Analog Bogota
Some time ago–wayyyyy back in Quito–I hatched a plan to disappear into the Amazon in 2024, and to document that trip with old-fashioned analog film photography. Something I had never done, had no equipment for, and would need to learn from scratch.
A Transglobalista I met back in Death Valley National Park offered me his Rolleicord III Twin-lens Reflex (TLR) for indefinite use and I subsequently discovered that Bogota has the prerequisite infrastructure for analog photography–available film, processing labs, and the like.
So I went for it.
While waiting for the Rolleicord to arrive, I sourced a vintage Pentax K1000–a classic, cheap, fully manual 35mm film camera–to practice with. So far I’ve shot 2.333 rolls–84 exposures. The first short-roll (the 0.333) was provided by the film lab to test for light leaks and other problems. It was black and white (though I somehow thought it was a color roll–which is relevant).
That short-roll results weren’t so great–largely because I composed assuming color and color contrasts. Oops. Yet still: I nailed the exposure and focus. An acceptable result for the first time out.
The next two rolls–both color–are markedly better, at least to my eye, and sufficiently indicative of Mi Vida Bogotana to merit inclusion here. As per usual, the captions contain the pertinent info. I hope you enjoy the shots and stories.
As ever,
I remain,
Your Friendly Neighborhood Transglobalist Cycle-Dude,
—jim
PS
For the analog film geeks among you: the first roll was Arista 200 B&W. Second was Fujifilm Fujicolor 200. Third was Kodak Ultramax 400. (Currently in-camera: Kodak Gold 200.)
Ciao!
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