Blacktop Creative Co by R C Mello

Blacktop Creative Co by R C Mello Industrial and documentary photography focused on permanence, process, and restraint. Based in Texas. Available by inquiry.

If you haven't seen or been to the U.S.S Lexington you are missing out big time. I've been to every water based museum w...
06/01/2026

If you haven't seen or been to the U.S.S Lexington you are missing out big time. I've been to every water based museum we have in the United States now minus pearl harbor and anything OCOUNS. Battleship Cove is my favorite, I've been to places there you guys could never see.

It's such a privilege and blessing to be able to use such old "outdated" equipment and get such a high quality result. I was going to crop the first one, it never comes out right so I just left it as is. It's an F4 phantom I think. Finding that 50mm FD at 20$ for my A1 just made that trip soooo much better, I wasn't about to carry a 135mm all day. If you are looking for a sign to try film this is it! DO IT!!!!!!!!! SHOOT FILMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!! A GUY ON THE INTERNET IS TELLING YOU ITS SAFE AMD YOU WONT GET HOOKED AFTER THE FIRST ROLL!!





Well no videos for a while probably after September. We are having equipment issues and have to start downloading stuff ...
05/31/2026

Well no videos for a while probably after September. We are having equipment issues and have to start downloading stuff from the house to prepare for something awesome. There's just a lot going on in general that just kind of happened. This trip to corpus somehow spawned us a bessler photo enlarger, here in the next two weeks I'll have everything I need for it together.

This changes how we operate and do things here, film has now come full circle. We load our film canisters, we shoot our film, we develop it, and then enlarge it and scan it! Then you get to see it! I feel like in my own opinion that's the best way to share film, I just can't scan my large format stuff....yet! Also I swore off Tmax and 50 sheets of that landed in my lap, it expired in 2004. I love expired film! We are going to Carlsbad for the 4th and bring some then but I'm loading some next week just to scratch that itch!

Lots of awesome things coming up in the next few months. Huge announcement Aug 1st! Lots of cool stuff to share! This is kind of a fever dream. I remember looking at people doing what I'm doing and thinking......there's no way I don't****(some random excuses). So much awesome stuff! In a few months we start framing. I'll be launching my no digital footprint photo series! You buy based on a description!





The excitement surrounding this is killing me, we are going to Carlsbad for the 4th of July I plan on taking loads of 35...
05/31/2026

The excitement surrounding this is killing me, we are going to Carlsbad for the 4th of July I plan on taking loads of 35mm. I won't be scanning film the way I used to. It's cheap enough once I figure out a process I'll print on paper and then scan with the flatbed. I can't quite do my large format stuff yet but soon we will be able too.

September is going to be a big month for us! Just as well I don't mind scanning my 4x5. I've avoided Tmax on purpose for this whole time and a box of 50 sheets of 400 that's expired since 2004 lands in my lap with the enlarger, and some paper. I've also got some items set aside in the cart so we can do this properly. When I started this I never imagined we'd be where we are at! I went from a mintola srt 101 to full force analog film. It just kind of happens that way.

No idea what or when I'm going to use theta versicolor on. It's also expired I'll use it when the universe feels I need to. My mamyia C3 being out of commission out that stuff on the back burner for now. That Tmax will get used in the next few weeks, it's not that I don't like it. I love the image I've just bought into the stigma of it being for pros and I'm still struggling slightly with imposter syndrome. I have 50 sheets to play with, so let's play!





I only share these because I like them and it makes some people uncomfortable to look at, we have the same problem in ph...
05/30/2026

I only share these because I like them and it makes some people uncomfortable to look at, we have the same problem in photography that you have with ham radio operators while yes we have some that are great and offer amazing advice. The vast majority would just assume rake you over the hot coals for having even one mistake someplace. In this case every single one of them is a mistake.

Don't let your inability to appreciate abstract art ruin it for others. Plus every single one of you has a blurry dash photo you're just not willing to admit that you accidentally took it. I actually don't know how the third one which is a photo of my armory for my second deployment ended up like that. It wasn't set up for double exposure and I don't remember moving the camera but whatever. It makes some troglodytes uncomfortable so here it is! Video start back up on the 1st! They get posted when they get posted.





I love old stone work. I love a lot of cool old things, it's kind of my thing. But the fact that even parts of this old ...
05/29/2026

I love old stone work. I love a lot of cool old things, it's kind of my thing. But the fact that even parts of this old fort are from the original fort is pretty amazing. It's awesome to try and imagine what life would have been like being stuck here. That cannon fd50mm was the best 20 I've ever spent. I can't wait to show you guys these once we put them together the bessler enlarger! Exciting stuff to say the least.

This stuff was never meant to be seen on screen I can't quite figure out the output sharpening from Lightroom. The screen option distorts the image, the matte dulls it out. I guess I'll just have to print it the way it was meant to. It would look better if I did that and then scanned it to show you. Really that's how we should be showing film. I think I just said a new standard for myself.





That would be a complete 1984 cannon A1. The cap came with the lens, why deny the inevitable?🤷🏼‍♂️ I had to get the stra...
05/29/2026

That would be a complete 1984 cannon A1. The cap came with the lens, why deny the inevitable?🤷🏼‍♂️ I had to get the strap from 1980s to complete the feeling. I really wish that the car wasn't in the second photo, the signs would give the time period away anyhow. Chasing nostalgia is what we are about here! The fact that I can now go from cam to paper without ever touching anything digital is such a huge win. The grain on them will change when I put them in the bessler! A digital screen is not the intended way to display a film photo.

Obviously I can't sell these as a no digital footprint print...........but I can still print and sell them from the negative. Here shortly I'm going to work on a line of just no digital footprint. It'll be for sale with a description. If you want an idea of how moody or not the photo is just look at the rest of my stuff. There will even be an artist choice! Next we learn framing.




Some of my best street shooting yet. I'm not going to give you any context except for the fact that I was firing fast, I...
05/28/2026

Some of my best street shooting yet. I'm not going to give you any context except for the fact that I was firing fast, I was in some kind of a mood. After the guy looked at me like "that's strange" and kept walking. Number two I just liked the way the light shines off his head and I thought I could make a good photo out of it and I did. That last one though I forgot but I like it!

We were in Corpus Christi last weekend and it was a nice trip. I had the chance to swim in the ocean which for me is a second home. Growing up in coastal Massachusetts kind of ruined me, I like the desert regardless but every so often it's nice to take a dunk. Here soon we'll be able to take ALOT more day and weekend trips just because. Location helps a lot! I've been stuck in West Texas and I'm bored with it!

I have this sudden urge to dive into retro canon, I promise I won't make it my entire personality for a long time. Mamma Mia twin lens reflex is my favorite of all time. The Kiev 4 is my favorite rangefinder and overall camera. I just feel this weird connection to anything retro Canon and can't explain it. My 80s cannon red strap has arrived, now I need the red jacket to go with it. My A1 is 1984 through and through now even my lens cap was from 1984. The problem I'm having is finding an extra large 1980s red Canon jacket, it seems everybody who bought one in 1984 and 85 were medium and large. I'm an XL, the film is HP5 for my critical troglodytes waiting to complain





This castle thing from the spanish is pretty cool I don't remember much detail about what it was, my wife had all that i...
05/27/2026

This castle thing from the spanish is pretty cool I don't remember much detail about what it was, my wife had all that info. We couldn't not stop, we had fresh rolls and a new lens......HP5 is superior btw. I can't wait to photo enlarge these! This was after we stopped and picked up the photo enlarger........ I can't wait to get that thing going give me about 2 weeks!!!

Ever since I started doing my own developing I became obsessed with having complete analog control over my images. I want to be able to sell and give out prints that have never had a digital footprint. I just feel like there is so much value in that, emotional value anyway some may find a amount worth it as well and I am here for yhose people.





That 20$ 50mm Cannon FD for my A-1 was one hell of a steal. Plus it came with the 1984 Olympics cover now all I need is ...
05/26/2026

That 20$ 50mm Cannon FD for my A-1 was one hell of a steal. Plus it came with the 1984 Olympics cover now all I need is the original strap to get here. The mintola srt 101 probably won't get much use for a while, the A-1 and my Kiev 4 just work so well together.

The U.S.S. Lexington was not packed most likely due to the rain early on in the day Saturday, that's fine by me it gave us plenty of room to explore. However one of the rolls loaded improperly so it didn't develop right. It is what it is! I used 8 rolls of film this weekend and we have so much new stuff.

Plus we have an enlarger that I have currently set up! I packed all the developing stuff up, we won't need it till September or so. We'll be printing here in the next few weeks. Plus I was gifted 50 sheets of Tmax400 so we are going to use that for sure as well! I just need to stock up on chemicals and we are good to go! I've got paper and plenty of film.

The Lexington was built in mass and so was I!





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Odessa
Odessa, TX
79762

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