A recent trip out to the coast to clear my head of the spinning humdrum of work saw me at the north end of Cannon Beach contemplating which roll of film was going to take the place of my just-finished Bergger Pancro 400. My hand came out of my film bag holding a roll of Kodak E100 and I thought, "this or Portra 160?" Color negative, or color positive? I love slide film, but I don't work with it much. A big part of this is the scarcity of Fuji Velvia, my preferred chrome film. Another part of this is cost. A third part is that scans from slides always seem a bit pale in comparison to the original slide. I guess a fourth part is that E100 is a little too normal in its saturation for my tastes. But despite these reasons, I actually love shooting slide film, both for its results but also its process. Knowing I am working with a film that requires a bit more care and thought from me in gauging exposure makes me slow down and eye the scene. With color negative I just have to be close and if I have any doubt, I add a stop or two of exposure since it forgives it so readily. Color slide has a much narrower window and shows your failures more prominently. But doing a roll of slide now and again is a good way to stay on one's toes and make sure that their metering process really is precise. I don't mind that routine honing of my skills, so to speak. And that is how and where this image came about. I should also add that I spotted this reflection before the family moved into the scene. I could tell walking up to the tide pool I was going to enjoy the low angled symmetry I would find here. And then the family came along. My first reaction was "Drat, wouldn't you know it". But my second, more measured reaction, was "Hold on a sec and see what they do". In then end I think they made the scene more interesting for me and I exposed three images of them moving along the beach as their own photographer made portraits of them.
Hasselblad 500C/M
Kodak E100
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