The analog Mr. Mu "noob to skilled" progression - new: with added skillz!

[Mr. Mu]

DivideByZero - thanks, mate. Glad you like it.

vinc - yea, it's a Porst. some 30 yrs old and unfortunately the light meter is somehow erratic otherwise I would still use it. My flash is from the same era and it still works fine,

*knocks on wood*

[Obsidian]

Ah, B&W photography. Love it.
I haven't gotten up the nerve to try it yet, so I bow to you in that aspect (not to mention your lack of digi-ness).
My dream would be taking B&W photos on film using a lovely old camera (maybe a rolleiflex... I've got one gathering dust) and developing it myself. Ah to bask in that lovely red light
Oh, got carried away there!
About your photos - I like your key one... the only thing that's bugging me is the lack of sharpness... normally that detracts from a photo but in this case I can't figure out if it does or not

[iriskillsthecornea]

i love the two photographs of the trees in the beginning. the colors are really wonderful

[Mr. Mu]

Obsidian - well, I only process the negs the old-fashioned way (which is quite simple and you don't need a darkroom for that... only a bit of equipment which is being sold for cheap prices at ebay as everyone is getting rid of their analog equipment and going digital... ) About the sharpness... I would actually have liked to get it sharper, but it was shot in our hallway and I forgot to bring my tripod, so the lack of sharpness is probably due to long shuttertime handheld...

iriskillsthecornea - thanks, mate. Those pics are about ten years old, shot with a vivitar.

[Mr. Mu]

More from the shoot about negative space

all of which still Luky 100 in AM74

With these I had a GIMP breakthrough as I have become much more fluent in translating from my thoughts about what I want from the image into appropriate actions in that app.

I use selections which I store in channels quite often, now, as well as applying gaussian blur on a separate layer set to "value" to soften and emphasize the regions outside the DOF. With one of these I applied a grey gradient on a new layer set to multiply to sort of create a vignette (when the grey gradient reaches white it is gradually less applied to the layer underneath as "multiply" makes full white fully transparent). All in all, I am happy about these because I learned a heap about postprocessing.

click for hires with all of these (except the first one):

Magnolia I



Ripples


Magnolia II


Magnolia III


Magnolia IV

[purplerose]

I really like the lighting in "Ripples" and the DOF in "Magnolia II."

[Asadex]

I like the way you "painted" the last four images, Blacks and Whites are used as colors with their grey variations.
Good Work

[Mr. Mu]

Hey,

I took my first roll of Infrared film last weekend!

It was highly exciting as this is something I had always wanted to try since I first heard about it some ten years ago.
I messed up a lot of things on this first round, but well... it's just still a lot to learn for me.

Here's the first two of a few infrared shots I am going to upload.

more about this later on

Rollei IR 400 in AM74, scanned negative

[Mr. Mu]

Quite forgot...!

purplerose - glad you like them...:

Asadex - thanks mate, I think that shooting B/W nicely corresponds with my struggles to understand values in painting/drawing

[Mr. Mu]

more infrareds from the same roll of film...:

[Asadex]

Nice shoots!
The only danger, in this kind of photos, is the lage black holes that sometimes cover the most of the picture ( see the last one ).
I Like

[Mr. Mu]

Hi there,

thanks for your comments! Yea, I think that I also underexposed most of the shots. I kind of trusted the light meter when I should have added to the "suggestion" of the light meter a few observations about the reflection characteristics of the subject: much sky or water in the pic? Low ir-light and thus longer exposure than the meter says. A shot with much vegetation and/or skin? Many ir-reflecting areas, and thus bracketing down from the suggested time.

To cut it short: I am still learning and think that the black holes can be avoided... we shall see.

Glad you like them, though...

[Mr. Mu]

Hmm? this is strange... there was another reply by Asadex.. where did that one go?

anyway:

went to the near Westfalenpark with another roll of Rollei IR 400 (Infrared B/W)

a view from the Dortmund television tower towards the abandoned and sold Phoenix factory, which is being disassembled and transferred to China for a rebirth... Nomen est Omen...




This actually documents a failure. There was a hot air balloon starting in the park, but four of five shots got underexposed as I was fumbling with the IR filter which I needed to remove for composition and put back on for exposure. I guess that's why there is Kodak HIE as you can shoot IR with a much lighter red filter with the Kodak film...









The flamingoes which reside in a pool in the park drove me crazy as their feathering reflected so much IR that it almost lost all its details. If I can post process any other of those flamingo shots in a way that makes the feathers keep detail I will post them. I am not too happy with this one. Lacks depth.




All in all I gotta say that I am not too content with the result of my day in the park, but I had a great time there for a few hours... Maybe I won't put a film in the camera next time.. would save me a few bucks...LOL


EDIT: forgot this one:

[Mr. Mu]

Hey folks,

today was the first time I ever had a color slide film cross-processed and I am totally loving the results.
('twas the first time I ever shot a color slide film, in the first place...)

here is the first one:

I actually only adjusted the levels. I did not adjust curves or color balance and did not sharpen it in any way as I thought the slight fuzziness serves the overall atmosphere of the image really well. C&C, as always, appreaciated...


"Feel good hit of the summer"

[Mr. Mu]

Fuji Sensia 200 cross-processed

[purplerose]

FILM IS GOD!

Anyways, I really like the 2nd one. I simply love everything about it... the focus really brings out its character though. =)

[eazym]

your photos are really taking off in good directions. I would change the border on the last two though, change the green stuff to white or black, would be my suggestion.

[Mr. Mu]

hi purplerose -

FILM IS GOD!

LOL. When I started out I mainly chose film, because I couldn't afford a good digital SLR. But now that I have dived headfirst into it I find there's so much you can do with it, esp. since you can always scan the negs and go crazy from there. And with these cross-processed pics I didn't do much once they were scanned in.

Thanks for the reply.

eazym -

thanks for the approving comment of my general efforts. I am having more and more fun taking my pics, too...

about the frames.... well, I sort of was in a playful mood this time around. I actually wanted to try something different from the rather sober frames I use when I shoot b/w. Expext some more strange framing til I find something tasteful, LOL...

thanks for the support, folks!

[Mr. Mu]

Kodak HIE @400
Red Filter

(click for hi-res)
"Car Crematory"



Kodak HIE @400 in AM74
Red Filter

(click for hi-res)
"The Hill"

[Mr. Mu]

Fuji Sensia 200 cross-processed, from the previous session - a texture study

(click for hi-res)

[Le Gab]

The Red Filter set of today are simply amaizing. A great job on working woth film. I never really could understand why this you call this thread noobish. You have some brilliant film works here, dude.

I promise to return with some in depth criticism but mostly this thread is just thrilling.

Good Night for now!

[Mr. Mu]

Wow, Gab, thank you very much for your comments! And as I am an admirer of your photography I will consider me officially un-noobed from now on.



Which means I am in a transitory stage, hehe.

I forgot to add that the above b/w are infrared film negative scans. Hence the typical effects (snowy vegetation, dark sky, high contrast etc.)

Thanks again, I am just always trying to improve and learn.

[eazym]

definitely good work with IR

[purplerose]

"The Hill" is really nice. =)

[Mr. Mu]

Hi folks,

a little update, little because there's more to follow soon.

Kodak HIE @400 in AM74, 50mm+Red Filter

click for hi-res

"Bezier on the lawn"

[Mr. Mu]

Kodak HIE @400, 28mm+Red Filter

click for hi-res

"White silhouettes"




Kodak HIE @400, 70-210mm (@roughly 135)+Red Filter,

click for hi-res

"Manifestation"

[Mr. Mu]

Kodak HIE@400 in AM74, 50mm + Red Filter and self-timer,

click for higher res.


"resting place" (it's my challenge entry...)

[Mr. Mu]

While I was hurt/disabled as concerns playing football with my friends on our usual sunday-out-on-the-lawn kind of thing I figured I could take a few photos of it, nevertheless...

Kodak HIE@400 in AM74, 50mm+Red Filter

click for high-res

"The last football heroes I"




click for high-res

"The last football heroes II"



There's another one, but I have to ask if I can publish it, first.

[Obsidian]

'The last football heroes II' - It's nice you've got lots of space he's looking into and also that it gets darker by the trees behind him. The bikes a bit distracting though

Also 'Manifestation' has a nice, warm, lazy feel to it.

IR is so interesting!

[Vete]

Really nice photos! You have really improved, that's for sure, and I love the red (ir?) filter effect.

This last pic is great, except that I would have tried to get the guy in front of the trees instead of the goal. You wonder what is going on behind him, but to the left there is just space.