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Alexis Kennedy Photography

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Mini Lens Review: Minolta 58mm f/1.4

April 14, 2016 in Camera Reviews, Street Photography, Black and White Film

I've been doing a lot of street photography lately on 35mm film. It's mostly because I recently scored a lens at a the thrift store that I've been wanting for quite a while but have never found a copy at a price I'm willing to pay.

It's an old Minolta manual focus 58mm f/1.4 which I managed to snag for a whopping three dollars. Go me!! I mean really, even if the lens totally sucked I still spent less money than I usually throw down on coffee nearly every single day. 

It's kind of an odd focal length, being slightly telephoto but more or less "normal". I'm sort of digging it more and more as I get through a few rolls of film. It allows for really tight compositions while still maintaining enough of a field of view to get a lot of information in the frame. Plus, being an f/1.4 I can isolate my subject pretty well with depth of field. It's sharp, but not too sharp, and the contrast is a bit on the high end, which I tend to like. So yeah, all-in-all, not a bad lens for three bucks and I think I'll be using it quite a bit in the future. 

I'll have to test it out with color film but already I can tell it is really suited to the gritty black and white aesthetic. I find this to be true of a lot of lenses from the golden age of manual focus SLRs. 

Anyway, I'll get back to your regularly scheduled nudes and portraits in a moment but I figured a bit of an interlude never hurt anyone. 


Tags: Minolta, 58mm, f/1.4, Lens, Manual Focus, Black and White Film, Street Photography, Portland, PDX, Downtown
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Here you will find the ramblings of photographer Alexis Kennedy, his latest images, and just general thoughts about photography, film, art, and creativity.

Alexis works primarily with analogue film including 35mm, medium format, and large format film.   


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A little bit of infrared film on a bright and sunny day. I need to use infrared film stock more often. When the results turn out well it is quite satisfying. 
.
#filmphotography #blackandwhitefilm #infrared #rollei #fineart #oregon #pacificnorthwest
Working with film in a dense forest on a bright sunny day is always a bit tough. The tonal values go to the extremes very quickly with bright highlights and deep dark shadows making finding a middle ground a challenge. I think it is worth the effort
A portrait with @hexy.lexi. It was a perfect overcast day for outdoor portraits, something I appreciate about winter and fall here in the Pacific Northwest. 
.
#portrait #ilford #ilfordhp5 #blackandwhitefilm #darkroom #analogphotography #hasselblad #
Some photographs from the No Kings protest on Saturday. Not surprisingly Portland came out in force for the day, which warmed my cynical heart just a tad. I know I live in a political bubble in this town, but after traveling the country the last coup
NO KINGS
NO KINGS
NO KINGS
NO KINGS
.
#streetart #nokingsday #colorfilm #35mmfilm
Getting through my massive backlog of unscanned, undeveloped, and unedited images. I've been feeling overwhelmed by it lately. 
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#filmphotography #portrait #hasselblad #blackandwhitefilm #analogphotography #ilford #ilfordhp5 #mediumformat #pdx #port
Ugggh, I really hate heat waves. I'm just not a person built for hot weather. But alas, I know others thrive on it and for those people I have nothing but envy. Looking at the weather I see that it is going to swing down about twenty degrees by the e
Dancing about in the thick forest. Normally I find the light in a dense environment like this challenging on bright sunny days, but I think we managed to make this work out quite nicely. 
.
Working with @bellatrixortreat2 
.
#filmphotography #hasselb
I'm in the mood to load up a camera with film and go on a walk. But alas.... it is only Tuesday and that means going to work instead. Boooo!!!
.
#chicago #hasselblad #streetphotography #ilford #ilfordhp5 #mediumformat #120 #believeinfilm #blackandwhi
This one goes back many years even though I just developed it yesterday. Sometimes having an enormous backlog of film I have yet to develop can bring back interesting moments in time. 

I don't even think Instagram existed when I made this photograph
I've been working on a lot of 4x5 film lately which has been an incredibly solitary experience. This is not a bad thing mind you. Sometimes it helps to learn and to grow when diving into a new-ish medium on your own, make a lot of mistakes, and try t
Playing with forms along the silent shores of the Pacific Ocean. 
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#filmphotography #blackandwhitefilm #california #santacruz #mamiyac330 #mediumformat #ocean #pacificocean #santacruz #fineart #ilford #darkroom
The world needs more murals.
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#filmphotography #portland #pdx #oregon #streetphotography #blackandwhitefilm #ilford #broadway #outandabout #darkroom #believeinfilm
Well, I had originally posted a different image for today but Instagram removed it within about a minute, so instead the world is going to get some empty footprints on the beach. 
.
#filmphotography #hasselblad #pacificnorthwest #blackandwhitefilm #i
Getting in those last little bits of sunlight before the end of a day. 
.
#filmphotography #blackandwhitefilm #oregon #pacificnorthwest #believeinfilm #pentax67 #sunset #portraitphotography #darkroom #ilford #mediumformat #6x7
A little bit of infrared film on a bright and sunny day. I need to use infrared film stock more often. When the results turn out well it is quite satisfying. 
.
#filmphotography #blackandwhitefilm #infrared #rollei #fineart #oregon #pacificnorthwest Working with film in a dense forest on a bright sunny day is always a bit tough. The tonal values go to the extremes very quickly with bright highlights and deep dark shadows making finding a middle ground a challenge. I think it is worth the effort A portrait with @hexy.lexi. It was a perfect overcast day for outdoor portraits, something I appreciate about winter and fall here in the Pacific Northwest. 
.
#portrait #ilford #ilfordhp5 #blackandwhitefilm #darkroom #analogphotography #hasselblad # Some photographs from the No Kings protest on Saturday. Not surprisingly Portland came out in force for the day, which warmed my cynical heart just a tad. I know I live in a political bubble in this town, but after traveling the country the last coup NO KINGS
NO KINGS
NO KINGS
NO KINGS
.
#streetart #nokingsday #colorfilm #35mmfilm Getting through my massive backlog of unscanned, undeveloped, and unedited images. I've been feeling overwhelmed by it lately. 
.
#filmphotography #portrait #hasselblad #blackandwhitefilm #analogphotography #ilford #ilfordhp5 #mediumformat #pdx #port Ugggh, I really hate heat waves. I'm just not a person built for hot weather. But alas, I know others thrive on it and for those people I have nothing but envy. Looking at the weather I see that it is going to swing down about twenty degrees by the e Dancing about in the thick forest. Normally I find the light in a dense environment like this challenging on bright sunny days, but I think we managed to make this work out quite nicely. 
.
Working with @bellatrixortreat2 
.
#filmphotography #hasselb I'm in the mood to load up a camera with film and go on a walk. But alas.... it is only Tuesday and that means going to work instead. Boooo!!!
.
#chicago #hasselblad #streetphotography #ilford #ilfordhp5 #mediumformat #120 #believeinfilm #blackandwhi This one goes back many years even though I just developed it yesterday. Sometimes having an enormous backlog of film I have yet to develop can bring back interesting moments in time. 

I don't even think Instagram existed when I made this photograph I've been working on a lot of 4x5 film lately which has been an incredibly solitary experience. This is not a bad thing mind you. Sometimes it helps to learn and to grow when diving into a new-ish medium on your own, make a lot of mistakes, and try t Playing with forms along the silent shores of the Pacific Ocean. 
.
#filmphotography #blackandwhitefilm #california #santacruz #mamiyac330 #mediumformat #ocean #pacificocean #santacruz #fineart #ilford #darkroom The world needs more murals.
.
#filmphotography #portland #pdx #oregon #streetphotography #blackandwhitefilm #ilford #broadway #outandabout #darkroom #believeinfilm Well, I had originally posted a different image for today but Instagram removed it within about a minute, so instead the world is going to get some empty footprints on the beach. 
.
#filmphotography #hasselblad #pacificnorthwest #blackandwhitefilm #i Getting in those last little bits of sunlight before the end of a day. 
.
#filmphotography #blackandwhitefilm #oregon #pacificnorthwest #believeinfilm #pentax67 #sunset #portraitphotography #darkroom #ilford #mediumformat #6x7