Give Me Your Colors, I'll Give You Mine

By far one of the most difficult rolls to shoot, but probably one of the most rewarding rolls to see developed and scanned, the Kodak Ektar 100 still remains my top 2 choice of film for low ISO film, with great contrast, and smooth grain. I can get anything from soft pastel-like, to highly vivid and contrast-rich colors. I think that's why I'm so intrigued with it. At the same time, I haven't feared such a roll like this one. I'm even more meticulous when it comes to shooting with the Ektar 100, making sure that I have the seemingly right hues in their right places: the reds, magentas, blues, and greens getting a nice bump, while the earthy tones sit muted.

Furthermore, the more it's overexposed, the more saturated the pictures can become. Although, that totally depends on the photographer, and the particular look he/she is going for. I find that the Ektar 100 produces a great vintage look, similar to the Fujicolor Superia Reala 100 (which I haven't used since I first shot with the FE2 last year), but has this unpredictability that makes the film so enjoyable to shoot! Also, as advertised, the Ektar 100 doesn't disappoint with it's "World's Finest Grain" label on the box. The grain is by far the smoothest I have seen on any 35 mm negative, and aside from the Portra series (160nc & 400nc), and dark-lit areas, I would probably shoot with this baby all the time.

The last photo of this set has a particularly interesting story.

After a night out drinking, I found myself awake at 6:30 am, and so I checked google to see when the sun would be rising in Seoul, and popped in the Ektar 100 figuring I'd get some nice colors for the sunrise. So I packed all my gear up and headed to one of the highest buildings around my neighborhood. There I was standing in front of the security guard with my bloodshot eyes, probably reeking of makkeouli from the night before, and I could see that he was very hesitant about letting me in. Eventually he let me pass, and I made my way up to the helipad of the Obelisk. I set up my tripod in glee and half drunken stupor, waited about 30 minutes while listening to Radiohead, before some light broke through the mountains to the east. Adjust f/stop, focus to infinity, wind, press down on trigger release, rinse, wash, and repeat - for about eight or nine shots... before I notice that I had unintentionally overexposed these photos 2 FULL STOPS! So, I set the ASA/ISO back down to 100, and took 2 shots before the sun had completely risen above the mountains, which at that point would not have the dramatic effect I was looking for. Aside from those first eight or nine pushed shots, I was ecstatic when I saw the sunrise shot at correct film speed, and that I didn't need to push or pull the Ektar 100 at all. She sits pretty just they way she is.

The rest of these photos were taking a few weeks back with Jungle (+her friend), and Jamie. We strolled to a small island near Yeoido. I believe the name is Seonyudo Park. Unfortunately, the park wasn't as colorful as I hoped it would be, though we bumped into some students in complete manga outfits. After walking around for an hour or so, we headed to Hongdae, which had exactly what I needed for the Ektar 100 - people wearing bright colors.

Roll:
Kodak Ektar 100 (11/36)

        ... & to rise with the sun everyday, until the very last breathe.



pax

Idiosyncrasies of the Peculiar Mind

I've been on this weird funk lately, and I'm not sure what the cause of it was. Call it a "photographer's block," whatever it was I felt it pass this past weekend. This roll was taken a few weeks ago, but I simply haven't had the time to drop it off at Chungmuro, so I just held onto it until I went this past weekend with Jungle and Kelly. The weather was superbly compliant, and provided enough warmth to have half the city crawling back out from their winter slumber. Hopefully I can get Saturday's roll developed sometime this week.

Suffice it to say, it was rather fun to be out again shooting under non-cloudy skies,
though I hope for the spring to arrive sooner than later.

I've found that when I'm shooting by myself I go about things in a flurry, firing away without really hesitating, unrestrained and free to roam as I please. Though it is (currently) impossible to look through each other's viewfinders in realtime to see precisely, at the moment, what we are each seeing, shooting with Jungle and Kelly allowed me to take a step back and observe their own unique perspectives. By watching these two get immersed in their own peculiar ways, I was provided with another breathe of photographic life.

Our subconscious notices everything, all the while the conscious disregards everything, as we thread from one area to another. I kept asking myself: "What am I taking a picture of? What is my mission for the day? What hasn't someone else taken a picture of?" On certain occasions having a mission certainly makes the game more fun. Other times, it's best to let go of any "conscious thought" and just go with what your unconscious is telling you. With a blur of images and people constantly in motion, I was able to pick out certain stationary images in their serenity. Perhaps, I find the sublime more intriguing than the obvious, though I consider myself painfully over-analytical at times.

Anyways, this roll was from a few weeks ago, and it took me over a week and a half to get through, and another week and a half to actually get it developed, but I'm really happy with the way the photos came out.

So that's another 3 rolls for this month. So far, so good.

Roll:
(1) Kodak Tmax 400 (10/36)


         yes, those are wings.



pax