Here are the last of the pictures from my most recent roll of Cinestill 400D, shot on my Pentax K-1000 and 100mm macro lens.
These shots were taken at a park I traveled to with the express purpose of finishing off this roll of film.
I’m a bit overdramatic about how safe the park is because of the events recorded here, wherein I escaped death due to sheer luck and despite lacking a decent sense of self-preservation.
It had been raining heavily in the days leading up to my visit, and in fact, had been raining on and off during my visit.
So the first shot I took was of a large, beautiful rainbow. Can you see it?
I promise it is there. With Cinestill and this scan, it’s like those novelty posters where you have to look at it through your periphery in order to see it. It was more visible in real life. f11, 1/60 sec.
This turned out nicely. I’m really happy at how the ripples were captured. And as an added bonus: halation at the top right! f6.8, 1/125 sec.
This one isn’t quite as striking, but I still like it. f5.6, 1/125 sec.
And there it is. That sweet, sweet halation. I don’t know why I like the effect so much, but I do. f5.6, 1/125 sec.
I wanted to capture the sign, isolated by the surrounding chain link fence. I think it would work better with more contrast, and I might come back to this image and try some edits. f5.6, 1/250 sec.
I crossed a bridge with a series of murals painted on it. I decided to use this bright, cheerful panel for a shadow self-portrait. f8, 1/500 sec.
And that’s a wrap on this roll.
Lessons learned: if the goal is halation, I really need a lot of sunlight. Which means that if it’s overcast or mostly cloudy, I have to give up on the halation. From a strictly color reproduction perspective, I like ColorPlus 200, Kodacolor 200, and, slightly less, Kodacolor 400 more than Cinestill. But those emulsions don’t give me halation. So I really need to know, before loading the film, what I’m shooting for (ha ha, see what I did there?). Which can be hard if I know it will take me more than one session or day to finish off the roll.
I still like Cinestill, but I think despite it being ISO 400, this is a film I’d prefer in brighter conditions where I could also get away with a slower film. It works in darker conditions, but doesn’t have as much flare.
Hoping for a break in the weather, I decided to start our walk even later by having cereal first.
Turns out we had about a teaspoon of milk left.
Which I discovered after pouring my cereal.
This is what a bowl of cereal looks like when you have just enough milk to dampen the bowl.
And this is what your bowl of cereal looks like when you augment your milk with heavy whipping cream. It tastes … different.
Not a great start to the new year.
The weather finally cleared up enough to risk a walk. Albeit in my yellow Stay Puft Marshmallow Man rain slicker.
No car was going to fail to see me and take me out the first day of 2026.
No, sir!
Continuing the worrying trend of a bad start to the year, I had to pass a neighbor in his garage, garage door open, yelling at someone inside his house.
A lot.
[No photo because I’m not crazy.]
I didn’t get an imminent violence vibe, so didn’t feel compelled to call the cops a few hours into my new year.
Not that it would have done any good. Last year, for a different neighbor, I did feel compelled to call the cops.
Twice.
They never came out.
About ten crows were following me this morning, which surprised me, given how late a start we’d gotten.
Where the F*CK have you been, Peanut Boy!?
And a gull, who settled in with the crows but never attempted to snag a peanut.
I think he realized he was hopelessly outnumbered.
I’ve also noticed the local squirrels have taken to keeping an eye on us as we walk.
One of several hungry Thieving Bastards stalking us this morning.
Instead of flowers, I was struck by the way the sunlight, when it peeked through the clouds, sparkled off the water droplets on the flowers.
It was a solid positive sign about this new year, so I focused on those with my camera.
A photo walk isn’t a photo walk without Doggo photobombing at least one photo.
And a bunch of lemons on the side of the road:
There was no “FREE” sign, so I didn’t take any.
And then the miracle happened.
The best sort of droplet photo opportunity you could hope for.
The most intense, vibrant rainbow I’d ever seen.
A sweeping, complete arc across the sky.
The pictures I took don’t do it justice, so I’ll just share the one that saved 2026 for me:
I’m walking flying on sunshine, ooh ooh!
And then home, followed by about six crows, to my morning coffee ritual which, not gonna lie, also saved my 2026.
The Missus moved the giant ornament! Not sure how, but she did!
OK, one more rainbow photo. I wish my pictures adequately captured just how bright and vibrant the rainbow was. It made me think Aurora Borealis intensity.
ian m dudley 