 Yo, what up welcome back to another episode well I finally got off my couch and updated the print shop as I continue my financial journey forward to acquire the holy grail The apotheosis of retail marketing. That's right the forsaken sauce Today's episode is sponsored by Squarespace All right gang I'm gonna level with you for once on my previous video a video about a large format road trip now streaming everywhere and coming soon to DVD Blu-ray Blu-ray 4k UHD and refrigerator doors We stumbled upon a really cool roadside service station and motel at the time However, we were bound by the shackles of large format when you shoot large format the setup and expense Involved kind of forces you to be really picky about what it is you choose to shoot So while we were there we mostly took time to scout out the area and I only took two photos Obviously I wanted to take way more and my buddy Caleb also known as Caleb felt the same way I wish I had the Mamiya again. It's true We were homesick for our roll-film cameras and we might also be suffering from non-like a cool location of phobia The fear of not having your like on you when something dope happens having our roll-film cameras would just be easier because it would allow Us to wiggle around and try different compositions cameras like the Mamiya 7 which wouldn't judge us for taking three hours to figure out Front standard tilt and then just giving up and shooting at f64 anyway Well after getting home and punching the air for like an hour Caleb and I started thinking Why don't we just go back? We're not babies anymore. We're adults. We can do whatever we want With this newfound confidence we scheduled a two-day trip back over yonder But after having just come back from a week on the road I wasn't really ready to notify both Monica and Baxter that I'd be departing again so soon So after telling Monica I was going to the grocery store and would be back in an hour Caleb and I hitched up our saddles and hopped aboard my 1996 Lexus LS 400 a 400 ISO car with an abundance of grain After about four hours on the road We got easily sidetracked by some barbecue because we're slowly trying to pivot our channels from film photography to four-hour barbecue muck bangs My first inclination of what weapon to bring with me on this trip was definitely the Mamiya 7 However while the Mamiya 7 is a beautiful camera that shoots downright sensual images It didn't really feel like it was the camera for the trip in its place I brought along the Pentax 6x7 the Leica m6 and of course the Fuji tx1 Because I'm the king of bringing too much gear and making my own shooting experience much more difficult Anyway after making Caleb pay for all the gas and then deleting my Venmo So I didn't have to reimburse him we finally arrived at our location for sunset five hours of driving Before going totally ape on the scene with our cameras like a baboon on an ungodly amount of pcp We needed a game plan I started off with a roll of tmax 400 in the Leica But similar to pairing a fine wine like Pinot Grigio with salmon dead or alive I would need to pair a lens nicely with the m6 I'd start off by shooting indoor scenes. So the ultra wide 12 millimeter would be the ticket Shooting these interiors was a dream come true The shadows on tmax 400 just fall off into this otherworldly deep lack that feels like an abyss of tea grain I've been to many abandoned s*** holes over the years, but what is it about this one that makes it so special to me? I think it's kind of becoming harder and harder to find places abandoned that aren't smattered with graffiti Graffiti doesn't really make for good photos in my opinion, especially when there are an abundance of dicks drawn everywhere But I suppose that's kind of subjective Something else that crosses my 57 IQ mind every time I find a place like this is that these buildings aren't going to be around forever Eventually whoever owns the land or buys it even will tear them down Technically they are hazardous and shouldn't be entered But that didn't really matter to us. Caleb and I are both two guys with big dreams and small cameras A dangerous combination. That does not seem very stable. Well, you know me If there's a toilet, I'm shooting it Eventually I decided to put on my big boy pants and pull out the beastly pentax 6x7 equipped with a legendary 75 millimeter 2.8 an ultra sharp lens I returned to the site where I shot this image on 8x10 But after two seconds I realized I needed to stop living in the past and find new compositions That and the light was already gone In the far far back. I found a used car dealership The vehicles would need a little tlc But if the fast and the furious movies taught me anything it's that if I believe in family In no time I'll be skydiving out of an airplane in my project car for some reason I decided to shoot these wide open f 2.8 on 6x7 is quite good for some sweet depth of field Which I tried to use to effectively separate the subject from the background This photo is near perfection in my opinion Portra 400 really landed the colors. Well, portrait and mother nature. I guess. I don't know why I'm giving kodak all the credit Once the sun was down not only did the post shooting depression kick in But I started to wonder if I could get some blue hour shots with my x-pan and some ectochrome Which lately I've been calling sex to chrome because it's amazing even if I'm really bad at it Uh bad at shooting it But to take it to the next level because I'm always raising the bar I decided to shoot through my 81a filter for some added warmth Also, I didn't have the right filter holder. So I just held the filter in front of the lens like a jackass The 81a made these blue hour shots look amazing This shot in particular looks like the colors are lifted straight from the movie lala land The only difference is that there isn't anyone singing and dancing in there And if there was I'd start running because that's some creepy ghost possession bullsh** if I ever heard of it I did a little bit of light research on this place and apparently there used to be a casino on the premises It even advertised itself as the world's highest casino, which is probably not even close to true In 2009 it burned down and the uh Ritz Carlton across the way also went out of business deuces After getting more barbeque and inching ever so closer to finally discovering the natural human limit for barbeque sauce We checked into the room and I had to take a ceremonial picture of this crazy motel sign That I'm sure the motel's neighbors love. Anyway to rehydrate We started drinking some hotel tap water and took a minute to create some not-safe-for-work film camera porn It was definitely getting pretty steamy in that hotel room. All right. What do I get if I make this? In the trash can right there. Yeah Eric row I'm not gonna make this That night we decided that our work was not yet quite done And that we would wake up at the sweaty butt crack of dawn and go shoot some more I was of course very happy to be there first thing in the morning. It's f***ing cold I had to kill off some shots on ectochrome in my x-band before the sun finally peaked out and i'm gonna show you all of them Well, most of them some are s***y As the light started to head our way, I swapped out the x-band for the leica m6 and the pentax 6x7 I like this shot a lot. The colors are very nice. That is all I don't know why I like taking pictures of bathrooms. Maybe I'm just naturally drawn to them Or I just never like to be too far away from one just in case either way. I wish this shot turned out a little better I think it was a case of dim light and not total user stupidity this time The 5.6 speed 12 millimeter can be a bit limiting in low light situations In time we wrapped up our shooting there and hit the road back for several hours On the ride back We did some critical thinking about the importance of the right gear on location And of course the excellent value of today's sponsor squarespace If you're a photographer chances are you've heard of squarespace before many photographers Including myself have used squarespace to host our personal or professional websites That's because the hundreds of template options and incredibly easy user interface make it a walk in the park to get an online portfolio Up and ready for the world to see if you're like me and don't know the first thing about designing a website Worry not though the process is simplified and straightforward with their custom building components Squarespace also offers 24 7 customer support if you ever run into a snag or have questions If you'd like to dive even deeper into custom design or function There's even an online forum for additional help So what are you waiting for if you're ready to build a website? You can start a free trial today at squarespace.com slash grainy days And if you use the code grainy days at checkout you can get 10 off your first purchase Anyway, eventually we made it home and all was good I just told monica that I got lost on the way to the grocery store and she called me a dumb ass So I was in the clear otherwise I think the trip was a success more successful than the first time for sure I really like the black and white photos. I took here and this shot on ectochrome is furgalicious by furgy if you know what I'm saying I still have this urge to shoot this location But I think I've done enough for the time being perhaps I'll return in a few years and see how decrepit it's become since Hopefully it doesn't get destroyed or a pack of angry horny raccoons moves in because that happens sometimes until then I hope you enjoyed the video I had a lot of fun making it even though it's kind of half-assed and lacking direction Go ahead and hit that subscribe button if you'd like or you can use the subscribe keyboard shortcut alt f4