52 of 52

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Alex

As the title suggests, here’s a compilation of the two images from the entire project:52. Think of this as a teaser…for the book, which if all goes according to plans should be out by mid to late spring.

01: Squeal Like a Wage Slave

02: Toronto’s Castle

03: Of Winter Drives and Small Towns

04: Feelin’ Blue

05: We’ll Cross that Bridge…

06: Smile! You’re on Camera

07: Sudden Inspiration

08: This Hobby Keeps Landing me behind Bars

09: Upon this Rock

10: Rain, Rain on my Face

11: All Shiny and New

12: Rise of the Lizard Woman

13: Ghost Towns and Brickworks

14: Rust and Mud

15: Join the Army they said

16: Queen and Rain

17: London Calling

18: Film Wasters

19: A Country Wedding

20: Dead Industry

21: Laying Siege

22: The Last Destroyer

23: ROADTRIP!

24: And now for something completely different

25: Impossible!

26: Ding! Ding!

27: The Parkway

28: Dark Chocolate

29: The North

30: A Ferry

31: Straight from the Hip

32: Battlefield of Blood

33: The West

34: Hitting the Streets

35: Trying Something New

36: The Fort

37: Demolition Man

38: Going W.I.D.E.

39: Chrome

40: A Momentous Day

41: How Emily Got her Groove On

42: The Big Apple – Pt. 1

43: The Big Apple – Pt. 2

44: Red Scare

45: You can call me BOB

46: Steel Town Blues

47: Taking the Scenic Route

48: Grab Yer Sandals we’re going Walkin’

49: Back to Trafalgar

50: Back to…Ohio?

51: Barber, By Night

52: Christmas…Is Coming

Project: 52 – Week 40

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Alex

I do try to keep my family out of my photography specifically the work I show publicly but when your ~~little~~ younger brother gets married, it just has to get shown off. But since I was a groomsman at the wedding bringing out one of my bigger cameras to play like the Rollei, or 645 or even my little FM2 would get in the way. So I turned to a very small camera in my collection, and no it wasn’t a 110 camera…but rather a Olympus Stylus Epic. I was honestly surprised at the quality of images that came out of this pocket camera that could easily fit in the pocket of my tux.

Although the day was dull, grey, cold, and wet at times, the ceremony and reception were incredible, and I wish only the best for my brother and new sister-in-law.

Olympus Stylus Epic DLX – Olympus Lens 35mm 1:2.8 – Kodak Tri-X 400 (400TX)

Project:52 – Week 37

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Alex

Demolition Man…

I have to keep reminding myself that I don’t actually own any of the buildings that I explore, but sometimes I can’t help but become attached to them, even shit holes like the former Park Plaza Hotel in Oakville. It sort of became my own personal abandonment since I work right across the road from it. I first checked it out late one night coming back from a church event, and then a second time with friends Wu and Boffo on a cold and snowy evening. The place was gutted and ripped apart inside, trashed by local kids and teens or druggies. But it became the spot for me to flee from the work of the day on my lunches, I’d find a spot in one of the rooms, overlooking the overgrown section in the centre of the building where the pool was, and enjoy the quiet.

Not so much anymore.

They’ve been finally starting the demolition on my hotel, replacing it with a big commercial building. So much for that idea.

Nikon FM2 – Nikon Series E 50mm 1:1.8 – Fuji Neopan Arcos 100

Project:52 – Week 22

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Alex

Back to the Siege for Week 22. It’s always fun carrying around classic or strange cameras it always makes for an interesting conversation piece especially when I’m out and around using it. These shots are mostly from around the fort and camps not of actual battles since a TLR takes a bit of effort to use and battles happen fairly fast, event during a war of 1812 reenactment. But despite the rain and mud I still brought it along and ran some HP5 through it to give that nice classic look.

The Saturday Morning Parade

Breakfast! Yes, some people even shy off modern conveniences and cook their food over an open fire.

One of the seven blockhouses along the Fort Meigs Wall.

Ewan enjoys a morning Pipe before the skirmish. This actually is my personal favourite shot from the TLR shots.

Another blockhouse. This one serving as the billet for the 41st Regiment of Foot. During the war the blockhouses were never used to house troops, they all slept in tents, while the blockhouses were dedicated solely to the defense of the fort.

A British Canon, one of two used for the weekend. This was a 9 pound field gun, but during the actual siege the British used massive 24 pound siege guns they captured at Detroit.

A friendly chess game.

Rolleiflex 2.8F – Carl Zeiss Planar 80mm 1:2.8 – Ilford HP5+

The Last Roll (Of Kodachrome)

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Alex

There are probably a lot of people on here who have much longer and fonder memories of this magically slide film called Kodachrome. Kodak canceled the long running film in 2009 along with all support and additional products needed to run the K-14 process. Introduced in 1935 Kodachrome became the first commercially available colour films. It featured bright colours, and long lasting stability. The reason for this was at its very core Kodachrome was a black and white film, with each emulsion layer sensitive to a different colour. Then during the process the dyes were introduced and stuck to the layers to bring out the colours.

I came into Kodachrome far too late.

At the beginning of 2010 Dwayne’s Photo in Parsons, KS announced they would be continuing to process Kodachrome but only will accept orders for processing until December 31st, 2010. The Race was on. Having shot three rolls to this point, those three being major disappointments (poor storage), I went hunting on both Ebay and within the local photographer population and managed to secure myself six more rolls. Living in Canada meant that I had at least a month turn around for my photos.

These photos are from that last roll that I shot on December 18th, 2010. I went along King Street for the most part in Toronto, a street I hadn’t really explored that much with the camera. After I finished the roll, I mailed it off that same day.

This was the very last frame I shot, the building is the City of Toronto’s First Post Office (4th Post office for the City of York) it was shut down after the Rebellions in1837 when the postmaster was framed for aiding the anti-government rebels. It was restored and reopened in 1983 and serves both as a full service Post Office (I mailed the roll off that day from the post office to Dwayne’s) and a museum.

Contax G2 – Carl Zeiss Biogon 2,8/28 T* – Kodachrome 64 (KR)

For all my Kodachrome shots (Including the first failed rolls) you can visit my Last Days of Kodachrome set on Flickr

But fear not! As I mentioned previously, Kodachrome is at it’s core a black and white film, so several people have been experimenting with processing the film in normal b/w chemicals! The results, spectacular! So don’t ditch those spare rolls (if you have any) laying around! Sharp Photo does a good job as does Blue Moon Camera. (If you don’t want/need them, you can always send them to me…)

Celebrity Death

Posted on December 31, 2010 by Alex

Here at the end of 2010 we can look back and go “wow” a lot of celebrities died in the past year. I know, it’s a morbid way to think. But there was another celebrity that passed away in 2010, one mourned by thousands of photographers. Well probably not thousands, but a good number. The celebrity….Kodachrome. The film it self hasn’t been produced since 2009 but the many rolls still out there has been processed by Dwayne’s Photo, the last lab in the world that still did the long and complex K-14 process, and then on Dec 30th at noon, Dwayne’s would not accept any more Kodachrome for processing. But they’re still wading through all the film they’ve been flooded with.

My first experience with Kodachrome wasn’t a good one, poorly stored expired film…

What made Kodachrome so special? The colours, as Paul Simon immortalized in words “They give us those nice bright colors, They give us the greens of summers, Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day, Oh yeah” in his song Kodachrome (which many people still sing whenever I mention the the film). Also the sheer stability of the film. Kodachrome was unique, it was a game changer when Kodak introduced it in the mid 1930s, it was also the first consumer colour slide film. At it’s very base Kodachrome is a black and white film which is what gives it the stability (Kodak says you won’t start seeing degradation for a good 100 years, and then just the yellows will start to fade (if stored properly), the colours are introduced during the processing. This alone makes Kodachrome near impossible to duplicate in a home darkroom, unless you just do it as a black and white film.

Although by Roll 4 the results were much better!

Also there’s a state park in Utah named Kodachrome Basin Park. Yeah, it was that special.

I felt very akin to the professionals and tourists that had before me shot probably this very building in Niagara-on-the-lake on Kodachrome (some even with a Nikon F3)

So what was my Kodachrome Toll…having getting into the game late and getting a limited stock of the film from 2009 to 2010 Here’s the break down.

Total number of Frames shot: 324
- Total number of Kodachrome 64 Frames shot: 252
- Total number of Kodachrome 40 Frames shot: 36
- Total number of Kodachrome 25 Frames shot: 36
Total Number of frames shot on the Nikon F3: 180
Total Number of frames shot on the Nikon F4: 108
Total Number of frames shot on the Contax G2: 36

The Horseshoe (Canadian) Falls at Niagara Falls they have probably been captured thousands of times on Kodachrome.

The only thing I’m sorry for is that I won’t be able to use Kodachrome in my Project:52.

Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day, Oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don’t take my Kodachrome away

alex luyckx | blog

Explorer, Photographer, Wanderer

Tag Archives: film photography