First Impressions - Portra 800.

The good, the bad, and the downright ugly.

Dec 29, 2022

∙ Paid

Photographer: Josie Goris - Port Kembla, Industrial Steelworks. Shot in the last moments of Golden Hour. Camera: Ricoh KR-10 Super, 50mm f/1.7 - Portra 800. Self Developed

Welcome back!

Before I get started - if you are new here, welcome! Go check out my About page to learn a little more about me, and you can see my previous Newsletter if you want to know my Origin Story!

I hope you’ve had a lovely holiday season, and without further ado, let’s get into this Newsletter!
P.S - This one is long, and quite photo heavy, so grab a coffee and let’s get stuck into it!

Here I go again with the damn Portra stock…

Almost everyone froths a roll of Portra. It's the go-to film for most photographers, and frankly if you weren’t shooting Portra in the studio or even out in the field, you were questioned about whether or not you’re a “real professional” - but I’ve always found Portra to be kind of, well, blah.

Besides it being sold out every single time I try to grab a roll, it’s also ridiculously expensive and will cost you a small piece of your soul. A price I’m not willing to regularly pay when I get such fantastic results from ‘consumer’ stocks at 1/3rd the price.

But I too was bitten by the Portra bug, briefly at least. Previously I’ve shot Portra 400 in both studio conditions and outdoors during the start of a thunderstorm - an experience that I will say was a little terrifying and yet so much fun! However I wasn’t blown away by it and if anything have found it to be one of the most difficult films to scan and edit so far.

Photographer: Josie Goris. Models: Carley, Sam, Klaire, and Taylah. Event: Sony Sponsored 'New Face New Place' in Culburra. Camera: Ricoh KR-10 Super, 50mm f/1.7 - Portra 400. Self Developed

(Hint: Click on the thumbnails to view the full images in the galleries!)

Three images of Julia shot on Portra 400 at a beach in Gosford. It was a stormy day and lightly drizzling, so the images have a bit of a grey moody sky. The first image Julia is standing on the golden sand in a vibrant blue one piece swimsuit. She has aa white shirt half off and draped around her arms and waist. She's shyly looking at the camera, with her red and blonde hair flipped to one side. The second and third images Julia is kneeling in the water, with the white shirt on, now drenched with water. She's got an inviting playful look on her face as the water splashes her legs, and she plays with her hair. — Photographer: Josie Goris. Model: Julia Berry. Camera: Ricoh KR-10 Super, 50mm f/1.7 - Portra 400. Self Developed

Recently I’ve been playing around with some more night time photography. While I’ve had success in shooting with 200 and 400 ISO films during Blue Hour, it starts to become trickier to keep a shot steady as it gets darker and the shutter speeds start dropping below a speed I’m comfortable with.
Plus I had an idea for a moody night time series and I really needed to get my hands on a roll of 800 ISO film.

Yes, I did consider shooting Cinestill 800T for the glowy halation that everyone is obsessed with - and I can see the appeal when I’m standing in front of a petrol station at 10pm contemplating life as the neon signs glow on my car - but alas it too was sold out. So Portra 800 it was! I snagged the one and only roll I could find online for a cheap-ish $24… plus $10 shipping, ugh. (That price has since gone up to nearly $40 a roll before shipping, yikes!)

I made sure to not get too over my head for once. As tempting as it was to buy a pro pack, or go all out and get a brick - which I usually do before I even decide if I like the film stock (looking at you MFS Cinefilm!) - I convinced myself to just test the waters with a single roll instead, especially knowing how I felt about Portra 400 previously.

Taking a leap of faith…

I’ve been taking risks with not just my photography, but my other hobbies and in my personal life. If you didn’t already catch on,