Today I acquired a box of darkroom chemicals from Terry Schwarze, a retiring photography professor at Winona State University. He gave me some tips about how to use them, and some books of his that he thought might help me out. As an added bonus, he gave me some good, solid film holders for both medium format film and larger format. Needless to say, I am excited about my prospects in the darkroom.

Very soon I will be developing and printing my photographs from the pictures I take with the Pentax 645. I also will be developing some large format film for my friend Peter Boysen, as he has a large format camera to shoot with. I’m sure I will have some lovely photos for you all very soon.

I just acquired a Pentax 645 Medium format camera(it’s an older camera that’s been hanging around at work) and am planning to do some shooting with it. It comes with a decent arsenal of lenses, a 150mm f3.5, a 75mm f2.8, a 55mm f2.8, and a 35mm f3.5. Loads of fun are sure to be had.

I will mostly be shooting in black and white, using Fuji NeoPan 400ISO film, but because I was anxious to use the camera yesterday, I grabbed a roll of Kodak Porta 160nc (color) to start with. To get a feel camera, I set it up in my studio and shot some self-portraits using the help of my friend Alyson, because the Pentax doesn’t have a timed shutter release. I used a lighting angle similar to one that my friend Peter likes to use, and the 55mm for a little bit of a wide angle feel. I’ll have to get my film developed before you or I get to see them, but they should turn out well.

Here are some decent test shots that I took with my 20D, just to give you a taste.
  

So i was reminded by a picture (”alone”) that I really like photos of grain. So I dug up a few that I have taken…and decided to post them.