the superstitions

I went on a hike in the Superstitions a couple months ago with my mom and my dog Winston. The trail we hiked is one of my favorites in the area, plus it’s only a short drive from our home! At the top of the trail, there is a small stream and a “waterfall.” (It’s about six feet tall - rather “large” by Arizona standards.) There are even Indian hieroglyphs (and a lot of modern ones -_-) across from the stream, but I forgot to snag a photo of those.  

The hike is easy and the scenery is beautiful. Definitely a trail to check out if you’re in the area!

Photos: Nikon F100 // Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 // Fuji 400H + Kodak Portra 160.

Forays into Film // Kodak Ektar 100

The last film I shot while in Colorado was Kodak Ektar 100. This is by far my favorite film. It’s super contrasty and it’s just all around beautiful. (The colors are to.die.for.) I will definitely be shooting this film in the future. 

Scanned by Indie Film Lab // Nikon F100 // Nikkor 50mm f/1.8

Forays into Film // Kodak Portra 400

Next up from my Colorado film shots is Kodak Portra 400.

This film is much more contrasty than Fuji 400H and it also handles overexposure much better. [I may have overexposed all of my film too much. Don’t judge. I was guesstimating exposure!] It is optimized to be a portrait film [hence the “Portra” name], but this film is quite diverse in its uses. 

Overall, I like this film much better than Fuji 400H. 

Nikon F100 // Nikkor 50mm f/1.8

Forays into Film // Fuji 400H

About a year ago, I became interested in film. Being unhappy with my images, I looked to some of my favorite photographers [Jonathan Canlas, Jose Villa, Kat Braman, Tec Petaja] and wondered how on earth they got such stunning colors in their images. I soon realized that they were film shooters. 

When Jonathan Canlas released his Film Is Not Dead book [go buy it. NOW.], I deiced to buy a Nikon F100 and give it a go just to see what I got.

I first started shooting with some cheap Superia 400 that I found on the clearance section at work. The results ranged from horrible to decent [some of those results can be found here and here]. I eventually went out and got some “prefessional” film [Fuji 400H, Portra 160 + 400, Ektar 100 + BW400CN].

I took 6 rolls on my trip to Colorado this summer to play around with. I only recently got the film developed [developing ain’t cheap, yo!]. I just got back the scans and I have to say that I’m impressed. Film is definitely something I want to continue using, though to this poor college student, it is a little [okay, a lot] cost prohibitive.

While in Colorado, I shot Fuji 400H, Portra 400 and Ektar 100. At first, I was going to do one massive post of all my shots, but instead I’m going to dedicate each post to all my shots taken on that one specific film.

First up is Fuji 400H. This is not a landscape film, but I decided to experiment a little with it. So far, this is my least favorite film [it’s not as punchy as Kodak’s film]. I’m sure this film is great, I just haven’t discovered the best way to shoot it. 

[More Fuji 400H images can be found on my most recent post here.]

Nikon F100 // 50mm f/1.8.