priscimon blog

This evening I developed a roll of expired Ferrania Solaris 100 film, which I bought on eBay. It was ideal for testing because it had only 12 frames, which I could expose within a single day. In contrast, it usually takes months for me to finish a roll of 36 frames. The flowers that my mother and I planted came in as handy photo subjects, as did the fruit bowl.

These results are decent for a film expired in 2008 and developed with one-year-old chemicals. Conventional wisdom says that I should err on the side of overexposure when shooting film, which I did when the light-meter gave me values that I could not set on the Minolta X300 camera — for example, choosing 1/8-second shutter speed on the camera when the meter gives a 1/10-second reading — but I find the photos are overexposed.

The same problem is present in some of the photos below, from another roll developed a couple of weeks ago. My Sekonic lightmeter is accurate, as tested with a Nikon DSLR, so I now worry that there might be a bit of shutter drag on this camera.

Je n’ai pas grand chose à te dire
Et pas grand chose pour te faire rire
Car j’imagine toujours le pire
Et le meilleur me fait souffrir
— Indochine

I am typing this in Bordeaux, after spending a few hours refurbishing laptops handed back to me by my sister-in-law before she leaves France. She and P are shopping on Rue Sainte-Catherine.

On my last trip to Bordeaux, I was ill — apparently from an unusual consumption of Bordeaux’s fine wines — and spent the last two days in bed. As this trip ends, it seems that I am unfortunate once more: this time, I have a sprained ankle. Somehow, between climbing into bed, after returning from a meal at Alfama, and waking up, I injured myself. I can’t think how this is even possible. The ankle is not swollen, but it is very sensitive to touch and cannot bear weight. Which is why I am cleaning laptops indoors when the weather outside is so inviting.

I hope that I am well enough to visit Jardin Public and Le Lac for photography tomorrow. But, it does not look good, with the pain still felt this late in the day. Never mind the worry of lugging our suitcases on the tram to the airport, I just wish for the chance to enjoy our last day in Bordeaux.