Jake Catlett Photography

Agfa APX

Playing with different kinds of film is fun.  Lord knows I don’t really need any new excuses to go out and take more photos, but deciding that I need to test out different types and brands of film has made it easy for me to justify spending my hard earned cash, and helped me feel good about blowing off other responsibilities while I wander around and do my ‘research’.

During the few days following Christmas I was testing out Agfa’s APX line of professional panchromatic B&W films.  After playing around with a bit of Ilford’s product I was going to be a hard sell.  I started off with APX 400 speed film, first in the slums a couple of blocks away, and next at my friend Tim’s Boxing Day Party.   Another buddy of mine, Bryan, made the comment that Agfa film looks “old”.  By that I think he meant that it looks like old school photos shot in the 1930’s on old chrome films.  Judging from this shot below I’d have to say I agree with him.

Pretty much more than anything, I enjoy shooting portraits.  So, Tim’s Boxing Day party seemed like the perfect occasion to capture some of my friends in a festive mood.  For you Americans out there (or any other nationality, for that matter) who scratch your head like I did and say “what in the hell is Boxing Day?”, the answer is:  bent if I know.  Apparently the Australians, English, Canadians and probably the New Zealanders celebrate this holiday on the day after Christmas, and I don’t think anybody really knows what the purpose is.  It’s definitely not about the sport of boxing.  I think it might have something to do the fact that gifts come in boxes, however we Americans have removed all of our gifts from their boxes by this point in time, and are more concerned with using, wearing, eating, or returning said gifts than we are with the frigging boxes they came in.  It seems to me like an excuse to tack another day onto to the end of the holiday.  In America we basically have no intentions of working the day after Christmas anyhow, and so feel no need to make up yet another holiday and name it after a sport which we aren’t planning on watching that day.  But I digress…  let’s continue with the discussion of film.

Here I seem to have captured Tim in a rather melancholy mood.  What’s wrong little buddy?  Chipper up and enjoy the day off of work!  Or at least appreciate the gorgeous tonal gradation in this photo, the subtle contrasts, and the way I caught the emotion and sense of longing in your face.

You photographers out there that are reading this know that one of the best things about 400 speed film is that it’s perfect for capturing action.  The high speed allows you freeze those moments that would be blurred and unusable if taken with the much slower 100 ISO film you might prefer for most other occasions.   Using Agfa APX 400 was exactly how I was able to catch this next gem.

It’s the capture of special, timeless moments like these that drew me to the fine craft of photography in the first place.  It’s also what keeps my finger poised, quivering over my shutter release in expectation of the next fleeting scene passing in front of me that deserves to be saved for future generations to cherish and learn from.

Obviously I was pretty impressed with the results from this particular film – however I was still far more impressed with the Ilford PANF 100 I’d used.  To be fair, though, 400 speed film just can’t produce the same fine results as a professional 100 speed pan film can.  To really, honestly make a comparison I knew I’d have to shoot some of Agfa’s 100 ISO APX.  And so I did.

Agfa’s website claims that their 100 ISO panchromatic B&W film is fantastic for both still life photography and portraits, and that it’s perfect for capturing fine detail.  Well, the shot I used to start off this blog post is one of the still life pics I took, a shot of Chinese fortune telling sticks in a shop in Chinatown.  Basically, you hold the can of sticks horizontally and mumble some stuff while you shake the sticks around inside.  When one finally falls out you pick it up and read what’s written on it, and it will tell you what to do today, or who to stay away from, or what brand of washing powder you should be using.  Or something.  I’m not really sure, as I can’t read Chinese.  Anyhow, it turned out great, so, check.  Still life photography good with Agfa APX.  Next!

They weren’t bullshitting about capturing fine detail either.  If you’re familiar with my work you’ll know that not only am I fixated on laundry lines, I also love windows, doors, and anything remotely resembling a shape affixed to a building.  This macro shot of window shutters came out beautifully, contrasty, sharp and detailed, with a really nice tonal range.  I only wish monitors were like 5 times bigger and my website would support files of that width so you could see how nice it is full size.

I still wasn’t sold for portraits, though.  The richness, the luminosity of Ilford’s PANF film really has me hooked.  But then I got this shot:

No witty comments about this one.  I’m blown away by the beautiful, silvery tones produced here, and happy with the work I did.  I took this one with my 50mm that loves to eat my highlights, and this shot still came out great, so not only am I happy with my exposure, I’m also pleased with the film’s exposure latitude.  Sooo…  Agfa vs Ilford.  Who wins?  Damn.  I’m not sure yet.  Ilford is hard to come by here, but I have 5 more rolls of the PANF 100 speed, and my local photog friend Nam gifted me a roll of  PANF ISO-50 to check out.  On top of that, I just ordered 35 more rolls of various Ilford film from the States, and my local film supplier seems to have a bountiful supply of APX.  So, shucks…  guess I’m going to have to shoot another 50 or 60 rolls of film before I decide.

And now, before I go, I need to clear up one little unresolved issue.  Poor Timmy!  We left him looking so sad and forelorned, and I know you readers are pining for our dear friend’s tainted holiday, wishing he hadn’t suffered such a terrible emotional letdown on the auspicious event of Boxing Day, 2009.  Well, I’ll leave you with a shot showing Tim after we cheered him up, proof that we didn’t let our mate cry into his beer in sorrow at his own party.