It's official, the first roll of film is shot!

That's right, folks. We took a little stroll this afternoon and I shot my first Caffenol test roll! It's just a bunch of nonsense shots, but the content is less of a concern to me than trying to figure out how to develop using Caffenol. I'm hoping to develop the roll on Monday, we'll see what we get!

Expanded topic statement, working title, and timeline complete

Well, I finished up my expanded topic statement/more complete explanation of what all I'm hoping to achieve with my project. I also came up with a working title for the entire project: Doing my part to protect the environment, one roll of film at a time. A little long, I know, but I think it accurately sums up what I hope to accomplish with my Caffenol experimentation. I didn't include anything about building my camera in the title because, even though it's an important component of the project, my ultimate goal is to create images in a more environmentally friendly way through the Caffenol developer.

I have also created a timeline of events for the next 3 months. After plugging everything into iCal on our iMac I was able to see the big picture and boy do I have a lot of work to do! It feels great to get some of this more formal assignment stuff out of the way now so that I can really dig in to the developing and building. Here's looking forward to a much more productive week!

Finally ready to get this project off the ground!

At long last I have all of the ingredients to make Caffenol film developer! The washing soda ended up being the trickiest to find, but I tracked a box down and I'm ready to roll. Now all I need to do is shoot a roll of film...

Why are Kitchen Scales so darn Expensive?

I actually made some progress today! I shot a roll of b/w film in the Leica (took a bunch of pictures around the house seeing as how the weather was pretty blah today) and plan to have it developed tomorrow. If all goes well with that test roll, and the camera is still functioning properly after 40 years, the next roll will be one that gets developed in Caffenol!

Speaking of which, I broke down and ordered the vitamin C crystals and a kitchen scale for measuring everything this afternoon on Amazon.com. I was hoping to keep most of my purchases local for the project but I've had a tough time finding some of the things I need for a reasonable price. Kitchen scales were $30 at Target, while the model I purchased on Amazon was a measly $9. I also couldn't find vitamin C in any other form than pill or capsule at the few places I looked. Since I need the vitamin C to completely dissolve into the developer, powder/crystals are the only way to go. Thankfully I did find the final ingredient, washing soda, at an Ace Hardware store on the far northern end of Santa Rosa. Seeing as how it's on the way to my favorite used bookstore, I figure I'll just hit both spots in one trip this week.

So the Caffenol developer portion of my project finally seems to be moving in the right direction. I'm hopeful the weather will clear up tomorrow or Thursday so that I can shoot a quick roll of film. As soon as the vitamin C and scale show up I'm going to whip up my first batch of Caffenol and see what happens!

Lets make some Caffenol

I threw a [small] shopping list together tonight to get the Caffenol developer portion of my project going this week, hopefully. I have already purchased the instant coffee. Now all I need are pure vitamin C crystals and washing soda. I'd also like to pick up a small kitchen scale so that I can measure everything out according to the instructions I've been reading online. I plan on hitting Tru-Value and probably GNC with Charlie tomorrow to gather these last few things up. Then it's time to head for my old photo supply boxes and dig out my developing tank, film reels, and various other supplies.

I'm going to throw some b/w film into an old rangefinder I was gifted by a great Aunt some years ago to shoot this week. I'm excited to finally use this camera, though I have to admit using a Leica is a bit intimidating.

Project Tweaks, already?

Hello all,

Looks like my senior project is already undergoing a facelift, of sorts. I had initially planned to build a small "easy" pinhole camera to do some developer tests and get my feet back under me. I'm having a heck of a time finding a 4x5 film holder for a decent price locally. I could order something on eBay but I'd rather not have to wait for it to be shipped. So... I'm going to skip the pinhole camera step and just shoot some test rolls of film to try out the Caffenol developer. I also need to get my butt in gear on scraping together the materials to actually start building the "real" camera. This self motivation thing can be a real pain, huh? As soon as I get the test rolls shot I'll post some results here.

Topic Statement Posted

I'm feeling way beyond productive this week. I hammered out and posted my Topic Statement today on our online bulletin board system. It feels great to get our first "assignment" of the semester finished a few days early. I also compiled a list of materials to build the large format pinhole trial camera, and then promptly forgot to bring home said materials from work this evening :( Guess there's always tomorrow, right?

I am now on the hunt for a used 4x5 film holder to attach to the back of the pinhole camera. I'm planning on loading it up with photo paper to create paper negatives at first. Why waste a bunch of not inexpensive film when I can produce satisfactory results with coated paper I already have a bunch of in the garage? I'm going to give Jeremiah's Photo Corner a ring tomorrow and see if they have any large format accessories in-store right now. Crossing my fingers!