The Manrilla Blog | Life. Art. Religion. Culture.

John and I went in on a box of Type 55’s several months back. He’s broken his out and done some shooting but I hadn’t until today. I decided to crack open the box and shoot a sheet before taking a shower (?). Yes, this is how the creative mind works. Anyway, I really like the idea of being able to shoot a proof and a neg. The proofs are fun to scan - I’ve even made some nice prints off of them. And the negs are cool, too. They have this weird edge at the top. The proof is 50 ISO and the neg’s 100 (I think - I could have that turned around). I’ll have to scan the neg later to show you. I would like to do some more with them. They run around $50 a box, I think. John? Should we order more? You’ll have to come out to Philly to share.

I finally got the first portrait up off the ground yesterday, commencing the new series, People I’ve Known. There is a Projects section up on the photography site, where I have some older photographs that I’ve compiled to start that series. But I’ve begun a new series of photographs, looking to do an exhibition eventually with all of these. My goal is output all of these as large prints (30″ x 40″ or larger). I’m shooting the series on 4×5. I’d like to say exclusively, but we’ll see. Shooting in the studio yesterday with Nick and Sara made me realize how much I missed shooting 4×5. For those unfamiliar, a 4×5 camera, otherwise known as a large format camera, creates a negative that is 4 by 5 inches. This is huge in compared to traditional 35mm, which measures 24 by 36 millimeters. Though I do so dearly miss my Hasselblad 501 c/m, the 4×5 is just magical. It’s slow; precise. The images captured have a sense of space that other formats just don’t. You shoot only one sheet of film at a time, forcing to you to change your approach. I’ve been shooting straight 35mm digital now for almost 6 months. And while I do love digital for what it’s worth, it’s also a big breath of fresh air to put a big camera on a big tripod, pull out two or three sheets of film, load some holders, put the dark cloth over your head, compose your image reversed and upside down, take a deep breath, cock the shutter, focus the bellows, loupe up to glass and click. Ahhh…, yeah. This is going to be a fun, rewarding series. I’ll post images at some point. Stay tuned.