3 Cameras On Main Street

A couple of weeks ago I spent some time on Main Street during their 90’s night. There was outside dining and music as you walked down the street. It was the perfect night to try out a new camera and to try some expired film that I got from the local camera store. I have been doing a series on the blog showing how I use three cameras to make the same photo. I had the idea to do something similar, but with an entire walk. Instead of just making the same photo with each camera I could use the strengths of each one. Below are some of my favorite images with each of the three cameras.

Sony A7RIII With The Sony 24-105mm Lens

My trusty Sony camera with my 24-105mm lens was my main camera for the night. I was making photos with the other cameras too, but this was my “safe” camera. I could see what I was making right away, and it is the camera that I use everyday.

I really like this photo. It might be my favorite of the night. In front of the Flora Candle Company they had set up a chalk Twister board. I thought that it would look great with the theater as the background. I may have worked this photo a little too hard, but I really like how it turned out.

Flourish Studio had a fun art display out front of their business. One of the great memories of the lockdown was playing among us in huge groups via Zoom. I liked this photo for that reason.

This is one of my favorite spots to make a photo. You have the iconic Lafayette Theater on the left side of the frame, and a mural kind of mixing the Edward Hopper painting Nighthawks with the Lafayette Theater. A photographer making a photo of the theater really made this photo for me.

A couple of photos of the Long Center rounds things out with the Sony A7RIII. This is a historic theater that I still don’t think that I have captured very well. I do like how these two photos turned out though.

Fujica AX-3

This was my new film camera at the time that I made these photos. The only lens that I have for it right now is a 50mm f/1.6 lens that kind of limits what I can do in close quarters like on the street. I did have some fun trying some things out with it though. I had it loaded up with some Kodak Plus 200. That film is fine during the day, but it really was hard to use as the sun went down. Below are a few of my favorite photos with the Fuji.

The Lafayette Theater marquee gets things started off here with a couple of photos. The beautiful blue sky I knew would look great on the color plus film so I tried a couple of compositions here to show part of the sign with the blue sky as the background.

In front of the candy shop on the corner of 6th and Main there was a band playing some 90’s songs which was the theme of the night. I thought that this would be a great test for the exposure meter on the camera. You had the singer who was in the darker portion of the frame. You also had a pretty bright sky and the even brighter lights of the theater in the background. I think the camera made the frame a little dark, but really did pretty good considering everything going on here.

Here are a few photos from the Flourish Studio again. I tried to really test this camera out a few ways here. The top photo was made inside of the studio with the fluorescent lights. The second was made photographing from the outside of the store back into it. The meter on the camera did alright with this one as well. The third photo was of the sign outside of the studio. The photo came out a little darker, but I really like how this turned out. The final photo is another portion of the art outside of the studio that was up above. With a lot of reflection off of the lights I wondered how this would turn out. I was really happy with how all of these photos came out.

When I made this photo I knew that the sky would probably be blown out. With that in mind I had the thought of turning it black and white. It seems crazy to use color plus film only to get rid of all of the color, but I really like the final result.

I love the inflatables in the window of the Flora Candle Company. This was a quick photo, but I like how it turned out.

A few photos of the Lafayette Theater once the sun went down. The camera meter had a little more trouble as the ambient light went away, but I really like how these turned out. They are not perfect, but there is something fun about that.

Just like with the Sony we close out the Fuji with photos of the Long Center. I love this old theater, and I think I captured it fairly well in the first photo. I love that the sign is for a Glenn Miller concert. It gives the photo a kind of timeless quality to it.

Canon AE-1

This camera has given me fits for the last couple of years. Sometimes I get great results with it, and other times I struggle with it. Here I had it loaded with some old Canon Ultra Max 400 film. When I say old I really mean old. I got an expired roll from Camera Outfitters to try out. The film expired in December of 2005. With that in mind I set my ISO at 200 instead of 400. Overall I think that I liked the look of what I was able to get with this film when I could make the camera work. Below are a few photos that I liked with this combo.

This is a similar photo to the one that I made with my Sony mirrorless camera. The Sony was made at 24mm, and this lens was only a 35mm lens so it is a little tighter. I do like the look of it.

I really like how this photo down Main Street turned out. I think that if I had made it with the color plus film I would not have liked it so much. The expired film though gives it a look that I really like.

More photos of the Lafayette Theater here. I really like this old theater if you can’t tell. When you are testing something out it is always good to get out and photograph something that you have photographed a lot. That way you have photos to compare with what you have made. I really like the idea of the second photo, but I either have introduced some motion blur to the photo, or I missed focus by a hair. If I had nailed the photo it might have been my favorite of the night. I have two more rolls of this expired film, and that photo alone may make me get out and use them both sooner rather than later.

Once again we end with the Long Center. This was where my night ended as I parked around the corner from here so it made sense for me to end each segment here as well. I like how this turned out with the expired film. I think that I learned some things here that I will use on the other rolls that I have. I would like to use it on a 50mm lens and get in tighter on my subjects. I think that would help it out a little.

Final Thoughts

Have you made it this far? Holy cow what was I thinking when I started this? If you have made it this far congratulations. I really had some fun making these photos and putting this tougher. I like the 3 photos with 3 cameras idea, but this one has some merits too. Would you like to see more of these longer posts like this one? I have been mostly featuring one photo a post, but I like the idea of coming up with ideas for walks like this one with a couple of cameras. I have film out right now from a walk around the Purdue campus that could make for another fun post. Let me know in the comments if you want more of these.