Mistake #1 - Don't load film you'd never want to shoot.

dpetrzelka

dpetrzelka

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Don't make the mistake of loading film you never would really want to shoot - I had some bilk Arista 400 film from '97, that had been at room temperature its whole life. And of course the day I load it in my M4-P, in walks this guy...









Besides the poor composition, having sat at room temp for 10 years did little to help this films latitude and grain structure.
 
Hah, even so, I gotta say, these are some really interesting shots. For sure they will be at least historical records for some day. :)
 
Just tell yourself that the outdated film was a deliberate aesthetic choice ("it adds to the whole 'future historical' look").
 
vintage politician, vintage film....

vintage politician, vintage film....

dpetrzelka said:
Don't make the mistake of loading film you never would really want to shoot - I had some bilk Arista 400 film from '97, that had been at room temperature its whole life. And of course the day I load it in my M4-P, in walks this guy...









Besides the poor composition, having sat at room temp for 10 years did little to help this films latitude and grain structure.
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vintage politician, vintage film....

OK, it's a bad joke, but there is a writer's strike in progress.

Seriously, those are nice shots. And it's a lot better than not having any film available.
 
Pitxu said:
OK so I'm european, who is the guy ?


Pitxu.
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To put it in a more starightforward manner, he is a leading contender for the Republican candidate for President of the US in the next election: John McCain.

/T
 
Yeah, I see absolutely nothing wrong with the film in these pictures -- and as somebody else said, the subject matter beats 95% of my pictures!
 
Pitxu said:
It only confirms my belief that as a species man is pretty much a failure. The planet will be much better off when we've gone.
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I think you mean, Pitxu, too successful a species, in a way.
 
Pitxu said:
Thanks for the info Fred.

I've heard some pretty disgusting things that politicians will get up to (not Mc Cain, but Nixon or whoever it was). It only confirms my belief that as a species man is pretty much a failure. The planet will be much better off when we've gone.
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There's a show on this very topic being aired on PBS (Public Broadcast TV) here in the US right now. Unfortunately, I missed it. I think you can buy the DVD on their Web site.

/T
 
dpetrzelka said:
Don't make the mistake of loading film you never would really want to shoot - I had some bilk Arista 400 film from '97, that had been at room temperature its whole life. And of course the day I load it in my M4-P, in walks this guy...









Besides the poor composition, having sat at room temp for 10 years did little to help this films latitude and grain structure.
Click to expand...

So, what are the details of the pics? Where were you when these were taken, why is McCain there? Why so few people around?

/T
 
Tuolumne said:
So, what are the details of the pics? Where were you when these were taken, why is McCain there? Why so few people around?

/T
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I agree, you got some pretty "intimate" shots, considering he has a secret service detail. I don't even see them.
 
With all this focus lately on choosing the right film/developer, or using the right lens, my point was that, at that time, had I thought too much about the film in my camera, I may not have bothered. But the moment arose, and I went for it...

All too often I get caught up in the hype about the tools, and things like this remind me that just using the tool is what gets you the shot.

These were actually taken in 2007 - a little less security before the most recent primaries.

I work at a little coffee company in Seattle, and on occasion interesting speakers stop by for little lunch Q&A, or speeches. There is a whole room (2 stories) full of people you dont see. Though we do get pretty amazing access to the speakers. Al Gore thought my "I do nudes" shirt was hilarious.

Anyway, I'll see if there is anything interesting on the Edwards roll.
 
Nice shots. On the screen, they look OK technically to me, assuming you wanted fairly high contrast. I'm curious as to why you should use OOD film in a camera costing about $4k (new price these days), not to mention the value of whatever lens it was. Weakest link of the chain and all that ...
 
I thought my title covered that -

Just to get rid of it, I loaded some really cheap, outdated, improperly stored Arista 400 that came in a bulk loader I got for free off of craigslist - the ultimate weak link. And on that day I had the opportunity to photograph someone who definitely has been, and wether we like it or not, may become an even more significant figure in the future of the US politics (and if so, likely the world politics).

Having not thought about any of that I got the shots. The quality is very low, lack of detail, too much grain, etc... but they still wok. Had it been my usual fresh Tri-X, who knows...
 
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