Patience

I'm impatient. There I've said it.

Its taken me until I'm in my mid to late 40’s that I've finally 'learned' to chill. Whilst I'm pondering this month's blog post, I have a live example of this.

I have a generally hectic day job, in fact manic. So as I've mentioned previously, street photography and film photography is my chill, to zen proportions.

It generally unwinds the stress of Monday to Friday, using the creative side of my brain, rather than counting numbers and managing risk in the financial services.

I had to send the Leica M4P in for a service. I can totally understand that some folk will file this under ‘first world problems’. But the camera has never been right since I got it.

The issue was a uniformed light leak down the right hand side of the negative, which varied, depending on the shutter speed. I ignored this for 6 months, cropping the issue out of the camera, but finally decided that this was madness.

After taking in some research for 3 weeks, I elected to use Camserve. Based on the positive feedback / reviews on a Leica forum. My experience with Steve at Camserve, was world class service, no doubt about it. Initially on the phone, he mentioned that it could be one of two problems, the first he could fix, which he hoped was the second shutter requiring adjusting, by dismantling the camera, and giving it a thorough CLA (clean, lubricate and adjust), the second, he couldn’t fix and would be very expensive and would need to be sent to ‘a specialist’. I cant remember what the second issue was, as I stopped listening after he said ‘very expensive’.

When I dropped the camera off, I asked if he could take a photo of the camera, with its guts hanging out, not to authenticate that any work was completed, but just to see my baby dismantled, I know, I’m weird like that……..

Thankfully the issue was the former easy fix, not the ‘very expensive’ option.

It took three weeks all in all to resolve and a charge of £144. Exceptional value, full CLA, shutter reset, rangefinder reset. I also received a call each week, with an update. This compared to some stories online of other repairers taking between 3 - 12 months!!.

What was a concern, was that when I collected the camera, I was told it had been opened up by a novice (read seller), who had attempted to clear fungus of the inside of the viewfinder. When they reassembled the camera, they didn’t have a high attention to detail, with a lot of loose screws within the body of the mechanism.

I had noticed this prior to the CLA, the nut on the top of the film winder, kept coming loose.

This has now changed my mind about buying expensive film cameras from Japan, as the import tax and service costs, take out the initial benefit of buying from this market place.

I had put my first expensive of buying my Pentax 67, down to bad luck, but alas, it doesn’t seem to be the case.

I took the camera out on Saturday with a roll of kodak colour plus 200 loaded. I found that my muscle memory had gone, which was expected really. I did find the camera to be a completely different user experience, the winder mechanism was nice and tight, but also I found that I didn’t miss any exposures.

Here’s a couple of images:

It’s nice to have the old lady back in hand, as I was using the digital camera quite a bit, but I missed the slower process of setting up each shot.

Well thats me for another month, until next time, keep snapping.

Shoot what you know……..

Street photography for me is mainly about creating luck.

What I mean by that is, know your camera (into muscle memory), the settings, the lens range and with knowing your surroundings (quirky people activity or light), you generally get a good shot.

I think the golfer - Gary Player - said this best, when he uttered ‘The more I practice, the luckier I get’. Aka the photo gods deliver from time to time.

This is one of the reasons why I pound the streets in Brighton so often, revisiting the same scene, time and time again. This has led to me exploring different angles and perspectives, such as window reflections through COVID-19 retail shops:

When I have been studying the theory of street photography, I discovered that Joshua K Jackson called this the curiosity gap. Watch this excellent video on Sean Tucker’s channel, when he outlines this theory. It's intriguing.

What I have found of late is a little fatigue, or 'Brighton Revisited' which has generally been caused by the pandemic and the restriction of movement that we have all experienced.

Also, due to commitments with my kids, I cant really journey out too far of a weekend. However due to the upturn in the weather of late, my son and I recently ventured over to Folkestone. A place we hadn't frequented before.

Deriving from the landlocked West Midlands, for me, there is a general kitsch allure of a seaside town, it's idiosyncrasies and especially one that is emerging from the closed season of the winter, into their high season.

Whilst I hadn’t been there before, I suppose I had an opinion of the place, the stance on Brexit and the imminent impact of the motorway turning the county into a Brexit car park.

I decided on my usual kit. My trusty Fuji GS645s (I need to do a blog post on the GS645s, its a truly exceptional camera. Pin Sharp, light and nimble, its the perfect street photography medium format camera) with two rolls of Kodak Portra 400 and Berrger Pancro 400. I also took my Sony A7iii with a 35mm lens.

We headed off at 08:30 for the 1 3/4 hour drive, honestly, it was a little weird heading out on the motorway, after a year, mainly quiet, but I can report that the wacky races of the M23 motorway is as mad as ever!

The journey into Kent and Folkestone on the M20 was largely eventless, other that the self imposed 50 miles an hour speed limit, as we entered into Folkestone.

We got there at 10:30 and parked in the main Shopping Centre car park.

Next, we did a quick circuit of the town centre, to familiarise ourselves. I actually thought the town centre evidenced signs of gentrification and the shopping side (national store chains), left Brighton wanting. That said there was still instances of small town UK on show, providing plenty of charm and character.

The creative quarter was a delight, a cobbled lane with colourful shops housing the creative element of Folkestone, the light bathed the street beautifully and I was lucky to get a couple of keepers.

Next we headed down to the harbourside. The imposing Grand Burstin Hotel, is a stark contrast to the regenerated side of the port town. I can only imagine that this side of the town is packed when the restrictions of COVID-19 are not evident.

Lunch was taken in at Chummys Seafood Cafe. Prawn chilli noodles and squid. Very very good.

One more lap of the down evidenced plenty of photo opportunities and items of interest.

Folkestone is a place that I have marked as a place to revisit, for a number of reasons: street photography, the harbourside, the shops (for the kids) and also the seafood.

Until next time, keep snapping.

A selection of the images within this article are available for sale on the Website or Etsy Store, if you would like to enquire about something else, please click the email icon at the foot of this page.

The books better than the film……….

This blog post is a step away from the norm. It’s a start of a new category, where I post about books I have read.

Im not anti TV or movies, I will consume that latest blockbuster, but I shy away from watching series on the telly, as I get more enjoyment out of a good book.

My daughter is very politicised, attuned to current afffairs of domestic and international governments.

My lad is obsessed with movies, the casting, method acting. One actor that has grabbed his attention is Danial Kaluuya.

I saw a couple of trailers on IG for Judas and the Black Messiah and decided I would take a break from the norm.

This is the story about Fred Hampton, the leader of the Black Panther movement in Chicago in late 1960’s and his downfall, aided by the collusion of the Chicago PD, the FBI and an informer of the name of William O’Neal.

I don’t want to provide too many spoiler alerts, but Hampton was a messiah, building the panthers up to prominence, which put the fear of god into J Edgar Hoover, and resulted in his assassination at the age of 21!

Kaluuya is awesome as Hampton.

My reading theme at the moment is the civil rights era of the USA, so this itch was very much scratched with the period of the movement.

I was absolutely compelled to read this book, after watching Judas and the Black Messiah.

Daniel Kaluuya was immense as Fred Hampton.

I am ashamed to say that I was not fully aware of the events leading upto the complicity of state bodies in his assasination, nor the fight to clear his name after his death at the age of 21. The book goes into more detail of the challenges Hampton’s lawyers faced with the judge at the time.

What a legacy.

This book is simply essential reading for the 1960's civil rights movement.

Widen your horizons

I was doing some digital spring cleaning (read reviewing Lightroom and the website) and I discovered a series of photographs that sit outside of my usual street photography genre.

These related to long exposure, drone, architecture and the odd landscape.

These were my preferred shooting stills before I moved to Brighton in 2014, and decided to concentrate more on Street Photography.

I had a DJI Mavic Pro Drone, for a little over a year. I bought it for the family holiday to Florida, but inevitably, when an adult gets more joy out of the device (me) than the kids, I thought it was time to sell it to another (adult) suitor in 2018. At a cost of £1300 it was a little too steep an investment, not getting used regularly.

I do miss the drone, the unique perspective it gave, but the constant fear of losing the signal to the drone was a little unsettling. I never quite had the bravado to fly around Brighton pier, seagulls actively attack drones. Coastal wind was also a nightmare. The above shot at Beachy Downs (white cliffs), was quite scary, whilst it was a sunny day, the change in wind conditions was an issue, as it would pull the drone off course.

What I did find a comparable breeze (pardon the pun), was using the drone in the sunshine state of Florida. The near still wind conditions, meant that you could really push its capabilities.

In Florida, the challenge in some urban areas, was the signal splitters that hotels had, as they had helipads, this made them designated no drone fly zones, so if you were stupid enough to try (I wasn’t / didn’t), the drone would disconnect from the handset and fly off.

The highway shot above was taken on the overseas highway on the unforgettable drive down to Key West. Simply magnificent. I was able to get a video of the stunning vistas, which are here.

I noticed that a new model has come out, the DJI Air 2s, with a reduced price and increased functionality…………

I have always enjoyed taking long exposures, not sure why I have drifted away from this genre. I think its maybe because it is a little pastiche?

I really enjoyed the zen like relaxation in setting up the shots. The victorian lighthouse above is at Dovercourt Bay in Essex, its a splendid piece of architecture.

The shot across the River Thames at Westminster Bridge of the Houses of Parliament, is a particular favourite of mine.

Visiting Berlin in 2015, I found the only way to evidence the magnitude of the Jewish Memorial Museum, was an abstract long exposure. A spectacular piece of architecture.

Architectural photography has also inspired me, living so near to London, I am very spoilt with the diverse, exceptional buildings for consumption.

1 More Place in London, is an inspiring location, providing the snapper with plenty of abstract opportunities to picture the buildings.

The second image of Battersea Power Station, was captured a few years before the development works have transformed the site.

The seaside rugged coastline, was taken in Cornwall, breathtaking landscapes. I must get back to Cornwall soon.

It doesn’t take a genius to work out that the Gondolas are from Oxford, at the Magdalen Bridge Boathouse.

Anyway after consideration, I have decided to offer a selection of the above images for sale at my Etsy shop, if any of these take you fancy, you can review the listings.

Until next time, keep snapping.

A selection of the images within this article are available for sale on the Website or Etsy Store, if you would like to enquire about something else, please click the email icon at the foot of this page.

Scanning colour film negatives

Scanning colour negatives have been a thorn in my side for a number of years.

Hello, World!

I have quite a frugal set up when it comes to film photography. I buy my B&W film in 100 foot bulk rolls, I develop all my B&W and Colour film and also scan at home.

I use a modest setup, an Epson V600 flatbed scanner, its fit for purpose when scanning medium format negatives, but generally so so for 35mm, with a passable use for instagram. I am in the process of upgrading to scanning with my DSLR, but that is for another blog post, a work in progress.

B&W scans I have somewhat nailed, I am very happy with the workflow, its almost faultless.

Colour, on the other hand has been a little bit more of a slow burn.

There seems to be quite a migration to Negative Lab Pro, with some big hitter YouTube film photographers giving it the full endorsement. I have never quite gotten on with it. Whilst the software has the appropriate algorithms, I find the GUI to be a little unsophisticated, with the outputs generally based on the old ‘eye ball’ test.

I have found much more success using Silverfast. I love their use of Negafix, which to put it simply is colour file stock profiles. They work really well.

I recently was asked by a IG friend about scanning and rather than send them a detailed longwinded email, I thought I would do a video screen capture.

I also thought that it might be good to upload these to the YouTube, for general consumption.

Therefore here are two guides, using Silverfast to scan in 35mm and 120 colour film negatives, whilst they are broadly identical, there is a very small differences, with the resultant outputs bearing the fruit of the change.

I hope these come in useful and save you a lot of trial and error. It’s always good to share the wealth.

Until next time, keep snapping, or in this instance keep scanning.

Which side are you on?

Well 2021 seems to be bedding in nicely, we’re halfway through March 2021, nearly a quarter of the year done. Good god.

I took some inspiration off IG recently, so decided to pop out at the weekend, WITHOUT any film cameras on me and shoot entirely with the a7iii. What a very special camera it is.

The main reason for this was that I decided to undertake some ‘spring cleaning’ over on IG. I have been of late, struggling to mix both digital and film photos on the same stream, it wasn’t giving a me a consistent theme / thread.

After pondering this for what seemed like an eternity, I decided to jump in.

My main account had something like 1400 photos, so I decided on quite a clinical strategy:

1) Cull c.1,000 photos on my main account and dedicate it entirely to film

2) Set up a new digital street photography account and start afresh with a nil following.

Whilst its a bit of a faff to navigate two separate accounts, I have found that a rhythm is soon achieved. The follower count is also steadily rising.

The major benefit I’m finding, is that the dedicated photos on the search page are more tailored and interactions with viewers to the stream is that more bespoke.

I find that my shooting style and approach to film vs digital is different and having two separate accounts to explore these mediums in 2021, will be exciting.

until next time, keep snapping.

A selection of the images within this article are available for sale on the Website or Etsy Store, if you would like to enquire about something else, please click the email icon at the foot of this page.

Buy cheap, buy twice.

I’ve been using a bulk film loader for my black and white film, for the last 4 years, coupled with developing and scanning my own film its a real A to Z process of film photography. Thoroughly engaging and cheap!

Whilst the investment into the system is c. £150 (£60 for the bulk loader, £20 for the reusable canisters and then a bulk roll of film), the (financial) benefits are soon reaped.

I historically have taken this ‘mindset’ to the next level, more often than not, buying non premium film stock. This has historically suited me well. As a single parent to two kids, I have historically had very limited time to shoot on a weekend afternoon, or generally in good light.

As my kids are now 13 and 17, we are getting out a little later on the weekday evenings and also at the weekend.

As part of my ongoing 12 month Brighton Beach - Winter Summer project, I wanted to get out of an evening to cover the social scene as we enter into Spring and lockdown / restrictions relating to COVID-19 start to unwind.

I decided to buy a 100ft bulk roll of Ilford HP5+, as the film has a strong reputation for excellent latitude.

I went out on Monday of this week, to see the sights of the beach sea front. Sunset was at 17:31 and I was shooting from 16:30 - 18:45. With this in mind, I loaded up the Leica M4P, set the light meter to 1600 and shot away.

Thoughts in a word. …………WOW!

Whilst shooting Ilford HP5+ at box speed or iso 200, I have generally found the tonality pleasing but a little flat (when shooting in daylight), which is why I generally preferred the denser / grainier look of Kodak Tri-X 400 or cheaper stocks, such as Rollei Retro 400s:

That said, my outing this week, pushing Ilford HP5+ to 1600 has been a rebirth. I have been blown away by the tonality and lack of excessive grain, especially when I am using a flatbed Epsom V600 scanner, which is renowned for having poor capabilities, regarding 35mm film negatives:

Not only does iso 1600 allow for late night shooting, it also allows for excellent zone focusing options at f16 in good light for street photography.

I load the reusable canisters for 24 exposure rolls, so I expect to get circa 25 rolls from the 100ft roll of bulk film. That works out at £2.79 per roll.

Until next time, keep snapping.

A selection of the images within this article are available for sale on the Website or Etsy Store, if you would like to enquire about something else, please click the email icon at the foot of this page.

Housekeeping, its a good thing.

I’m sat here putting the finishing touches to the website update, with a little more time on my hands, whilst we are in this post Xmas / New Year lockdown.

Since my reacquiantance into film, I have added sections relating to Street 35mm & 120, and People 35mm & 120.

Whilst this makes the website a little more lumpy in navigation, I have noticed my shooting style differs greatly between the 3 genres.

Whilst I still carry my digital camera on my walks, I using it more for video, as this is something that I want to develop in 2021, short videos for instagram reels and stories.

Here’s a selection of film and digital images I have taken in 2021:

I mentioned in a previous blog post that the film community is alive and fully supportive, I had a lovely exchange with someone on Instagram, who read my recent blogpost on film photography and wanted to scratch their film itch.

I sent over an email, with some links to camera reviews, resources and blog posts that I have found invaluable. Film is alive and well.

until next time, keep snapping.

A selection of the images within this article are available for sale on the Website or Etsy Store, if you would like to enquire about something else, please click the email icon at the foot of this page.