It occurred to me recently it had been a while since I took photos of the kids (four years to be precise), so I dusted off the Mamiya RB67 and took out a second mortgage to buy film. It had been so long I actually had to remind myself how to use the damn thing, but once I started to shoot a bit it all started coming back. Like riding a bike, they say… Just a very, expensive, fiddly bike.
I particularly like this image of my daughter taken with straw cutting through it. I used the gold side of the reflector here with the sun setting to the right (Portra 400).
I’m not joking about the price of film. Portra 400 has doubled at least since I last bought it, so I also got two rolls of Fomopan 400 B&W as test rolls. I wasn’t expecting much, but the Fomopan shots do have a grainy kind of, gritty look to them I don’t mind. The dynamic range wasn’t great, however, and I probably wouldn’t shoot it again if I was really after keepers.
Portra, on the other hand, has dynamic range for days, but I did get a bit blasé with my metering, especially indoors. Note to self: Really, really pay attention to metering if you’ve got a dark scene in front of you. But sunny? No wuckers. You can shoot 1/125, 1/250, 1/400. It really is impossible to blow out those highlights.
My eyesight has deteriated a bit, so finding focus was tougher this time around. Again, I stuck to f5.6 and that seemed to help a little. Maybe 5% of the shots I got back had some sort of focusing issue (all user error, naturally).
These wattle trees are everywhere around us at the moment. I underexposed here to get a spotlight sort of effect (Portra 400).
An unusual composition, but I like the surrealist quality to this shot and even the leaves fanning out from her hair (Fomopan 400 B&W).
Since I last took photos of the kids, they have entered the tween phase, so the dynamic has shifted. My daughter has recently started to get into photography herself, so was more than happy to pose and experiment and try out things she had seen on social media. My son, ever conscious now of the need to look ‘aesthetic’, also posed a little differently.
Something else I dredged out of the cupboard was my reflector. I haven’t used this since my weddings days but was surprised what a massive difference it made, giving the light a more three-dimensional quality. Where we took photos at the park is a very popular spot with family and newborn photographers, and yet I was the only one with a reflector. So bring back the reflectors, I guess? Gold, silver, white… Every side of it made something unique happen to the scene and yielded far more natural results than off-camera flash would.
I like this shot because it really sums up my son in this point in time. You’ve got the gaming obsession T-shirt, the ‘rizz’ pose, Crocs and school pants he can’t be bothered changing out of. But that’s him.
There’s a great eighties fashion shoot vibe to this shot. The tones are just *chef’s kiss*, but that’s Portra 400 for you. If only it wasn’t so damn expensive. Kodak Gold might be an option for future shoots.
Probably my pick of them all. The composition seems to work, the lighting is nice, grain from the Fomo, and it is a true reflection of my son, who’s constantly playing his clothes and doing these kind of stimming things.
Just after sunrise at Dee Why beach, Sydney. And yes, it does get this cold in Sydney (Portra 400).
Another four years then until I shoot film again? Maybe, though as teenagers I’m not sure the kids will be so compliant or willing next time around, but one can hope. By then Portra will probably be so expensive I really will need to sell a kidney. More photos below.
