show me your duds: mira 800 T (with 85b filter)

Shooting on analog, with all of its quirks and limitations, can lead to spectacular failure. I’m not some magician that shoots pure gold everytime I use a camera. As much as photography is work, it is also a kind of play, allowing me to try and experiment, in order to reach new ideas an try new techniques. Sometimes those moments of play lead to brilliance, other times to failure. Failure, sometimes, is needed.

Here is a roll of failure: technical problems, poor choices, bad timing, time lost working, money and energy down the drain. Here is what went wrong, unedited.

Red line static electricity. I thought this was interesting when I first encountered the problem. To review, it’s being caused by me, and not on purpose. When I wind the camera to the next photo, I’m doing it so fast or hard that it is creating a static charge. I’m basically too quick, or too overenthusiastic, or too caffeinated. These type of high iso, tungsten films (cinestill or mira 800T) have a tendency to also produce this effect, as well as red halation, so this is not helping.

The first shot of all of my rolls are usually black anyway, as it allows for a bit of safety when shooting. Technically, this is half correct. But the correct part of things, what makes it a good or bad image, would only be good to someone as high as a coconut. Then, the disasters happened.

Cool, until it is not. 100% excitement leading to 100% user error. In some, I don’t even remember what or why I thought it was interesting to shoot, as there are some weird frames there that not even I can explain. It gets better.

I pass by this seagull almost everyday. He’s great. I grew up with lots of seagulls and the ocean. He reminds me of that place, with its docks and salty air and waves and clouds on the horizon. He is the reminder that not every trip out to sea will yield the best catch, that there’s no luck in fishing here.

This is just one of many failed rolls. But failure is needed to create. To try once, twice, a hundred times to bring about the one time where it does work. A hundred trips out to sea.

Unfortunately, this experimentation takes a bit of money and support to make happen. Please consider supporting my analog photography work and practice, which you can learn more about here. Providing assistance for the materials and processes of this type of work can only exist with your help. Thank you to those who have supported, very much appreciated.

Next time, the good catch!