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Revisiting Vancouver and Arlo
As I do every year in the spring, I went to Vancouver to visit with my dear friend Arlo to catch up with what’s new in our lifes. Revisiting Vancouver is always such a treat- I truly love the city and the vibe.
This time around, I asked Arlo if he was willing to pose for me again – with a twist. No digital camera, no fancy light setup, no hotel room. Instead I decided to dust off my almost 70 year old Rolleiflex, grabbed a couple of rolls of Fuji Pro 400H 120mm film and visited Arlo at his new place to see what we could come up with.
I truly enjoy shooting this way – no peeking, no checking focus and only a limited amount of shots. You HAVE to get on top of your game and start thinking even more about composition, the square format, the light and the mirrored image the Rolleiflex gives you in the viewfinder. That messed me up real good sometimes haha.
Anyway – his apartment is absolutely beautiful and we chose the perfect timing for the shoot. It was a sunny day, I quickly checked the apartment for suitable spots and light to shoot in and then we started. I was nervous about the results but confident, something nice would come out of it. Another thing that made me nervous was the new (old and vintage) light meter I had found at the lab where I develop my color film. It was this small tiny analog light meter (a Gossen Sixtino – you can look it up on Google) that seemed to work – but I had never used in a real shoot.
Yesterday I gave the two rolls of film away to get them developed and later that night I scanned the results. Man – was I speechless when I saw the first previews come up! The exposure was spot on – the colors beautiful and 23 out of 24 shots tac sharp (I messed up one shot)!
So – concluding this little article before you can go and check on a couple of shots from the shoot: Get your analog and vintage gear out. Don’t be afraid to use it! The process and results are so much more rewarding than shooting digital. Yes – you won’t get the same image quality as a 36MP full frame sensor. But honestly – I believe eveyone can’t but love the look and feel of true analog film!
Thanks Arlo for letting me try this!
