Hey Gang,
Yesterday was kind of a bittersweet day for me. My final three rolls of Kodachrome that I’ll ever shoot arrived back from Parsons, KS yesterday. I thought I’d share some of the results of that effort with you all. I haven’t been thrilled with Dwayne’s scans of late, so I thought I’d try something new on these – using my DSLR as my “scanner.” I’m still working on dialing in the results, but they’re much better than what I would have got via any other cheap method of scanning currently available to me.
This first roll that I’m going to share is my first and only roll of Kodachrome 25. I had always grown up with K-64. I hadn’t learned what an awesome tool a tripod is and so a lot of my stuff at ISO 64 was blurred and ISO 25 seemed like a bad idea because of that.
What did I miss all those years!!! Holy cow, this is awesome stuff!!! The colors! The grain! The sharpness! Whoa!!!
Unfortunately, I didn’t even finish this roll. I had a bad experience with my last batch of K-64 that I got off of everyone’s favorite auction site. It expired in the 90s, but the seller assured me that it had been cold stored. Yeah…those colors came out awful.
This roll was dated for 1989, so I was really gun shy after that. I don’t think it suffered much, though. About the only thing I can see is that the grain might be a little coarser than fresh K-25.
Anyways, enough babbling. I decided that the Colorado Railroad Museum would be a good, colorful place to try out K-25. The first shot offers a look at the main museum building.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ghosstrider/5387055047/in/photostream
The next shot is of a CB&Q MOW car. When I look at the Boxcar Red of this shot, I kind of get the idea that Leopold Godowsky and Leopold Mannes (God and Man) designed
Chris…In an odd way, your up front comments for your display of Kodachrome renditions…somehow, reminds me of another “change” an industory has passed thru…
That being, the method of producing / recording audio stereo music…CD’s, the darling of something new…and “oh so much better” reproduction of the original than was possible by vinyl records.
And very similar situation with the comparison of electronic tube type instruments, versus solid state amplifiers / receivers. Seems, now since we’ve had the “new” for some time…Some are wondering, and going back to take another “listen” from the older technologies.
Don’t mean to stray away from your exibition in your post…Whatever you show us is always at the “top”…
PS: Believe my favorite of this showing is the close up, of the very red rotary blade assy.
Paul Simon was right, “Mamma Don’t take my Kodachrome away…”
I think your “scanner on the cheap” worked just fine, if you had not said anything, I doubt anyone would know.
Outstanding photos all the way, the red on that rotary just jumps out at you.
So, when does the book come out?
I want to sign up now for one of the first copies, please…[bow]
I’d love to help edit the book, just to get a look at photos that no printing process could do justice to…
Still in awe, Chris!
Thank you all for the very kind comments!
Quentin - I’m certainly feeling that way about the analog to digital conversion lately. While I love my digital stuff, there’s certainly a look to film that I appreciate and miss. Oddly enough, I miss film grain! There are certain films that I love the grain on. Kodachrome 64 happens to be one of them. Additionally, after playing with it for years, I am convinced that digital B&W just doesn’t work for me. As such, I’m getting a darkroom setup at home and plan on doing all B&W work on film from here on out. I can’t figure out how to get my 4x5 enlarger set up in my tiny laundry/darkroom, so I’ll be limited to Medium Format for now. On the other hand, I’m thinking about ditching 4x5 altogether and going to 8x10 or even 11x14 and concentrating on contact printing. A well done contact print from a really big negative is a thing of beauty and hard to beat!
Ed - No book in the works yet, but the idea has surfaced once or twice. I need to figure out a cohesive theme first and hone my writing skills before I go any further.
Carl - I’ll be sure to look you up for editing if said book project ever goes beyond the dream stage.
Chris,
Don’t sell yourself short there, you have the writing skills and obviously the photography skills.
What you need is a friendly editor that is also a train nut…find that person and you could do a book or two…trust me on that!
While the audience might be limited to train fans, your camera skills will attract those outside the fan base.
Skip the dry, “this is then interior of B&O car 123, note the paneling and carpet” and work on the human warm side of it…find out and show us what it felt like to ride in B&O car 123…show us with your camera and tell us with your words the stories that happened there.
You got the skills.
Awesome stuff, as usual chris.
zug waits for parts 2 and 3…