Stepping into the wildflower meadow at Gibbs Gardens in North Georgia, I understand why the name “cosmos wildflowers” is so fitting. Like the number of stars in the universe, there are so many cosmos wildflowers in bloom early October. Fields of yellow and pink wildflowers cover the landscape as far as the eye can see. It is stunning.
Fall is here, but forget snapping photos of color-changing leaves, pumpkins, and all things spooky. Instead, I wanted to take images of these wildflowers before the opportunity passed. They are only in bloom for a few weeks before the expected cold snap returns to North Georgia in early to mid-November. I think Georgia has more than four seasons, sometimes.
I’ve been to Gibbs Gardens and have numerous flower exposures. But this time, I wanted to try something new to make my images a bit more fun and interesting.
Dubblefilm Jelly 200 35mm was sitting in my fridge for a long time. Initially, I planned to use the film in a nearby city. However, I received an email from Gibbs Gardens’ newsletter showing the wildflowers, so I thought this would be ideal, especially with the vibrant colors.
I grabbed the Dubblefilm Jelly out of the fridge and my Canon EOS 10s from the table and made my way to Gibbs Gardens. The Canon EOS 10s is a film camera I recently acquired from my parents. They used this camera in the 1990s (sigh…I miss the ’90s), and it’s been sitting on a shelf collecting dust since then. Knowing that I recently got into film photography, they passed it on to me, unsure if it worked.
I didn’t know what to expect with the new film stock and camera. However, the good news is that the camera worked, and I got some pretty neat effects using Dubblefilm Jelly 200 at Gibbs. But isn’t that always the case with shooting film? There can be lots of unknown and pleasant (and not-so-pleasant) surprises.
Many Choices With Different Effects
Dubblefilm is a specialty film that gives unique effects and tones to your exposures by being exposed to vivid, colorful lights before it’s packaged and shipped to retailers. The different film stock gives off several tints and light leaks, and you will never really know what you will get until the film is developed.
You can buy Dubblefilm at various speeds, and different options are available on their website. Regardless of the ISO, you get 36 exposures for the 35mm film stock.
So Many Unique Tones With Dubblefilm Jelly at Gibbs Gardens
Dubblefilm Jelly gives multiple color tones – perfect for settings with many colors, such as the wildflower meadow. I got several color shifts and tones for my exposures, such as orange, yellow, red, green, and pink.
We went to the wildflower meadow at Gibbs Gardens on a beautiful, sunny day. Lucky for us, the temperatures dipped into the 70s, so it was finally beginning to feel like fall. Lugging my camera gear when it’s 90 degrees outside is miserable, so I was thankful and relieved for this cooler weather.
I set my Canon EOS 10s on ISO 200 as a starting point for my color-negative film and went off what the box recommended. As a result, most of these images were shot with an aperture somewhere between f/8 and f/13 with my Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM and Canon EF 17-35mm f/2.8 L USM.
The cosmos wildflowers attract many monarch butterflies and bees; in fact, there are so many bees that there are two bee houses on site. Regretfully, I didn’t get any Dubblefilm photos of the butterflies, but I love the psychedelic images with the bees. Unlike the fast butterflies, the bees stayed still just long enough for me to snap some photos.
Feeling that I got quite a lot of wildflower pictures, I made my way down to the Japanese Garden and the Waterlily Gardens to finish my roll. Plus, I wanted to try this film on subjects other than flowers. I think my favorite out of this bunch is the garden statue of the Maneki-Neko, with the jarring red color shift that shoots across the photo.
I was happy with most of my exposures. But the only thing with Dubblefilm Jelly 200 is that sometimes the effect might block out the subjects in the exposure, as seen in the image below. You have to expect this with this type of film.
Film Soup or DubbleFilm?
I recently got into film soup, which can be fun if you like that sort of thing. However, Dubblefilm is an alternative to souping film if you want to try experimental photography but do not want the whole hassle of film soup.
Both can produce some wild effects on your exposures, but I find Dubblefilm more convenient. With Dubblefilm, the film is already pre-exposed, so you don’t have to worry about creating a mixture for your film soup.
Plus, with Dubblefilm, you don’t have to agonizingly wait for your souped film to dry before developing. Some photo labs don’t even take souped film, so you might have to develop it at home. With Dubblefilm, you can bypass all this and still get incredible effects with your film.
They both give surprises with the exposures. But if you like experimenting with different techniques, I understand why you might like film souping more.
Also, film souping might cost less. A roll of 35mm Dubblefilm can run from $8 to about $17, depending on what you purchase. For film soup, I usually use whatever I have at home: chemicals or cheap wine. You then have to factor in how much it will cost to develop at home or in the lab.
Final Thoughts on Dubblefilm Jelly
Do I love Dubblefilm Jelly? Yes. Will I repurchase it? Absolutely.
In fact, I will probably buy the other Dubblefilm film stocks because they are exciting to try and see the effects produced. I love all the tones that Dubblefilm Jelly gives, and the film looked fantastic with the beautiful cosmos wildflowers. I wouldn’t say I like the price for one roll (especially for the color-negative film), but the overall cost of film seems to be increasing anyway!
Next time, I’ll try street photography with Dubblefilm to see the different results.
Have you tried Dubblefilm before? Please share your thoughts and comments below!
Also, If you plan on visiting Gibbs Gardens, don’t forget to check out my article The Perfect Day Trip to Gibbs Gardens in Georgia.
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