DISPATCH 004 - Shooting Street in the Emerald City

Street photography has always been something I’ve admired, seeing the perspective a photographer has in their own city is documentation like no other. Cities constantly change and evolve and documenting that process is something I’ve had my eyes set on ever since moving to Seattle. Standing on a corner for hours, observing patterns and seeing people go about their day, whether it’s the daily commuter or tourists trying to take it all in, there’s always something new.

This past year I got into throwing Paulie B’s YouTube videos (link here) while I develop, scan and post process my work. If you haven’t checked out his channel and are interested in street photography or want to hear insights from photographers around NYC documenting their city I would jump on it, it’s given me the most inspiration behind dipping my toes into street work.

With all the motivation I’ve been starting to set aside a couple days a week to document downtown Seattle. I have a feeling 2024 will be filled with more street work than exploring Seattle’s neighborhoods as I aim to show how important it is for me to show Seattle through my lens. Walking the streets with my medium format cameras I found I was missing a lot of photos I wish I could have created, making myself carry the F3 and just the F3 has been a choice I’m glad I made as capturing what I see is so much more streamlined.

Enjoy the following images, these are from my first few rolls of 2024 dipping my toes into street photography around Seattle.

That wraps up my first few rolls into street work here in Seattle, something that you’ll be seeing a lot more of in 2024.

Let me know in the comments below what your favorite camera/film combo is for street work and check out my links below for all the gear I use weekly for post processing my work!

Gear Used:

Camera - Nikon F3

Lens - 28mm f2.8

Film Used: Kodak Portra 800, Kodak Tri-X 400, Cinestill BwXX

Portfolio: www.douglasrhall.com

Amazon Link - Developing & Scanning Gear

Other Dev & Scan Gear - Negative Supply

Track Club - Music Licensing Tool

Prints for Sale

Source: shooting street photography in seattle

DISPATCH 003 - Seattle on Kodak Tri-X 400

Starting the year off with a handful of rolls on a nearly 10 mile walk around downtown Seattle was a bold choice. Living in downtown has given me the freedom of being immersed in a creative zone, you’ll never find me without a camera when I leave the house. From busy city streets to the tightly packed neighborhoods surrounding the center of downtown, there is always something to shoot with this ever-changing city. If you haven’t visited Seattle, it’s hilly, wet and full of diversity. Each corner of the city offers something different, something that’s always suited by black and white. Sure, the color green is abundant and who doesn’t love some good greens? Although color is beautiful in this city, I’ve always felt the true grunge of the PNW shines through with black and white film.

A recent favorite film stock of mine being Kodak Tri-X 400. A 400 speed black and white negative film stock that’s been a staple in Kodak’s offering for over 65 years. Tri-X is something that I didn’t shoot much of before a recent pro pack landed on my doorstep, in fact I had only ever shot it once before these rolls. Being that I’ve had an itch to shoot more and more black and white I’ve had a focus on finding a different workflow from my choice of film to my developing chemicals (check out the current developing chemicals I’ve gone with for black and white, I made a big change up with using Kodak chemicals across the board- here). Now, I’m not going to spew technical information about Tri-X 400 but what I will say is it seems to suit just about every situation I threw at it and Seattle can be a bear to meter light in.

That’s enough words, enjoy some of the first photos I’ve made this year, I can’t wait to keep exploring this gorgeous world through black and white photography.

Location: Seattle, WA

Camera/Lens Used: Mamiya RZ67 Pro / 110 f.8

Film Used: Kodak Tri-X 400 - buy here

Chemicals Used: Kodak D-76, Kodak Kodafix, Kodak Photo-Flo - buy here

Scanned using Negative Supply gear and converted using Negative Lab Pro

 
 
 
 

I hope you enjoyed this little gallery and I hope it has sparked a desire to keep black and white in your bag more often. It’s something I’m striving to do more of this year, the learning experience with mixing it into your work is such a great way to develop other approaches to composition without relying solely on color.

Be sure to check out the links below to grab yourself some film and to keep up with some of my favorite products that I use to create my work. Till next time!

Source: seattle shot on black and white film

DISPATCH 002 - Seattle in Black and White

Most of my work consists of color, using color to balance images and create compositions can be such a fun way to shoot. One of my favorite things to do is to use opposing colors to help capture and create the mood I want in a scene. What’s a better way to capture the moody essence of a particular scene than to shoot it in black and white?

Aside from the obvious factor of a black and white image relying on composing based on subjects, I find that black and white captures the true documentation of highlighting subjects without the distraction of color. I’ve found that color still plays a roll in how you can use light to help tell stories, getting different gradients of grays, using different angles to change how the subject is viewed and metering for areas I generally wouldn’t so I can gain more contrasty and dramatic images.

The following images were created in Seattle, shooting black and white is my favorite way to document here. Getting to capture a city with as much character as Seattle has been calling my name for quite a while now, it’s easy to be addicted to the vibrant greens and constant season shifts but black and white just always feels good here. You will definitely see more black and white incorporated into my portfolio for the coming months.

Enjoy.


Camera: Mamiya RZ67 Pro | 110 f2.8

Film: Cinestill BwXX, Ilford Delta 100

Developer: Cinestill Df96

Scanning Equipment: Negative Supply


Cinestill BwXX

Ilford Delta 100

I hope you enjoyed scrolling through these as much as I did shooting and revisiting them, black and white will be a more frequent thing as we go through winter here in Seattle. I find shooting black and white fine tunes the process of composing based on subjects and it continues to teach me every time I load it.

Direct links to the film, developer and gear I use for developing black and white film at home. Cheers!

DISPATCH 001 - Sahale Arm, North Cascades National Park

The start to a long awaited series highlighting photosets I create. From local neighborhoods to the tops of the glacial mountains, the dispatch series will allow you to see life through my eyes. Nothing will follow a pattern as my styles and subjects are constantly changing in an effort to become a dynamic photographer. I hope you all enjoy the series as much as I do getting to create these images!

It’s still mind boggling that I can live in a city as bustling as Seattle but have the ability to reach areas such as the North Cascades within a few hours. Growing up in Southern California, a bragging point was always the access to just about every environment within hours, until I got to Seattle. That’s when I realized that there are a plethora of mountains hiding behind the almost always cloudy skies. Not just mountains, but some of the most beautiful peaks in the entirety of North America. With options everywhere and not having explored much of these breathtaking places, I got an invite to scramble up Sahale Arm in the North Cascades.

A nearly 12 mile round-trip trail, hitting almost 4000ft of elevation gain, this was a bold way to step back into hiking. Being that the past year in Seattle I had nearly converted myself to a pure street photographer this hike brought back a love for landscape photography that had been laying dormant since the beginning of my exploration into photography.

The following images were captured on 120 and 35mm film, lugging my Mamiya RZ67 Pro, Nikon F3HP and Olympus Stylus with a myriad of film stocks.

Enjoy.

 
 
 

See below for a link to my storefront on Amazon, purchasing through my link helps me able to keep sharing and creating! You can find anything from my favorite film I buy to all of the developing and scanning gear i reccommend. Thank you!