Dipping into the archives once again…
This picture goes back about 25 years to the time I was still based in Buffalo, NY. About three quarters of the work I did in the spring and fall during that time were weddings. If there were more air conditioned churches (I only knew of one!) I might have taken more work in July and August. (I know it’s hard for some people to understand, but it does get hot there in the summer. It’s the winters that kind if get to you…)
Unfortunately, I’m not sure of the year, or the church. I believe the church is on Main Street near the University of Buffalo campus, but I could be wrong. Perhaps a sharp eyed viewer can fill in the gap.
If this picture looks a little dramatic, it’s because it was made using the now dearly departed Kodak B&W Infra-red film. This film is sensitive to the far red end of the light spectrum and beyond what the human eye is able to see. Alternatively dramatic and dreamy, I felt that the special characteristics of the film lent itself particularly well to telling a wedding day story.
Because the film is sensitive to wavelengths of light that humans cannot see, it could not be metered for exposure, nor did infra-red light focus along the same focal plane as white light, so you could never be completely sure what your pictures would look like until the film was processed and printed. And, oh yeah, you could only load and unload your camera in complete darkness because the film could fog through the film slit in the canister.
Every time your prints came back from the lab you’d feel all the anticipation and excitement like you would opening a birthday present. What could be inside this package? Will I like it? How could any photographer NOT want to work with this film?
Well, because the film was so unpredictable and difficult to work with, few photographers would ever dare to use it in a situation where you couldn’t go back and redo, or take a bunch of pictures and bracket exposures like crazy. But like anything else, the more you use a tool, the more familiar you are with it and your hits will out number your misses.
Of course, like many specialty films it was discontinued several years ago. There are digital equivalents but I don’t think they measure up. For purely nostalgic reasons I still have one roll in my refrigerator. Even cold stored, after all this time I’m not sure I’d count on getting much were I to shoot it now.
But maybe that’s the reason I ought to…