Unexpected Results

Unexpected Results

I love when I get something completely unexpected!

My art photography has a certain intuitive, unplanned element to it.  I can only pre-visualize what will happen with the metal mirrors ahead of time (see here and here).  But sometimes I get surprised even with planned work, like my recent project using New55 instant 4×5 film.  The film itself has quirks that can result in interesting “flaws”, but I stumbled upon something when scanning the negatives.  I scan mine using a 55 mm macro lens on my Nikon D800e and an LED light table.  I shoot nine sections, then stitch them in Photoshop using photomerge (File> Automate > Photomerge). Once I have a merged file, I add an inversion adjustment layer then flatten the image and save. I had set the white balance to daylight, which gave the negative files a blue cast- not a big deal since I’ll be converting to greyscale.  But the inversion did something really interesting- the blue cast turned into a sepia tone!  Take a look at the sepia and the greyscale versions.  I’m kinda digging it!

Pine cone on New55 instant 4x5 film monochrome version Pine cone on New55 instant 4x5 film sepia version Dog skull on New55 instant 4x5 film sepia version Tree roots on New55 instant 4x5 film sepia version

 

 

Lucas James is a fine art photographer based in Manchester, NH.

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