Samantha

My passion doesn't only involve being a geek and burning through thousands of dollars in lab cost for development & printing, it has its perks as well. One of those perks is that I get the opportunity to meet and communicate with quite a bit of very unique people on a deeper level than just the occasional hi and bye or the excuse me while I try to walk between you and the shelf in the grocery store, or the walk by, glance & forget in the shopping mall lol. In fact, because everyone has their own special characteristics and distinct personalities, every shoot is an entirely new adventure which keeps the excitement alive. 

The Shoot

The moment we met Samantha we discovered that not only did she have a unique look but also an interestingly quiet, yet bold personality and I knew right away that I was going to let that dictate the mood of the shoot. We started off with some car shots on Cinestill film and as you look at those images, notice the perspective. My intention was to create the experience of what it would be like sitting in the passenger seat. As the shoot went on and we both became a bit more relaxed; I was able to uncover more elements in her personality and she was willing to play as well. This made the process even more real and the results compelling. 

Technical details

Most of the photos were taken utilizing the available light and a couple were taken using a constant lighting system. All photos were taken on Nikon 35mm cameras; some were taken using an 85mm nikon lens and others were taken on a 50mm nikon lens. Colored photos were taken with Cinestill film and black and white photos were taken using Tmax-100. Please leave any further questions in the comment section and I'll answer to the best of my recollection. 

Lesson Learned

As I was reviewing the images before making this post, I came across a few really good colored images that I wasn't able to show here because they had a really dirty appearance and spots in important areas looking as if the negatives were shot at with laser guns. I called the lab to find out what was happening and no longer than ten seconds into describing the issue, the person on the other end asked if I shot that set on Cinestill. As beautiful as Cinestill film is, apparently it's not uncommon to come across a bad batch; actually it's very common from what I'm understanding now. I haven't contacted the manufacturers about the issue because the damage is already done and I prefer to stick to more reliable film stock in the future.

*All colored images here are available unsigned and available on Kodak professional photographic archival print and B&Ws are available on true black and white (classic matte finish) archival print. Click the image for more details.*

Other sizes and signed prints available upon request.