Week 1: Setbacks
Week one progress didn't go so well for me and I lost a whole roll of photos. My girlfriend and I attended the Scarlet Demore concert on September 1st and I had a whole empty roll of TMax 3200 ready to go. I shot the whole concert and was super proud of the compositions that I was able to achieve. It was my first going to a concert with a film camera and really trying to create photos that I'm pro
Then the bad events happened; sitting in the darkness of my cramped crawlspace, I tried my hardest to load the reel with my film and it ended badly with me getting pissed off at myself and eventually throwing the roll away as a result. It was my fault because I didn't practice enough beforehand.
Eventually, after some practice with random rolls of film, I was able to simply and effortlessly load
Week 2: Glen E. Friedman
Glen E. Friedman is one of my biggest photography and moral influences. The passion he has for the things he loves really drives me to create the best photos I can.
In all the photos I create, I strive for my photos to exude the same energy that his do and that's all I strive to do.
During week 2, I really studied his photos, picked out things that I loved in them, and created a mental checklist wi
This photo of Dead Kennedy's lead singer Jello Biafra diving into the crowd is a huge influence on me. I feel that it is as important to get photos of the crowd as it is to take photos of the band. Energy radiates the same both ways; the crowd consumes the energy that the band gives off, and, in return, goes crazy by dancing and moshing, which creates beautiful pictures of concert attendees going
Glen E. Friedman is a master of capturing energy and emotion on film. Some of his best photos are of Black Flag lead singer Henry Rollins.
When I take my photos for my independent study, I will try and create photos like this one, where the lead singer is showing emotion that undeniable to the viewer.
Week 3: Broken Demeanor
For week 3, I finally went to a concert again and took photos. I positioned myself in the (very small) photo pit between the stage and the crowd and shot a roll of pictures.
The band I took photos of was Broken Demeanor, whom I have become great friends with over the past couple of months due to constantly taking photos of them.
Week 4: Developed Broken Demeanor photos
Week 4 was the first time I had ever developed photos and I feel that the process went very well.
I shot a roll of Kodak Tax P3200 on my Canon AE-1 Program using my Godox flash that I use on my digital camera. I thought that my camera set-up was very well, but after the fact, I realized that I could have done better.
After developing, I noticed that most of my photos were all underexposed because t
Week 5: Muddle x Satin Black at Fargo
I was very productive during week 5; first, I went to the Satin Black x Muddle x Rigid x Sorry Machine show at Fargo venue, an indoor skatepark/live music venue in downtown Dekalb.
At the show, I only took photos of Satin Black and Muddle because they 1.) are better live bands and 2.) have a better stage presence.
This was my second time ever developing film and the process became easier!
I began enjoying mixing the chemicals, watching the Jobe do its work, and the anxious feeling in my stomach when I pulled the roll from the reel after the process finished.
Week 6: Finished Muddle x Satin Black photos
Once again, I shot a roll of Kodak Tax P3200 and used my Godox flash.
For most of the photos, I was able to achieve consistent exposures and the flash went off for most of them, but there were still different exposure streaks on most of my photos.
It wasn't until later and looking at my camera manual that I was not using the correct shutter speed and it was not syncing with my flash; I was using a
For all the photos below this one, I cropped out the parts where the shutter speed messed with the flash going off.
I feel that these photos are very good, but there is too much grain for my liking.
For my second time ever shooting film, I feel great about myself for everything that I was able to achieve, like moderate focusing, interesting close-up compositions, and cool action shots of hair flyi
Week 7: Sawamura No Hitter show at Subterranean
For week 7, I went to the Sawamura No Hitter show at Subterranean in Wicker Park, Chicago to take photos.
No Hitter is one of my favorite bands in the Chicago scene for their take on emo/screamo music; it's heartfelt, gut-wrenching, and extremely loud and in your face.
For this show, I decided to pull out the flash that came with my Canon AE-1 program; the camera is my grandpa's and it came with an older model flash and I thought that it would be a better idea to use it for now on when I use the Canon.
Once again, I used a roll of Kodak Tmax 3200, even though I do not like the grain.
Week 8: Developed No Hitter photos and attended Kangaroo Court show at Lincoln Hall
During week 8, I developed my No Hitter roll and at this point in my developing journey, it couldn't be easier and funnier.
Sadly, all of my photos were way overexposed and there was nothing I could do about it; Lightroom could have done so much, but I looked at this as a learning experience.
It was definitely because of the fast ISO I was using and because the flash was set to a high flash output.
Even after all the flaws, I still love these photos; the compositions are interesting and the one crowd I got is one of my
Week 9: Developed Kangaroo Court photos
I developed my Kangaroo Court photos during week 9 and they turned out beautiful, in terms of the visual texture of the film.
There was a fair amount of less grain compared to the rolls of Kodak Tmax P3200 that I've been shooting and I loved it.
In terms of the compositions, I felt like it fell flat because of the limited space I actually had at the concert; it was a sold-out show, about 500 people
This photo turned out to be one of my favorites so far, just because you can get a sense of the energy of the crowd in this photo.
The focus is clear and the depth of field is very deep, making is easy to make out features of people further away.
Week 10 pt. 2: Nightfreak descriptions and attended Totally Cashed show at Subterranean
I had a very busy week 10; I started it off by going to the Nightfreak show at The Darkroom, a DIY basement venue in South Elgin that my friend and bandmate Noelle owns. She has shows down there multiple times a month.
For this show, I photographed Nightfreak, a punk/metal/hardcore band from the outskirts of Chicago.
I shot Ilford Delta 3200 and I started to lean more towards Ilford film.
I then de
Later that week, my girlfriend and I attended the Totally Cashed show at Subterranean, which turned out to be a very fun show.
rI shot a roll of Kodak Tmax P3200, the last time that I would do that for the duration of my independent study, as it would be too grainy and too bright for my style.
A photo I took of my girlfriend before the show started.
Week 11 pt. 2: Totally Cashed descriptions
During week 11, I developed my Totally Cashed photos and they turned out okay; this was the turning point in the time that I would be using Kodak Tmax P3200. I felt that the photos they produced were way too grainy and I stopped using those rolls altogether.
The exposures were all consistent, but most were overexposed and the grain on top of that made them hard to look at.
Week 12 pt. 1: Attended Doublespeak x Stalled show at The Darkroom and developed one set of photos
As the semester was coming to a close, I was still able to shoot a couple more rolls.
During week 12, I went to another show at The Darkroom, and this time I took photos of the Doublespeak, a post-hardcore band from Madison, WI, and the band Stalled, an alternative rock band from Chicago.
I was able to develop that same week, but little did I know that I did not load both rolls of photos into my fi
After months of doing the independent study, I finally was able to find an incredible mix of settings on my camera in conjunction with the film was using.
I used my old flash, 1/60th shutter speed, f/11 for my aperture, and Ilford HP5+, which is a beautifully rich black-and-white film. All of these factors together contributed to amazing photos for both Stalled and Doublespeak.
Week 13 pt. 1: Doublespeak at The Darkroom negatives
I was finally able to develop the Doublespeak photos during week 13.
Same as the Stalled photos, theses photos are my best to date, in terms of composition and exposures.
Week 14: Heaving at Brockton
For the last two weeks of my independent study, I decided to go to Bricktown, a DIY venue in Chicago right on the border of Lincoln Park and Logan Square. The venue is an indoor skatepark and has bands play there all the time.
I took pictures of the band Heaving, a heavy alternative rock band from Peoria, IL.
Week 15: Heaving negatives
For the last week of the semester and for the independent study, I developed my Heaving photos and they turned out extremely well!
The one downside was that I forgot to change the batteries in my flash, so a lot of the photos were underexposed.