Domo Aragato, Mr. Roboto -- the Film Version

In early July I had a post called Domo Aragato, Mr. Roboto. It featured some still lifes I made with my dad's old toys and my Pentax K-7. This week I'll share some of the film photos I took that night along with the camera I used.

Pentax 6X7 (Fuji 100 Acros)


Minolta SRT 102 (Foma 100)






Pentax Spotmatic SPII (Foma 100)

Yellow filter (note that the red caboose is substantially lighter than a red caboose would normally be while the blue robot in the front is very dark.)


Red filter (here the red caboose is dark enough to read the white American Flyer text, mostly due to a slightly longer exposure time, and the robot is much darker than in the previous image.)


Blue filter (here the caboose is dark and the robot much lighter.)

Filters work by cutting lights waves that don't pass through the glass color. So a red filter actually cuts all the light waves except red. The further the color rests on the spectrum from the filter color, the more effectively that filter blocks it. So red filters make blue dark gray or black and blue filters make reds dark gray or black.

Canon RT (Kodak Double-X, 5222)






Zeiss Ikon Contaflex (Kodak Double-X, 5222)














Canon AE-1 (Kodak Plus-X 125)

F3 Workout

I took my Nikon F3 on a Memorial Day hike in the Lime Ridge Open Space. I wanted to get some nice nature photos and see if any wildlife was active. None was, but I managed a few nice shots in the open space anyway. I shot eleven rolls of film, including a roll of mystery film that exposes at ISO 1.6. It came in a container labeled Kodak 2383, and the film matches the general description of 2383, but it lacks the edge markings. Anyway, here are some of the better shots, taken on various films, from the hike.



















Here's a sample shot from the mystery film. You can see it has pretty nice tones and incredible detail, but it's ISO 1.6 and I just don't know what I can even do with that.

In the Jet Age

A few weeks ago, I visited the Oakland Aviation Museum. It's not huge -- you can easily take it all in with a 90-minute visit -- but it has some good displays. Rooms on the sides present artifacts and dioramas that present the history of aviation. These aren't the typical timelines and such, though. The rooms dedicated to the Tuskegee Airmen and women in flight were very interesting and informative.

But I went for the planes. Planes are pretty neat and to be able to photograph them up close is a nice treat. The indoor exhibits present planes in very nice repair that are well maintained and attractive. The outside exhibits present slightly more weathered planes that show some age and abuse.

Mig-15. Pentax KM, Samyang 18-28mm 1:4 (at 18mm), Ilford P4 Surveillance Film pushed one or two stops.

This Mig-15 wasn't the best-looking plane at the museum, but it was probably my favorite. I like these old Migs with their big gaping maws like mouths sucking in air like a while drinks in krill. Developed in 1947 and first flown in 1949, these old Migs still fly today. Some air forces use them as trainers. I doubt any remain active duty fighter craft, though, as a Mig-15 against an F-22 would be like using a Tandy to out-hack a Cray.


In addition to limited use as trainers, there are a bit more than a dozen of these in the U.S. that are privately owned and used in air shows and for fun. Were I independently wealthy, I could see having one of these for fun. Of course, me flying a fighter jet ends in a fiery death for me and anyone standing where I crash. Like three minutes after getting in it. I might not even be off the ground, but somehow I would crash it. I should never learn to fly.


TMax 100, Pentax SMC-A 50mm 1:2.

This is the plane that Harrison Ford sat in for Indiana Jones. Yes. In fact, you can sit in the seat he used. How neat is that? Pretty neat.





Ilford P4, SMC-A.
Flared nostril.


Crazy 18mm perspective warping. Almost as good as a fisheye.

The Dogs Visit Another Fort

Earlier this week I shared images from my dogs' trip to Fort Funston. In early May I took the dogs to the Marina Green and Fort Mason while my apartment's carpets were shampooed. I have a roll I shot in red scale that I haven't developed yet, and when I do I'll share those as they'll be my first experiments with red scale photography.

Putting the fun in Fort Funston

Back in April I took my dogs to Fort Funston's dog beach so they could swim in the ocean. It went well in that I only lost three toys (and only one of them cost more than $10.) I developed and scanned the monochrome film from that day, but haven't processed the slide and color negative film yet. So you may get to see more dog photos. Until then, here are some shots from around Fort Funston.


Hannah stares contemplatively out at the ocean, pondering if it has an end, what rests on its far side, and if there are dogs there.


After losing my floating Kong (the second one I've had which didn't ACTUALLY float...), the dogs found this nasty tennis ball. That, too, belongs now to Poseidon.





Fort Funston has some pretty wicked trees.


For scale, Hannah is about 95 pounds and around 27 inches at her withers.











After the beach, we stopped a 99 Ranch for dinner. I decided, on a whim, to make crawdads. I need to learn how to make crawdads. Even following the directions, they weren't that great. I think my broth was to blame.





This guy was really unhappy at the prospect of being cooked.


Carrots, potatoes, and celery -- a nice foundation for a veggie stew, but somehow it just didn't work with the crawdads.

Super Saturday Special -- Three of Four

Nikon F3, Kodak 125 ISO Plus-X, 24-120mm zoom.

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