Velvia & Me

I can’t even imagine how many rolls of film I’ve exposed since the early 1970s when I first took up photography as a teenager. Many hundreds? Thousands? I have no idea. I do know that I could count on two hands the number of rolls of slide film I’ve taken during that same time. And I think it’s always been one of the various versions of Fujichrome Velvia.

While my Dad always did marvelous work on Kodachrome years ago, guessing exposure on his Kodak Retina rangefinder, I’ve never been happy with my Velvia images, no matter how simple or sophisticated my camera was. Slide film isn’t forgiving at all, so I know I’m mostly to blame. I should work on becoming a more competent photographer and learn how to meter correctly when shooting color positive film. Perhaps Velvia and I just don’t get along well. That possibility will be explored soon when I try out some new Kodak Ektachrome 100 I just ordered.

I’ll figure it all out. Or maybe I won’t. I’m head over heels in love with Kodak Portra 400 and get very satisfying and consistent results with it. I might just be a color negative film guy. And that’s okay too.

Here are some recent snaps from a roll of Velvia 100 I’ve had frozen for a while.

Town Square Sonoma, CA. Pentax ME, SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/1.7 on Velvia slide film

Red Mustang Sonoma, CA. Pentax ME, SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/1.7 on Velvia slide film

Sidewalk Book Cart Sonoma, CA. Pentax ME, SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/1.7 on Velvia slide film

Between two buildings Sonoma, CA. Pentax ME, SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/1.7 on Velvia slide film

Cliffside trail Fort Ross, CA. Pentax ME, SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/1.7 on Velvia slide film

Near Fort Ross, CA. Pentax ME, SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/1.7 on Velvia slide film

On the Call House Trail Fort Ross, CA. Pentax ME, SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/1.7 on Velvia slide film