I’m not sure I could tell you what.
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