Christopher H Photo - December Photo Feature!

October 26 2020

I had friends from Arizona in town back in October, and they wanted to visit the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York City.  With limited attendance and timed admissions due to COVID19, we had bought our tickets well in advance.  In other words, we couldn’t plan around weather.  And so it was a misty drizzly New Jersey morning when we arrived in Jersey City; you could barely see Manhattan from the water taxi dock.  I didn’t think I’d get any good photos.  Two rolls of Kodak Portra 800 later and a shipment to PhotoVision and back, and I had two long strips of beautifully exposed negatives in my hands to scan.  These photos were great - I loved every frame!

Maybe because of COVID, maybe because of weather, maybe because it was a Monday, but the grounds of the Memorial were practically empty.  It was great for photos, not being shoulder to shoulder in the crowds, and it certainly added a somber air to the site.  I didn’t do any research prior to going, so I didn’t know about the Birthday Roses that staff and volunteers offer to families of victims.  By request, and for remembrance, a white rose can be placed at a victim’s name on the memorial on their birthday.  On this gloomy October day, there was only one bright rose placed within the whole grounds.  The light rain coming down was dripping off the rose, making it look as though it was shedding tears.  This is the kind of photo that you just happen to stumble upon and could never really plan for.

I had a Nikon F5 with me for the day.  I had packed a few rolls of Portra 800 for the higher ISO I figured I’d need inside the Museum.  I don’t shoot Portra 800 that often, but I do know that I am always happy with the results.  The tones and colors from this film are gorgeous.  It scans so easily.  It is simply a joy to shoot this film.  This photo was taken with a 24mm Nikkor lens.  Shooting with the F5 and using a Nikon MV-1 data reader, I can refer to my shooting data and see that I captured this photo at 1/160th at f5.6.

Know your film, trust yourself.  #believeinfilm #kodakprofessional #portra
(Be sure to click on “Beyond Weddings” in my menu to the left to see more photos…)