The Imperial Opa

Week 22c – The Imperial Opa (and Little 5 Points) – CineStill 800 ISO Tungsten Xpro C-41

The jury still is out on this set. I'm not exactly happy with it, but at least things look better than the last roll.  Cinestill film is a great concept, and looking back I really should have bought more than just a single roll when I had the disposable income. 

Almost all of the demo images I have seen from it had a very great and unique look. I'm not sure if I just missed exposure on everything, or if my post production process just is that bad, but mine turned out very dark and muddy. And honestly I like more of the shots that I don't normally take like exteriors and the oddly shaped multiple exposure more than the shots of people.

I'd be curious to see what I could do with a LOT more light, really blowing it out, instead of being so dark. From my testing here it seems like even though this is an 800 speed film it really needs a LOT of light to expose "properly". But we'll cross that bridge when I can.

Development Notes:
C-41 Process with Unicolor Kit.
Color correction in Photoshop after scan.

2014: a year in review

Well its about that time again. In 4 more days it'll be 2015 and another year will begin. As always its a good time to look back over the last 365 days and reflect on what this last year has brought. 

All things considered I really didn't get a lot accomplished over the last year. I shot less than in most years previous. But I can say there were more than a few extenuating circumstances. All of that aside here are my top 5 images from the last year. 

 

Shortly after starting my new job I was invited to photograph one of the owners at a show he was performing at. This image was taken as part of a "contest" with him, and even though it didn't win overall he said it was his favorite of the bunch.

It wasn't until 4 months later that I picked up my camera, but when I did it was one of my regular models Nicolette that was the subject. I say it every year but I love shooting with this woman. She always has great ideas and is game for any position that I choose to put her in. 

As a quick aside I should mention that this is actually version 2 of this image. I saw that because until this last year I would have told you that I despised Photoshop. I hated everything about it. But since I have been using it every day for work purposes, I can say that it is a very useful tool that I am eager to learn more about.

My second time working with Hada Pixie came next. Another set for Zivity.com. Pixie is another great model that always comes up with interesting options to work with. This set was ranked "noteworthy" by Zivity staff members, and is another example of an image that I re-worked post photoshop hatred. 

Jason AKA Davinci Black, was a previous co-worker of mine a few years back. He wanted some new photos for an album he was working on. And I was very happy to hear from him and to get the chance to help him out. Keep an ear out for what is coming from this guy. 

Finally one of the many photos of The Imperial Opa that I took at their burlesque show earlier this year. I loved shooting all of the various acts, but I thought this photo of the whole troupe summed up things much better. 

So that's it. That was 2014. Onward to new projects and new photos. If you haven't read recently I have started my 2015 project blog over at UNEXPhotography.com/52rolls where I will be shooting a roll of film a week for the next year. What would you like to see? Let me know below!

Until next time, thanks as always for taking some time to see what I have been up to.

-B

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