5 Frames after a Storm with a Pentax MX and Lomography Berlin 400

National weather forecasts declared that my corner of Minnesota would develop the conditions for powerful tornadoes on Monday, April 28. My wife and I watched as storm clouds moved in from the west that afternoon. We were anxious about how this would go. We double checked our homeowners insurance and agreed on how we would proceed if the tornado sirens sounded. She’d get the dog. I’d get the cat. We’d all head to the basement.

The storm did get intense, but the sirens never sounded. After twenty minutes the worst of it was over. After another twenty minutes we could see clear skies coming on the western horizon. Soon the clouds began to part. I stepped outside. Everywhere wet surfaces glistened with amber light. The tone of the evening had turned from foreboding to serene.

I was struck by how the clouds and light played against the buildings across the street from our house. I had a roll of Lomography Berlin 400 loaded into the Pentax MX I had just picked up at my local antique store, so I grabbed the camera and walked across the street.

These are the photos I took. All were shot with the SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/2 lens that came with the camera. It was my first roll in the MX, so I wasn’t sure how it would all turn out. I set the shutter speeds as suggested by the meter with a little overexposure here and there to give more light to shadows.

I developed the film with LegacyPro L110 (an HC-110 clone). I used a 1+31 dilution for seven minutes and am happy with how it came out. My fixer must have been exhausted because there are plenty of splotches and streaks on the negatives. Some crud inside the camera also appears to have scratched the film. Oh well. I’m not chasing perfection.

I used my mirrorless camera and macro lens to scan the negatives. I then used Darktable to invert the RAW files and adjust contrast.

These shots, along with the rest on this roll of film, are special. I know a camera is just a light-sealed box to expose film in, but there’s something about this Pentax MX. I love its size, simplicity, and directness. It inspires me to amble and snap, and its meter guides me to lovely exposures. The actual heavy lifting is done not by the camera but by the lens, the film, and the developer. Of course, the actual heavy lifting is done by this world itself.

Thanks for reading. I’m on Instagram and have a website.

– Jason

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