Mostly Ilford HP5 ~ Yashica A
During most outings, I have been carrying along my little Yashica A (not only does it fit so nicely in my camera bag alongside my Mamiya, but I will forever love these little twin lens beauties). For the most part, I always have it loaded with Ilford’s HP5; this has been my go-to black and white film for quite some time. Since summertime, I’ve been saving most all of my black and white film so I could practice developing film at home. I’ve saved up a substantial amount over the months, and no longer know what any of the film holds; they are like fun little time capsules!
The past few weeks I have been recovering from the wintertime plague and it seemed as good a time as any to start chipping away at developing a few rolls. I tried Cinestill’s D96 monobath for the first time, and I must say I prefer the sprint system to this one. Though the process was very quick and easy, my negatives came out a little thin in all three batches, despite troubleshooting and fiddling with my temperatures. This process seems great for beginners like myself though!
Although I shouldn’t have been so surprised, it was pretty bittersweet seeing a full roll from the now-demolished Westborough State Hospital. I had spend a good amount of time there over the years, and it has been greatly missed in recent months. One of my most memorable visits had actually been around this time last year on my birthday: it was a foggy February day and Travis and I drove over that morning and spent most of the day wandering and taking photos. I think it was the last occasion that we seemingly had the place to ourselves. The months before and during demolition (when these photos were taken), it was hard not to run into anybody. That hospital had certainly seen better days, but it still had its charm and I’ll remember it fondly.
Also among my physical pile of negatives are a couple other former hospitals. I am grateful for having visited so many lovely places this past year, and I hope to see many more over the coming months (especially as the weather gets a bit warmer!)