Snapperific: Some overdue HP5

The first picture is of my neighbor and friend Susie Dinneen who is a great writer and has just had a children's book published. This is Susie doing a reading at Love Books in Melville of her book Nombulelo and the Moth. It's a wonderful story, beautifully written and gorgeously illustrated. Here's a link to it for sale. Highly recommended. This was shot with a FD 28mm f3.5 wide open. I actually have a much better 28mm f2.8 with far better coatings and sharpness, but I really dig this lens with its more basic coatings. The images it produces have a really nice look, softer with lower contrast.

This next picture is inside one of my favorite coffee chains, Seattle Coffee Co. Their coffee is delicious. I adore how the tones came out in this image. HP5 is my favorite B&W film and the contrast and detail here just puts a big ol' smile on my face. LOVE this photo even though it's nothing terribly special. That's the joy of personal work... This was shot with the 50mm, can't remember the aperture, probably about f4.

Next up is a requisite photo of Pablo. Here he is nice and spaced-out during one of his many daily sun-bathing sessions. I love to have a nap with him in the sun. Freelancing FTMFW man... Love how, even in hard sunlight, HP5 just holds the shadow detail in a black cat's shiny coat. Awesome. I left the pillow a little blown out. I like the contrast. Such. A. Cute. Cat.

This next photo is all about texture. Just look at how great the tones and texture in the leaves and the dirt on the window is. Damn. Another reason why I just ADORE film, especially B&W. You just get the most beautiful results and no time spend sliding sliders in Lightroom. I must say, I have been spending many, MANY hours on the computer editing digital images this year and being able to just nail a shot as I see it in my head and get that result back from the lab is a serious joy. I'm getting evangelical here. Can't help it. Don't care. :-D Shot on the 50mm

Lastly, here's a really lovely family photo of my sister-in-law, husband and baby, Matteo. Capturing family memories on film is just special. I don't know what it is, but there is just something powerful and memorable about shooting important moments of life on film. I feels more serious and important. Maybe this is all in my head, but it just feels different. Maybe it's because you have a physical object in the negative that you have to physically store and look after, maybe it's the process of being more careful when you shoot. I don't know. But I definitely feel differently about this image compared to one I took on my iPhone or a DSLR, even though there are all lovely. Shot with the 50mm

Thanks for reading. See you soon.

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