Diggin' in the Crates Vol. 2

The recipe

WeIcome to the second volume of Diggin’ in the Crates. My Substack pal

Li Chen

cleverly called this kind of post a clip show, but I like a good clip show - and some, if not most of these photos from the archives might never see the light of day except for a post like this.

Nothing big, no deep dives or anything like that, just some photos I wanted to share.

These are some shots that were either fun to take, or reflect trying out some new (to me) techniques. This series will feature some good, some bad, and some ‘just ok’ (my bread ‘n butter), but the key is keeping it simple and just sharing a bit of context to set the scene.

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These photos are from a few years ago - you can tell because they got that “I got a new Fujifilm” simulation stank. Overcooked? Yep, a little bit, but I’m not here to hate on old photos and techniques. I was trying things, having fun, and still figuring out my camera - having not had it long.

I’d discovered Fuji X Weekly and was digging into all the cool film recipes on the site. I don’t remember what recipe this one was - maybe “Cooked Chrome”? No, that doesn’t seem right. At any rate, it’s not bad, it’s just a bit too pushed and stylized for my liking.

As most photography outings go in my home city of Halifax, I went on my way without any real agenda. I just had the itch, so I got in the car and drove to “insert neighbourhood here” and proceeded to wander. It’s typical to either have the streets full of people or devoid of all life…there’s almost no in-between here. So, anytime I set out I mentally prepare for both situations, cross my fingers for one (people, all day), and see how it shakes out.

This was not one of those days I’d have had my fingers crossed for, but I made due and I recall having a good time.

I was trying a lot more film recipes back then, and to some extent I still use them, but if and when I do, I like to keep it real with either Fujifilm, Kodak, Cinestill or Ilford recipes loaded on the camera. The more representative of the actual film stock the better, then I typically tweak them to taste from there.

More often though, I find myself stepping further away from using recipes and just sticking with the stock Fujifilm sims on the camera, especially now that I’m shooting so much actual film.

Will there be a few more Diggin’ in the Crates with some overcooked film recipes? Yes, absolutely.

Any of ya’ll use a Fujifilm? If so what are your go-to recipes or past favourites? Let’s chat about it in the comments!

All images are SOOC and shot with Fujifilm XT-30II w/ a Fujinon 18-55mm f/2.8 lens.

Stay focused.