I had up until this point never tried Acros, but have had several people tell me how amazing this black and white film performs. When I noticed that it was PMK-friendly I was suddenly more interested since I’m on this recent kick. The film just looks sophisticated directly out of the developing tank. There’s something about it, it has this magical velvety-glossy emulsion that looks special.

I’m really happy with the results. I think this might be my new go-to combination. I can’t express how pleased I am that Acros is available in all different formats too, (4×5 and 8×10!) even if it is a little pricier than other options, it may just be worth it.

This was the first time using my brand new Sekonic spot meter too. After being without a proper functioning meter for quite some time it feels really good to actually have the capability to capture with some degree of confidence that my images aren’t going to look exposed wildly inaccurate.

This day of photographing was kind of hit or miss, Greg and I went on a voyage trying to reach Mt. St. Helens, a place I have been wanting to photograph long before we had decided to try and relocate to Portland. It was a beautiful day, we threw together my equipment and his little Canon 35mm and plopped the dog in the back seat and went off. After hitting some serious traffic and getting slightly lost we did the math and figured there was no way to make it to Mt. St.
Helens before it got dark. Slightly defeated, we headed back towards Portland. Greg is wildly supportive of me, and made it clear if I saw anything on our way home to shout and we would pull over. After spotting signs for Battle Ground National Park we headed towards it hoping to get a few frames in before the sun went totally down. Pulling up to Battleground we saw these beautiful and lush Pacific Northwest woods and I quickly ran around while there was still daylight trying to capture how soft and wonderful the light was in dusk. We both agreed that we would plan on heading back there with a little more time to do some better exploring.

So I have found myself a recent transplant of Portland, Oregon. Greg and I have been here for a few days shy of six months now. It hasn’t been easy, but it hasn’t been particularly difficult. Challenging is a better word, I think. I have a lot more respect for the transplant process now. Doing what we did and in the way we did it  was like ripping off a band-aid; Graduate from college, say good-bye to friends and family, pack up all your things and go into the unknown.

After graduation I thought a lot about photography. I thought about making it. I thought about what I should do with it. I thought about other people’s photography. But picking up my camera made me feel a little sad. For me, thinking about photography seemed to be the next big step as I mourned for my previous life and closing of a chapter. I had to debrief from the last few years, and just take some time to be alone with photography.

While I thought and settled into my new home, job and city I made some camera related purchases. New lens. Developing gear. I sort of rebuilt my arsenal and began to become adjusted to my new developing arrangements. I really wanted to get PMK pyro down. Previously I had struggled getting the developer to work, and was starting to feel like there was something wrong with me. I am by no means the best black and white developer, but I should be able to handle PMK pyro. So I did more research, and on a particularly sunny and beautiful day here in the usually rainy winter time in Portland, Greg, Isabelle and I set out for a brief adventure in North Portland to Smith Lake. We really didn’t have plans, we just kind of picked a spot and walked around. It felt nice to have the a little bit of freedom, and the pressure of making work off me. It made me want to actually make work. Again, this is like a sketch book. So consider these images some successful PMK pyro developing and also just kind of looking around and exploring the new-to-me landscape.