Out of the fog

SURPRISE!...yes, I’m back. I’m not dead. I was just laying down being vewy, vewy qwiet…hahahaha.

For those of you who actually look forward to my blogs…I am really sorry. I need to be in the right headspace to write these things…and lately I have been anything but.

Now I’m here I need to try and remember what I have actually been up to that may be of interest.

It’s probably not of interest, but I’m going to tell you anyway. I am just recovering from my fourth bought of flu/covid this year! (I haven’t bothered testing as it doesn’t make any difference as far as I can tell) It has been a stinker. And yes, I did have my shots. I don’t know what the hell is going on. One positive though, is that Michelle remained disease free.

Ok, now for something a bit more interesting. My friend and fellow photographer, Mark (Border Mail in Albury-Wodonga) recently got hitched and I was lucky enough to be invited. He and his partner Ellen decided it wasn’t a wedding, it was a marriage party. They were determined to keep it casual. I think they succeeded…but I’m pretty sure their nerves were up there rivalling the biggest, showiest shindig you can think of …lol.

It was a great day. There was no official photographer as such, but a few of his photographer friends were asked to bring their cameras along to get some ‘evidence’ of the day.

Me (being a glutton for punishment) lugged the Bronica (medium format film camera) from Tassie to do my bit. I haven’t got the colour scans back yet, but will put a couple of the black and whites down below.

This image is from the fogged film. It’s had a ‘fair bit’ of work to make it presentable.

I was really happy with the results…however, they didn’t come without some dramas.

I process the B&W film myself. It saves a bit of money and it’s nice to keep my hand in. Anyway, when processing, the best bit is always when you release the film from the developing tank and see each of the negatives as the film unwinds. In the case of the Bronica, it should be 6x6 squares with a clear bar in between each. As the first roll emerged, my heart sank. There were no squares…just continuous darkness. FU#K! The film was fogged! (exposed to light…or as I suspect in this case…airport xrays). I was devastated…my friend’s wedding …aagh.

I hung the film to dry and walked away. What was I going to tell Mark?

I messaged our friend Ben …I think just to share how gutted I was…a problem shared is …well you get the idea. (For context, Ben is an ex-colleague from The Advocate, a great friend, and who I stayed with while in Albury. He also is friends with Mark and took pics on the day. Getting reacquainted with Ben and his family was a highlight of the trip). He gave me the required ego massage and talked the talk to prevent an emotional meltdown…thanks Ben.

After an appropriate delay (I didn’t want to look) I revisited the film. It was now dry and I was able to handle it…and take a closer look.

Normal film on the left…fogged film on the right.

What! No way! There were actually images there… very dark. Maybe, just maybe, all is not lost.

I took the film to the office, set up my scanning rig and got to work. I managed to get files I could work with. Between Photoshop and Lightroom I managed to coax usable images from what I thought was a lost cause. What a relief.

I think Ben was as happy as I was.

Needless to say, I was extremely nervous when processing the second film…but it was fine. I’m hoping the same applies to the colour film.

This has proven to be a fairly long waffle…and I’ve really only touched on one topic. I might pull the plug here and save some for another day…aren’t you lucky…lol.

Anyway, be nice to each other and I promise it won’t be a long ‘til the next one.

Cheers!