One Year

It's been a year since we moved to Weaverville, NC from Ann Arbor, MI.  We feel very comfortable here, and are very happy in our new home. If you had  asked me three years ago, where I might be living in 2020, I don't think that NC would have been on my radar at the time.  Life is funny, in how things can quickly change in ways that one does not foresee.  But, at the age of 62, one does not often make big changes, and moving here was certainly a big change.  To be honest, I was getting in a rut in Ann Arbor, and while I did like our old home, the neighborhood, and my friends, nothing much had changed, except that I was retired.  The ugly politics at work hastened my retirement, and I had no reason for emotional ties to the place I worked for almost 37 years.    It was time to reinvent myself, and in a way, I did.  I'm no longer a retired entomologist. I'm a retired man that is passionate about photography, loves living in the mountains, and having a relatively stress-free life. 

Vance Birthplace, State Historic Site. Nikon F2S, FPP Infrapan.

I have fallen in love with Western North Carolina - the mountains, the rivers and creeks, nature's abundance, and  the people here are genuinely welcoming and friendly.  I grew up at the NW edge of the Adirondacks in New York State, and love being in the mountains once again.  We are very close to the Blue Ridge Parkway, and getting into the higher elevations is a really quick trip.  There are so many streams and waterfalls that are within 30 miles, it seems almost too good to be true to be living here.   We had plans for some trips to the coast, but then COVID-19 happened, and of course, those were put aside for the time being.  Despite that, I have been doing a lot of day trips in the area, and it's helped familiarize me with the best routes and natural features. 

View from Mt. Mitchell.  Nikon FM3a, Rollei Retro 80s

I still have not gotten my darkroom put in, and the new space will be smaller than my old one, but will be adequate for what I do.  For now, the downstairs bathroom is where I develop film, and it's worked out pretty well.  Unfortunately, with the current situation, there have been no photography meetups or gatherings.  I'd really like to do a Western NC film-shooters' meetup, but that will have to wait.

Biltmore Estate, Tasma Mikrat 200, Nikon FM2N

One other thing that is new for me is that I am trying to learn to paint with Acrylics.  The landscapes here are inspiring, and maybe I will find my style and see where I go with it.  It's definitely a challenge.

Walker falls, Nikon FM3a, Ilford Pan-F

Of course, if you have been following this blog, then you already know the things that I  have been doing over the past 12 months.  I am currently testing a bunch of other films, and hope to have some reviews ready  in August.

Stay healthy, my friends.

One Roll Review - Tasma Mikrat 200 - The Slow Meow

Back in February, I purchased three rolls of Tasma Mikrat 200 - an expired document copy film, from Eric (aka conspiracy.of.cartographers).  The film, cleverly named  by Eric as "The Slow Meow," is  nominally a 6-12 ISO film, on acetate stock, and without an anti-halation layer.   How do I know it does not have an anti-halation later?  Read on, dear reader!

First of all, by now you know that I love playing with slow films, and the Tasma Mikrat 200 is one that I had not had an opportunity to test out before now.  With any of the films from Tasma, it is likely that they are old stock, but given what I know about Russian and Ukraine film companies, it's safe to say that we don't ever really know what the actual story is.  I have tried many Svema films, as well as Tasma Mikrat Ortho and Tasma NKII film (sold by the FPP). However, The Tasma Mikrat 200 is one that stands out because I have seen very few examples of results from this film online.   When I saw that Eric was selling this film in 3-roll packs, I immediately placed an order.  It arrived very quickly, and the film cassetes were packed inside a black plastic ziploc bag.  I transferred them to black canisters, and made sure that I didn't leave them out in the light for too long.  Since I now know that the film is on an acetate base and not a polyester base, light-piping was not a problem.

I loaded the first roll into a Nikon FM2N, since the lowest ISO setting is 12.  I used it with a series E 35mm f/2.5 lens (just for the hell of it, I suppose).  I shot the first few frames on an overcast day, and used a tripod.  The photos of the sheep at the Biltmore Estate were about 1/8 sec exposures (March 4).  The rest of the roll I shot on a sunny afternoon of March 8  along Depot Street in the River Arts District of Asheville.  Those were all hand-held, and I shot at 1/30 sec, meaning most were shot at f/8.  There were 34 exposures on that roll.  Today, I developed the roll in Rodinal at 1:50 for 12 minutes, per samples that Eric had posted online.

After drying, the film has a very slight cupping, but nothing like Kodak Tri-X or old Agfa APX 400.  It scanned very well, and my initial reaction is that in a full sun situation, I could have shot the film at ISO 25.  For cloudy overcast conditions, I'd say that 12 was right on.    Due to the sunny conditions on the 8th, the film exhibited a "blooming effect" when bright reflections are in the frame, which I have seen with Lucky films, and with Polypan-F.   That indicates there the film has no anti-halation layer.  It would be far worse if the camera has a chrome or textured chrome film pressure plate.

Overall, I am very pleased with this film and developer combination.  A bit contrasty in full sun, which is fine, but also very fine-grained.  Kudos to Eric for taking the risk of buying a big-ass roll of this film to share with the film-shooting community.  I'm glad that I purchased three rolls!

RESULTS

At Biltmore Estate, overcast day

late in the day, setting sun. Lots of tonality here

Bright, but not direct sun

Direct sun, note the "blooming" at the bottom white structures

some motion at ISO 12.

Kudzu Army