My uncle told me to always shoot at box speed, and after 6 months of pushing HP5 I think he was half right

Michael Nelson · 2026-09-21T21:05:05.564057+00:00

My uncle has been shooting black and white since the 70s and when he handed me his old Pentax K1000 last spring he said to never push film, just trust the box speed. I nodded and then ignored him for the next 6 months, pushing HP5 to 1600 at every indoor show I shot around here. Half the rolls came back looking like sand and the other half had this moody grain that I actually loved. Last week I shot a roll at 400 like he said and the shadow detail was just sitting there, clean and easy. So he was right that pushing is a crutch, but wrong that it looks bad, it just looks like something else. Has anyone else kept pushing a stock even after someone told them not to?

🐿️Pinecone Attack

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My uncle told me to always shoot at box speed, and after 6 months of pushing HP5 I think he was half right | Analog Photo Stories - Pinecone Attack