Andrew Crocker 4/26/20 Andrew Crocker 4/26/20

Quarantined With Fomapan

So. How has everyone been doing? Tired of this enforced isolation? I know I am.

It has allowed me to work on a few projects. I’ve been experimenting with some new film, the latest being Fomapan 100. I gotta say, I’m a fan! I’ve been shooting with Ilford’s Ortho Plus for so long I’ve forgotten what it was like shooting with a film that has access to a much wider spectrum.

“Quarantined”; Intrepid MKIV; Schneider 210mm; Fomapan 100; Ilfosol 3

“Companions”; Intrepid MKIV; Schneider 210mm; Fomapan 100; Ilfosol 3

Fomapan loves texture and detail! What striked me the most is the film’s ability to pick up a whole range of minute details owing to it’s extremely fine grain. Right off the bat I think it’s enough to rival Ilford’s Delta and even Ortho Plus! I rated each of these shots at 100iso, but I think Fomapan likes to be overexposed just slightly.

Looking forward to working more with my new favorite film!

Andrew Crocker 1/13/20 Andrew Crocker 1/13/20

Feeling Blue: Pink Striped Lilies

I found some Pink Striped Lilies at the market the other day. Such gorgeous colors I had to bring them home with me! Despite their vibrant colors, I wanted to shoot them on Ilford’s black and white HP5 film.

Using a touch of color, namely a blue filter on my lens, caused the deep red and pink of the petals and the green of the leaves to darken nicely and create dramatic tones and textures. You can see why blue filters are seldom used for black and white portraits.

Pink Striped Lily 4

Pink Striped Lily 5

Pink Striped Lily 6

Andrew Crocker 1/1/20 Andrew Crocker 1/1/20

Cala Lilies

Happy New Year, everyone! Yours truly is starting 2020 out on the right photographic foot. I did some work with a handful of Cala Lilies. While not colorful, they do have some very nice textures and shapes.

I also did a little experiment with the developer. For two images, Cala Lily 2 and Cala Lily 3, I used a standard Ilford Ilfosol 3 developer. For Cala Lily 6 I used a Caffenol C-L recipe, which is composed of coffee, vitamin C, and washing soda. I’m amazed by the results! Caffenol certainly isn’t as convenient as the standard developer, but the results hold their own.

I’ll do a further write up on Caffenol in the future! Stay tuned. For now, I hope the start of your 2020 goes smoothly!