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Tag Archives: sicily

27
Ott 2021

Argenti Scale-X 100

I had this roll in the bag since 2019, I think, and finally decided to use it during summer 2020. I don’t know which camera I used but I suppose it was the old Canon compact. As you can see, the pictures are very summer-ish and they were all taken in Sicily. The story does not end here, actually, because I forgot this (with another still undeveloped) film in a bag, the bag closed in a case, the case abandoned in a sort of a warehouse, before moving again to Rome. It was the end of the first lockdown caused […]
20
Mag 2021

Rollei RPX 400

Another Rollei RPX and another mess of i-dont-know-what-happened-in-the-tank – yes, the infamous IDKWHITT sindrome that every home-developer is sometimes affected by. Probably the D76 in the bottle wasn’t fresh enough or clean enough so I’m happy it’s finished. Regarding the flat boring pictures in the gallery below I don’t want to say it’s entirely developer’s fault, I’m accountable too. And the weather. And my self-portrait is not going to make it better anyway.
6
Dic 2020

Perutz Primera 200

Ladies and gentlemen, The Last Perutz On This Blog! And this is quite a significant roll because it was shot between the last “normal” days in Rome, in February 2020, and the first days in full Sicilian lockdown because of the pandemic. What’s clearly missing – because I wasn’t really thinking about documenting what was going on – is the fast relocation in Siracusa, following the announcement that schools were closing for weeks. The single best decision ever taken in my life. I have a lot to regret for many things I did wrong but that move was instinctively right, […]
5
Dic 2020

Kodak Gold 200

Finally a good old Kodak Gold 200 on this blog! You can find plenty of them in the old blog, actually. Being one of the most easy to find film in brick-and-mortar stores, it’s inevitable to use it sometimes. Unfortunately this is just a sample of the 37 shots I was able to capture with my adorable Canon compact: they are mostly shots of my daughters and my friends on the beach (or in a swimming pool), so very undressed, so I don’t want to publish them. But how NOT lo love a Kodak Gold 200, even from just 4 […]
27
Mag 2020

Rollei Retro 400 S

Here we go, the first roll on this blog that’s been entirely NOT shot by me. Yes, the 12 years old daughter decided to use something like half-an-hour to totally waste a precious Rollei Retro 400 S just goin around our “quarantine in the country” house, in a not-so-sunny morning, framing just plants and buildings in black and white. Isn’t she crazy? The funny thing is: i would never ever do that, she did, and some result is very interesting and unexpected. It’s not the “totally wasted roll” I was presuming before scanning the negative. There’s something, I think.
20
Gen 2020

Perutz Primera 200

Oh well, another Perutz expired film shot in Siracusa, what a novelty! I was actually and seriously looking forward to see these pictures because there’s a good shot of my first daughter and a couple of nice pictures with Piero playing the piano. And now that it’s winter it’s also nice to see some warm Sicilian color on screen.
10
Dic 2019

Perutz Primera 200

A good vibe on film it’s pure magic when you have it in front of your eyes. On this roll there are a couple of shots with some magic. The others are not bad but the poor Sure Shot Supreme – contrary to what its name boldly suggests – had quite an hard time trying to focus, in fact it missed focus a lot, so I discarded many pictures. And I have to say that the only good shots are the ones when there’s still some light from the sunset, and the flash was off. With sun down, and flash […]
9
Dic 2019

Perutz Primera 200

Pictures from Siracusa, last spring, nothing special except a couple of shots I’m really in love with. And other pictures from Rome, but in this case I’m in love with the subjects (my daughters). Technically speaking, there’s a problem with the scanner, a sort of vertical striping that occurs with blue even surfaces (like the sky and/or the sea). And I hate this mostly because it happened with the only picture I really like, that’s arguably the one I chose as the highlight of this set. But I have to add that I don’t really care about the scans, they […]
9
Nov 2019

Perutz Primera 200

This is one of those rolls that begins in a place and ends in a totally different place, with another place in between the two. It’s a tripping roll! Well, you can read the dates if you want to know but they’re printed the English way – because the poorly placed button on the back of my camera keeps pressing itself accidentally switching between options. This film roll begins at home in Rome, goes through a working week in Sicily and ends with a groom at the barber on his wedding day (I was one of the two photographers for […]
5
Nov 2019

Argenti Scale-X 100

This is not really uncharted territory for me, low-speed black and white of course, but I feel more comfortable at 400 asa indeed. Films like this Scale-X they seem a little bit too tricky to develop for an uneducated shooter like me. Anyway, there’s a single picture here that I truly love, it resonates a lot with the things I like. It’s not difficult to spot, I believe, but (spoiler…) it’s the one on the ferry boat, with Messina and the mountains in the background. The couple in the center of the frame, they’re so lovely dressed.    
29
Ott 2019

Kentmere PAN 400

One of the cheapest – if not The Cheapest – black and white film you can buy nowadays, that’s the Kentmere 400, introduced in 2009 by Harman “as a lower priced brand to their Ilford offer to compete in the US market” (thanks Wikipedia!). I have no instrument to compare Kentmere 400 to Ilford HP5+ so let’s assume that this is a completely different emulsion, even if it’s a just a rebranded HP5+. So, what’s interesting here? What a silly question, obviously the only interesting thing is the donkeys! They are so cute!    
29
Ott 2019

Kodak T-Max P3200

Oh boy, sometimes things they go the right way! Five years after discontinuing the venerable P3200 Kodak decided to restart the production and in 2018 the familiar black-and-yellow boxes returned on the shelves. For those of you still scratching their heads I’m talking about the Kodak T-Max P3200, that is the professional 135 format film with the highest box-speed on the market. Since its introduction in 1988 it’s always been the favourite (almost mandatory) film to use at parties, weddings, concerts, smokey bars, poor-lit rooms etc. No serious photojournalist would go outside after sunset without some P3200 in the jacket. […]
29
Ott 2019

Adox Silvermax

Last time I bought some roll from Maco I made a couple of odd choises, like this Adox Silvermax that’s in my to-try-list since forever. It’s an European product very similar to the old Agfa APX 100 but with more silver. Developed in its own Silvermax developer should give more resolution to work with. I developed it in the classic Kodak HC-110 so no “max” for me, just the usual business. Shot in August, if I remember well, and clearly in Sicily, it’s another fragment of my family life.  
25
Ott 2019

Ilford HP4 (1976)

This is aptly tagged “extreme lomography” and it’s not exaggerated. A couple of months ago I found 3 Ilford HP4 expired in 1976 inside an old plastic drawer cabinet, together with other less useful photography related things, in a church my family is currently using as a lumber room (no question, please). My father used to be a hobbyist shooter when he was in his 20’s – I would say mostly thanks to my grandpa’s money then to his own talent, but that’s a story for another blog. I decided to test one of these old boys in the Ricoh […]
19
Giu 2019

Ilford HP5+

An unexpected comeback and a new entry, that is the classic HP5 black and white emulsion developed in another classic, the Kodak HC-110 (dilution B). It’s in fact the first time I buy and use this developer from the 60s, still in production, and I have to admit that its reputation is well deserved. It’s a not-cheap-at-all 1L bottle and I really hope people is right when they say it can last forever even after opening. Actually there’s another new entry that’s the camera I used here: an a-m-a-z-i-n-g Ricoh RZ-750 from 1989, bought with a glorious dust covering in […]
24
Gen 2019

Kodak Ektachrome 320T

This is nice. I had this roll of expired (since who-knows-when) Ektachrome 320T in my Yashica FR last summer. Then in autumn I had to leave the Yashica in Rome while going back and forth from Sicily, only to rediscover the poor abandoned camera this winter. So, not only the film was expired long ago, but it also stayed non-developed in a camera for months, at variable room temperature, then developed by a lab without any special care or precautions taken. It’s a miracle there’s something “readable” in the slides and, in fact, I had to use a new invented-by-me […]
10
Gen 2019

Kodachrome P800/1600

Developed in 2017, when I decided to try C41 and E6 chemicals at home (and almost instantly I gave up), this roll has been scanned and “digitally restored” because the original colors were badly messed up. This way of dealing with analog materials could be rightfully dismissed as nonsense, considering how easily everyone can obtain the same results shooting digitally and saving a lot of time, money and pain in the ass. But I think it still makes sense because when you work with these files they have already some kind of “voice” and it’s just a matter of making […]
7
Dic 2018

Perutz Primera 200

Hello again Perutz Primera! Here we have selected results from probably 5 or 6 different rolls, all shot during Summer 2018 mostly in Siracusa. There’s something from Francesco and Chiara’s family trip (the handsome guy is Francesco) and during the grape harvest at Pupillo’s vineyards. Something also shot at night with a terrible (but very vintage) “flash and grain and totally wrong tones” effect and also something from a “cheap plastic swimming pool birthday party” at Andrea’s place. The roman age things they are from another trip in late spring with Francesco and Chiara at the Ostia Antica archaeological park, […]