My last post of pictures from my hometown focused on the decay of my old neighborhood. This one is a little less depressing as it just captures what I happened to have in front of me during my drive to pick up some take out food at my old favorite Taco Tierra.

Gibson County Lanes, Kodak Tri-X 400

Greek’s Candy Store, Kodak Tri-X 400

Used to be an Arcade/Pizza Joint Right Off the Square, Kodak Tri-X 400

The Gibson County Courthouse, Kodak Tri-X 400

Pizza Village, Kodak Tri-X 400

This one hurt. The second run movie theatre closed? Totally heartbreaking, but I heard from relatives that there are interested buyers. I hope so.

Southside Silos by the Railroad Tracks, Kodak Tri-X 400

Oil Tanks on County Road 550, Fuji Neopan Acros 100

Used this shoortcut on the way to the hospital and was amazed at how familiar these backroads were after 20 years.

The Old Wheeling Coverd Bridge, Fuji Neopan Acros 100

All images shot with Hasselblad 501cm and Zeiss 80mm f2.8 lens on wither Kodak Tri-X 400 or Fuji Neopan Acros 100 film. All negatives developed in Kodak xTol Developer at 1+1 strength.

I had a very unscheduled drive to my old home town this past week. My grandmother, who is one of my favorite people in the world, was having heart surgery so there was no question of me being in Indiana the next morning before the surgery. It was only a matter of how. Sure, I could have taken a cab (good luck getting one of those in Brooklyn) to JFK or La Guardia, fought through security to wait two hours until boarding, then fly with at least one stop to Indianapolis, only to rent a car to Evansville where my grandmother was having surgery, knowing at every instant that somehow my progress would be totally screwed up by a delay or mistake. Or, I could just rent a car and drive through the night, being in total control the entire time. I chose the latter, even when I realized that the trip was 14 hours by car.

Kate had to stay home with the dog, so I drove through the night listening to FM classic rock as loud as the stereo would play, as I refueled with coffee everytime I stopped for gas. I was able to make it to the hospital to see my grandmother and then spent the day with my family waiting for news of her recovery. She is fine thankfully, and I ended up staying a day in my hometown as she recovered. I only had about 45 minutes to take pictures, but I tried to make the most of it.

These heartbreaking (to me anyway) pictures are of houses on the block I grew up on. At this point in my life, I know that I’m the luckiest person in the world to live in Brooklyn with Kate and Chloe, but I also know that I had an idillyic childhood on Race Street in Princeton, IN. Where/when I grew up, I never feared for my safety. My neighbors were friendly, and their homes were almost as welcoming as my own. We stayed out as late as we could. We rode our BMX bikes over every square foot of that town, and we never felt threatened or unsafe.

Twenty-five years later, my old neighborhood is a disaster. Not Detroit level disaster, but for a kid who grew up in a stable, if unremarkatble small town, it’s still shocking to see the level of decay that’s visited my old neighborhood. Thankfully, my house and a few others are still cared for, but many others are abandoned, busted structures barely hinting at their former warmth. Princeton, like many small towns in the Midwest, has been hit with the brutal combination of very few new opportunities for young people and too many options for cheap, illegal drugs. As I was walking down Race Street, I stumbled upon this RV and immediately (maybe wrongly, but still) thought of ‘Breaking Bad.’

This house was a bit south of my old place, but still on the same block.

This was immediately across the street from my house.

This was on the corner right next to my best friends, the Waldroups.

This house was directly across from another friend’s house. His was an empty lot.

Thankfully, my old house was purchased by a family friend who has kept it up over the years. It’s nothing fancy, but I spent my first 18 years there.

One of the great things about film, you may not agree, is how color film can get a little squirrely towards the end of the roll or at the beginning of a roll. It’s no secret that film is VERY light sensitive, but what is a mystery is how film reacts to a quick, unexpected exposure to light. Sometimes you get yellow or blue streaks; it’s also common to get a vertical orange band at the end of a roll.

I’ve never noticed this with B&W film, probably because I develop it myself and am very careful, but I sometimes end up with color film negatives that have a surprise at the beginning or end of the roll.

This roll was totally my fault, not the labs, because for some reason I hadn’t advanced the film and I couldn’t remember if I had a roll in the camera at all. We have ALL been there before, right? I opened the camera back up as fast as I could and there was a roll of film (Kodak Ektar 100) already in there. Doh! I knew my first frame or two woud be ruined, but I wasn’t expecting anything as cool as this.

Light Leak Number One, Kodak Ektar 100

Light Leak Number Two, Kodak Ektar 100

Light Leak Number Three, Kodak Ektar 100

Light Leak Number Four, Kodak Ektar 100

This reminds me of the time that someone once asked me on Tumblr, “If I opened the back of my camera “real fast” will you get light leaks?” My answer was, and still is, “Are you faster than the speed of light?” In my case the answer is not even close.

Last week, I posted the Hasselblad shots from a cold, rainy night. For all the gory details behind these pictures, visit that installment. This week, I have a few 4×5 frames taken with my Toyo 45AII large format folding camera from the same night. The 4×5 pictures of the bridge itself are much better than the Hasselblad shots, but the 4×5 shot of the traffic on Water Street from the bridge is much less vibrant than the Hasselblad. I remember I had to shoot the 4×5 traffic shot at f8 which is a little extreme for a lens that ranges from f5.6 to f64. There was too much vibration on the bridge for a longer exposure, so I was stuck with f8 and like 4 seconds.

These shots were also developed in Xtol 1+1 for 10 minutes. I used a double sized Patterson tank and the “taco method.”

Long Exposure Night Shot of Brooklyn Bridge Tower, Fuji Neopan Acros 100 4×5 Sheet Film, Kodak Xtol 1+1 Developer

Long Exposure of Brooklyn Bridge in the Rain, Fuji Neopan Acros 100 4×5 Sheet Film, Kodak Xtol 1+1 Developer

Long Exposure of Water Street Traffic from the Brooklyn Bridge, Fuji Neopan Acros 100 4×5 Sheet Film, Kodak Xtol 1+1 Developer

On Sunday, I met up with Joel and Barry at the 95th Street R stop in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Our destination was the Verrazano Bridge. It was roughly 22 degrees that day, but we bundled up and spent two hours waterside in South Brooklyn. I shot a few rolls of film, including a roll of Kodak Tri-X 40o, developed tonight for a quick preview. The Tri-X 400 was shot in my Hasselblad 501cm and Zeiss Planar 80mm f2.8 lens and developed in Kodak Xtol developer at 1+1 strength for 8 minutes.

This was my first time seeing the Verrazano Bridge up close and personal (i.e. not from a car crossing it). It’s a majestic bridge, built in the 1960s, that connects Brooklyn and Staten Island. At the time it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. The developers actually had to consider the curvature of the earth when building the Verrazano. Each tower is 693 feet tall and they stand 4,260 feet apart.

Verrazano Bridge, Bay Ridge Brooklyn, Kodak Tri-X 400, Xtol 1+1

Joel and the Verrazano Bridge, Bay Ridge Brooklyn, Kodak Tri-X 400, Xtol 1+1

Benches and Verrazano Bridge, Bay Ridge Brooklyn, Kodak Tri-X 400, Xtol 1+1

Wall and Verrazano Bridge, Bay Ridge Brooklyn, Kodak Tri-X 400, Xtol 1+1

Monday night I took the Hasselblad and the new-to-me Toyo 45AII large format camera over to Long Island City. I got to my spot on the East River at about dusk and stayed for an hour, shooting one roll of medium format film and 8 sheets of 4×5 film.

NYC Skyline at Dusk, taken with Hasselblad 501cm on Fuji Neopan Acros 100 Film, 15 second exposure at f16

I like this a great deal as the entire image is sharp and well exposed. Sometimes the lights of the two iconic buildings get blown out a bit. That didn’t happen here, largely because it was dusk instead of full on dark.

Same shot, but 40 minutes later, Toyo 45AII Large Format Camera on Fuji Neopan Acros 100 Film, 120 second exposure at f22

Okay, here things get a bit messier. First of all, it’s darker, colder, and windier. And it’s a 2-minute exposure. You can see the image is not as sharp as the Hasselblad image. Also, the lights on the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building are too bright and bleed into the darker sky. Still, the level of detail in the buildings is good.

All things being equal, I’m still much more comfortable with the Hasselblad. It’s quicker and easier to shoot, especially in cold, windy conditions. However, I love the process of setting up LF shots. And I’ll get better as I use it more.

Here are a couple other shots from the same evening. I developed both the negative sets in Kodak Xtol 1+1 developer for 10 minutes. I used the “taco method” to develop the 4×5 negatives.

Reflection of Empire State Building in the East River, Hasselblad 501cm and Fuji Neopan Acros 100

Pepsi Neon Sign, Long Island City, Toyo 45AII and Fuji Neopan Acros 100

I’m using used film holders and this one was obviously pretty dusty. You can see the dust in the lower left of the image. I need to remember to tap the film holder before I load the film.

One final image that makes it clear (at least to me) how attractive large format shooting can be – a negative comparison between 35mm negative, a 6×6 Medium Format 120 film negative, and a 4×5* sheet film negative.

Comparison of Negative Size from 35mm SLR, 6×6 120 Film, and 4×5 Sheet Film

*Just imagine how large an 8×10 negative is!