In my last article, I shared my first roll of Kodak Ektachrome E100 film. It consisted of all portraits of Kelsey that I really loved, and fell in love with this film. I mentioned in the video that I wanted to try Kodak Ektachrome landscapes next, so that’s what I did.
Kodak Ektachrome Landscapes
Kelsey and I originally set out to Tradition, a town nearby, to shoot a roll of Silberra Color 100 that she bought me for Christmas. My next article will be about that roll, but I also brought a back-up roll of E100 just in case there were any incidents. Good thing. Stay tuned for that article.
I loaded up my Hasselblad 500 CM from the backseat of the car, set it up on a tripod with a shutter release cable and composed my shot. After I took the photo, the camera would not stop winding on to the next shot. It kept winding all the way through the entire roll. I have no idea what happened. It was one of those frustrating film shooting moments that make you question for a minute why you don’t just shoot digital.
I took a deep breath and went back to the car to unload. Luckily, I had a second roll and I knew I could re-spool the blank one once I got home with my dark bag. With a new roll loaded, I tried the same composition again.
Despite that initial hiccup, I was really excited about the scenery in front of me. The weather was beautiful with temperatures in the 50s, which I love. The sky was so blue, and the sun was shining bright giving a bit of contrast to these photos.
For these compositions, I was focusing on layers. You can see the palms in the background in the above photo, and then the trees in the foreground with the lake sandwiched in between. Then the photo below with the layers of branches.
Progress
I have been practicing using my Pentax Spot-meter, so these pics may be slightly over exposed, but I am very happy with them and my progress.
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We came across this tree who’s trunk looked like it was a twisted up spring. I absolutely loved the texture and character of it.
I tried different focusing points, one with the tree in focus and one with the background in focus with the tree as the frame.
The motion in the grass I think adds movement to the otherwise still photo. Again, I tried to add layers with the tree serving as a frame.
For this photo of the palm from below, I set the lens to infinity, but it didn’t seem to focus on any part of the tree accept maybe the palm fronds. I still like the photo though.
Wrap Up
For the final frame, I took a little bit to decide what I wanted to end with. There was a man sitting on the bench behind us blatantly staring. At first I thought maybe he was intrigued by my camera and I thought for a moment I could strike up a conversation and ask for a portrait. We sat on the bench next to his and I said hello. He gave me a dirty look and looked away. That was the end of that. I suspect it was because we were wearing our masks outdoors, and he didn’t like that. Oh well. He continued to stare. While it made me a little uncomfortable while trying to focus on composition, I kept going.
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Instead, I took this beautiful shot of the trees on the shore and their reflections. I love it. If you look closely you can see the head of an Anhinga popping up on the surface for a breath. If you watch my video below you can see more of him.
Final Thoughts
This film has quickly become one of my favorites. I think Kodak Ektachrome Landscapes and Portraits are equally nice. I can’t really think of another film I can compare it with. The colors are saturated yet muted at the same time, if that makes any sense. I guess if I did have to compare it I would maybe compare it to Kodak Portra 160 because of the cool palette it has.
Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed this little sequel to my first experience with Kodak Ektachrome. I really had a good time shooting both these rolls. It is a pricey film, but if you have a specific subject to shoot and plan well so as not to waste any frames, it’s worth the price. To me it embodies the feeling of film perfectly.
Let me know what you think of Ektachrome and what you do if someone is making you uncomfortable while you’re out shooting? I am not good at dealing with strangers.
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