Cancun 2021

I am finally getting around to posting these pictures from last year. I was initially going to break it out into two posts, but this draft has been sitting for weeks - so here we are. I look back fondly on this vacation because it was our first international trip since quarantining. It's become an inside joke in my family, but when we say Cancun, its synonymous to a week of rest. It's my one of my favorite types of vacations we take - just a lot of tacos, golfing and sleep ˙ᵕ˙

We got a chance to visit Tulum on this trip. Tulum (wall in Mayan) was originally named Zama meaning sunrise, place of the dawning sun. So poetic for a city facing east, and being a major trading and religious center. The largest structure is the Castillo (castle) which was used as a temple and our guide pointed out the architectural influences from the Toltec civilization. It's amazing to see what has survived from this period considering most of our current infrastructure in California has been graded a C- since most are nearing their 40-year design life.

The clouds on this day were gorgeous. They hover so low, it's like you can almost touch them. Unfortunately, I didn't get any film shots when we visited Tulum. I had bought an Olympus Pen FT after dropping my first one for this trip but ended up returning it due to its consistent mechanical failures. It ruined two film rolls by not advancing properly. This was the camera before the one I bought for SF in case you're wondering lol.

The only roll that wasn't ruined was Lomography 800, which I wasn't too mad about. I was able to try it out in different lighting conditions throughout the trip. The colors and saturation of the shots I took in the afternoon with the bright sun at box speed are great. Perfect for the tropical vibe, the warmth and green remind me of Fuji C200.

My favorite shots have been the ones taken during sunset. The way Lomo captured the highlights in the clouds surprised me. I honestly regret not composing the shot (below) a little bit better, but I didn't think the clouds would come through. I would definitely use this stock again for more informal scenarios. I love the grain and prefer Lomo for the colors it renders for sunsets and indoor scenes.

San Francisco 2021 • Golden Bear Trading Company

I didn't mention in my previous post that I loaded the roll of Ultramax 400 into my 'new' Olympus Pen FT half-frame camera. I love this camera because I can double the number of shots in one roll. During this trip I actually shot with my second Pen FT ...because I dropped and broke my first one. Such a paradox these fragile mechanical tanks are. I was devastated - still am. Tino and Bon chastise me for not having it wrapped around my neck knowing how clumsy I am. I bought another one online only to be reminded how perfectly awesome my first one was.

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The first morning of every visit, Kara takes me to one of my favorite coffee shops in the Bay. Golding Bear Trading Company has a special place in my coffee-loving heart, and its name is an homage to our alma mater. I love this little cafe and the barista Sam. He makes an awesome cup of Turkish coffee and matcha lattes. Tino always comes out with a few bags of coffee beans he's excited to try as soon as we get home.

The weather was what I would expect on a fall SF early morning. Foggy. I rated Ultramax at box speed, trusted sunny 16, and my intuition to take a few test shots. This particular set of photos does actually remind me of a grainy Portra because of its warmer tones. One of my favorite things I found shooting Ultramax is how true to life the stock's colors are. The greens and reds always come out great, regardless of the weather and how badly I read the light.

It wasn't until I took a look at my indoor shots that I noticed the difference between professional and consumer-grade films. Basically why Ultramax can look like Portra, but with closer inspection doesn't compare. Portra is versatile, forgiving, a film with fine grain, but also expensive. Kodak Ultramax 400 was actually made for cheap cameras, so I knew that by nature the stock's low resolution would not handle being underexposed. The shot of the coffee bags (below) was my first example of that. I set my camera up to take the picture of Sam making our drinks at his coffee bar (bottom left). Then I did a 180 and shot the coffee bags on the shelves without adjusting anything on my camera. As a result, the shadows came out muddy, some detail is lost and there is an abundance of coarse grain.

A more experienced photographer would say I underexposed, while a frugal one would argue I shouldn't have wasted a shot. Honestly, I am neither and it doesn't bother me at all. I've noticed a trend on social media of artists editing and adding grain to digital and cellphone shots, so clearly, the grain essence of film is always appreciated ˙ᵕ˙

Right now a roll of Ultramax is going for about $7, while a roll of Portra 400 is $13. With Fuji, Kodak, and Lomography announcing another round of film price increases, this second set with Ultramax has convinced me to keep trying it out.

San Francisco 2021 • Botanical Gardens

I visited San Francisco three times last year, far less than in previous years due to the pandemic. SF day trips used to mean early flights from LAX to SFO. With the COVID spikes throughout 2021, I embraced road trips as the travel alternative. It definitely has a different vibe to it. There's an overwhelming excitement and seize the day feeling when I jump into the car at 5 pm after a full workday hyped on caffeine and a six-hour playlist ready for the long drive.

I write this and post shots from autumn, spring is right around the corner for 2022. As I balance new photography projects and social media, I keep this quote close to my heart:

You can appreciate the flowers in someone else's garden while still watering your own.

It's been a weird learning curve of balancing growing my social media versus growing outside of it. Late last year, I vetted out which platforms I wanted to focus on, and decided to focus on just posting consistently. On IG, I stopped actively engaging and tagging feature accounts. This year I'm toying with the idea of doing away with hashtags altogether. I will post an update on the results in a few months lol, so far it's been great in the mental health department☺

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I drove up in September to celebrate my college best friend's birthday. We spent that morning catching up at a botanical garden, and it was the best photo walk I'd ever been on! I stopped at every single flower I wanted to take a picture of. She's recently picked up the quarantine hobby of being a plant mom, so it was fun to hear her stories of raising her own.

This was my first time shooting Kodak Ultramax 400, so I didn't really know what to expect. As you might have previously read, I have an awful habit of never checking the weather. I loaded Ultramax the day before ...and woke up to a very foggy SF. Not ideal shooting conditions, but the fog seemed to follow me to every city I visited in 2021.

Ultramax falls into the cheaper side of the price spectrum and is often compared to Portra 400. I have seen it heavily used by landscape photographers for its strong color saturation. Ultramax is also noted to have coarser grain than most stocks. After receiving my scans back, I learned that lighting really plays a huge part in the outcome. I was warned if underexposed, the colors in the shadows can get muddy, and they do - which I hated!! But the grain comes out more as well - which I loved!

The shots above were taken as the sun came out through the clouds. I really love the saturation and colors in these shots. Below are some examples of shots I took in lower light conditions - different color profiles (meh) and more grain (wooo!)

For the price point, I'm definitely going to give this roll another shot. Color profile-wise, it looks to be a grainier version of Kodak Gold, not Portra. After reading around and begging people on IG for tips, I've been advised to shoot at golden hour ...and to check the weather beforehand.