Kodachrome 64

chrome/22

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Who remembers this old school slide film?

Man, like my father before me I burned a lot of this type up in the mountains. Dad liked the 25 speed. I went for the higher contrast 64. The high elevation sky/lake blues against the North Cascade greens was simply unbeatable.

c/22
 
I was always a Fuji shooter in my slide era. I long ago realized that I liked the idea of Kodachrome more than the reality I saw when I used it. Low exposure latitude, slow ISO, and complex processing with limited lab options (even in the pre-digital era).

That said, when Kodachrome works, it works well. Images made with it can feel very unique. Plus, what other film stock has its own song?

 
I also preferred Fuji. I mostly used Provia as Velvia was a bit too cartoony for my tastes. I did like Ektachrome as well. I was mostly shooting whales so I already had a lot of blues and greens.
 
I feel fortunate to have experienced transparency film. K64 was great, but the E-6 fuji was even better. 90% of commercial work was done with transparent film. 35 mm, medium format and 4x5 sheet film. Unlike "negatives" the exposure HAD to be SPOT on. We used to do a "snip test". They would process the first few exposures, let me view them and then I could decide to push or pull the film (if it was too dark or too light). Projectors, viewers or just holding it up to a window, was a hoot. Then there was the light table and the Lupe . The color from a transparency film on a light table under a quality Lupe was candy for the brain.
 
When E-6 came out I was able to process my film myself. Shooting 36 frames of underwater shots with a Nikonos, and getting to see the film that night was truly magical, at that time. I could learn from my mistakes for the next day of diving. I actually processed the film in the marina bathroom and hung the rolls of film to dry in my camper. I cut the "keepers" out and put them in a "slide holder". Stared at the images for hours in a battery powered "viewer".
Yeah those days were fun.
 
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