Don’t take my Ektachrome away. May 10th, 2017.
A friend and fellow surfer, Ewell Clarke, promised to dig through his old slides and found some Port A sessions from 1982-85. This one was shot with high speed Ektachrome film, 300mm lens, from the dunes, and without autofocus – not available back then. Ewell writes, “Hope you can see the riders; shooting from the dunes they sometimes disappeared in the trough on bottom turns.”
I like this photo; the feathering wave is good size, similar to our last wind swell. Nice to see 3 surfers sharing the wave too.
Also, I appreciate the image because it was taken on slide film, the medium I learned with. It’s known as color positive film, “slide,” or “transparency” film. No negatives. What you shot was what you got. Exposure couldn’t be adjusted in development so you had to know your settings in different light by heart. And there was no autofocus, you chose the focal length and hoped the image was in focus, or used manual and lined up little blurry half circles over the subject. Remember? Oh, the anticipation of pulling a newly processed slide from the box and holding it up to the light to view it for the first time! Sometimes I got a gem.
Thanks, Ewell.
This entry was posted on May 10, 2017 by Jen's Marinedream. It was filed under Uncategorized .
Great photo, and wonderful to reflect on the photography processes. It makes me want to get a film camera for Eli.
May 10, 2017 at 9:51 am
Yeh, it’s a lost art. Film definitely has that real feel. But the Polaroid is a great hobby too- instant feedback on your composition!
May 10, 2017 at 10:14 am
Wow, I made the blog! Thanks Jen. I started surfing in 1965, but couldn’t afford a camera or film until 1982. But the memories, ahh the memories….
ewell clarke
May 12, 2017 at 2:23 pm