New York's Chinatown on Cinestill 400

I've only tried using the Cinestill 400 film stock a few times and I'll admit that I didn't love it on my first go around. I actually thought the film lab might've accidentally exposed the roll to light because of the weird red spots. Turns out, that's just the halation that you'll get from Cinestill 400 highlights and it bleeding red!

With that in mind, I picked up a roll of Cinestill 400 to take with me to Chinatown, and it did not disappoint. Chinatown is known for its bold red and yellow signs and I wanted to leverage the halation on this really bright day to complement the signage of the area.

Street shots

Banh Mi Saigon

I interned in NYC for two summers in 2016 and 2017 and my first summer here I was a little too nervous to explore on my own. I ended up coming to Banh Mi Saigon every Saturday to pick up an iced coffee and a sandwich/spring roll combo that I could spread throughout lunch & dinner.

I'd come back in 2023 with a friend and the sandwiches were exactly as I remembered them. This year, one of my friends brought up how interesting it is that these businesses in NYC seem to have a lot more staying power than restaurants in Seattle which always seem to be coming and going.

You can definitely see how harsh the red halation is on the lights in the shop. This shot isn't going to win any awards but it still feels special to me.

More street shots

I'd like to visit again soon and take another roll of the Cinestill 400 with me, but aim to get out much earlier or much later in the day. It's always hard shooting with direct overhead lighting but I'm still glad to get this experiment out of the way.