A few weeks ago I met up with a group of film photographers in Burlington, Ontario for a winter photo walk. The event was called Winter Stoic 2020 and we were supposed to witness the coldest month of the year, shoot old Soviet cameras and possibly some Soviet film too.

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Cameras & Film for the DayLubitel 166B, Zorki 4, Jupiter 8, Fomapan 400, Lomography Metropolis January did not live up to its reputation though. There was no snow, and temperatures were just above freezing. While that made the walk itself easier I felt like it took away from the mood I anticipated. It really was one of those gloomy gray winter days that come by the dozen.

Nevertheless, we met at a cafe, treated ourselves to a breakfast and hot beverages, waited for any stranglers that might show up late, and headed out. I did follow the camera theme and the choice of the day was a twin lens Lubitel 166B and a 35mm rangefinder Zorki 4 with a Jupiter 12 35mm lens. I did not have any Soviet or Russian films available so I loaded with my trusty Fomapan 400. And just in case I found something colorful on that gray day I threw in the new Lomography Metropolis film in the camera bag. So far, I had enjoyed its muted colors in winter. They seemed to fit right in.

Right out of the cafe our first stop was the signature Brant Street Pier. We definitely spent quite a while there taking pictures of the pier from different angles, some people photos, and a group shot.

Brant Street PierBurlington, Ontario

Brant Street Pier on Lake Ontario, Burlington, ON, Canada
Photographed on Film: Lubitel 166B, Fomapan 400 Black and White Film

Then we proceeded to wind our way along the lakeshore and eventually started a loop back towards our starting point. At one spot there was a row of very nice houses that looked like they were from a fairy tale. While I usually shy away from taking pictures of residential properties I just could not resist this one.

A House behind a FenceBurlington, Ontario A House behind a Fence, Burlington, Ontario, Canada
Photographed on Film: Lubitel 166B, Fomapan 400 Black and White Film

Some walking later we were passing the church below. It had a very nice front yard offering nice photo opportunities. For the square photo on the Lubitel, I have selected this up close view though. I really liked the stairs from this angle and the door they led to looked wonderful too.

Church StepsBurlington, Ontario

Church Steps, Burlington, Ontario, Canada
Photographed on Film: Lubitel 166B, Fomapan 400 Black and White Film

Zorki 4 and BeerQueen's Head Pub and Bar Before we knew it, the official part of our walk was over and we headed in for a restaurant and lunch. The originally selected place seemed a bit high end to the group (they had table cloths!) and we all quickly agreed that a pub would be a better fit. We backtracked a tiny bit and Queen's Head Pub and Bar felt like a great fit from the get go. Soon, the table was filled with old cameras, beer, and menus. Food was great, beer was great, and the company was great! This concluded the official planned part of the day.

However, having driven in for an hour and a half I did not have enough yet and decided to continue the exploration of Burlington even after lunch. And another photographer felt the same way so off the two of us went, just in the opposite direction than before. It was also a wonderful opportunity to walk off the lunch and beer before sitting back behind the wheel.

Beer, Menu, and Zorki 4Queen's Head Pub and Bar Not knowing the area and not having studied the map ahead of time, it was just a random walk along the lakeshore. We found a few alright photo ops but I did not really get excited about them much.

That was until we stumbled upon this wonderful little village square that brought me to a fairy tale land for the second time that day. We found it completely by chance making somewhat random turns along the way but as soon as I entered this area I knew that was what I was waiting for. Not only did I easily finish the roll of 12 exposures in the Lubitel 166B, but my Zorki 4 also reached the end of its roll. With two black and white rolls in the pocket, and given the right inspiration (more on that in a later post) I loaded the Zorki with the Lomography Metropolis film that I am still new to. I had only shot one 120 roll before and liked that one a lot.

Village SquareBurlington, Ontario Village Square, Burlington, Ontario, Canada
Photographed on Film: Lubitel 166B, Fomapan 400 Black and White Film

Since the equipment was pretty lo-fi and the day gray I decided for a change of pace developing the 12 frames from the Lubitel. I use exclusively Kodak XTOL or the LegacyPro EcoPro developer and am very happy with the results. But for this roll, I thought Caffenol was the right choice. I used Caffenol before with photo paper but have not yet used it with film. A bit risky with a roll from this trip but I figured I also had some shots from the Zorki as a backup, and was hoping that even if things don't come out perfect they would be usable.

Caffenol Ingredients Thus, it was time for some powdered chemicals and a scale. I referenced the Caffenol Cookbook freely available on the Internet. I did not stick with one of the basic recipes though. Instead, the first variation mentioned in the book caught my eye, the Caffenol C-M(rs). Whether I goofed things up or had some momentary idea I am not sure but in the end, I proceeded with my own Caffenol C-H(rs) recipe. I took the C-H and reduced the soda content as the author of the C-M(rs) recipe.

Why Caffenol? It's made from almost all non-toxic ingredients like coffee and vitamin C and given how much humanity abuses the planet I always look for ways to do my part. That's actually why I use XTOL too as it is the least harmful to the environment out of the commonly used developers. Caffenol also provides a little different look as it stains the film. And it is a bit more Lo-Fi resulting in coarser grain, which I thought would work well, especially with the medium format film.

A few grams here, a few grams there, and the ugly dark looking coffee based developer was ready. The rest of the development process was as usual. 14.5 minutes in Caffenol, about a minute in the stop bath, then my usual 10 minutes in the fixer, followed by a 1-minute wash in water, 1-minute soak in the FPP Archival Permanent Wash, and 1 more minute in running water.

When I pulled the film out, I immediately had mixed feelings. There were pictures and that is always a great thing. But they were quite faint, what's called a thin film. As that is a negative, that would mean rather dark photos. Sure, one can deal with that with shorter exposures in the darkroom or with post-processing after scanning. However, it's usually at the cost of even more grain. That being said, I liked the results and will definitely develop more film in Caffenol in the future. However, I will pay better attention to the recipes and try to explore more of them before getting too creative again.

Alright, that was my roll of Fomapan 400 shot in the Lubitel 166B and developed in Caffenol. Like I mentioned above, there are two more rolls from the day that I ran through the Zorki 4. I will go over those in a future post.

Did this post intrigue you but you are not a film shooter? Feel free to reference the "How to take the leap into 35mm film photography" I wrote for Emulsive.org a little while back.

Enjoy the beauty that surrounds you! (#etbtsy)

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