Interview with Maggy van Eijk

Shooting Film.net Interview:

Interview with Maggy van Eijk

Welcome back to London-based photographer Maggy van Eijk, who shoots mostly film and shared her loves for film photography with us here before. Today, we asked Maggy more about her work and her passion for film photography.

Hi Maggy, can you tell us more about you?
I’m a twenty three year old living in London. Originally from The Netherlands, I’ve lived all over the place but I’m hoping to stay in London for as long as my restlessness will let me.

I work as a writer for a student website and I have a vast collection of hobbies but I tend to focus on poetry and photography.

How did you get started and interested in film photography?
I started with digital and then my grandfather gave me his Minolta X-GE, which is still my favorite one to use.

I see it as a friend I’m always fighting with but when we somehow work together the results are awesome and make the struggle completely worth it. The camera is a bit broken and rusty and I currently have to wind it with a 5p coin but it totally fits my haphazard personality. Things that are broken are always more interesting, perfection is a snooze.

Tell us what was your first film camera?
The Minolta was my first and then my friend, a fellow film fanatic, told me about a shop in Holland that sells amazing second hand film cameras. The journey there was an adventure itself; we went on this epic bike ride in the summer heat. The shop sold me a Pentax P30 with a beautiful lens. I’ve also got a point and shoot Pentax I found in Denmark but I’ve stashed it away on the naughty shelf because it won’t focus properly. I also have a Diana F+ and a Canon EOS 1000F that my brother helped me bargain for at a flea market in Amsterdam.

You know those crazy cat ladies that surround themselves with cats? Well, that’s me but substitute cats for cameras.

Who are your favorite film photographers?
These are constantly changing. The great thing about Flickr is that you have unlimited access to the best artists all over the world. I’m completely amazed by young girls like Olivia Bee that are rocking the photography world right now. I think it’s really cool how young women are reclaiming feminine imagery rather than sitting back and weeping about fashion magazines that are making us feel bad. Who cares about the media when you can go out, run around in the woods and take pictures of you and your friends?

What gives you inspiration?
I change up my photography depending on how I feel. A couple weeks ago I was bed-ridden with heartbreak and I just wanted to be alone. My friend forced me outside and we went out to London’s Southbank and just took pictures of strangers and street artists and old men selling caramelized peanuts. It was great, I didn’t have to set anything up or worry whether or not my subject was having fun. It made me appreciate how lucky I am to live in London and I left my bed, which is always a good sign.

I think, people in general are inspiring to me; photo shoots are a great excuse to hang out with people I love and be silly and out doors. I’ve done paid photography work before and I hated it. It was too stressful and I was constantly worrying about getting the right shot for the client. I prefer to keep photography as creative outlet that I just do for me, no one else.

I suppose another point of inspiration is my bizarre obsession with Portland, Oregon. I’ve never been there and I’m always tucking away loose change in the hope to go there one day. It started because of Flickr, whenever I’d stumble on a photograph I really liked I would check out the Geo-tag, my favourite photos are somehow always taken there. It’s a really strange coincidence. I like to recreate that vast nature type feel where landscape completely swallows you, but living in London makes that a little difficult.

Do you have any tips for someone who’s just picking up a film camera?
Just go out and learn as you go. I went on holiday to Venice and Barcelona shortly after my grandfather gave me his Minolta. It was a really exciting trip and I was eager to capture every second of it. However, the first problem started because I couldn’t load the film and a kind man sitting next to be on the plane helped me out. Once I started shooting I thought I’d gotten some great shots until I had them developed and none of them had worked out. Next time I used the camera I got maybe two photos out of it, next time a couple more and then eventually I got the hang of it became this amazing rush. It was worth the long and expensive learning process.

I could have cut some corners by reading the manual. I probably should have done that.

Maggy, thank you so much for the interview.

From: Timothy Buerger Photography

More as things develop…

You’ve probably figured out that I’m a proponent of film. Film is cool stuff. Especially black and white film.
Film or digital, honestly, is a choice that everyone has to make for themselves. But I think that every photographer starting out in the digital era would get a huge benefit out of going through a film phase. Because film is a royal pain in the butt.
Really. It is. But that’s exactly why it’s a fantastic teacher.
Digital cameras throw around a lot of words when they’re trying to convince you to buy them. Some of them refer to characteristics of the camera’s image sensor and it’s representation of the image: dynamic range, megapixels, noise at high ISO, and the most ambiguous one, colors. The problem with digital cameras is that you generally only get one, at least at the beginning. If you’re a studious first camera purchaser, you do your research, and you decide on a camera, without any real experience as to what those terms mean to you.
Film cameras are a pain in the butt. You only get a small number of pictures before you have to change the image sensor roll of film. And you can’t change the ISO from photo to photo.
When you start out shooting film, you go to the store and buy one of everything. You learn what you like and what you don’t, and in that process, you learn what those crazy digital camera marketing terms mean. You learn what a film with less dynamic range looks like compared to the films with more dynamic range. If you branch out from 35mm to a borrowed medium format camera, you have a very physical representation of the value of megapixels. And that hardest to explain one, “colors” – that happens when you shoot a few different films, and realize that all films do not represent color the same way.
I think that there are some very good arguments to be made for films. No colors look as beautiful as a slide in your hands. The dynamic range you can squeeze of of black and white films is amazing. But learning to see those things in film is what’s going to make you able to see them in your digital photos. If you’ve only ever had one hamburger from one fast food chain, you’d have a hard time describing it. But if you’ve had a lifetime of eating at all of the fast food chains, you can describe the differences in them very well(unless, of course, your diet-induced diabetes and obesity has done you in).
One thing about films is that the conditions you develop under, and the chemicals you use to develop them can make a world of difference. Here in Tokyo, I can’t develop film in the winter. The film dries to slowly, and it leaves bubbles on the film. In some of these shots you can see some bubbles – not bad, but perhaps I should have waited for it to be a little warmer. I use HC-110 to develop my film, because it pulls more dynamic range out of the shots, even if that comes at the cost of a bit of graininess. If I wanted to completely reduce grain, I’d be shooting digital.
I think that an appreciation for the developing process, and the printing process, will make you appreciate exactly how important that post-processing step is. “Straight-out-of-camera” is cool to say and all, but when you’re working with film, you realize how nothing is SooC. Nothing ever was. Nothing comes easy, especially not a great photograph. You always have to put your work in and make it something special. And if you really get into darkroom printing your film photos, you’ll discover
Dust is a major pain in the butt. I have to use my bathroom to hang film to dry because it’s relatively dust-free. I have an air filter that I run for hours before scanning film. With cleaning the surface of the scanner, I still end up with dust, more sometimes than others. With landscapes, I want to edit the dust out, but with other photos, it can feel like part of the aesthetic. Perhaps it’s silly, but I tend to like it.
With film, there’s so much that can go wrong. A lot of those things are cured by moving to digital(but other problems are introduced. It’s not a 100% miracle cure.) But these problems can be treated as features. They teach you to do things properly. You can’t chimp shots by looking at your LCD, so you learn to properly trust your metering skills. You can’t change your ISO, so you learn to plan ahead, and then adjust when life is less-than-ideal. You learn a lot, and then you can take that back to digital and be a more competent, more confident shooter.
I don’t shoot film commercially. Usually. But the things I learned from film bring me to where I am when I shoot digital photos. I really recommend that everyone lets themselves go through a film phase. It will teach you amazing things. The problem is, film is sexy. You might just end up loving it. That’s what happened to me.

I'm always in awe of the degree of talent displayed by some Photographers.  Here is a sample of what I consider to be photographic genius...

Esther Moliné Photography

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Film Friday: Ed Thompson & Syrian families on film

by Audrey Jonckheer

Last year, professional media photographer Ed Thompson set out on a mission to photograph Syrian families who had moved to the Lebanese border to escape the atrocities of war in their own country. Ed approached Kodak Alaris as he wanted to use its Portra 120 film on his trip. Kodak Alaris were happy to help and as a result we’re delighted to share with you today, some of the images taken on the shoot – which also have been used in a recent feature on the subject for the BBC news in the UK. We also took the time to chat with Ed about his love of film photography and why he specifically wanted to shoot film.
Here’s what he told us:

When I got into photography it was a pre-digital era, I really got into photography in my 20′s. Now, people forget the magic of photography as it’s so disposable! You know we have the power to stop time?! That’s pretty amazing isn’t it? I’m an odd photojournalist/documentary photographer, I’ve seen things that defy explanation. It has led me to develop a strange agnosticism in an industry filled with atheists.

Using film now is entirely habitual, I confess, I am an addict. Although I shoot both digital and film on assignments when it comes to my own self-initiated projects I prefer to use film. With my old Bronica in my hand I’m a different photographer: 1 in 3 photographs I take make the wide edit that goes to my photo-agencies and the magazines I freelance for. I wonder how many photographers could say the same?

This was a personal project that initially came out of a 1st year student at L.C.C wanting to interview me as a noted Alumni. We went to the pub and he mentioned that there were Syrian refugees in Lebanon where he was from. Within three weeks we were there on the ground working on a project together. If you go to the pub anything can happen.

For this particular photo assignment I wanted to create a powerful and strong portrait series as often in these issues the statistics get so high humanity is unable
to even process the magnitude of its horror. By throwing focus on individual children and their families testimonies, I was creating an important historical document that gave faces to the faceless, voices to the voiceless. And, in my mind it deserves permanence,
hence film.

There’s also a strange faith in using film in this context. I once travelled to a refugee camp in India for only 2 days with 6 rolls of dead stock film – in a way it was pure insanity – but it worked. Of course I could have just used digital, but I believe in my abilities. I believe in them so strongly I don’t even see it as gambling. The hardest part is getting where ever I need to be, once there it is instinct, like breathing. I’m not aware of the process, it’s now entirely habitual.

I was delighted with the outcome of the images and although the BBC would have been aware it was photographed on film, it’s really not that important to a news media titan like the BBC – they took the story because the photographs are tragic, current, important and beautiful all at the same time. I shot on Kodak Portra 120 because it gave me the image results I was looking for.

Amateur film photography

The journey into film photography of an Amateur

4×5 Scanner project – The birth of a project

 by Henrik Andersson

I made a really bad decision when I bought my scanner to scan my negatives. I went for the cheap alternative which has a restriction that it only will scan medium format film (6×6). The scanner of choice at the time was Epson v600. Now I stand in front of a new problem, I want to scan 4×5 and for that I need to sell and spend big bucks on another model, namely the v700. I gave it some thoughts and wondered if I could use my v600 for scanning a 4×5 negative and it all turns into a birth of this project.
My goal is to find a way to scan a full A4 area as negative using my v600 spending less money than buying a new scanner for the job.
The idea is to create some kind of light box which will have an A4 sized surface evenly lit that is placed on the scanner. To use this light source instead of the built in light in the lid which is restricted to medium format. I have looked into several ways to do this, CCFL, LED, LED panels etc. But to keep this project on budget I will go with a normal led strip. The led should be place into a matrix on a surface with same distance between each other. To get an evenly lit surface out of it I need some kind of diffuser placed on a distance from the leds based on their light spread radius and distance to each others. I will post more information and details about this light box in future blog after is solved following problem.
The scanner will signal an error if lid is open. This only happens if negative scan mode is selected which is the mode I must go with to turn of the lights from the scanner head used for reflective scan. I looked around for a mechanical switch used to detect if the lid was closed but didn’t find any. But I did discovered that for each scan I started, the light in the lid turned on, went forward to meet up with the scanner head and started to blink. That’s it, the lid is talking to the scanner to indicate it set to go. I logged the sequence of the lid lights and tried to reproduce it with a flash light but failed. It probably needs to be in sync with a clock. Looking into the lid and the light head it seems that there are just two cables that controls the light, I assume I could jack into those cables but I’m not to fond of the idea to do harm to my scanner so maybe, I just should have a photo diode that registers and replicate the light signal from the open lid into the light box…
Anyway, the conclusion are that it seems the the hardware in the scanner is signaling through the lid light to detect if lid is closed, I need to copy this behaviour.
This leaves me with two things to investigate; Explore the little lid placed at the cable connection between lid and scanner to see if I easily could jack into the light control signal into my lightbox without to much harm on the scanner itself. Investigate if it’s possible to use a photo diode to control the box. I would prefer the latter approach due to no physical modifications on the scanner itself.

What is the ratio for the chemicals need for film photography?

i need the ratios developing both negatives and photographs for black and white photography

developer

stop bath

fixer

Best AnswerAsker's Choice

• Alan answered 4 months ago

Film and paper emulsions are virtually the same from a chemical standpoint; we could process both using the same chemicals applying the same processing steps. While this is possible, we prefer to handle paper and film differently to gain optimum results. Films have an emulsion coat that is more than twice as hefty as paper. This is because films are viewed, printed, and scanned via one light pass thru the emulsion. Contrariwise we view prints via two light passes. Light from a nearby lamp plays on the print. This light transverses the emulsion, strikes a white undercoat and reflects backward transversing the emulsion again on its path to our eye. The two pass light path greatly reduce the amount of light sensitive coat needed. This translates to the fact that prints only require 90 – 120 seconds to develop whereas films generally require 5 – 10 minutes. Additionally we use a milder developer on film and often this developer contains a silver solvent to reduce grain size so the film can tolerate enlarging.

After developing, we stop this action with a water rinse or a bath in a mild acid like vinegar. Both film and paper are treated about the same.

After the stop bath we fix the film and paper to render the image permanent. While two different fix chemicals are available, we have universally settled on ammonium thiosulfate. This solution acts 50% faster than plain fixer which is sodium thiosulfate. The faster fixer is nicknamed rapid fix. For film we dilute rapid fix 3 parts water 1 part fix concentrate. For paper the dilution is 7 parts water 1 part concentrate. Paper requires the more dilute fix as a more robust fix will begin to attack the silver black and white image this lightens the print. Fix time for film I 2 -7 minutes. For paper it is 45 -70 seconds.

After developing, stop bath, and fix both paper and film must be washed to flush out residual chemicals as these stain and tarnish the image. Film rinses clean is 20 minutes; papers can take 1 hour or more. We can use a chemical rinse to purge and neutralize residual chemicals. A few minutes in hypo clear followed by a few minutes wash will do the trick for both. Many modern papers are coated on a waterproof plastic base made of synthetic tree resin. This resin coat (RC) prevents the retention of chemicals in the paper thus wash time is now super quick.

Other Answers (2)

Rated Highest

• 

  fhotoace edited 4 months ago

  I use D-76 1:1 when processing black and white film. When I need to push Tri-X to 1200 ISO, I develop it in Acufine, no dilution
  
  With film I use water with no agitation for the first full minute. This allows the shadow area of the film to continue developing to add a little more dynamic range to the film. If you are afraid that the remaining developer will shorten the life of your fixer, you can just rinse the film a few times with plain water.
  
  Fixer needs to be agitated for the first full minute and every thirty seconds there after until you have full fixed the film. How you know how long that is, you take a piece of the film (from the film leader) and drop it into the graduate with the fixer in it. Without any agitation, time how long it takes for the film to clear. Double that time and your film will be fully fixed when you finish your fixer stage. Fixer is never diluted
  
  Wash in a film washing device for at least 1/2 hour.
  
  Dip the washed film in a clean graduate cylinder filled with distilled water and a few drops of PhotoFlo to prevent streaking as the film drys overnight in a dust free location
  
  Dektol is usually mixed from power and its dilution is 1:2 and the RC paper is developed for 90 seconds with constant agitation. Fiber based paper is developed for 120 seconds with constant agitation
  
  Indicator stop bath is used at 1:63 dilution
  
  Fixer is used with no dilution and constantly agitated for at least 5 minutes.
  
  Hypo-eliminator is used to reduce wash times of fiber based paper.
  
  Wash times are from 30 minutes to one hour depending upon whether you are using an archival print washer or a large print tray with siphon.

  
  
  
• 

  jeannie answered 4 months ago

  It depends on what kind of developer you are using, whether it is liquid or powder to begin with (powder has to be mixed first, then diluted). Some types require no dilution, while others can be diluted 1:50 (agfa rodinol). So more info is needed.
  
  Stop bath and fix: follow the directions on the label.
  
  For processing prints, again it depends on the type of developer you are using. Dektol can be used straight (mixed from the powder) or up to a 1:9 dilution.

Japan Camera Hunter

Find the camera of your dreams

In your bag No: 840 – Stephen Dowling

by Bellamy

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In your bag 840, Stephen Dowling
Stephen has been a big contributor to the site (here is his archive page), so it give me great pleasure to share his bag with you all. Full of lots of lovely film goodness.

This is a pretty typical bag for me if I’m heading out of the house on a weekend to go take pics somewhere in sunny weather – in winter I might choose similar cameras and replace the colour film with black and white.
Domke F2 Ballistic: The latest camera bag I’ve bought and the one I choose for short trips/city breaks away, or for a day spent on the hoof in London. It packs a surprising amount of kit inside and the strap is wide and comfortable. I can wholeheartedly recommend it. I might favour the Tamrac Pro 13 if I was going to be out on the road much more than a week or so, but for shorter trips the Domke is perfect.
Pentax ESII: When I got into film photography in 2000, the first proper manual camera I bought was a screw-mount East German Praktica MTL 5B. Nowdays, I have a whole bunch of screwmount bodies – from the Voigtlander Bessaflex to the Zenit E, Chinon Memotron to a Yashica TL Electro. But out of all of them, in fact out of every camera I own, the Pentax ESII is my favourite (read my review of it on my film photography blog). It’s an aperture-priority SLR that chooses a shutter speed depending on the lens aperture chosen. This only works with the SMC Takumar range of lenses Pentax made for the ESII and the earlier ES, but thankfully they’re pretty plentiful. It’s a camera that just feels right in your hand – a satisfying weight and classic 70s lines. It’s seen here with the 50/1.4 lens. This is the less-common chrome model; I also have three of the more common black models.
Zenit 3M: I’ve been collecting Soviet cameras for at least a decade; the USSR’s camera industry was enormous, making millions of cameras from utilitarian tools to genuinely groundbreaking designs. The Zenit 3M was a simple SLR made by the giant KMZ plant in the 1960s, using a variation on the Leica screw mount, and with just a handful of speeds (read a review here). The Zenit 3M take a bit of getting used to as the lenses are preset – you compose with the aperture fully open, then close the aperture to the right setting for the correct exposure. The Helios-44 58mm lens is a cracker, and is especially nice with cross-processed slide or expired films. It’s loaded with an old roll of Fuji Sensia 100 slide film.
Lomo LC-Wide: I’ve been shooting on Lomo cameras since 2000 – my first was a Soviet-era Lomo LC-A bought secondhand. The wide-angle LC-Wide is great for street-shooting – the lens is punchy and contrasty, and gives that characteristic tunnel vision vignetting. I’ve carried the LC-Wide with me everywhere I go. I’m back to shooting with my LC-A for a little bit – I want to see if the contrast of the original’s lens is still suprior – but I’m really impressed with the LC-Wide.
Agfa Precisa CT100: The original; Agfa’s consumer slide film that boost blues, blacks and shadows when cross-processed. This is the film that gives that fantastic ‘Lomo look’. A few years of patient eBaying means I have a stash of about 90 rolls.
Lomography Chrome 100: Lomography’s Xpro film – actually Kodak Elite Chrome 100. With Kodak’s slide films gone, this is no more as well – a damn shame. Rich grain and eye-popping colours when you Xpro it, though it’s also perfectly fine to shoot as an E6 film.
Kodak Elite Chrome 100: The professional range of Kodak’s slide films, this is one of a bunch of expired rolls I got off eBay. They must have been cold stored as they’re perfect, even a decade over their expiration date.
Fuji Superia X-Tra 400: One of Fuji’s best colour print films left, 400 Superia has superbly punchy colours and lovely grain. It’s great for accentuating red afternoon light too, especially in autumn and winter.
Agfa RSX II 100: Another retired slide film stock. I love shooting this one normally, especially in sunny weather, It highlights reddish tones really well. Hopefully I can find another stash soon as I’m down to my last five rolls.
Sekonic 208: I have a bunch of meterless cameras – mostly old Soviet stuff including a Zorki 6, an Iskra folding camera and old SLRs like the Start and the Zenit 3M. Having a decent meter to hand definitely makes you use this old stuff more often. The Sekonic 208 is perfect; it’s small enough to slip in your pocket, or can even be mounted on a camera hotshoe. It may seem fragile compared to old metal Westons but I’ve had it for a couple of years and it’s worked perfectly every time.
www.flickr.com/photos/stephendowling/
www.zorkiphoto.co.uk
http://zorkiphoto.co.uk/2013/09/29/pentax-esii-camera-review/
http://zorkiphoto.co.uk/2013/03/16/zenit-3m-camera-review/
Thanks for sharing your bag with us, Stephen. I am happy to finally be able to see what you shoot.
Check out the links and make sure you come and comment.
Keep them coming folks, we need more submissions, so get your bag on Japancamerahunter.com. Send me a hi resolution image of the bag (please make sure it is horizontal) and its contents, with some details about yourself and what you shoot. Oh and don’t forget your contact details (twitter, flickr, tumbler et al). Send the bag shots here. Please understand that there is a long wait now as there is a backlog of submissions. Not all make the cut, so make sure yours is funny/interesting/quirky. And please make sure the shot is of good quality, as the ones that are not do not go up.
Cheers
Japancamerahunter

Troy tables ordinance on photography

By Kenneth C. Crowe II 

Troy proposed ordinance that would prosecute city police officers for interfering with the public's right to photograph or film them has been put on hold by City Council's Public Safety Committee.

The ordinance proposed in March by Councilman Robert Doherty, the committee chairman, has been subject to debate by committee members and opposed by the Troy Police Benevolent Association.
Doherty, a Democrat, said the ordinance would not be acted upon until the police department reported back at the end of the year about whether or not officers were stopping the public from taking picture.
The proposed ordinance would carry a fine of up to $5,000 and a jail term of 15 days as a misdemeanor charge.
Chief John Tedesco provided the committee members with a copy of the department's regulations in which officers are told they cannot interfere with pictures being legally taken.
Tedesco pointed out that an officer was suspended without pay for 10 days after preventing a newspaper photographer from taking pictures.
Officer Robert Fitzgerald, the PBA president, said such an ordinance was unnecessary and unfair for singling out members of the department.
Doherty, a Democrat, cited past incidents that led to civil rights suits filed against the city and members of the departments as a reason for considering such legislation.
Republican Councilman Jim Gordon, argued against moving ahead with the legislation saying violations could be handled internally by the department as disciplinary cases.
Democratic Councilwoman Anastasia Robertson said the legislation was necessary to protect people.