Winter Reflections on Cinestill 800

Downtown Brighton

One of the most difficult parts of living in Michigan during winter is the lack of usable daylight. It makes for less creative inspiration and fewer opportunities to go out and shoot a roll of film. The good news? It forces me to try new things and use new film stocks to accommodate the few times I dig a little deeper to go out.

I have picked up a handful of Cinestill 800 ISO rolls, which is old cinema film respooled to use for still photos. The neat thing about this film is the ability to use it in low light. The glow around the lights it creates can be super cool if it doesn’t overtake the focus from the actual subject I’m trying to frame.

I loaded up my most trusty camera and lens, Nikon F3 and Nikkor 55mm f1.2 to really take full advantage of the low light. We went to downtown Brighton for Christmas lights and hit up a few neighborhoods for some of the over-the-top displays we knew about ahead of time. I think the results came out perfect for the situation, and honestly look even better than the real-life, real-time lights we saw.

I’ve held out on using this film for a long time, but I’m so happy with how well it handles that it will be going into a regular rotation. Even if I’m not shooting lights, I love the way it captures everything from buildings to people, and most importantly it’s readily available from every shop I’ve ever gone into…unlike some of the other films I’ve liked in the past.

I Love a Good Mystery Box

November 2021 I was really starting to take Film Photography more seriously. Using different settings and lenses were getting me more interesting results, and I was to the point I wanted a little more creative control in colors and “tones” from my photos. At the time there were a plethora of color film rolls available and I just didn’t know what to choose that would challenge me to be more thoughtful in my decision making and I really didn’t want to buy experimental film I wasn’t sure would turn out with anything usable. Being in the position I was in I decided the best option for me would be to order a “mystery box” from an online shop and just make whatever they sent me work. I sent an order for their 6-roll pack and received 5 rolls of very normal film from Kodak and Ilford, a good variety of color and B/W. There was also a roll from a company by the name of Revolog. I had heard of them and briefly looked at what they offer in the past but hadn’t really been in a place to use it effectively so had never even considered ordering. They sell intentional “defective” film stock that will end up having results like static electricity discharges, unusual color shifting and blobby bubbles. If these were to show up on an ordinary roll of film, I would be unhappy, but if it’s expected I can plan for how it will turn out somewhat. I set aside my roll of Revolog Streak for almost 2 years and finally just decided there’s no better time than late summer to try it out. I read it should end up with a vintage look, almost as if I were shooting through a scratched window. Walking back through Downtown Brighton I tried recreating a few of my favorite photos with the twist of now using color film instead of Black and White.

It was early evening on a Monday, and most of the shops were closed. Construction already keeps the foot traffic low, so I was basically by myself shooting store fronts, alleys, and an occasional interesting car. I knew I only had 36 shots. Trying to remember things I had learned from making this same walk just over a year ago wasn’t much help, I wasn’t even using the same type of camera this time. Now I was using one of the most advanced autofocus SLR bodies ever made from 2006, while previously I was using a fixed lens Rangefinder from 1972. There has been a reset in the way I do this over the past year, and it was time for me to move on and do things in the new way. I have been able to look beyond just interesting observations, getting a little deeper into line of sight and different lighting. In a back alley by the Brighton School of Ballet there is an art installation that can be lined up with the Lions Club statue to create a nice frame. Is it groundbreaking? Not really, but I’m glad I saw it this time so I can integrate that into something later.

I’m still learning how to capture wildlife and vehicles. There’s not much to be done that hasn’t already been done over and over. Maybe someday I will discover something, but for now I still really like just seeing the lines of an exotic car and adorable animals through the lens of my camera. Brighton has an active car culture, both classic and exotic with a few camouflaged preproduction models from time to time and everyone is more than willing to let me take a few shots when I ask. If any of you have an interesting car and want me to come do a photoshoot, I’m sure we can work something out. Unfortunately, an ongoing color film shortage has made the mystery boxes I was enjoying a thing of the very recent past. I’m hoping this comes back soon as it’s really quite a fun experiment…or maybe I’ll just go to one of the local shops and ask them to build one for me and make a whole new post about it.

Overall, I am very satisfied with how this roll turned out. In the future I would probably overexpose it a little as they are a little dark. I think it’s supposed to be that way since the scratches are more pronounced in the darker areas. The rolls are marginally more expensive than standard premium rolls which makes sense as they have added the special effects in house, or at least have the know how to do it consistently to existing film. I think I may need to order a roll of their Tesla film for some Halloween shots this year, and some a roll of Paper for some old-fashioned shoots.