FP4Party!

I’m not much one for social media, but I recently made a concerted effort to take part in Twitter, and, to be honest, it’s quite fun. Granted, Twitter isn’t the most obvious for photo-related stuff, what with the 140 character maximum and relatively recent support for photos, but the community there is vibrant and active, and rather small. Unlike, say, the effbook or Tumblr, people actually interact with each other, and with me! It feels like a real community.

The FP4+ Party is one of the things they—we—have going there, and it’s a good time. We party every month: in week one, we shoot; in week two, develop; in week three, post; and in week four, the organizers announce the ‘winners.’ If you’re on twitter, and you shoot black & white film, buy a few rolls of FP4+ and join in! Continue reading “FP4Party!”

Happy Thanksgiving* (US)!

All thanks and praise belong to Allah alone, without any partners. He, who provides us with benefit and harm in measure, to test and strengthen our faith.

It is Allah who created the heavens and the earth and sent down rain from the sky and produced thereby some fruits as provision for you and subjected for you the ships to sail through the sea by His command and subjected for you the rivers.

اللَّهُ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَأَنزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَأَخْرَجَ بِهِ مِنَ الثَّمَرَاتِ رِزْقًا لَّكُمْ ۖ وَسَخَّرَ لَكُمُ الْفُلْكَ لِتَجْرِيَ فِي الْبَحْرِ بِأَمْرِهِ ۖ وَسَخَّرَ لَكُمُ الْأَنْهَارَ

And He subjected for you the sun and the moon, continuous [in orbit], and subjected for you the night and the day.

وَسَخَّرَ لَكُمُ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ دَائِبَيْنِ ۖ وَسَخَّرَ لَكُمُ اللَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ

And He gave you from all you asked of Him. And if you should count the favor of Allah , you could not enumerate them. Indeed, mankind is [generally] most unjust and ungrateful.

وَآتَاكُم مِّن كُلِّ مَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُ ۚ وَإِن تَعُدُّوا نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَا ۗ إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَظَلُومٌ كَفَّارٌ

Ibrahim (Abraham), 32-34

As you gather with your families today, if you gather for your families today, remember Allah, who created us and all that we enjoy. Remember Him, that He may remember you. *And may He forgive us for the evil we do to the Earth, other humans, and other parts of the creation, Ameen.

all benefit and harm come from God

Remember

And if Allah should touch you with adversity, there is no remover of it except Him. And if He touches you with good – then He is over all things competent.

وَإِن يَمْسَسْكَ اللَّهُ بِضُرٍّ فَلَا كَاشِفَ لَهُ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ وَإِن يَمْسَسْكَ بِخَيْرٍ فَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

And He is the subjugator over His servants. And He is the Wise, the Acquainted [with all].

وَهُوَ الْقَاهِرُ فَوْقَ عِبَادِهِ ۚ وَهُوَ الْحَكِيمُ الْخَبِيرُ

Al An’am, 17-18

And

And if Allah should touch you with adversity, there is no remover of it except Him; and if He intends for you good, then there is no repeller of His bounty. He causes it to reach whom He wills of His servants. And He is the Forgiving, the Merciful

وَإِن يَمْسَسْكَ اللَّهُ بِضُرٍّ فَلَا كَاشِفَ لَهُ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ وَإِن يُرِدْكَ بِخَيْرٍ فَلَا رَادَّ لِفَضْلِهِ ۚ يُصِيبُ بِهِ مَن يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ ۚ وَهُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

Yunus, 107

a week with the LC-Anstax

Back at the end of October 2016, Dan K (@ZDP189) decided to sponsor a competition around the newish Instax Monochrome film, and I decided to throw my hat in, and pulled out the LC-A and Instant Back for a week of testing and playing around to prepare myself to shoot for the competition.

It was fun, and I maybe retract my earlier claims about the Instax and “doing it right” or whatever.

I’ll apologize straight away for the size of the pictures here. “Scanning” with the D7000 and 55mm Micro Nikkor was just too frustrating and I scanned the images with my Canon MG7720, and the resulting files are a paltry ~540×340. Also, I shot 5 packs of Instax, one per day, quite a bit more than I planned, and so I’ve got quite a bit to share. Continue reading “a week with the LC-Anstax”

…a test. This is only a test.

Remember:

Do the people think that they will be left to say, “We believe” and they will not be tried?

أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَن يُتْرَكُوا أَن يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا وَهُمْ لَا يُفْتَنُونَ

But We have certainly tried those before them, and Allah will surely make evident those who are truthful, and He will surely make evident the liars.

وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ ۖ فَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ صَدَقُوا وَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ الْكَاذِبِينَ

Al Ankabut, 2-3

And

Or do you think that you will enter Paradise while such [trial] has not yet come to you as came to those who passed on before you? They were touched by poverty and hardship and were shaken until [even their] messenger and those who believed with him said,”When is the help of Allah ?” Unquestionably, the help of Allah is near.

أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَن تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَأْتِكُم مَّثَلُ الَّذِينَ خَلَوْا مِن قَبْلِكُم ۖ مَّسَّتْهُمُ الْبَأْسَاءُ وَالضَّرَّاءُ وَزُلْزِلُوا حَتَّىٰ يَقُولَ الرَّسُولُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ مَتَىٰ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ ۗ أَلَا إِنَّ نَصْرَ اللَّهِ قَرِيبٌ

Al Baqarah, 214

Unboxing Jörg Colberg’s ‘Understanding Photobooks’

Jörg Colberg’s Understanding Photobooks: The Form and Content of the Photographic Book deserves more study and attention than I’ve given it before tapping out this titular review. In short, if you’re expecting a photobook, go somewhere else. But if you’re into photobooks or thinking of making a photobook, pick up a copy: Colberg teaches photobooks in Hartford Art School’s International Limited-Residency Photography MFA Program, and with Understanding Photobooks he distilled his years of experience into a small, rather dense textbook that aims “to help photobook makers to understand the different aspects of photobook making, so they know what to focus on, what to spend time on, and—equally crucial—which pitfalls to avoid.”*

Continue reading “Unboxing Jörg Colberg’s ‘Understanding Photobooks’”

On Cross Processing, and other play time

In September 2010, I bought an iPhone 4. I discovered the camera (and Hipstamatic) within days and was soon shooting away like crazy. It’s now mid-November 2016 and I’ve moved into film photography with gusto. All this time, I’ve seen it as play, as learning, as testing out, and it’s been loads of fun, but I’m wanting something more.

A month or so ago, I picked one of the FPP’s Lo-Fi / Hi-Drag film packs—four randomly-selected rolls of expired color film stocks, stored under who knows what circumstances—all spur of the moment like. I almost immediately regretted it: I have some (nebulous, unfocused) goals, and while I like the playing and experimenting, and plan to continue some of that, I want to devote more of my shooting and writing time to these goals.

Anyway, in the repurposed Porta 400 box, I found 1 roll each of Kodak Gold 100, Fuji Superia Xtra 400, RiteAid 400 (Fuji 400N), and Fuji Super HG 1600. (As of this last weekend, only the 1600 remains.) The roll of Rite Aid went first. I exposed at 250 and planned to cross process it in E6 chemicals, along with the roll of FPP RetroChrome 320 I finished just to see what would happen. I cross processed some slide film in C41 chemicals last year, with interesting results (see below), but only recently started with E6 at home.

If you’re curious, but don’t want to read on, here’s the gist: while I might buy another Lo-Fi / Hi-Drag box, I won’t be XPro-ing anything again. It’s just too much of a pain to process and the results are too uneven. Continue reading “On Cross Processing, and other play time”