Tag: Film

Umbrellas in a Sunny, Dying Mall

Sunbrellas with no one to shelter . . . this is a shot from a dying mall that is under new ownership and new management.

There is a real drive to make this mall work again, but its construction is one of the things working against it. It is open to the sky in the center, which is not the best in an area prone to 90-100F temperatures off and on year round.  Hard surfaces reflecting the heat don’t help, either.  It is a very nice place to shop – and horribly uncomfortable at high noon.

In order to generate revenue, small businesses are moving in because of reasonable rents that once were so high that only large chain stores could afford them.  It is here that I take my film to be processed, that my husband goes to buy grain and beer-making supplies.  I hope that more businesses (obviously, there are more than two) move in, as it is a very pleasant place to shop when it is in the 70s.

And even more, I hope they create more covered spaces to get away from the heat – sweltering heat is unpleasant, for humans and business alike.

Film

Lately I am shooting a lot of film.  Hopefully I will be processing some once I master the Lab-Box, first in black and white, and then later in color if I find the frustration level not frustrating!

Anyway, here are a few pictures taken with my N90s and 60mm macro lens, which I dropped, but do not seem to have damaged either.  The film here is Fuji Pro 400H, which is great for color.

If you take a look at the camera in the pictures above, you will see it is a Contax IIIa ca. 1953. It has a rather amazing lens, a Zeiss-Opton Sonnar 50mm f1.5. It’s sharp and lovely when I nail it. Being a rangefinder and a new-to-me camera, I am still learning to “get” the focus. The following images were taken using the camera along with Fuji Super 200. Some pictures I did with the Sunny 16 rule, a light meter, or the suggestions from the camera’s readout.

Editing film certainly beats breathing smoke and listening to sirens!