After having exhausted my C-41 chemistry and finding a bit of sun in the forecast, on Tuesday, I decided that it was finally time to mix up an E-6 kit and expose a little bit of reversal film to daylight. Since I overbought during the pandemic, I have a number of expired Pro Packs of 120 in the freezer and have created a rule for myself that I cannot purchase any more fresh slide until I use it.

Seems fair!

So off I went, with two rolls of Ektachrome that expired in 2022 and took a little walk around Centretown, stopping, of course, at Arlington 5 for a nice beverage and a breakfast cookie as my mid-morning snack. It was a lovely time being out in the quiet of summer. Like many other cities, in summer, when you’re outside of the spots frequented by tourists, it almost feels like a place for yourself. People are at work, on vacation at the cottage, and the students are elsewhere.

This is just my second kit of E6, so it wasn’t entirely certain that I would be a winner at the game of “is it pictures?”, so I was pleased to see bright negatives when I opened the tank after development. There really is nothing that compares to seeing a well-exposed slide greet you after the 25 minutes or so standing over the sink.

Unfortunately for me, I was also greeted with a touch of overexposure on some of the frames and I think it’s possible that the film is beginning to show its age, having expired 4½ years ago and stored in my apartment’s freezer, which is unlikely to retain a consistent -18°C or less (we might like ice cream too much).

Still, I am just happy that everything is working as it ought to!

I will share the second roll’s results in another post tomorrow ☺️

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