Medium Format Update (Look Ma, I Developed it Myself!)

So I joined CEPA Gallery in downtown Buffalo and now have access to a fully-stocked darkroom.  I rolled on down there with my one roll of 35mm and 2 rolls of 120 and tried my hand at developing them on my own.  How’d it work?  Great (with one caveat)!

First, the negative:  My 35mm was shot.  It was a mix between me removing them from the dryer prematurely and my old Minolta shortcircuiting and scratching up the negatives.  Suffice to say, I need a new 35mm.   Here are some of the shots.  I think they sort of look cool in a ruined vintage sort of way.

The 120, on the other hand, looks pretty flawless.  Any issues are exposure-based, not anything to do with the developer.

KC’s aunt was visiting Niagara Falls last month, so we drove up and spent an afternoon there.

The rapids near the falls.

I also shot off a roll down in South Buffalo so I’d have it ready to develop.  Kinda neat looking.

This old chestnut.

So yeah.  Overall, a success.  I’ll be back for more.  Maybe I’ll even try my hand at developing my own 4×5 next time.

Google Plus Business Equals Me

So I went and made a Google+ business page for my wedding photography.

It matches my official website and Facebook page nicely.

 

 

Youtube, I Am On You

I made a Youtube video.  The whole thing took about a half an hour, but if anyone watches this thing, I swear I’ll make an effort to up the quality.  Like!  Comment!  Subscribe!

Summer, We Hardly Knew Ye

I feel I’ve been neglecting this blog.  My three (occasional) readers must be deeply distressed by my recent inactivity, so I’m happy to inform you that I’ll be updating more frequently.  I recently wrapped up my summer wedding bonanza, so I’ll update with some photos from the last couple ceremonies soon.

Right now, however, we talk film – specifically, slide film.

Slide! Film!

I love slide film.  I’m not even sure why, but on larger formats (6×7 and above) the look of the slides held up to a light is just magical.  I know color negative rules the already-greatly-diminished film landscape, but there’s an absolutely indescribable quality to a large slide negative (positive?) that no digital photo will ever capture, dynamic range be damned!

Wide open. Focus was on the flowers in the foreground. I missed slightly.

Weddings, Forever and Always

Not much to say.  Shot another wedding today.  This one was different in its free-flowing, laid-back vibe. Most weddings I’ve shot have been heavily regimented and planned to oblivion, but this one just sort of floated along.  It was a Buddhist ceremony(!), so I suppose the lack of rigid structure was appropriate.  Actually, I don’t really know if that’s true.  Still, it was a lovely ceremony with kind people.  The reception was at the park where my high school cross country team practiced, but I’d never been to the lake/pond where we ended up.  It was pretty neat.

Tifft With my Dad

My dad, fresh from a trip to the Adirondacks, agreed to trek out to Tifft with me for a day of photography.  I lugged the RB67 through the swamp with a few rolls of Ektar and Velvia 50.  The Velvia will take about a week, but the Ektar should be ready to scan tomorrow or the day after.  In the meantime, here’s what the 5d with that lovely new 24-70L lens got.  It’s alright.

I Updated My Website

If you’re into that sort of thing.

http://erikwahlstrom.com/

A Brief Update on Weddings

Weddings.  I’m photographing them.  I’ve got a bunch this summer, but here’s a few shots from the first two of the season.

First up was the Niezgoda/Detinger ceremony.  This one was different from any I’ve done before since I’ve known the groom, Steve, for over a decade now.  The day was fantastic, and culminated in me drinking for hours with old friends after the reception had slowed down.

Then, a week later, I photographed the wedding of Kaitlyn and Nick.  It was about a million degrees in the mid-day, but we soldiered on and got some beautiful shots.  I haven’t nearly finished working my way through these, so here’s some early samples.

Medium Format Mini-Update

Just got my roll of Portra 400 6×7 back from the camera store.  Last weekend, my dad and I drove out to the Tifft Nature Reserve in Lackawanna.  Tifft is a one-time garbage dump turned really-quite-lovely park in the middle of industrial South Buffalo.

The light wasn’t where I wanted when I took these, but I was anxious to shoot them all off and get to the Velvia 50 I brought, so here’s what I got.

Allentown Art Fest 35mm

Man the Allentown Art Festival is the worst.  Once a year, all the suburbanite Western New Yorkers drive their Toyota Highlanders into the big city to block my driveway and overpay for cheap tchotchkes.  My buddy Dave and I went.  He bought a coffee mug and we went to Aroma for drinks.  I took some 35mm photos on Portra 160.

Then I shot the rest of the roll at City of Night at South Buffalo’s old Silo City.  That was, at least, fun.