Tag Archives: Xpro

{Late Entry} Expired Film Day 2016

Much like my late entry for #BIFscale16, I am late turning in my Expired Film Day (EFD) photos. To explain what that is, here’s a quote from the EFD website:

Expired Film Day celebrates the joys of using film whose Use-By date has (preferably long-since) passed. One of the particular pleasures of being a film-using photographer in these modern times is the abundance of expired-but-still-probably-pretty-good film on the market, found in grandparents’ attics or at thrift stores, or sourced from the freezers of pros who’ve gone digital.

Expired film can be unpredictable: if you know how it was stored, it might be easy to compensate for its age, if that’s even necessary. If you don’t, your results could range from dark, to flat, to color-shifted and beyond. Many people today say the potential unpredictability of using film is part of what draws them to it over digital; using expired film takes the existing unpredictability of using film and compounds it.

I am no stranger to expired film. I probably like using it more than I should. I didn’t have to purposely buy out-of-date film in order to participate in Expired Film Day, because my fridge’s crisper drawer is usually well-stocked with several varieties. I was actually surprised I was able to take part in EFD, which took place on March 15, because I worked 9 hours that day. I thought my best chance of finishing a roll would be to shoot a roll of 120 in my Yashica-Mat, because that way I would only need to mange to take 12 photos instead of the 24-36 photos I’d have to take if I were using 35mm instead.

The film I chose was a roll of Fujichrome 64T slide film, which I would have cross-processed by the photo lab. I don’t know what the expiration date on it is, but judging from the results I got the previous time I shot a roll from the same batch of 64T, I figured it was WELL expired and probably not stored in good conditions. The results did not disappoint, since my expectations were that the results wouldn’t be predictable!

A 1959 Ford I photographed a couple of times for my daily photo project

Child’s chair

My dog Dilly, taking a nap

Mother’s things

“Lookin’ out my back door” (sorry, had to do it)

Heels (my fave shot from this batch)

Yashica-Mat • Fujichrome 64T, expiration date unknown • Cross-processed

And there ya have it! I hope Expired Film Day is an annual occurrence from now on and that I’ll be able to participate in it in a more timely manner next time!

{Testing the batch} Expired Fuji Provia 400

Last year, I bought a batch of medium format slide film from eBay. Very EXPIRED medium format film. Most of it expired in 1999. Why would I buy really old film? Because I have had really cool results by using expired slide film and cross-processing it (I explained about cross-processing in another blog post last year.)

There are a lot of things that can happen to film as it ages. Along with possible color shifts, film can lose a certain amount of light sensitivity when it’s expired. That can make getting proper exposures tricky. Another factor in how well film has aged is how the film was stored throughout the years. If it was kept in a cold, dry place (like a freezer or refrigerator) then the effect of time could be minimal. But with film like the batch I bought, I have no real way of knowing how it was stored. That’s a gamble when you buy expired film from eBay…

I decided that I needed to test a roll of this film so I could see what kind of shape it was in after nearly 15 years. I loaded it in my Bronica ETRSi and gave it a go!

(the above photos were taken with my Samsung NX1100)

I asked the lab to cross-process the film for me, and here are the results:

Dilapidated sign in Memphis

This photo is only included because it makes me laugh. Perfectly captured my niece’s mannerisms

Goldenrod

I got my niece to pose in some of her T-shirts that I like (this is her ‘model’ face, btw)

Probably petting one of her dogs, who were clamoring for attention

Her real personality. Goofy!

I don’t know how I got her to take her glasses off…love her Turtle Power shirt though!

Climbing the front porch

Holding on and hanging out on the porch

Bronica ETRSi • Zenzanon 75mm/2.8 EII • Fuji Provia 400, exp. January 1999, Cross-processed

Conclusion?

I’m pretty darned pleased with how the photos came out. I can look at the negatives and tell how a few were a bit underexposed . That just means I’ll have a better idea about the film’s exposure needs when I shoot the rest of my batch of this film.

(I have eight more rolls of the Fuji Provia 400 in the crisper drawer of my fridge!!! Exciting!!!)