hasselblad friday: roll #2 (or, i finally figured out how to hold the camera straight)
So, friends, I've run my second roll of film through my Hasselblad, and as promised, I'm sharing my favourites (and not so favourites) with you today. Overall, I'm pleased: I figured out how to wind the film tightly this time, so I didn't lose any shots (although one of them was admittedly a bit foggy); also, alleluia, I figured out how to hold the camera so that vertical lines remained vertical, keeping viewers from getting ... well, vertigo.
Anyway, here are the ones that particularly caught my eye, for better or for worse.
The image above was an experiment: the Hassie doesn't have as quick of a shutter release as my Nikon, so I wanted to figure out how I would take a shot in really bright light. (For those of you who couldn't care less about the technical side of photography, you might want to skip to the next photograph now.) Since I knew the shutter would be slow, I knew I had to close the aperture as much as possible so the shot wouldn't get overexposed -- I think, with film of an ISO of 400, I shot the image above at something like f22 (which is really, really closed). I think it worked, and the best part is that I got that great sunburst pattern with the sun.
(Note to photogs: if you ever want that sunburst pattern on a light source, use as high an aperture number as you dare, and then adjust the other settings accordingly. I think Gilligan was the one who taught me this. I didn't believe him before, but dude, it works!)
This picture is fine -- I like the depth of field -- but you know what I'm not sure I like? The colour. I mean, I processed this image (I processed them all), but I couldn't ever get the colour exactly like I was hoping. And in my vast experience*, I love this film for whenever I take indoor shots, but for outdoor shots... I dunno, something feels just ever-so-slightly off.
So while I'll keep using this one, I think I also want to try a different colour film (because different films produce slightly different colour spectrums). This film is Kodak Portra (ISO 400) -- any other film photogs out there who can recommend another good colour 120 film?
Okay, now see? This shot is the same film, an interior shot of my kitchen table. And I love it. I love the light and colours and feel way more than the digital shot I took at the same time. And -- score! -- all the vertical lines are vertical and the horizontal lines are horizontal. I think this is my favourite shot from the roll.
I love my little girl and think she's as cute as a dark chocolate truffle, so you can imagine my frustration with shooting her with this camera: I can NOT seem to get her in focus. I did manage to get Little Snuggles in focus (who, incidentally, is not to be confused with Baby Lion), but not her. It happened last week, too. And this? This makes me crazy. Also, I'm not thrilled with the way I framed this shot. Sigh. Practice, practice.
(Completely unrelated note: see the hair bobbles in her hair? The ones that are in focus, even though she's not? I can't seem to find those anywhere these days -- does anyone know an online store where I can buy a ton of them? She goes through them like they're free, man.)
I'm quite pleased with this shot. I do like the one I took with the Nikon better, so I still have some work to do with this camera, but, you know, baby steps.
That's it for this roll. The third roll is currently in the camera, and I'm hoping to take it out a bit this weekend. More next week, I hope (I leave for Utah mid-week, so there's a chance I won't get the film back in time. Fingers crossed).
And with that, have a great weekend, friends.
(By the way, today was a crazy week ... but there were some moments that reminded me that I have a very, very good life. Please click over here to see what I was grateful for this week.
* It's not vast in the least -- this is my second roll, after all.
Song: Hold on by Wilson Phillips. Because when you watch the movie "Bridesmaids" for the first time with your girlfriends watching along with you on the other end of the phone, sadly, this song does not leave your brain. And, disturbingly, you kind of like it.