Frugal Film Project April 2025 - High Waters
We’ve had a lot of rain here in the Midwest over the last week or so. So much that many rivers and streams are at or near their flood stage today, Monday 4/7/2025.
For a brief moment the rain let up for a bit yesterday, or should I say at least it was just down to a drizzle rather than a torrential rain. This gave me the opportunity to get out and make some images for my Frugal Film Project roll for April.
For this month, to continue my streak of doing something different each month for the challenge, I decided to use a development method called “Bleach Bypass”. I’ve done Bleach Bypass before on many other color films, but this is the first time doing it with the “new” Fuji 400 film, which I suspect is really Kodak Ultramax 400. To learn more about the process, how its done, and my past results, check out a prior blogpost here.
After spending a few hours in the damp conditions with my Canonet QL19, I finished the roll and headed home. I had the film developed and hanging in less than a half hour and then made some lunch and let it hang dry in the bathroom. After cutting and sleeving, I scanned it with my new Epson V850 flatbed scanner. Yep, I decided to put my V600 out to pasture and finally upgraded to the V850. The main reason I upgraded to the V850 was the ability to easily scan larger size negatives, like 4x5 or 8x10. Also, the ability to do fluid mount scanning was something I am in interested in. Yes, I know that for 35mm, my Nikon CoolScan V is probably the better option with its higher resolution, but I decided to give scanning 35mm film a try with the new V850 to get some more experience with it. More on the V850 in a later blog post.
I’m happy to say that the Bleach Bypass method worked great on the “new” Fuji 400 film. Nice and moody, just like I had hoped. Below are a few of my favorites from the day. Click on the first image to enlarge and scroll through the gallery.
Well, what do you think? Bleach Bypass isn’t a look that’s for everyone, I know. But there are times when it’s a good fit and option to have. And extra tools in your toolchest are always a good thing. This method does introduce more grain and grit into the images, and scanning can sometimes be difficult. I think for the right subject matter it can be a good “look”.
Thanks for reading, and keep shooting.
Jeremy