Some pictures from a brief visit to Dawlish back in April.
[Tech info:] Nikon FE2, 28-75/2.8 Tamron zoom, Delta 100 film developed in Ilford DDX 1+4, Pakon scans.
Travel
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Devon: Dawlish
Thursday, December 1st, 2022
Dorset: Symmondsbury
Saturday, November 6th, 2021Some pictures here from a recent trip to Dorset. There are nice views of Colmers Hill from Symmondsbury and it’s also easily accessible from there if you want to walk to the top. The first and second pictures below were a comparison of how different focal length lenses affect the relative size of distant objects. The first shot was with a 28mm lens and notice how small and far away Colmers Hill looks compared to the second image which was made with a longer focal length (either 50mm or 135mm, I can’t remember which). I tried to keep the size of the gate in the frame the same for each.
[Tech info:] Pentax MX, Ilford HP5, developed in Promicrol 1+14, Pakon scans.
Exmouth: a day at the beach
Friday, November 5th, 2021Some pictures from a recent trip to Dorset. On one of the days we went to Exmouth and spent the day on the beach. A nice place to visit. Easy parking and not too extortionate. We lucked out with the weather especially it was getting towards the end of September. On this trip I decided to travel light and only took a small 35mm film kit (Pentax MX, 28mm, 40/2.8, 50/2 and 135mm lenses). I didn’t take all the lenses out at the same time, usually only 2 but sometimes 3 (28, 50, 135). I like the jump in focal length from 50mm to 135mm because the perspective is very different which makes carrying them both well worthwhile.
[Tech info:] Pentax MX, Ilford Pan F, orange filter, developed in Promicrol 1+14.
Black Country Living Museum – part 1
Saturday, October 14th, 2017This set of pictures is from my first visit to the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley. It’s a great place to visit, especially for photography and as the entrance ticket is valid for return visits for a whole year I’m already looking forward to going back there. For sale in the gift shop was a filming locations map for a tv show called Peaky Blinders which is partly filmed there and although I haven’t watched it I can see how the living museum could easily be transformed into a film set.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex 2.8F Zeiss Planar, Ilford HP5 @ ISO 800, developed in Kodak HC110 1+31.
Cambridge: Day trip
Wednesday, January 7th, 2015My very first visit to Cambridge was in August last year. Up until then I’d always been put off going there because I’m not a huge fan of driving and there isn’t a fast/easy route there from Oxford but when a fellow film photographer friend of mine offered to drive, I was happy to tag along for the trip. My first impression was that Cambridge had better shopping compared to Oxford but from a visual point of view I think Oxford easily wins without a doubt. It seems like the only way to see much of the colleges is by travelling along the river but if that’s not what you’re interested in doing you still have to put up with being hassled every minute by people selling boat trips and punts for hire. I’ve never seen anything like it. Apart from that I had a great time walking the streets of somewhere new, observing life and the comings and goings.
[Tech info:] Yashica Electro 35, Fuji Superia 200, developed in a Rollei Digibase C41 kit. Pakon scans.
London: day trip part 1
Wednesday, October 10th, 2012Some photography from a day trip to London last weekend. The weather was amazingly warm (for October) and the light was perfect for photography. First stop, Portobello market where there was no shortage of amazing stalls and photogenic people to photograph. It was a bit too busy to stop many people which was a shame but instead it was nice just to chat with some of the market stall owners especially the ones selling film cameras. If you find the stall selling old letterpress type (I think it’s called The Old Print Shop), be sure to check out the camera seller in the building opposite them. From the outside it’s not obvious what an amazing collection of cameras are inside and the greek gentleman is a joy to talk to (last pic).
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex SL66, 80/f2.8 lens loaded with expired Kodak Ektachrome 100G. Home processed in a Tetanol E6 kit.
Travel: Barcelona around and about part 3
Sunday, October 7th, 2012This is an entire roll of film that I shot during my recent trip to Barcelona. This roll probably has the most street portraits on it out of the whole trip. A couple of the gentlemen below (man with beret and man with glasses without a hat) are street artists that will draw/paint your portrait for you. I thought it was an interesting reversal to ask them to let me make their portraits. They didn’t speak much english but sign language got my message across. The two young guys smoking outside the pub were fun and very enthusiastic about my camera. The guy on the right brought his 35mm Rolleiflex film camera out to show me. When I told them my blog address I expected them to type it into a mobile phone but instead one of them produced a notepad and pen. I was surprised and remarked ‘so you like analogue?’ to which one of them replied ‘analogue is the best!’. Right on guys! If you’re ever looking for a great vegetarian place to eat in Barcelona you can’t do much better than to eat at Moaz in the Gothic quarter (left column 5th down). The staff are so friendly and the food is excellent.
[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f, 80mm lens, loaded with Fuji 400H film. Processed and scanned by me.
All 12 frames of a roll of film I shot in Barcelona
Travel: Barcelona around and about part 2
Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012Here’s another set of images I made in Barcelona last week. Before I went I was really looking forward to shooting some street portraits but I found the language barrier to be a hurdle although I was able to overcome it sometimes with hand signals. Other times I had no problems because people spoke english but overall I didn’t feel the right energy on the street to approach people. The vibe I was feeling was people seem more guarded than I’m used to Oxford or London. My theory is that people are so used to being approached by others on the street trying to sell them things or asking for money etc that they automatically ignore anyone approaching them. It’s a shame because I saw so many people I wanted to photograph but alas it was not to be.
[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f loaded with Kodak Tri-X film, processed in Rodinal (1:50) for 13:30.
Travel: Barcelona around and about part 1
Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012Last week I made a short trip to Barcelona. I was previously there in 2010 almost exactly two years ago to the day. On that trip I only took a digital camera and brought back so many shots I still haven’t managed to find the time (or the will) to go through them all for processing. On this trip I decided to only take film cameras. Needless to say I didn’t bring back anywhere near the same amount of shots. Here’s the first batch of images.
[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f loaded with Kodak Tri-X, processed in Rodinal (1:50) for 13:3o.
Travel: Antwerp
Sunday, January 8th, 2012Last summer my family and I visited Antwerp for four days and then went on to Brussels for a couple more. We’d been to Brussels before but Antwerp was new to us. The weather was a mixed bag and rained quite a bit. We did lots and lots of walking around but our daughter had just turned three at the time so the amount of ground we could cover each day was limited. Something that really struck me about Antwerp was the amount of really old bicycles still in use there. Cycling is really popular and I happen to have a thing for old bikes and battered up Brookes saddles so I couldn’t help noticing them everywhere. I really enjoyed the trip and while I’m sure Antwerp isn’t a city that immediately comes to mind when planning a trip to Europe I can highly recommend a visit.
[Tech info:] Nikon F90X 35mm camera with Kodak Color Plus film (from Poundland). Processed and scanned by me.
Sunshine and moonlight 4-ever. Tree graffiti in a park near the b&b that we stayed at.
I don't know what these are. Fungi, mushrooms, toadstools? Whatever they are there were a lot of them.
This is the gorgeous park that was a short walk from the b&b that we stayed at. Two of my daughter's favourite things - construction equipment and the colour orange.
Cobbled street in the old town
The street car public transport system was very easy to use and very economical with a 10 trip card.
Horse and carriage for hire
Horse drawn carriage driver.
Horse drawn carriage driver.
Bicycles for hire.
Old bicycles. I especially like the newspaper covered chain guard.
Very old books in one of the oldest printing companies in the world.
Segways for hire. Certainly a different kind of two-wheeled transport.
From the archive: Yosemite
Friday, November 11th, 2011This is one of my all time favourite images that I made during a trip to the states back in (I think) 1993. This shot is from Yosemite National Park, somewhere along the Tioga Pass. Every year the Tioga Pass is closed for the winter because the snow fall is so heavy it’s not possible to safely travel along it. This shot was made on the day before it was to be closed off. Unfortunately this scan doesn’t do the original justice because when you view the original transparency on a lightbox the colours and clarity in the image have to be seen to be believed.
[Tech info:] Wista Field 5×4 camera, 90mm lens, Fuji Velvia 50 film rated at ISO64 and pushed 1 stop in processing.
Lone tree, Yosemite National Park.
Travel: Madrid
Saturday, September 17th, 2011These shots are from a recent business trip to Madrid, made with my Olympus Mju-II (Stylus Epic in the US) point and shoot film camera. There’s no zoom lens on it, just a fixed 35/2.8 lens. After hearing lots of amazing things about it on the FPP podcast I wanted to see for myself what it was like. The size and compactness is nice but so far I haven’t managed to get a handle on the autofocus. From this roll of film I ended up with a lot of out-of-focus shots and I don’t know if that’s user error (I’m not giving the camera enough time to lock on focus before pressing the shutter) or other factors. I’ll be more careful on my next roll.
[Tech info:] Fuji Acros 100 film, processed in Rodinal 1:50.
Boarding the flight
Madrid airport. These lights always look like they belong inside a space craft.
Madrid airport departure lounge.
Madrid airport terminal interior.
Madrid airport's futuristic interior.
Old motorcycle (still works).
Wooden pallets.