Pacific From La Jolla, 2000

From the “other” ocean, comes a picture from March, 2000 originally photographed in color on Kodak Portra 160 film with a Hasselblad 903-SWC. I’ve converted it here to black and white.

As was the case with the previous post, it’s an image that I never scanned or printed (other than on a contact sheet for reference).  I’m showing it with the film border because of an interesting discovery.

Hasselblads are medium format cameras that have detachable backs. Long ago, the company put two V notches onto their backs so that exposed film images would have a Hasselblad mark. With the camera in an upright position (which they almost always are), those V notches will be found on the left edge of the exposed picture. But when I looked at this one yesterday, they were down on the bottom. Here’s a closeup:

This can only mean that I took the picture sideways. My best guess: I raised my tripod with the camera attached to such a height that I couldn’t look through the viewfinder without getting on my toes.  For a quick fix, I must’ve tilted the tripod head 90° to the left and locked it there, bringing the viewfinder down to eye level.  That’s a fast adjustment, especially if the birds are going to fly. And that’s why the V notches are on the bottom instead of the side.

It’s funny, these days there’s lots of apps which simulate ragged film borders. I like playing with them once in awhile but they have the annoying tendency of making me feel old. 😏