Bee Beautiful Studios

For this first assignment I shoot from two different cameras, a Nikon F-10 and Canon AE-1. The reason for that was to see which I felt more conformable and would produce better images. In each camera I used the same film roll, a Kodak T-Max 400 ISO B&W professional roll. I decided to use the Nikon camera for my “outdoor event” and the Canon for “free range shooting”, that way I wouldn’t mix up shots.

The “outdoor event” I shot was a skateboarding/rollerblading event in Round Rock, Texas. I tried to shoot wide, close, and far. The event took place around 2p.m. so at this time the lighting was perfect for high shutter speeds and low ƒ-stops. This roll produced thirty-three images, where most are standard shots, and two stood out the most.

On the other roll, I shot at different locations and at different times as well. Going through the contact sheet I saw a lot of frames were over exposed. It could have been that the meeting system on the Canon AE-1 was a ƒ-stop off. From this roll I did enjoy three images.

During Processing and Developing, I learned that it’s not that easy to wrap the film around the reel in pitch black. Which from that may have resulted in ruin strip on my “free range roll”. I think the film touched or did not roll on to it right causing some of the images to get ruined. Although that roll took some damage, I am curious why my other roll did not? Since I used T-Max my development took a bit longer and was more confusing. That event has caused me to try to look for another film type or brand.

When it came time for printing, the worst thing about it was, I was the first one, so I had to set up all the chemicals. This made me a bit nervous because I didn’t want to go wrong with this, because then everyone else’s work could be ruined if I messed something up. But in the end it went well. Before printing, I had asked Ray for some tips, which he gave me, soon after I took on the task myself and was successful after 5hrs.

Over the assignment went well as a learning process. I shot two rolls successfully, processed them semi successfully, and printed them well. I learned that it takes patience to shoot film but he overall result of processing and printing your own photographs is worth the wait.