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Kodak’s TRI-X black & white film holds a special place in my memory. At 14 years old, this was the first black & white film that I shot and the first that I developed myself. When I took PHOTOGRAPHY I at Chugiak High School we had two choices of film to choose from, PLUS-X and TRI-X. I opted for TRI-X since it was rated at ASA 400 (pre-ISO in those days) and Plus-X was only rated at ASA 125. I wanted the extra low-light ability gained by the faster speed.

As my high school photographic career advanced onto the yearbook and newspaper staff, TRI-X went along for the ride. I routinely bumped the speed to ASA 1600 for the low-light ability it provided. The extra grain was tolerated as a way of getting the shot.

I left TRI-X behind after high school and graduated into shooting roll upon roll of Kodachrome 120 while working as a studio photographer. I didn’t shoot black & white again until a few years later in college, but by then I was more interested in quality and “tighter grain” so I opted for PLUS-X in my Mamiya 645.

Today’s capture was created in Photoshop to give the illusion of TRI-X film. The black & white image of Sarah was shot digitally. I then blended a scan of actual film grain onto the image and then placed it on the scanned TRI-X film negative.

This sure reminds me of my time spent in the darkroom 20+ years ago, but it’s just not quite the same.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L IS lens – 1/125 second, f/22, ISO 100

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