Directions: 2020 Rewind

2020 was a strange year, as everyone knows. Some shooters were able to take advantage of the extended downtime (voluntarily or not) and actually increased their amount of film shooting over the year. 

I was thinking that my own shooting habits had not followed this pattern. But as I look back, I was surprised at how much I did get in. I'll follow up this list with examples from Flickr.

1. At the beginning of the year, I started the Baker's Dozen series. I had envisioned completing more of those rolls, but they will get done in due time.
   
2. Tried some Ilford Ortho Plus in 120 format.  It's the right film for the right situation.
   
3. Accidental double exposure on Street Pan. Shot in 2019, but processed this year. I was sad in a way because there were a lot of great opportunities on this roll. That said, there were a few cool results, though.
   
4. Kentmere 400 in a February snow dusting, before the pandemic started. Before everything hit the fan. I remember just being happy that spring was right around the corner.
   
5. Participated in WPPD in April. Some years I miss that date, but I managed to make this one.
   
6. Did a Document Your Life roll in the spring. DYL is going to be a focus for me in 2021.
   
7. Ektachrome slide film on Memorial Day weekend. This was my second roll ever, and I got some good, but not great results. Not like my first roll, which had a lot of nice frames.
   
8. Lomo Metropolis on the OSU campus at graduation time.  I might shoot this stuff again some day.
   
9. Two rolls of Kodak Vision 3 500T in 35mm format ordered for holiday shooting in December. I probably won't get it shot and processed in time for this post, but it's on the way.
   

1. Baker's Dozen:

  

 

2. Ilford Ortho:

  

 

3. Accidental Double Exposure: 

 

 

4. February snow:

  

 

5. WPPD:

  

 

6. Document Your Life: 

 

 

7. Ektachrome:

  

 

8. Lomo Metropolis at OSU: 

Baker's Dozen #3: Ilford HP5+

Next up on our hit parade of b/w film stocks in medium format, none other than Ilford's super popular HP5+. I was roaming around the back roads where I live and hadn't anticipated the mid afternoon winter sun coming out the way it did on this particular December afternoon. Luckily, I had my C220 and my project film along with me for the ride. I swung by a familiar haunt (literally and figuratively) and spent a few minutes at the Finnish Cemetery. The sun was creating some cool, long shadows that I tried to take advantage of. 

I didn't have a meter with me, so I just Sunny 16'ed the entire roll. I think I underguessed the exposures (if that's a word), so I gave it about an extra half to two-thirds stop in development. Effectively, the roll was shot at ISO 640, but it probably didn't make that much of a difference in the end.

It felt good to get one more Baker's Dozen roll in before the end of the year. I don't really have an end date for this particular project, just whenever I can get them done. Most of the rolls are either expiring or have long expired.  

This location has a lot of potential, and I believe there are some more photographs here to be had. I'm happy to revisit under different circumstances to see what else I can get.

Even though this cemetery seldom gets used for its original purpose, there are frequent visitors to the gravesites. Many of these people are held in high esteem of their families.

The Visitor. Long shadows were the theme of the day with this roll.

This tree always intrigues me whenever I visit this cemetery. It's an old locust tree and sits at a 45 degree angle. That must have been a crazy wind to lean it over like that.

Historical cemeteries tell stories about the community they serve. Sometimes those stories are quite sad.

 

HP5+ in November

I recently shot and processed some Ilford HP5+ in 35mm format, something I hadn't done in several months. In fact, this was the first film I'd shot and processed myself in that span of time. Between Covid and our extensive house remodel, the opportunities just haven't been there. At least, that's been my excuse. These were mostly shot in the county, within 20 miles or so of my home. And with a Canon FD 28mm f/2.8 that I picked up last spring, but am just now starting to use. I like that focal length and can well imagine some good uses for it.

I'd like to not make this the last roll for 2020. In fact, I have another roll of HP5+ that I just loaded earlier today.

The first chance I've really taken to shoot the Canon FD 28mm f/2.8 that I picked up this last year.

Gratuitous film selfie.

Anytown, USA

HP5+ doesn't play well with red filters. However, on a sunny day with some clouds, a yellow #8 filter will serve you just fine.

Directions: 2020 Pause

It's amazing what this year has done for my sense of time. Late last summer I started saying, "I really should do a mid-year update to the blog," and then I look at the calendar and it's December 1. Really, where did this year go? I'll explore that further in my annual year end post.

As I look at my FilmTrackr data, I shot and processed some film late last spring. That was mostly some color film I had printed. For whatever reason, it hasn't found its way to this blog.

The better news is that I recently shot a single roll of HP5+ and it's sitting ready to be developed. That might be a good weekend project. In the meantime, I'll leave with some shots from the archives. These are linked directly from Flickr. 

More to come later.