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The Auction House: Where Your Stuff Goes When You Die

Nelis Disco Auction House in Holly, MI on Fuji Superia

In Holly, Neil’s Disco is an auction house located inside of an old warehouse. In a previous life it was probably a factory, but now it’s full of thousands of different lots which are stacked to the celling in many places. Stuff like this usually comes from estate sales or people desperate for cash and willing to sell everything they own. There’s nothing wrong with most of this stuff, and it goes for super cheap. I got a couch, a TV stand, and an exercise bike for $250 (the bike alone costs $1,000 new). And yet, most people will always buy these items new, and then they’ll end up here or in a landfill.

This photo was taken on my very first roll of film. I used my FED 4 Russian rangefinder with the cult classic 50mm f/2 Industar 61 lens and Fuji Superia 400 color negative film (because that’s all they had at my local camera shop). I would rate Superia as “just ok”, which isn’t surprising since it’s a lower cost option.

Nelis Disco Auction House in Holly, MI on Fuji Superia

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My First Roll of 120 Film

A train in front of the Holly water tower on Fuji Pro 400H 120 film

On October 26th, I purchased the the Mamiya C330 which is my first working 120 format medium format camera. In anticipation of buying it I had already purchased some Fuji Pro 400H color film so I could use the camera as soon as I bought it. Well it turns out that worked in my favor since there was a trick-or-treat event in downtown Holly that I didn’t know about and I got a chance to take this picture of this antique train with the iconic water tower in the background.

Once I finally got the 120 film holder for my Epson v600 in the mail, I was ready to scan the negatives sitting lonely in my folder.

As with most of my first times trying new things with film, I made a lot of mistakes which I will hopefully learn from and fix going forward. Working without a prism is quite a challenge when trying to do handheld shooting so most of the photos on the roll aren’t really usable. Also, the main mistake I made is visible in the sky of the photo: the white splotches. I’m told this is caused by either air bubbles forming on the film during development due to lack of proper agitation, or using hard water. Either way, in the future I’m going to give a hard tap the side of the development tank after every agitation cycle to free those air bubbles. Plus, I’m going to be using distilled water to mix my chemicals and in my final wash with Photo-flo.

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Detroit Railroad Club Open House

A miniature train station at the Holly Railroad Club

Twice a year, the Detroit Model Railroad Club in Holly opens its doors to the public to help raise money and show off their artistic skills in miniature form. I took my Sony A7ii and the 50mm f/1.8 to get some classic miniature shots.

A preist in a graveyard at the Holly Railroad Club
Two children gleefully look at trains at the Holly Railroad Club
A model train at the Holly Railroad Club
A miniature street at the Holly Railroad Club

Despite being over 30 miles away from Detroit, that’s where this club got its start and moved up north casing cheaper rent. Eventually they bought their current building and will stay there for the foreseeable future. I think these shots will make a great addition to my long term project of documenting my hometown, so stay tuned for a zine or book resulting from that work.