new year, new film.

This post really ought to be titled New Year, New Film, Same Old Inability To Focus Which Might Mean Another Trip To The Optometrist.  Or basically: Happy New Year!  I’m really digging this first roll of Kodak Ektar 100, which is proving to live up to its proclamation of World’s Finest Grain.  It’s giving me a much sharper, more vivid experience than the Portra 160NC, and right now it’s the kind of change I need in my photography.   I just wish my Super Takumar lens (50mm f/1.4) would just give me a break already.  Such a sensitive little thing!  Goes off-focus with the slightest of ease.  Hrmph.

Case in point: A lovely Sunday brunch with JT at Gusto in the West Village.  We decided to indulge in late morning pastas, eschewing all forms of egginess save the lone yolk atop JT’s carbonara.  No alcohol, no caffeine.  And yet, my hands and eyes proved much more unsteady than I would’ve expected  … well, maybe I can blame the pictoral fuzziness on the champagne from two nights earlier.  Probably not.  I’m starting to think that maybe the Pentax/Takumar combination is best utilized at middle distances, and not for anything terribly up close.  Hmmmm.

(This photo immediately above, of JT’s krama, is such an anomaly in this batch of Ektar — it feels much more Portra-ish in its muted tones, and also is much more reminiscent of Lomo-style optics.  Odd!)

In any event, at least the very top photograph, of pre-meal fritters, came out alright.  And goodness me!  I’m just excited to see what else Ektar can do, especially outdoors.  I’ll be posting a few more photographs from this test roll in the next few days.  And I hope everyone had an exceptionally raucous and memorable New Years.