Finally! I've started souping film. The first rule (mine) and the first recipe is to keep it simple; I chose baking soda with expired Kodak Ektachrome 100 color slide film that I cross-processed in C41. I don't have the patience to wait weeks to see what images I have and what images that I missed so I soup in the can. I shoot, I wrap my film then I add the soup; I've always used steel tanks and reels; easy clean up and no staining.
As with any recipe there was a comedy of errors like when the plastic cap popped off during the quick boil step (oh no light!). Instead of boiling for 5 minutes it was reduced to 3; live and learn. I actually liked my results from this recipe. Some of the images looked almost solarized and others looked sunny on a mostly cloudy day.
The second recipe that I tried I found on the Lomography website that contained rum and lime. This time I shot Lomography 120 color 400 negative film that I let sit for six hours and then I developed it. My images from this soup looked a lot like Kono Sunstroke film which I thought was pretty cool.
For the third soup I went back to another roll of expired Kodak Ektachrome 100. I also went back to baking soda, and owning my new chef's hat, I added a touch of turmeric. I chose my Holga 120 camera for a quick walk and shoot because it's freezing in Detroit and I wanted a short environment session; also plastic doesn't freeze like humans. We all know the Holga eats light and has no controls so I set my camera on cloudy on a bright sunny day, I used a graduated polarizer filter and pushed the film two stops. I also crossed processed in C41 (film photography is never simple).
I've been developing my own film forever because I can't justify the processing cost when I can do it myself. I use Kodak D76 for black and white film and Cinestill for color film. With Cinestill I like how you can use photo flo after the bleach bath. I began with Unicolor C-41 and hated the endless water spots not to mention the time that I had to spend on photoshop getting rid of them.
A "fun fact" about the last double exposure image at Campus Martius skating rink; I totally touched the film during the reel process and I thought, not a nightmare I have more, well not only did I roll off the affected area a first during the photo flo step it scanned great and it's my favorite image out of the Holga. I'm adding the new souped images to the Lomo Love gallery and the home page.
I'm encouraged with the first three rolls. Here are the images from soups 1 thru 3. Cheers!
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