People of Mitch Park

July 8, 2021 Blog, Medium Format Film by James Pratt Leave a Comment

My first time shooting Ilford XP2 Super film rated at IS-400. I am really digging it.

For the past 5 years I wake up most summer mornings and ride my bicycle 5 miles to nearby Mitch Park, where I run, walk, swim at the YMCA, or ride a bit more. I have even become the “Local Legend” in Strava for a segment. I decided this morning to bring my Pentax 67 medium-format film camera and take photos of some of the people I see walking and running the trails. I asked each person if they minded I take their photo. Most were agreeable, some were not. I developed these at home in my kitchen sink and wet-scanned them on my Epson Perfection 750 Pro film scanner. I hope to add a few more to this collection.

Portraits of people at Mitch Park in Edmond, OK

These were taken right before sunrise with the sun at my back.

Most people I asked to photograph were agreeable. Some were not. I only photographed those who agreed.

A lot of people like to walk their dogs each morning at Mitch Park.

After running through a roll of Ilford XP, I switched to my old standby, Kodak TMAX-100. The sun was up by now so I could get a decent shutter speed at ISO-100. But I am digging the smooth, creamy look of Ilford. Might try a few more rolls.

This photo was right at the end of the roll of TMAX so the bottom got chopped off. I am usually getting 8 shots of 6cm by 7cm images per 120 film roll.

I often ride past the local Lowe’s store after leaving Mitch Park. This morning I photographed this lady watering the plants at the start of the day.

I stopped by Starbucks to grab a cup of coffee – Grande Pike with cream – and photographed these gals – with their permission, of course. After snapping the shutter at F2.8 aperture, I knew that some of my subjects were going to be out of focus. I didn’t want to retake the photo. I should have slowed down and thought the photo through and increased my aperture before snapping the shutter so that all the ladies were in focus. Oh well. You get what you pay for, and nobody paid me for this photo.

I carried by behemoth 50-year old Pentax 67 on my bicycle to photograph at Mitch Park. I usually ride this Fuji mountain bike or my Trek Checkpoint gravel bike each summer morning. I like having the bag on the back of the Fuji to carry things with me, including this behemoth camera.

I have had this Pentax 67 for about 10 years. Purchased it used from Hank Baker at Baker Photo in Yukon. I was looking for a Hassleblad, but Frank showed me this camera with a 160 F2.8 lens and I was SOLD! It handled like a DLSR yet took these huge 6×7 cm film images. The shutter is fairly slow and clunky – it is a big shutter – but the camera is fun for such a large hunk of metal. I added the wooden grips to make this Pentax handle more like my Nikon cameras. Everything ins manual, including focus, aperture, and shutter speed. I usually get about 8 images per roll of 120 film. I have several lenses for this camera. This is the first time I have picked it up in about 3 years, and really digging it.

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Tags: Ilford XP2, Kodak TMAX-100, Mitch Park, Pentax 67

James Pratt

I am an Oklahoma based writer, commercial photographer, editorial photographer and adventurer based in Oklahoma City. I love telling stories about people. A motorcycle is my preferred means of travel, and I have over 5,000 hours piloting small airplanes. My editorial photography has been published in hundreds of magazines and my commercial photography has been used by dozens of companies worldwide.

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