So, after being inspired by the #findthegirlsonthenegatives article that someone shared with me a little while ago, I decided to try and do something similar.
For those that missed it, here is the link to the story and original photos: Find the Girls on the Negatives...
I fell in love with those photos and wanted to create something that captured some of the same spirit. I don't shoot on film a lot these days, but it seemed like a fun way to spend a free Saturday. I have a Yashica Mat LM (circa 1958 or so) that I got on ebay a few years ago. It's also medium format and these images looked like they might have been produced on a TLR camera as well. So, my model (dressed in her best last minute vintage finery) and I trekked to El Matador (a similar location to the images) and shot a few.
I forgot how hard it is to shoot and focus on a TLR. Regardless, it was lots of fun and I got some stuff that I was happy with, but, overall, I wish I’d done some different things with the film camera. I don’t have enough variety in my shots.
Photography is such a powerful medium in its ability to inspire. I hope we can learn more about the story of the original images!
I’ve included some photos that I took on my DSLR as well, just to give a an idea of the difference. Most of the DSLR shots have been played with in Lightroom a bit. The film shots are all untouched, straight from the camera. Everything here is shot with just natural light, which isn’t my typical. I usually like to blend flash (or at least a reflector) as well for location portraits, but it’s all personal preference. Here, I was going for a more vintage look, so working without flash was an important choice. I was also good exercise for me to be forced to work without it. I think that keeps us sharper. If you love working with flash, go without on a couple of shoots. If you hate working with flash, force yourself to do it on occasion.
Below are the images. The film ones are the square ones, or automatic Instagram size ;)