*You’ll be a man, my son*
Fuji TX2 + Rollei RPX25
Since schools closed in HK in late January, my 16 year old son has stopped shaving. He didn’t seem to have much of a beard at first, but a few months on it turns out it’s quite bushy. I took this portrait in the sunset light on a tripod, because Rollei RPX25 isn’t exactly made for portraits… but I love the look of it. I will definitely try that film for portraits again, just possibly with artificial lights to make it easier.
*Schefflera Imp*
Fuji TX2 + Rollei RPX100
Model: Victoire
So this is another attempt at side lighting. I had two issues with the side lighting. The first was that it required two lateral lights plus blowing the background, and the studio only had three lights. Bad prep on my part on this one. That’s why the left side of the shot shows texture in the background. I could photoshop this out, but I don’t find it unpleasant. The second issue is that my side lighting was really on the side. So the front of the subjects (ie. where I’m shooting from) is quasi backlit. Is it an issue though ? I don’t know. I think if I could subtly light just the face a little more, it would work so well. But then that would mean 5 lights !!!
*Clear Eyes & Leaves*
Fuji TX2 + Ilford FP4+
Model: Fox
When I shoot textures for this project I’m always on the lookout for contrast and shapes. I try to focus on leaves that are neither too small not too big, and that have either a contrasted edge (clearer or darker) or some contrast patterns. These leaves here are quite contrasty although a bit longer and more messy than I’m normally comfortable with. Still, here they work nicely, weaving into Fox’s beard.
*Schefflera Woman*
Fuji TX2 + Rollei RPX100
Model: Pauline
I think the lighting scheme of having two lateral lights but no front lights is really interesting. It creates a sort of backlighting but not quite. Lots of texture, but a better defined figure. I’m definitely going to explore further.
*Briar King*
Fuji TX2 + Ilford FP4+
Model: Barth
It’s often hard to get a sense of how a texture will play out once double exposed. But with this one, a combination of ferns and flowers, rather cheerful, I never expected the dark and moody results. There’s something magical in all of these shots, and in this one the texture acts as a coiffe or organic crown. Truly amazing.
*Rebel Hair*
Fuji TX2 + Rollei RPX25
Model : Anne
One of the things I love about photography in general, but film photography in particular is that sometimes the little thing that makes a shot great is something you didn’t even see when you were shooting. Here, Anne’s little tuft of rebel hair gives the picture a graphic quality that is quite unique and works well with her determined pose.
*Coleus Nymph*
Fuji TX2 + Rollei RPX100
Model: Pauline
Some textures speak to me more than others. The common, garden variety Coleus, aka Plectranthus amboinicus, works really well and has those jagged edges that make it stand out. The lighting scheme here was lateral lights, which is why the darkest area (with the most texture in in the middle of the frame.
*Analog Tattoo*
Fuji TX2 + Ilford FP4+
Model: Toni
So the tree structures (rather than plant textures) bring something to the mix although the fact that the only roll where I had grain issues is this one probably suggests that I need to fine tune the exposures. My initial reasoning was to shoot both the plant and the portrait at nominal speed to increase the contrast, but it may have overexposed the shot so much that grain appeared in scanning. Still, it works even with grain, and I like here that it feels like tattoos despite Toni’s already tattooed arms.
*Flower Martyr*
Fuji TX2 + Ilford FP4+
Model: Pauline
With this double exposure technique, I rather if ever know exactly (or even approximately) how a photo will come out. When I saw the scan of this particular shot of Pauline, something nagged at me, a distant memory that I finally reconnected today. It makes me think in a weird way of an old painting I saw in the Louvre and used to love when I was a angsty teenarge. It’s Delaroche’s La Jeune Martyre (The Young Martyr). There is a similar sadness here, I think, although in this case Pauline is not floating over water but over a mix of ferns and flowers.
*Lush Back*
Fuji TX2 + Rollei RPX 25
Model: Amélie
I really like this photo of Amélie’s back… but it was not at all what I was going for, due to my own stupidity. I was very keen to try RPX25 in this project, it’s a film with virtually no grain and with studio lights I thought that the low sensitivity would not be an issue. It turns out it was, kind of, in that blowing the background became a challenge with the lights maxed out. But that’s not where my stupidity came in. When I shoot the textures they are shot at -1 stop. In order to do that I enter the ISO manually at double the nominal value. On the XPAN though, once you’re entered ISO manually it doesn’t reset to Auto once the roll is finished (which would be intelligent, really…) Since the last texture I shot was a Pan F the camera was manually set to ISO 100. And I only noticed on the 5th roll because the 1st roll I shot was Rollei 100… Anyway, most of the other rolls were in the 100-160 ISO range so it wasn’t so bad. But this RPX 25 was shot 2 stops underexposed instead of nominal and the texture was shot at only 1 stop underexposed as I normally do. This is what the texture is so present in the bottom of the frame where the light drops of. To be honest I’m surprised that the top of the portrait came out so well. And thank god RPX25 is virtually grainless: the result is a happy accident!
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