(Three Different Ones)

I think this is a nice example of what my cross-processed Provia is doing to skies. Pretty neat, isn’t it?

Minolta XD5, MC 50mm f/1.8, Provia 400F (expired September 2004) cross-processed (C41).

A-Treat

Another from my Provia roll this weekend. When I first ran these negatives through the scanner (I always check the “develop only” box now that I have a negative scanner, and Ritz still charges $4.50), I was disappointed. They had the graininess and sharpness that I like from my cross processed rolls, but the color shifts were minimal and the dynamic range was impossibly thin. I bracketed each shot, and in many cases one was underexposed and one had blown highlights all over. Is Provia a bad film for cross processing? A quick Flickr search suggested that this is definitely not the case.

So why did my film look funny? Turns out the automatic exposure software in my scanner doesn’t handle weird negatives very well (specifically the white point setting). Once I went back and set it manually, I got some very interesting results. Here’s one in color:

Minolta XD5, probably an old MC 50mm f/1.8 (it could have been the 28mm, and I really should be able to tell), Fuji Provia 400F expired September 2004 and cross processed at Ritz.

Shiny

Well, it’s been a while. Teaching photography actually didn’t inspire me to shoot. Instead, it inspired me to temporarily hate photography. How many “oops, I opened the canister. . . Will I not get any piiieeeecturrrres?!!?” experiences to make one hate photography? One.

(I should clarify that a student whined this to me, not the other way around).

That said, I’ve been done work for about a week now, and it seemed like time to do more shooting. I stopped by a local shop that often has fun expired film, and found some very expired Provia 400F. I picked up a roll, shot it, had it developed C-41 (“We need to send this out. I don’t think we can develop this kind of film here”), scanned it, and, like I often do with cross processed film, decided to do it up in black and white. I plan on heading back tomorrow to grab some more of this excellent film. For $2 a roll, what’s not to love?

Minolta XD5, Vivitar 28mm (note horrible bokeh at f/11 or so), Fuji Provia 400F (expired September 2004) cross processed at Ritz. What a rip-off. I’m glad they’re bankrupt.