There Is No Cat

Saturday, October 10, 2026

Seventh Roll of Polyfilm Handmade Film From Ukraine

These shots are from the second roll of Polyfilm Ortho I shot in Florida, labelled ”Grainy“.

Double glass doors have a sign saying Open inside. A folding chalk sign says Welcome! Breakfast and Lunch ALL DAY 8am - 3pm Fresh coffee and Pastries / Baked goods

A storefront with two signs. On the left, Florida Water Tours. On the right, Beachware, Beer & Wine, Local Art.

Florida Motel, a single story motel. A For Sale sign is vislble.

A palm tree stands in front of a single story building

A building with a steeply angled roof has Flagler Beach in large letters on the roof. Next door, a sign for the Funky Pelican. A crane stands behind it all, and SUVs and pickup trucks are parked in front.

The first five photos have a mix of black pinholes and white pinholes, something that recurs through these photos.

A family stands on the beach near a pier that is under construction with a crane at its end.

The entrance to a beach has a sign saying No Swimming. People sit and walk on the beach next to an under construction pier.

A sign in a parking lot has two businesses shown. At top, EP Beauty Supply. At bottom, Blue Hen Breakfast & Lunch.

Six, seven, and eight have mottling.

A building with a curved roof. A Do NOt Enter sign marks a driveway to its left. The photo is heavily fogged.

Palm trees stand in front of an old fort. People walk in front of it.

A wooden view post stands among trees and buildings by the side of the road. The photo is fogged.

The oldest in USA St. Augustine Florida. So says a sign on an old log building. The photo is missing large pieces where emulsion was not present.

Nine through twelve all exhibit the mottling of the previous frames, with the added bonus of fogging. There must have been a slight misalignment with this roll because the last photo is on the droppings of emulsion at the end, hence the missing pieces.

Posted at 7:55 PM
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Friday, October 9, 2026

Sixth Roll of Polyfilm Handmade Film from Ukraine

I just got back from a couple of weeks at our condo in Florida. The day before I left to go there, I got a package from Ihor Polyakov with some more of his handmade film. I got five rolls of 120, divided into "Classic" and "Grainy", and six sheets of 4x5. I figured that since I was going to Florida where it was hot, it would be useful to bring some of the film with me to test in hot weather, while leaving the rest for my return to a now much cooler New Jersey. This first roll was the "Classic" film, shot in my Hasselbla 500cm.

The Florida Motel, an old single story motel in St. Augustine, Florida. A sign to the left says simply Florida Motel. A white pickup truck is parked in the parking lot.

People walk on a beach. A dark flag flies in the foreground next to wooden stairs that take people over the waterbreak between the sidewalk and the beach.

The first three photos have a mix of black pinholes and white pinholes, something that recurs through these photos. I had an minor issue with my Hasselblad 500cm that’s visible here where photos two and three overlap slightly. The first one actually looks pretty good; the pinholes are small enough to miss.

A building has a door and window visible. Behind the building is a palm tree.

A motel has a 1950s style neon sign out front made of various shapes and neon that says Haley’s Court.

Another view of the Florida Motel from a different perspective. Two signs are visible here, but the second is not legible here and goes to black. There is a For Sale sign at the curb.

The fourth photo shows some of the mottling I had seen in previous versions. Five has something similar, but the dots are smaller. Six is pretty good, some dots and some mottling but really subtly present.

Several mailboxes, two white, the others black. Most of the black mailboxes are obscured by film fogging and measles.

The rounded wall of a building has several windows, and the number 160 in 1950s style type.

Seven and eight have something that I would describe as measles, maybe just a bad version of what was on the previous frames, but worse. The shadows on the left and right of seven and the right of eight break up badly and look kind of pixelated.

The same building as the previous photo, showing where the curved wall meets a straight wall.

A sign hangs from a chain in front of a blurred building in the background. The sign is illegible, the type and the background both going to black.

Another building with a rounded front. This one serves as a restaurant and has a sign on the roof saying 180 Vilano.

A building with a non-curved front but with pyramid-like steps at the top has a sign in one window that says Beaches with an arrow pointing left.

Nine through twelve all exhibit the pixelation of the previous frames, with the added bonus of fogging. Not sure what happened here.

I also shot a holder of 4x5, two sheets, with my Smartflex 3445. One did not show anything; not sure what happened there, but I’m reasonably sure that was my fault, not the film. The second shot is of the Castillo de San Marcos, built between 1672 and 1695. There are a couple of obvious oysters here, and many black and white pinholes visible throughout, but overall this looks pretty good.

Posted at 3:11 PM
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