Revisiting the Real Stonehenge

Really terrible images from my 1990 visit to Stonehenge.  But you get what you get at the moment.  It was a once in a lifetime opportunity as I was living in Bristol for 6 months.

It was dark and  windswept as the Salisbury Plain often is.

I really ventured to Salisbury to see the Cathedral.  But once there decided that I might as well take in Stonehenge too.

We will see more sights around Carhenge in the next post.

In Remembrance: 9/11

Midweek Meditation

Ooops,  I'm a bit late today with my post.  So I'm breaking ranks and reposting an old favorite from Winchester Cathedral:

Saturdays Online: What Will Future Cinema Look Like?

And you ask what this has to do with still film photography?

Above, another 'Lost Forever Film' Kodak E100GX

Because left over motion picture film stock was repackaged and sold as 35mm film.  Processing of this film type produced both a positive and a negative.  For some of my old images using this film CLICK HERE.  For better or worse, All of my early slide photography was done suing this film.

Hollywood is going digital and Kodak remains the only manufacturer of motion picture film.  Some prominent Film Makers are negotiating a deal to keep motion picture film alive.

Why does all of this matter?

1. Because small "mom & pop" local film festivals are being forces to spend up to $100K on new digital projection equipment.  This is putting some Festival out of business.
2. As  fan of silent movies, I am aware of just what can be preserved (even fortuitously) by film, and later recaptured and restored.  90% of all Silent Movies ever made were lost because of the volatile nitrate films that were used.  Digital preservation is just as "volatile".
3. In a perverse twist Hollywood wants to record in digital and copy it to film for archival preservation.  But if there is no motion picture film, what then? 

 Just some food for thought.

Q:  Can you identify building in this photo?
 

On A Clear Day You Can See Chicago

Actually most days were pretty clear right at the Lake Front.........Especially on a cold and windy day:

Peak through the trees to see Downtown Chicago.

Frozen Waves

Light Post

Can you guess the College Campus where these photos were taken?

Cold Remembrance........

As the East continues to experience the frigid cold we've had for a while now.  I found some photos from the Evanston, Illinois lake front for the 1980's when I lived in Chicago.  Remember that sometimes Cold is Beautiful:

Saturday's Online: Some Good Film Updates

Not the usual doom and gloom.....Today a few Positive Film Updates:

• Kodak emerges from bankruptcy and decide to continue manufacturing Motion Picture Film....

http://variety.com/2013/biz/news/kodak-emerges-from-bankruptcy-1200597234/

•  ENC-II Film making a comeback?  This time with 'safe' C-41 processing?  I've bought a roll and will report back soon.....

 http://www.freestylephoto.biz/800135-Cinestill-800-ISO-Tungsten-Xpro-C-41-Film


ENC-II flashback to the 1990's:

(Fuzzy focus is the fault of the photographer, not the film)

•  Ilford opens a California Film and Print Processing Lab:

http://petapixel.com/2013/08/29/ilford-opens-up-photo-lab-in-california-will-process-your-film-by-mail/

I will report back to you shortly on the Ilford film processing after my workshop next weekend.  More on the workshop too later........

Sundays Overseas: Origin of the Falls

So why does the Zambesi River 'Fall' into such a deep, narrow crack in the Earth?

Well it literally IS falling into a crack in the 180 million year old basalts that cover the area.  Part of the East Africa Rift System.  As these basalts cooled they formed cracks or fissures.  These weak zones are preferentially eroded to form the Falls.  This is the most recent of perhaps 5 earlier water falls that have formed in the area, having an estimated age of about 100,000 years.

Saturday's Online: Our World in Photos

Just some eerie photos from some not too friendly hot springs in the Rift Valley of Ethiopia:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/atlas_obscura/2013/08/23/hottest_place_in_the_world_dallol_is_a_boiling_salty_landscape_hostile_to.html

Below, a more inocuous hot spring experience in Panama, at Los Pozo:

Frequented by the locals as a natural 'hot tub'  the bumpy ride in makes a hot soak at the end a good idea.  Buth then you have to drive out again!

Victoria Falls Overflight #4: Over the Brink

You also get some interesting angles and perspectives when you fly over........

Victoria Falls Overflight #3: On the Brink

Victoria Falls Oveflight #2: The Zambesi River

An upstream view of the Zambesi River just above the Falls:

Sunday's Overseas: A Hazy View of a Country with an Equally Hazy Future?

My Visit to Zimbabwe in 1998 only included the region around Victoria Falls.  Here below a hazy view of the Town of Victoria Falls from our overflight:

By the way, I highly recommend taking an overflight whenever possible........Gives you an entirely different perspective.  This week we'll look at more from the Overflight.

Print Comparisons Continued......

Both again are cropped, but the aspect ratio and color balance should allow you to tell them apart:

 A

B

Print Comparisons Continued

Above is the scanned negative and below the scanned print.  Both have been cropped, however you see a slightly different aspect ratio for the images because the negative was cropped from a full-frame image, and the print was not full frame.

Scanning Test: Prints vs. Negatives

We've previously shown one scanned print vs. negative comparison for Black and White. Continuing that series we review a few images that I'd wanted to post (but could not find the negative).  Some of you may recognize these, because I'd scanned prints that I was able to find.  But a recent search and rescue mission in by thankfully cool, dry basement (very good for storage), I did find some of my overseas images. More on Sunday Overseas....

Now on to the Comparison:

 A

B

Can you tell which image is the scanned print and which is the scanned negative?  HINT: the film processor changed the color balance quite a bit from what I consider the natural color.

Image A = Scanned Print

Image B = Scanned Negative

This is ENC-II film which we discussed in the article on Acetate Films.  Both the negatives and the positives from the film tend to be colder.  The print processor (SFW) tended to warm these images up for printing.  We'll look at a few more examples............

Saturday's Online: What Losing Acetate Film really means......

When I posted a while ago about Kodak ceasing to make acetate film.  I really wasn’t aware of what that meant, and I was asked in a comment what acetate film was actually used for anymore?

Simple Answer:  ALL motion picture film is/was acetate film.  And Kodak was the sole global manufacturer.  So Movies can no longer be filmed as they once were.

Background: First introduced in 1909 as “safety film” because it was safe to keep at home, unlike the highly flammable nitrate base films (still used in Hollywood through the 1950’s).  Safety film opened up the home movie market; and became the standard for still film cameras.  Significant  improvements continued through the 1930’s and 1940’s, with Hollywood beginning to move towards acetate motion picture films in the 1950’s.

 Norway Fjord, 1998

If you ever used the old Seattle Film Work ENC-II film (example above), that was leftover film ends from motion picture canisters marketed to the public for 35mm film cameras. The original processing used motion picture film chemicals.  However, in the 1990’s they switched to the cheaper E-6 processing.  The result is that my 1980’s film looks as good as it did the day it was processed (almost as good as Kodachrome), and my 1990’s processed film looks like crap.  So I eventually switched to E-6 professional films.

Polyester is the current film base, much more durable, but not used for motion pictures because unlike acetate films, it could not be spliced seamlessly for editing purposes.

I have not heard whether the movie industry is going to use polyester (for longevity and preservation), which could be scanned to digital for editing.  I assume this may occur.  However, if the final edited version IS NOT transferred back to film, then preservation of future motion pictures is in jeopardy.

The immediate effect is that by January 2014 motion pictures will only be distributed in digital format.  No more reels.  The problem is that digital projectors are very expensive and have lower resolution.  So seeing it on a ‘big screen’ won’t be as meaningful, and Film festivals and independent movie theaters have to find the thousands of dollars necessary to purchase the new projectors by this deadline.  It may put some of them out of business.

So that’s what the end of Acetate Film means................

P.S. Sunday's Overseas Returns Next Week........I finally found my Norway and Africa Slides!

Calendar 2013: Red Rocks of the West

Calendar 2013 will be posted each month on our other Blog.  Here is the Cover photo, made from two stitched images of Bryce Canyon:

I've decided that we do need to change the Banner Photo.  So we'll try this one for a while!

Today I hope to develop some of the twelve rolls of film from our trip.  Sorry, but I sank into the abyss of the Australian Open for a few days.