The end of this year!

Hello All!,

 Yes it has been awhile since the last post...LIFE does that stuff to you.

School
Work
Family
.
.
That's pretty much been my life since this past August! With some shooting here and there. But actually more than I wanted to shoot due to school. But when opportunity arrives, you take it.
But starting tomorrow (1 JAN 2018) life will be changing with me only shooting film for personal work period.

But this is not without it's hazards, I did a shoot yesterday with my daughter and not one frame was usable....rated Portra 400 & Pro 400H @ 100 ISO and it did not bode well at all. Pissed off is more like it. Then the FP4 rated at 100 came out almost solid black and very grainy.

So sufice to say yesterday did not go well at all. So I decided to narrow it down and do the easiest thing possible. Throw away all the old developer (well it's in the storage shed until I can properly dispose of it.

SO now I have to remix chemicals, order new bottles finally and hope to hell it all works out. Would be a shame to waste all the film I just bought and it be bad. I did try and blame part of it on switching over to a PC from a MAC. Blaspheme, I know. But I refuse to pay the price for any new MAC. Plus I can't edit 4K video on anything older than 2014 used MACs and no idea how long Apple will upgrade the OS for them. So I switched.

But back to the new year and the film journey. Stay tuned to see what happens as I will be only posting to my instagram and twitter (@bearded_fotog). Deactivating FB for at least 6 months or more.

The personal work will include many genre's  from people to landscape...it's not a feed for popularity or to gain thousands of followers.It's there to just share my love of film and the journey I am on. Follow if you'd like.

I'll try and update here as well. But can't promise much as school eats up a lot of my free time.

Happy New Year everyone and be safe tonight!!!



post script:

Our Starbucks opens sometime next month finally and I will not have to travel to buy whole beans anymore!!!!

Texas Backroad Finds

Over Looking Alamogordo NM

Thru the Trees - Carlsbad NM

Life Moves Quickly - Dell City, Texas

Ethyl - Portland, Oregon

Starbucks

Low and behold we are finally getting a full fledge Starbucks in town. Now I do not have to drive and hour or more to just get coffee beans to grind up. YEAH!!!! Now I can have my Sumatra, Kona and flavored coffees with out the extra expense of gas.

From time to time I will get a drink there. But I tend to support the local shops here in town that give back to the community. As well as supporting the vets (I'm one). Got to support your local community.

I don't have a much else  to say since the last post other than that I am starting school next month for the IT field in hopes to further my self and provide for the family Instead of doing what I currently do for the day job. Fingers crossed.

Wish me luck oh and here are few image Is have shot since the last post.

Porta 160

PanF

HP5

Enjoy!!!

AJ.

3:46 AM

It's 3:46 AM.

I am up way to early, even by my standards. Not coherent enough to develop film, but can at least type while I drink my coffee!!! Ah...coffee, that wonderful elixir of caffeine and dark colors that breathe life into you every day!!!

I really need to be developing film, I have a small backlog of it. Including some sheet film the needs to be taken out of the holders. But I'd rather run the chance of them staying safe rather than fucking up and exposing them to light on accident due to not be being fully awake.

Oddly enough, this is the prefect time for me to do this. It's one of the few times during the summer that there is completer darkness in my house. Living in New Mexico, we have nearly year round sunshine and my house is full of windows. SO maybe tomorrow or late thing evening after 10 pm. Yes it gets dark that late here...it sucks and I refuse to drop over 200 bucks on a change tent. Nothing but a rip off.

What I really should be doing is getting my fat butt on the spin cycle....but I'm no longer that coordinated this early in the morning....they days of my youth are long gone and I like sleep!

Now back to my coffee....Sumatra blend, fresh ground for me every morning. It's great to wake up to that smell, kinda of reminds me of the old Folgers commercials from the 80's! I'mm even drinking it in my Dopey coffee mug, yes I like Disney characters....when you have kids it's inevitable. Plus I saw damn near every Disney movie made as a kid....class trip during the summer when they actually played them in theaters. The joys of growing up in the 70's!!!

This is a ramble post this morning.....I needed to post something for my 3 or 4 followers. Off to work or should I say prepare to go to work (the day job). Have a good one everyone and remember...it's Friday!!!!

Cati

Kodak Ektar

Mamiya 645AF

Damn, it's been a bit hectic!

Damn it's been a bit hectic!

 I have been swamped with the day job since my last post. Sorry for the long pause.  Plus now work is monitoring every little ting we do on the net....not saying I did any thing illegal as it was. But they are popping in even when we read the news on our lunch breaks...big brother going to far.

So last Sunday for a break in the madness, I went out and shot a roll of B&W on the trusty old RZ67. Great day, sunny with lots of clouds. I had some good shoots or so I thought. Like a dummy I forgot to compensate for going from the 645AF to the RZ. Hence I didn't set the aperture to the correct setting and shot between 3.5 and 5.6 the whole day. Max shutter is 400...to slow for those settings...I feel stupid.

To make matters worse, I recently mixed up working solutions in separate bottles for my B&W...needless to say I also think I screwed that up as well. When it rains it pours. The shots came out for crap...all grainy. So in the trash they went. I know I should have kept them to remind me to never to do that again...but remembering is enough for me.

So I will be heading back out to shoot more soon and go back to mixing it when I need it for a one shot on both the dev and fixer. I full silly for admitting all this...but we all make mistakes and by sharing this...maybe it will help some one not to commit the same mistakes.

So remember folks always keep in mind what camera your using and check your settings to make sure it's all good. Don't do what I did...because I kicked myself...literally.

SO I leave you with this image of the day!!!

RZ67 Portra 400 @ box speed

5-12-17, 06:26 AM

Good morning all!

 Early day, headshots and real estate day today! But 1st...coffee. Your  dad,, grandfather, mom, grandmother, aunt and uncle and you best friend drank this wonderful drink. How could they be wrong?

 Yes that glorious wonderful and refreshing drink of unadulterated caffeine!!!! Wether you drink it form your favorite mug or a cup from a vending machine, it's our favorite morning, mid-day or evening drink.

You can't start your day with out it. Why drink this new energy drinks when you can have coffee, it has been proven caffeine is good for you. We have no idea what's in those energy drinks and the long term effects. I'll stick to something that is natural to the earth!! Plus I like the fact that  I still grind my beans  every morning, well ok the coffee maker does...I'm not coherent enough to do so after waking up.

I do however want to venture into alternatives ways to brew and roast my own coffee, so if there are any connoisseurs out there...let me know!

As of right now, the only down side to my coffee addiction is I have to contend with my beard...but it's worth the effort. I'm not a happy camper with out my coffee and I'm not shaving the beard either....can't grow hair on my head now more so why not on my face!!

With that said, I have covered my coffee fox for the day. But not enough coffee to start the day! SO time to set up and get the day started. Have a great day everyone and enjoy it...it's Friday!

Kodak Ektar | Mamiya 645AF

Welcome

Welcome to the new blog. As I sit here and type this it is my 46 birthday today. I'm on the downhill slide to 50!. I am not a writer, but I do like to write. Maybe not so coherently but none the less I write for my own personal needs.

I decided last night ...finally to revamp my old blog. Ok I changed the name and deleted all the old post...a whole 2. Might as well chronicle my life the best I can on how I feel about it, film photography and what others think...the hell with what they think..it's my choice and coffee!

I  shoot film and digital. Film is more for my own needs to stay sane and have a bit of creativity with certain limits that are imposed with film and the cameras used.  I prefer film. Not everyone agrees, but it's my choice not theirs.

Also I drink way to much coffee...thanks military service...never drank it before then. Love my coffee!!!!

I don't have a lot to say today, so I'll leave with this photo of the Fort Worth Modern Art Museum at night.

Kodak Ektar | EOS3