Analog Therapy/Accidental Exercise/Film Test: FPP BW INFRARED 200 w/ R72.
I got the bright idea last night to finally visit the Historic Occoneechee Speedway Trail near me. What actually happened is that I got an accidental workout because cameras.
But first a plug. More information to come but I will have an exhibit in Greensoboro next month and I stopped by my local camera shop to pick up some prints.
Shameless plug done and back to the task at hand. Accidental exercise.
The Historic Occoneechee Speedway Trail is an interesting place. Used to be… You know what? Here is a bit of cut and paste from the website links above:
“The original track was a half-mile horse track built by Julian S. Carr for Occoneechee Farms. It was later expanded and used by NASCAR. This 44-acre site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in May 2002. Four miles of trail take you along the banks of the Eno River where you’ll walk around the only surviving dirt speedway from NASCAR’s inaugural 1949 season. The 1-mile oval Occoneechee/Orange Speedway was active from 1948-68, attracting the best stock car drivers and thousands of spectators. Today this unique outdoor site allows for a diverse range of activities and is enjoyed by individual hikers, joggers, and other sports enthusiasts.“
The film. Inspired by recently trying Rollei Infrared 400…
…and ILFORD SFX 200…
…I am giving FPP BW Infrared 200 a try. The set up:
- R72 filter.
- Compensated for the filter using ISO 6.
- …that is it.
This set up calls for bright sun. So of course I decided to use it late in the day… in the shade. I am a stubborn one. This called for exposure times measured in full seconds at all times. So every flat surface I could find was used. Here are the results with some thoughts after.
The camera and lens?
Fantastic as usual.
The location?
After I got over the whole “And no one could hear him scream…” aspect of it I enjoyed myself. I will stick to my treadmill though. With only two cars on site, there is not much chance I will be back to take more photos. But I am glad I went. It could be cool for a portrait session now that I think about it… A comfortable shoe would be required.
The film?
It looks a lot like Ilford SFX 200 to me. Which is odd since SFX is not a full on Infrared film and only requires a red filter requiring only 3 stops of compensation. So you can get faster shutter speeds than the 5 stops of compensation that FPP requires. Same goes for the Rollei Infrared 400 with an R72 since you start at a higher ISO. I do like the FPP variant, but at the same price, higher available shutter speeds, 36 exposures instead of 24, and sharper results I would likely lean towards the Rollei film. But who knows? It has a nice look and I will likely try it again. I will make a point to save the next roll for bright daylight.
Anyhoo.
Another successful analog therapy session.
Happy capturing.
-ELW
Eric L. Woods 