State of the Union – May 2015

So just a little update as to what is going on with UNEX over the last little while. There have been a couple of changes that I'd like you all to check out and be aware of.

Firstly the Year of Film Project is going wonderfully. As you can see from the screenshot above I am WAY ahead of schedule and what originally was going to just be 52 rolls of film will be a whole lot more. So much so that I believe I am just about ready to say that aside from a few weddings in the upcoming weeks I am giving up digital completely for all of 2015. By the time all of the posts listed here go live I will be well over half of the year completed and have already done WAY more shooting than I did in 2014. 

Thanks everyone who has taken a look at everything, and have given me words of encouragement over these last few months. If you are new to the website please click on the link above and catch up on what all has been going on since the beginning of the year. If you prefer a more cliff notes version I have a gallery started here of my favorite photos so far.

In an attempt to market myself a little better I have done some updating to the People portfolio. I have taken away a few redundant portraits and have re-added the Couples and Weddings portfolio for clients that would be interested in checking those out. I'm not exactly in the wedding business full time, but if you are interested please drop me a line. I haven't turned down anyone yet. 

As you can see I'm still trucking along with my social media goals, even if those numbers aren't exactly 100% where I would like them to be. Also if you are only following one of the pages you may be missing out on the "whole picture" (no pun intended). With the help of all of the 52rolls.net team I am finding myself tweeting more and more. So if you were looking to just follow one source I would say that would be it. It also has the benefit of being where I am the most candid, and RT/Share articles that I find interesting or inspiring...so its not always just about me. However if you are not a Twitter user you can always interact with me on Facebook, or Instagram. I always love hearing from everyone. 

As always I'll end by asking all of you loyal followers if there is something I am missing? Or is there something you are dying to see (or see more of)? Just let me know what types of things you like. 

-B

Week 12a – Jackie – Kodak Portra 400

These next two weeks were many weeks in the making. Lots of back and forth scheduling went into making this shoot happen. 

Jackie and I met a few years ago in a bar, and have kept in touch since. She was looking to start a portfolio and asked me for assistance with grabbing a few images. We shot 3 rolls together. Below are the images in color (and a few from my trip back from NY that ended up on the same roll).

For not having any experience I think she did a bang up job of interpreting what I wanted out of her. 

Developing Notes:
Unicolor C41 Kit
Standard Development
Color Correction in Photoshop

Week 11e – Mr and Mrs Jones (Part 2) – Kodak 400 TX (+2 Stops)

I couldn't visit the land of Kodak without shooting a roll. I actually picked it up in the gift shop of the Eastman house (from a few updates ago). I haven't actively shot TX or Tmax since college, and I remember it not being a very pleasant experience then. 

Short of some development issues (which were totally my fault, see the dev notes below) I thought things came out pretty well. I loved being a fly on the wall for the after-after party. 

Development Notes:
Rodinal 1:100 Dilution
120 Minute Semi Stand Dev
4 inversion every 30 minutes
Very Thin Negatives. I'm pretty sure its because I used the leftover batch of developer from doing the previous 2 rolls. Probably didn't have enough developer. However everything seemed to be scanned correctly.

Week 11c&d – Mr and Mrs Jones (Part 1) – Ilford HP5+ (+2 Stops)

I met Nick while working for a telecommunications company pretty soon after moving to Atlanta. We almost immediately bonded over music, film, art, and photography. In fact a few weeks after our first meeting we ended up staying way too late at a bar discussing Romeo and Juliet. 

Nick quickly became my right hand man of sorts, always willing to jump in and assist me with any upcoming photo assignments. He acted as my assistant for Beautiful Darkness and there are tucked away on this website a few photos of him just being himself. 

In February of 2013 he moved back to his home state of NY and left us all behind. It was a great honor to be invited to his wedding and I jumped at the chance at taking a trip. Originally the plan was for me to snap candid photos of everyone while I was there. But plans changed (not after I bought a bunch of film though) and I shot anyway. 

I wish both Nick and Chrissy the best of lives together, and hope that I can make it back to see them sooner than later. 

Development Notes:
Rodinal 1:100 Dilution
120 Minute Semi Stand Dev
4 inversion every 30 minutes
Standard Fix

Week 11b – Rochester NY – Kodak Portra 400

Right before the wedding proper (but after I realized I loaded the wrong kind of film for the job) my travel partners and I stopped in at the Rochester museum and science center where the ceremony was to be performed. I had a frantic hour of shooting just about everything I possibly could so that I didn't waste anything.

It was another great little pit stop on our journey, and my only regret is not having longer to really spend a good bit of time there.

Developing Notes:
Unicolor C41 Kit
Standard Development
Color Correction in Photoshop

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