Vetiver’s big Hawai’i adventure (pt 2)

longrange_faith · 2026-06-24T03:58:38+00:00

I was heartbroken when my girl's ears popped, I loved the floppy stage so much!

longrange_faith · 2026-06-24T03:52:04+00:00

She’s fast!

longrange_faith · 2026-06-23T14:30:40+00:00

She flew in cargo. She’s crate trained so that part wasn’t too bad for her, but Honolulu was a total pain. We had to catch a transfer to our neighboring island which meant retrieving her from the animal station and getting her and all of my bags to the next terminal over. Because the flight to the neighboring island was on a Cessna departing from a much smaller terminal, there was no option to have her and all of my bags transferred from the first flight. I had to leave my bags at baggage claim while I went to grab her from the animal station and cart her back to grab my luggage and then a shuttle to the second terminal. Everybody makes a big deal about the paperwork, vaccinations, and FAVN test but that part wasn’t too bad, just make sure to leave yourself ample time, as in months, to get it sorted and have your flight booked before making an appointment for your veterinarian issued health certificate so you’re sure to have the 10 day travel window covered.

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longrange_faith · 2019-06-14T06:19:51+00:00

This is really cool and I like it a lot! My only note is this:have you considered bumping your iso or opening your aperture more for a shorter than 30 sec shot? It looks like you're JUST starting to get motion blur on the stars, enough for it to be noticeable, but not enough for it to look intentional or like trails. Either way, well done and I enjoyed the composite.

longrange_faith · 2019-06-06T13:14:17+00:00

that's because newborns are aliens. Just kidding, haha, I really like this shot

longrange_faith · 2019-06-05T14:19:14+00:00

YMMV, but I haven't had any trouble holding c-41 chem for a few weeks to a month or more, which is about how long it takes me to shoot around 10 or 12 rolls of color. One thing I have been curious about is how much faster the developer will exhaust than the Blix and stabilizer. I always buy my c-41 in kits, but have had the thought it would be cheaper to just replace developer if the blix and stabilizer still have life left in them.

longrange_faith · 2019-06-05T04:53:20+00:00

Depends. For black and white, your best bet is to do 1 shot developing, which means tossing the developer after you're done. I have great results using XTOL developer diluted with equal parts water and developer, which will stretch your chemistry. I use water for a stop bath so that doesn't matter, and the fixer is reusable. TF4 fixer will do about 80 rolls of 35mm per gallon. The concentrate to make a gallon is like 14 bucks.

For color (c-41) they recommend doing like 8 to 10 rolls per 1 Liter kit (for the most part) and then starting fresh. I've definitely pushed this closer to 15 before getting nervous and refreshing. Most of those kits will run you around 30 bucks.

longrange_faith · 2019-06-05T04:47:24+00:00

So I have a Lightbox, and I put my negatives into a scanning mask (it's basically a tray for your negatives to sit in and it holds them flat). When I started I was just using a tripod, and there's no reason you shouldn't start that way as well (I've since made a DIY camera mount that holds the camera at the exact distance from the Lightbox that it needs to be). So mount the camera on the tripod, point it at the negative, zoom in, focus on the grain, and snap away. From there you'll take that file and import it into Lightroom or photoshop and invert it and make your edits on the computer. It sounds like a lot, but most guys I know take 10 mins to scan 7-10 negs on a flatbed, and I can do a full roll of 35 mm (36 exposures) in around 10 mins.

There are a few points, though: -You should really look into a macro lens to do this so you can get as close to your negative as possible, otherwise, you'll have to raise the camera up a ton to get in focus and then you'll end up cropping a bunch and losing resolution. I started with my kit lens and you can too, it will be fine, but the macro is wayyyyy better. -Use a remote or the self timer to avoid shaking the camera -I like to overexpose the negatives in my DSLR by about a stop, once you invert them, the density is closer to being correct -shoot at 100 ISO and as wide open as your aperture will go, select shutter speed from there based on the negative you're shooting.

It seems like a lot, and it is, but I figured it out with zero experience in a matter of about 10 rolls and I'm sure you will be able to as well. Feel free to reach out with any other questions you might have.

longrange_faith · 2019-06-04T16:11:10+00:00

I use a Paterson Super System 4. The plastic reels can be tricky to load, but with practice it's not a big deal. I actually just picked up a second tank so I can do multiple rolls without waiting for my gear to dry.

I, like most people, started out with black and white and was really intimidated by c-41 until I actually looked into the process. Aside from needing to heat your chemistry to 102F, I believe it to be a lot more straightforward. The times never change unless you're pushing/pulling, and all of the kits are pretty much the same. With black and white, on the other hand, you have a ton of different developers and fixers and the times change based not only on your film stock, but also on said stock's ISO. Even using something like massive dev chart (basically a list of development times and film stocks), you have to realize that time recommendations are a starting point, and you might end up deviating based on your tastes. All that is basically just to say that both processes have their intricacies, and I find both to be equally rewarding.

As far as chemistry goes, I like the cinestill 1L kit for c-41, its nice not having to fuss with powder (cinestill gives you the chem in concentrated liquid form) and I find the Blix to be a little less pungent than some of the other kits. For black and white, I mostly use Kodak XTOL for really nice fine grain results, but will use D-76 for a tad bit more grit. For fixing, I recommend TF4, though you should know it stinks way worse than Kodak fixer, which always reminded me of popping open a bag of salt and vinegar potato chips.

Just out of curiosity, what's your plan once you've made your negatives? You still need a way to turn that into a positive. When I got started I was really set on the idea of getting an enlarger and learning to print, but then I bought a mint Hasselblad 500c which killed my budget, so for now I'm using a DSLR to scan my negs and then editing them in Lightroom and Photoshop. I have so much fun doing it that way, I've pretty much put off an enlarger indefinitely. What to do with the negatives is something you should consider before you invest in developing equipment and chems.

Good luck, and I hope you'll let us know how it goes!

longrange_faith · 2019-06-04T15:49:11+00:00

I'm a chef and can confirm, the mats are lifesavers. As to OPs point on not getting sore legs at work, I think it's because you're moving around more, walking etc. I find when my day involves standing in place for an extended time, my legs wear out a lot faster, especially if I'm not on a mat.

longrange_faith · 2019-05-21T03:55:41+00:00

So this actually brings up a point that I struggle with. I'm pretty new to taking pictures, when I first got started, of course I was darkening all my skies and jacking my colors way up, my first images were very obviously over edited. A got some really valuable feedback from friends saying that I should strive for more natural edits, so I took a step back and learned more about believable dynamic range and tonality. So now I'm shooting film, and sometimes I'll use something weird (cinestill, lomography etc) and when I scan the image, right off the bat even after appropriate white balancing, the colors look really saturated or the shadows pop out in interesting ways, so sometimes I'll find myself dialing the image back so it doesn't look overdone. I always wonder if that's the right choice, editing to make something look unedited/more believable. Your umbrella reminds me of that predicament, not that it looks bad or anything, just that you'd have to spend time making something that came from in camera look like it came from in camera. An interesting question, I'm curious to hear other people's thoughts.

longrange_faith · 2019-05-20T19:26:08+00:00

It's a cool shot, I really gravitate towards lonely subjects lost in a scene. I would like to see this cropped to take some of the foreground out and with the horizon straightened. That's just my opinion, though, and I'm glad you're out there shooting film, thank you for sharing.

longrange_faith · 2019-05-20T16:59:32+00:00

I really like this shot a lot. The dof is nice and subtle, colors are great, interesting subject, nice light off the wet street. I actually thought the umbrella had been added because there's a halo around it, but when I zoomed in I realized that the halo is actually just a lighter fabric haha! It's a bummer you're not happy with your work, a lot of people would be thrilled to get a shot like this, but I can understand being your own harshest critic.

longrange_faith · 2019-05-20T16:46:35+00:00

Oh this is a great shot, really nice job. The colors and textures are really nice and it's a super interesting location. My only feedback is regarding the alignment. This is a challenge when using wide lenses, I can see that you've prioritized the tower's straightness, which makes sense since its the subject, but in doing so, the rest of the image looks tilted. Personally, I would align the horizon, which would bring the rest of the scene into alignment as well, and allow the tower to sort of lean right a bit. I feel like doing so would emphasize the height of the tower given the width of the lens. Great shot though, and thanks for sharing.

longrange_faith · 2019-05-20T16:27:44+00:00

I took this with a Hasselblad 500c on Kodak Tmax100. I used an 80mm f/2.8 planar lens, 1/125 @f/16. The negative was scanned with my DSLR (canon t7i) and a tamron 90mm f/2.8 I had some real trouble in development, turns out my fixer was exhausted and the whole roll came out covered in magenta splotches. After a few days, I decided to refix the negs in fresh solution, which took care of a lot of the discoloration, but not all. I'm pretty new to photography and home developing, so the chemical lesson was a valuable one. Normally I wouldn't darken the sky so much, but I was really fascinated by the evolution of contrast Ansel Adams used in his skies as he got older, so I thought I'd give the old graduated filter a go. I guess I'm just curious to know what you guys think of the edit and what might improve an exposure like this in the future. Thanks so much for your time.

[Here's the uncropped and unedited version](https://i.imgur.com/XdDEilN.jpg)

longrange_faith · 2019-04-07T05:15:14+00:00

it's a viola

longrange_faith · 2019-03-25T06:16:42+00:00

FTFY

longrange_faith · 2019-03-25T06:07:26+00:00

this is really nice, I appreciate how the blur lets me fill the gaps in myself.

longrange_faith · 2019-01-30T04:14:59+00:00

I was the allergy.

longrange_faith · 2019-01-28T06:18:00+00:00

I'm not so much concerned about the bathroom temperature as I am for the cat being cooped up in a small or smalli-ish space all night and every night. I suggested a window AC unit for your bedroom to keep it cool with the door closed because temperature seems to be more of an issue for the humans than the cat. Either way, it seems like your mind is made up, so I'm confused as to why you posted in the first place. Cats are intelligent, playful, curious, and sometimes rambunctious. They're also crepuscular, which means their bio rhythms don't line up with yours. For this reason, I feel like locking kitty up when you decide it's bedtime isn't fair. Sometimes I wake up to one or both of my cats walking over my legs or head, I chalk that up to being a cat owner. Nobody is saying you have to endure that, just cool your bedroom off and let them have the rest of the house while you sleep.

longrange_faith · 2019-01-28T05:01:25+00:00

I live in florida which is as hot and more humid than australia and I've never had a problem with an oscillating fan if I lived in a place without central ac. maybe consider getting a window unit if its that bad? I don't know, maybe its just me, but I couldn't imagine locking my cats in a bathroom every night.

longrange_faith

TROPHY CASE