Experiments in Film / ME

Back in late November, I started experimenting with my vintage Pentax more. Originally, I was experimenting for a new project that ended up not working out. It was nerve-wracking attempting to shoot double exposures on this vintage camera. I had no idea what I was doing, except for a quick Google search to get the general concept. Most photographers that shoot double exposures in-camera have a general idea of what they are going for. They plan it out. Me? HA! I generally NEVER have a plan. It’s what I love most about creativity. Especially when relying mostly on my intuition rather than the knowledge, skills, + talent I have developed over the years. For me, when I’m out shooting, I generally just see something I like and start shooting. Sometimes, it’s a certain composition, or the way the light hits a subject just right, or maybe it’s the overall color palette that draws me in. Sometimes it’s just an instinct, a gut feeling. That’s how it was when shooting a few rolls of vintage film in this vintage camera. It’s a fun process because you are leaving SO MUCH of the finished results to chance, to magic, to The Divine. I just shoot what I like until the film runs out, wind it back in and then load it again to shoot again.

Now, for my first attempt I was giddy with excitment when I saw a few of these images. There are LOTS of room for improvement. For example, I think I underexposed most of these shots. You have to underexpose the subject a bit because you’ll be exposing the film to light for a second time but I think I underestimated the exposures on most of these. You can also see the breaks between frames in a lot of these shots; meaning, I didn’t load the film the exact same way the second time. So I’ll have to be mindful of that as well. But in some of the final images, I actually like the visible break in the frames. I think it adds to the over all composition.

I can see several of these as album covers for Indie Artists, maybe as book covers, and I know a few will be making it into the Print Shop soon. All of these images are available for Personal and Commercial Licensing so if you see something you’d like, just let me know and we can discuss your project!

I can’t wait to start a fresh roll. I was given a few rolls of Black + White film and I’d like to try a winter/spring double exposure experiment along with a new home developer formula so stay tuned for that!