Frugal Film Project 2023 - August

 For this months roll of Kentmere 400 I wanted to explore more compositions or revisit some I have shot on walks with my grandsons through the corn fields near my home. The Farmer has gone all in on growing corn this year. In 2022 he split his crop between corn and wheat and I guess the corn brought more money in. There's acres and acres of it and it has grown quickly this year. I loaded a roll of Kentmere 400 medium format film into my Baldax 6x4.5 folding camera, grabbed my tripod and headed out for a couple of hours to see what I could find.

First stop was my favourite Power Lines location. You can see how tall the corn has grown as it has covered all but the the top quarter of the poles that carry the power lines over the field. I took a few shots there and tried to reduce any flare by using my hat as a shade for my camera. I wasn't sure if it would make a difference, but it was worth a try.

I carried on walking up the dirt road and had to stop and take a photo of the tree that stands by the side of the road. I have photographed it many times and it never ceases to amaze me with it's towering presence. I photographed it from both sides as I passed by and no doubt will photograph it a few more times before the year is out.

It was at this point I had a "Dirty Harry" moment. Did I shoot five or six? My memory is still playing up ten years after my stroke and I couldn't remember if I had wound my film on after my last couple of shots. It's something I really do work hard to overcome, but every now and then it trips me up and I have to take a leap of faith. I went with 5 and would find out for sure when I developed my film.

I reached the path that takes me across the top of the first field and instantly knew I wasn't going to be able to take any shots of the powerlines as I had when it was a wheat field. The corn looked to be about 8 feet tall and I grabbed one shot as I made my way to the other side of the field.

The path then turns south between the fields and I grabbed a couple of shots here looking both ways as I made my way to the field where the horses normally roam. However the horses were in other fields or had gone for a wander with their humans on this day. Maybe I would see them as I made my way back home?

My route then took me through the next field and again I was struck by the height of the corn as it towered over me. I took a photo looking back towards the stile I had to climb over and then continued on my way, taking a couple of shots as I walked along the path.

I soon reached the end and took a photo of the dirt road as it made it's way north and then another back towards the cornfield and the rather redundant stile that has been unused since the Farmer removed the gate to get his machinery into the field. Corn Harvesters are huge and I hope to see it in action this year.

I was almost done with this roll of film and took 2 more shots as I headed towards the fields where the horses were enjoying the sunshine. I also had my OM1 and 50mm f/1.4 loaded with FP4 and I wanted to finish that roll off with some photos of the horses. I was fairly satisfied with how my plan for my day had gone and I headed home for a much needed rest.

I developed my film a day later in HC110 dilution B for 6 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. Once it was dry I scanned my film with my quick and easy phone camera and PixlLatr on my A5 led light pad method and procesed them with Affinity Photo 2.

One thing I did notice almost immediately was a double exposure! That "Dirty Harry" moment had bamboozled me into thinking I was up to 5 when I was really up to 6! I should have wound it on, but it is what it is. I managed to get what is a fairly decent double exposure of the Tree and the path through the corn field and it is a complete fluke. There was also quite a few light leaks on some of my photos which means I still need to work on the camera and/or my technique with it to reduce them.

Here's a few favourites from my August roll of Kentmere 400 for the Frugal Film Project 2023, including the double exposure. What do you think of it? A stroke of luck perhaps or just grainy mush? Personally I quite like it. As always I have placed these photos and a few more in my Fugal Film Project 2023 album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Frugal Film Project 2023