Vernal Falls, Yosemite National Park
Despite Paul Simon's objections, "they're taking my Kodachrome away." Kodachrome was the granddaddy of all color film stocks, having been used for over 70 years. It used a dye process, which made it notoriously difficult to process. So difficult, in fact, that only one lab in the world was able to process it by 2010: Dwayne's Photo is Parsons, KS.
Really, it's amazing that the film stayed around as long as it did. It was only available in one speed, and had to be special ordered. Then, once you shot the roll, you had to ship it to Kansas, then have them process and ship it back to you. Kodachrome is a reversal film, meaning once the film is processed, you have a positive instead of a negative. You can then view the film through a projector or a loupe. Prints could also be made from the film, as well as digital scans. Still, I've found they don't usually do justice to the film itself.
Mirror Lake in Kodachrome
Kodachrome yielded exceptionally accurate colors and creamy skin tones. I have yet to find a stock that had these unique characteristics, even digital doesn't come close in my opinion. It tends to give pictures that old-time America look, and Kodachrome was also used on the famous "Afghan Girl" photograph which appeared on the cover of National Geographic years ago.
Anyway, once Kodak announced the discontinuance of all Kodachrome film and chemicals, there was a mad rush to buy the last of it. Luckily, I had a roll in my freezer that I was holding on to, but all processing orders had to be received at Dwayne's Photo no later than December of this year. I was running out of time, but I wanted something special to shoot my last roll on.
When I decided to go to Yosemite, I knew this was going to be the right time to say goodbye. After finishing up the roll I already had in the camera, I loaded up the Kodachrome. The first part of the roll was taken at Mirror Lake, and it yielded superior results compared to the Kodak 160 Neutral Contrast stock I shot with earlier (printed in B/W on a previous blog post).
A Dear in Yosemite Valley
Hiking back to Yosemite Valley, Jen and I spotted a dear in a meadow. I used up way too many pictures on this, which I somewhat regret. I knew the light wasn't good enough, and the subject was too far away. But the moment was there, and I couldn't help that I had a rare film stock in the camera. Again, this is why digital has pretty much taken over.
Jen in Yosemite Valley - On the Way to Tunnel View
After that, we headed up to Tunnel View for the money shot. We started to get worried that we weren't going to get up there before the sun set, so we decided to snap a few pictures in a scenic area just in case. The picture of Jen came out a lot better than the one of me, so I posted it above.
When we got to Tunnel View, we were blessed with several things: we hadn't lost the sun, we had parking, and it wasn't crowded with tourists. I decided to lug out my large format camera, but even my wide-angle lens on that behemoth was too zoomed-in for the picture I wanted. I returned to the 35mm and took what I think was by-far the best picture of the roll. I'm probably going to take it to a lab and see if they can print it on an 8x10.
Tunnel View
The next day, we hiked up to the footbridge of Vernal Falls. I only had a few exposures left, so I took some pictures of the waterfall before I got to the inevitable final shot. I told Jen it was the last one, pulled her in frame, set the timer, and hoped for the best.
I am so glad the picture came out. Once again, the original camera positive is far superior to the print you see below, but it's still a terrific picture of us. I especially like how we contrast with the stones and how the greenery (being dark) guides your attention to us.
Farewell, Kodachrome. I will miss you.
The Last Kodachrome Picture....EVER!!
