52 Rolls :: Jan 2016

A couple of years ago I tried to do a photo a day for the month of February. A few days in the little project was over as I missed a day. I am pretty OCD about stuff like that. Missing a day and trying to shoot two photos the next day to make up for it was just not going to cut it.  As 2016 approached I decided I was going to do the 365 photo a day project where I would shoot one picture a day for an entire year. I started the project but only a few days in and I had missed a day. As I started that project I heard about another project that people were doing. It’s called the 52 rolls project where 1 roll of film is shot per week for an entire year. As soon as I heard about that I knew I would have a better chance at succeeding with the 52 rolls project. The first week of 2016 was not over yet and I jumped on that train as quickly as I could.

I have several film cameras such as the following: Bronica ETRS, Yashica Mat 124 G, 3 Holga’s, Canon Elan 7E, Minolta Hi Matic 9, Diana F+, and a few others. I wanted to have some sort of consistency to the project so I decided that I was going to shoot the whole project medium format and with black and white film. For those of you who do not know what medium format is, it is just a larger film than the more popular 35mm film that used to be sold just about anywhere. Medium format comes in different sizes such as 6 x 4.5, 6×6, and 5×7. I only own the 6×4.5 and 6×6 type cameras. Since I do have several different cameras I decided I wanted to shoot the project with a different camera each month. Now, I do not own 12 medium format cameras so I am going to most likely end up using each camera more than once.

For the month of Jan. I decided to use the Yashica Mat 124 G. I have always wanted a TLR (Twin Lens Reflex) camera like this and I picked this one up a few months ago for $110 at a camera swap meet. This camera shoots a 6 x 6 square format negative. To see what you are going to photograph you have to look down through the top of the camera and what you see is actually flipped flopped in the viewfinder. For example, what you see on the right with your eyes looking at the subject will be on the left when looking through the viewfinder. This really caused me to slow down my shooting process. I found myself having to compose slower and recompose two or three times on several occasions. The light meter does not work on my camera so I had to use the Sunny 16 rule most of the time when shooting. A few times I used a hand held light meter when I had one at my disposal. Holding the camera proved to be different as well as it’s like holding a brick. I was afraid on several different occasions that I had moved the camera too much when pressing the shutter button. However, after getting the negatives back I realized that this was not so much the case. I thought about using a tripod while shooting this camera but in most situations where I was shooting I did not have my tripod with me. Overall, I really enjoyed shooting the Yashica Mat 124 G. This camera has become one of my favorite cameras to shoot with for a few different reasons. 1. It is pretty simple to use other than seeing the images backwards in the viewfinder. 2. It makes me slow down and really work for my shot. 3. I absolutely love the look and aesthetic of this camera.