Helios 40-2N Review or Digital Photography: A Slight Return...

I don’t know about you but I’ve found myself struggling for inspiration lately, not feeling motivated to get out and shoot - in part because I have been SUPER busy starting a new business AND a new job but also just generally not feeling ‘IT’. Have you been feeling that way too? I know many of my friends have - I mean look at the world around us right now, it’s been one heck of an 18 months hasn’t it? I’ve often found that inspiration/creativity/the muse has ebbed and flowed like the tide - one thing I’ve learned is that you have to work for inspiration. It’s no good sitting around waiting for creativity to strike KABOOM! It doesnt work that way - you have to change it up, try something new, or try something old, whatever… just try… to whit: this latest blog.

I have to thank my friend Sophie for giving me the much needed creative kick up the backside to just get out and shoot - and since I was feeling in a mood to change it up I decided to take a DIGITAL camera with me!! GASP! SHOCK! HORROR!! please keep reading though… don’t run away! :D I have in my posession a Nikon D700 camera which I’ve just bought for a commercial project and I figured what the heck - why not shoot some digital as a way of changing things up. It’s been a good few years now since I sold all digital gear and pledged allegiance to the gods of FILM but let’s not beat about the bush film is getting EXPENSIVE now especially in these uncertain times so expect to see some more digital offerings here…. but fear not I haven’t abandoned film all together! I shot a couple of rolls of medium format and they are off at the lab being developed as I type these words to you - I guess I’m saying I’m going back to shooting both digital and film.

Its not just economic reasons, I’ve kind of been feeling a little bit restricted by the self applied ‘I only shoot film’ and I want to make sure that I’m not missing out on something creatively by cutting myself off from digital photography - so it’s coming back into my practice. HOWEVER. There’s no denying that I do find digital images a bit too ‘clean’ if you know what I mean so I’m very interested in combining digital with vintage lenses to add some character - and this brings me FINALLY around to introduce todays offering: The Helios 40-2N. I’ve written about it before HERE sharing some shots from a film only portrait shoot.

It’s a tricky lens to handle because its quite heavy, it has a pre-set aperture control and being an f1.5 lens if you want to shoot wide open that is some thing DOF you are dealing with, also did I mention that it’s quite heavy….BUT I absolutely adore what this beast of a lens does with light…. it can be contrasty, super sharp and crispwith really punchy colours or if you shoot with a light source in your frame suddenly you get blurry, glowy, dreamy low contrast images instead.

The Helios 40-2N is an old Soviet design which is often only talked about for one thing: Swirly Bokeh and it sure does do that but I think this lens has much more to offer the thoughtful photographer than swirly bokeh - it is definitely NOT a one trick pony! Its manual focus of course despite being a native F Mount lens and this definitely suits me anyway, I can’t shake the feeling that AF is just cheating :D nothing slows you down more than trying to manually focus a lens at f1.5!

I am hugely grateful to Sophie for a lovely portrait shoot and for giving me the opportunity to get creative again! Anyway enough ramble from me - suffice it to say that I am really enjoying shooting a mix of film and digital and I guess that’s all that matters right?

Lomography Colour 100 medium format review

Here we are with part two of a three part series featuring films from a recent portrait shoot with Monika! If you haven’t already, check out part 1 HERE but if you’re not bothered about that then read on and welcome to this review which is focussing on yet another new to me film stock - Lomography Colour 100, which I shot in medium format 120 flavour on the mighty Pentax 67!

I’ve shot a few rolls of different Lomo films over the years (and predictably enough blogged about them too) colour 400 in 35mm HERE and Colour 800 in 120 HERE. So what’s this Lomo colour 100 like then?! I hear you cry! Well first of all just look for yourselves - I think it looks great!

As you can see this was a sunlit location shoot with the very talented Monika. This presented the Lomo film with an opportunity to shine! In good light it’s a clearly very fine grain film, with strong contrast and rich colour balance - it’s punchy which I like and gives plenty of fine detail too. The 120 format certainly helps in that resolving power, as does the Super Multi Coated Takumar 105mm 2.4 lens on the P67 on which it was shot.

I think it has a slightly different look and feel to portra films which can be a little more muted and if I’m honest a little more to my taste. Don’t get me wrong though Lomo colour is a lovely film stock - I haven’t tried it out in poor/mixed lighting yet so I can’t speak to it’s flexibility but if it bears anything in common with the Lomo 800 film I imagine it will hold highlights well but lose the shadows fairly quickly in poor lighting. So it’s all sweetness and light then is it? Not exactly…

I would be remiss dear reader if I didn’t share the shortcomings of this film stock, in fact I think it’s worth saying up front that I have a bit of an issue with Lomo films in general - I don’t know whether it’s how they’re packaged or what but they are VERY prone to light leaks and/or having half a frame burned away for no good reason, I can forgive this when shooting 35mm because with 36 exposures to play with I can spare the odd one or two but when it comes to 120 film and something like the Pentax 67 which only gives me 10 frames per roll if one or two frames are frazzled then that’s a big chunk out the roll - I’m 99% certain it’s not an issue with loading as it only ever seems to be Lomo films that I have this issue with…. what the heck LOMO?!?!

Anyway back to the good stuff, aside from issues with the occasional random light leak/burned frame I really like this film stock - I was going to say that it’s a good budget choice but actually prices seem to be on the rise across the board and prices for a three pack of this film are £22 and upwards which is bonkers really - honestly I’m definitely starting to feel the ‘burn’ pardon the pun with film prices and after this shoot where I shot only colour film stocks I think my next few will be black and white only affairs and develop at home!

So that’s it for this review! I hope you’ve enjoyed the images and my ramblings about Lomo 100 and if you didn’t well - tough! :) Stay tuned for the final thrilling instalment in this trilogy of colour film stock reviews when i’ll be sharing my thoughts on yet another (yes another) new to me film stock!

Holga 120N - the all weather camera!

Living in the North of England you have to get used to the idea that there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. In the case of todays blog we’ll be having a look at the Holga 120N - the ideal all weather camera!

I’ve already showcased the Holga’s mysterious wares in a few other blogs HERE and HERE. Having shot with it on quite a few occasions I have a good feel for the look and feel of the images and it remains a firm favourite of mine in the collection (but you know already that I say that about all my cameras)!

First port of call on this dank and dreary day is Bank Bottom Mill in Marsden - tt’s quite a brooding structure, especially when shrouded in mist and rain. One of those buildings where it’s hard to decide if it’s derelict or not… I suspect not, but every time I visit there’s not many signs of life or activity you’d associate with a factory/mill… answers on a postcard please!

And so leaving the stereotypical ‘dark satanic mill’ behind us, we venture up towards Butterly reservoir which sits on the edge of Marsden and the Moors up above.

The rain was really starting to pour down at this point and the mist was sweeping in too, making for some dramatic scenery - enhanced by the dream like qualities of the Holgas ‘optical lens’

Being on your own in a place like this, watching the far distance dissolve into the mist with the sound of the rain intensifying was a deeply satisfying experience - an assault on the senses! I shot these back in February when Lockdown 3.0 was in full swing and I very much needed a blast of ‘fresh’ air to clear my head.

The flooded track along the edge of Butterly reservoir winds up Wessenden Valley and into the mist. I am a sucker for a leading line and a bit of symmerty to boot!

The intensifying downpour of rain and my contemplative mood got me trying a couple of ‘creative’ shots - neither of which worked the way I’d intended if I’m honest… For the shot above I forget now what my ‘creative’ concept was aside from - hey look! It’s raining… the one below I was very definitely aware of being ‘alone’ on this trackway seemingly leading to no where… I wanted to create a self portrait which reflected this (literally) - but since the viewfinder is not coupled to the lens didn’t noticed the camera strap hanging in shot or my two big clod hopper boots in frame too - oh well! I’m sure the art world will survive this catastrophic loss…

You get 12 shots on a roll of 120 film with the Holga - and you’ve got 12 shots here in this blog post - I like every frame! Sure some are better than others, and I walked for quite a while beyond the point where I ran out of film - changing film in the Holga is a bit of a faff at the best of times (the biggest job being peeling back all the electrical tape - I mean ‘weather sealing’ that holds the back of the camera on) never mind in the pouring rain (note to self buy another Holga for such an occasion)

Using a Holga there’s never too much to say about the technicalities - you load your film, guestimate the distance to your subject, point it in the general direction and hope for the best! I tend to use Ilford HP5 in my Holga - its so flipping reliable that it’s one less thing to worry about! The holga’s shutter (read: bit of spring loaded wire) is fixed at a vague point somewhere about 1/100 of a second and the lens aperture can be set to either wide open (about f8) and stopped down (about f11) so really you’re only variable you have control over is at what speed do you rate your film at - I sent my film off to the good people at Exposure FIlm Lab as I have no time or space for home developing at the moment, I asked them to treat it as shot at 1600 ISO this gives a little lee way in the shadows and provides lovely punchy contrast as you can see!

After walking a little further up the track, I stood on top of a wall to grab this final shot and was more than a little surprised when two people walked past me - I’d been so wrapped up in my own thoughts, and the rain had masked sounds of their approach that it startled me at first. But watching them ascend into the clouds ahead of me, I felt glad of their presence. Even when we think we’re alone - theres always someone near at hand. (And they usually manage to walk into your frame just as you’re taking the flipping shot…) Bless em…

Writing a film photography blog

Hello! In todays post I wanted to take stock of the journey so far with my photography blog, to reflect on the process and what this experience has taught me and of course wax lyrical about photography, film, cameras, lenses - you know… the usual!

I took my first tentative steps into the world of blogging on December 2nd 2015 HERE with what (by my current waffly standards) was a very laconic commentary from behind the scenes of a fashion shoot I was involved in.

My how time has flown! That first attempt felt very much like hurling myself into the void (was there anybody there) in fact that feeling never really goes away - or at least it hasn’t for me (is there anybody there)?!

In a little over 5 years this blog has taken me on an amazing journey! One that I had no idea I was embarking on at the time but a journey nonetheless! I’ve learned all sorts of things about myself, about photography, about writing, about shooting projects for a particular audience, about websites (I’m still a bit rubbish with websites).

In the early days I really wasn’t sure WHY I wanted to write a blog, perhaps I thought that I had more to say on the matter? Perhaps I wanted a platform that existed outside of the realm of social media? Perhaps….

Looking back at some of my previous blog posts it’s interesting to chart my progression from jobbing ‘I will literally shoot anything for money’ freelance photographer, documenting my travels for work (ah how I miss travelling for work)! And then a couple of years ago a definite shift towards film only and focussing in more on portraiture. I think I’ve also shifted from writing gear reviews towards just presenting the results of my work, I can definitely see progression in my confidence as a photographer and a blogger too.

Themes which stand out have been:

Film Developing Semi Stand black and white development and Colour Film at home

Travel photography from London to Berlin

Shooting old lenses on digital cameras HERE and HERE

Gear reviews Nikon F2 and F3 as well as the Pentax 67 and Spotmatic F

Shooting film in Low Light HERE and HERE

Commercial gigs HERE and HERE

What I can confidently say now though is that writing a blog about photography (and more latterly specifically about film photography) is that it has given me a creative outlet beyond the photographic process - it’s been a learning curve but I find joy in the written word and as much as I might be tempted by the showy lights of those ‘vloggers’ over on Youtube and Instagram - I guess I’m just a bit too oldschool for that carry on )and maybe just a bit too old) ;)

What has been most gratifying on this journey is that actually there was someone out there! I am pleasantly surprised to know that there are quite a lot of people out there, not just that but they like what they see/read on this page! I looked at the analytics for 2020 and there were 18,000 visitors to the blog! Now for all those young thrusters over there in social media world maybe thats small potatoes but for little old me who just started writing for the enjoyment of it - this is AMAZING!!

I have shied away from ‘monetising’ the blog - I find it a real put off to see blogs that are festooned in advertisements so I can re-assure you that I won’t be going down that route, I’ve also decided not to go down the Patreon route as I want to keep the blog open to anyone who wants to view it and I don’t like the idea of having a pay wall. Ko fi seems like a happy medium. I’ll continue to create content, and if someone out there feels inclined to buy me a virtual coffee by way of thanks then that would be much appreciated! Here’s a button you can use if you feel that way inclined at this very moment!

Writing the blog has opened so many doors in terms of my creativity and even on the business side of things too, I’ve had several paying jobs as a result of people reading the blogs, seeing my work and commissioning me to create some images for them which is pretty flipping cool! I’ve also been asked to write articles for Silver Grain Classics magazine who found me via my blog and I’m about to get my first editorial published in SGC magazine! So yeah, if you’ve ever sat and wondered about writing a blog my advice is to get going! Put yourself out there, even if you don’t have a clear direction in mind beginning if the first step - the journey really is the destination who knows what you’ll discover on the way!

From the USSR with Love: Portrait shoot with Soviet lenses on 35mm film

I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t enjoy the process of preparing for a photo shoot almost as much as the shoot itself! The anticipation of all those endless creative possibilities to come, the excitement tinged with a nervousness that naturally accompanies these thoughts: Will everything work? Am I up to the task? Will it piss it down with rain like it has done all day today....

Film photography invites you to make creative decisions up front (not all of course as development, processing and printing are large factors too) but your choice of film, camera and lens are important considerations. Perhaps more so on film than digital as each film has different characteristics and vintage lenses have their own unique qualities that they bring to the table.

My main 35mm set up is an all Nikon affair but I also have a thing for Soviet lenses, there is just something about them that I am drawn to which allows for some interesting creative possibilities (or maybe it’s because they’re cheap)! While I love Soviet glass I’ve found that Soviet cameras on the other hand can leave a lot to be desired - in my experience they aren’t that reliable and since (annoyingly) M42 lenses won’t easily adapt to Nikon mount cameras I have added a couple of Pentax Spotmatic bodies to my collection which I use for my M42 shenanigans, I’m not going to go into a big review of the Spotmatic F because I’ve already done that HERE suffice it to say that it is a very very fine camera indeed and an absolute joy to shoot with.

So let’s talk lenses then, we’ll start with the Helios 44-2 which you can see at the top left of the image below - it is renowned for it’s ability to do swirly bokeh. But this is no one trick pony and it’s certainly not a novelty or toy lens. It is absolutely sharp (the caveat being that sharpness as a concept is MASSIVELY over stated) it has lovely contrast, tone and detail too and the bokeh is wonderfully smooth as well having some good swirly patterning. The best part? Mine cost me £10! I bought it attached to a broken Zenit camera for £25 - kept the lens and sold the zenit body for £15 :)

There are loads of versions of the Helios 44, I’ve had several later versions all of which had really stiff focussing rings, I tried out this earlier 44-2 version and it’s my fav so far. The build quality is very good, focus is smooth and it has a preset aperture control so you choose which aperture you want using a ring on the front of edge of the lens, you can then adjust the aperture manually so you focus while it’s wide open and then stop it down to shoot (it takes longer to explain than it does to actually do it) this works well for me as I have a Spotmatic F which won’t mount non Pentax lenses with auto aperture pins (note to anyone reading this wanting to use a spotmatic for Soviet glass - if you have a Spotmatic F then stick with preset lenses or if you’re looking to buy just get an older Spotmatic).

The Lens attached to the Spotmatic in the image above is the lovely Jupiter 9, it’s an 85mm f2 lens - this focal length is one of my faves to shoot, especially portraiture. Slightly more rare than the Helios (but that’s only because they made literally a kabillion Helios lenese) the Jupiter 9 is a very very lovely bit of glass indeed - build quality is excellent, focussing is lovely and smooth. I bought mine via evilbay from a seller in Russia for £70. There were several versions of this lens, this is the single coated version dating from the mid 80’s i think - later multicoated ones seem to be at a premium far above any real world advantage you might expect. One of the most impressive things about the Jupiter 9 is it’s size- it’s almost the same size as the Helios!! It looks like a 50mm prime lens which is amazing! It makes for a very compact and portable portrait combination.

A few words about the shoot itself and then I’ll let the images do the rest of the talking: I chose ilford HP5 for this shoot because it was kind of overcast and we were shooting under tree cover so I wanted something flexible enough to handle any situation, I shot it at 800 and I love the results! HP5 absolutely sings when it’s pushed and I think these have a lovely tone and feel to them. A huge thank you to model Danni AKA Pandora Belle - she absolutely nailed it on this shoot, Danni is a very talented model and it was really great to work her on this shoot.

Jupiter 9

Jupiter 9

Jupiter 9

Jupiter 9

Jupiter 9

Helios 44-2

Helios 44-2

Helios 44-2

Helios 44-2

Once again my thanks to Danni for being such an amazing model and also to Exposure Film Lab who develop and scan all my portfolio work - they’re the best!

To say that I am over the moon with the results would be an understatement! First run out with the Helios 44-2 and the Jupiter 9 and I am so happy with how the images came out - in fact I think they make a good pairing, they have similar characteristics. The Helios has a little more swirl in the Bokeh where as the Jupiter 9 is buttery smooth but they both have excellent sharpness, contrast and detail but then you already know that as you’ve just seen the images right?! I’ll certainly be using this set up again in the near future and putting and I’ve really enjoyed shooting black and white portraits for a change, i use colour a lot in my portraiture so I wanted to mix it up a little, for me casual/day to day and personal work I’ve found Ilford HP5 to be such a versatile film, but I’ve never shot portaits with it - I love the results!

Dark Future: A shoot on Kodak Portra at 1600

It’s almost November 2019 and that can mean only one thing: we are now living at the time that the original blade runner movie was set!! While there’s certainly no denying that at times it can feel like we’re already living in a dystopian Dark Future, as with all things the reality is often less stylistically pleasing than our celluloid fantasies would suggest – to rectify this, my latest shoot was a Dark Future/Neon Noir/Blade Runner inspired look with the very awesome Charlie Hex 

This shoot presented me with a number of new creative challenges – first and foremost amongst these was lighting. Having scouted out a suitable location (and a huge shout out at this point goes to The Arcade Club in Leeds for hosting us) I also wanted to have some control over the lighting too, but given that we were shooting in a public space and the fact that I also have two cameras to lug around I needed something fairly compact – enter the LED light pad! I then used a couple of sheets of cellophane to create my own lighting gels and voila! 

Ignore the F90X in this pic - I changed my mind at the last minute and went for the F2 instead :)

In the run up to this shoot I rewatched the original Bladerunner movie which has been a firm favourite of mine for as long as I can remember, I also re-watched the sequel Bladerunner 2049 (a film which I went to the cinema to watch when it came out and honestly thought it was a bit rubbish) what was interesting was to re-watch both movies but specifically to pay attention to the lighting and how it is used to enhance the narrative of the story – as it turned out I actually really enjoyed 2049 the second time around and one thing I took from the film as a major inspiration was the amazing colour palettes – in particular the strong use of orange lighting, obviously the creative lighting budget for both of these films far exceeds any resources I was able to throw at this project (my orange lighting gel is just two pieces of cellophane, one yellow and one red laid over each other) but as you can see here with a little thought and a cheap LED light, creative possibilities abound!

 A Dark Future inspired look has been on my wish list for a long time and I was delighted when Charlie got in touch after a casting I posted on FB. The images speak for themselves of course but it’s still worth stating that Charlie absolutely smashed it on this shoot!! I shared a few mood boards with Charlie and she came back with the makeup and outfit looks you can see in these images, this combined with her being super confident in front of camera really helped to realise the vision, a proper creative collaboration! Big thanks too to Charlie’s boyfriend Jony who did a sterling job as human light stand by holding the LED light for me :)

 During the shoot itself we were in the midst of a very busy Arcade location, mixed and changing lighting and I didn’t have chance to visit the space ahead of the shoot (something I had planned on doing) armed with my trusty light meter, Pentax 67 and Nikon F2 I felt confident I could handle things but as always with film you don’t know until you get the films developed how things really turned out.

Looks like my P67 still has a bit of an issue with the frame spacing with this accidental double exposure - fortunately in this case, I flipping love it!

 I was also using a brand new (to me) lens the amazing Nikkor H C 85mm 1.8 and wow has this lens blown me away!! It’s perfect for lowlight shooting – most of these images were shot around f2 or f2.8 and for the Pentax 67 I was mostly wide open at f2.4

The Nikon F2 and the amazing Nikkor H C 85mm 1.8

As it’s turned out I think most of my fave shots are with the F2 and the 85mm lens, given the low light and relatively slow shutter speeds (all around 1/60) I am very pleased with how they came out.

Now let’s talk about film stocks -  I used Kodak Portra 400 for both 35mm and 120 formats and again, wow! I am blown away at how awesome it looks! I rated the film at 1600 and asked the lovely people at Exposure Film Lab who do all my colour developing to develop the film at 1600 (push it two stops) the results speak for themselves – colour balance is spot on and to my eye they just look RIGHT!

This is the beginning of a wider Dark Future project I’ll be exploring on future shoots mainly cos I’m a Sci Fi geek and have always loved that Neon Noir vibe ranging from Bladerunner to Akira and beyond - I Can’t wait to add some more retro futurist looks to my portfolio and to explore some more creative lighting techniques!

Postcard from Berlin Pt1 - Travel Photography on Rollei Retro 80S

Recently I was lucky enough to spend a couple of days in Berlin! I was there working for my other job (yes that’s right I have yet to find a way to make waffling on about film photography pay for my lifestyle - yet….) I made some extra time to visit my super cool cousin in law(is cousin in law a thing)?? anyway we’re family and I was really excited to explore Berlin, I’ll just get this out of the way right now… the place is amazing!! I was struck by how laid back and chilled it was especially for a big Capital City - I mean yeah the place was buzzing but just a proper friendly vibe about it, I really loved my time spent there.

Having finished my work I hit the street armed with my trusty NIkon FE2, Nikkor 50mm f2 (a new lens) and some Rollei Retro 80S film - one of my faves film stocks and fitting to shoot the German capital on some German film :)

This isn’t really a camera review type blog but I would be remiss in my duties if I didn’t spare a word or two about my kit for this expedition - so first up the camera body; the Nikon FE2. A wonderful camera, I wrote a blog about it’s older sibling the FE HERE a fine camera itself, but I have long since replaced it with the marvellous FE2. On the surface it looks like a fairly standard 1980’s era SLR but it has a trick up it’s sleeve which makes it a standout - a 1/4000 second top shutter speed :) it is very solidly built and although mine has a few scars gathered during the course of it’s life it works perfectly!

Attached to the camera you can see the Nikkor 50mm f2 - as you’ll see in the images that follow this lens is very capable!! I picked it up on ebay attached to a Nikkormat FT2 which cost me £40 - I sold the FT2 for £30 so this lens basically cost me £10!! This makes it a perfect travel lens as I’m not carrying around some big expensive piece of kit - but the key here is that there is no compromise on image quality, this thing is amazing!

The 50mm f2 is also very solidly built, the focus ring is lovely and smooth and even though the lens looks like it’s been booted down the road (and probably has a few times during it’s life) it can create beautifully rendered images with great contrast. It is also an enjoyable challenge to just take a simple 50mm lens with you - no more fretting about which focal length to use, no lugging about loads of lenses which you probably wont use anyway. I enjoy the creative possibilities that working within limitations brings and choosing one lens does this effectively, anyway - enough gear talk!! (for now)

Two key things to note - Firstly you can see some Adox Silvermax and Agfa APX films pictured here that i purchased whilst in Berlin but the images that follow were shot on Rollei Retro 80S which was loaded in the camera at the time of the ‘look at me and my camera, film and booze’ lifestyle type tomfoolery and Secondly, yes the beer was a very good accompaniment to the proceedings.

So, without further ado - willkommen in Berlin!!

The images are presented in roughly chronological order of when I shot them, first up is this interesting monument in ‘Invaliden Park’ and was just round the corner from my Hotel - I’m a fan of brutalist architecture so obviously this really ticked that box for me!

It was a bright, swelteringly hot day - cloudless blue sky, these sunny conditions worked well with the Rollei film which has a good deal of contrast and lovely tones.

There is LOADS of graffiti in Berlin, I mean LOOOOAAADS! and stickers too! everything is either covered in graffiti or stickers - I love it!!

Remember what I said about Graffiti? Well there’s loads of street art too! This piece really captured my attention - the building is an abandoned Art School which was either in the process of being knocked down or possibly renovated (or something in between) The building high mural makes the bold statement ‘How Long is Now’ (note no question mark) the blank face, the staring eyes - dark portals keeping watch over the machines at their work.

The City is alive with the sound of construction work - cranes, diggers, the whole shebang - there was a palpable sense of ‘growth’ about the place

The Berliner Dom sits right next to the River Spree, most of this side of the building was in shade but a patch of shimmering light reflected from the River illuminated the middle row of windows. And below the dome of the building - really love the contrast in these images, a combination of the light in the scene, the film and the lens all coming together!

From the lofty heights of the splendid Cathedral to the minute details of human life - these are ‘love locks’ left by couples seeking to declare their undying love to the universe by placing the lock and casting the keys into the nearest water course, hence there are often to be found on or near bridges.

Maybe it’s a natural impulse to give physical form to such an intangiable emotion, warding off future relationship woes by locking that loved up feeling in place, space and time… or maybe it’s just a daft tourist fad… whatever their intent, whoever and wherever they are now - I wish them well :)

Neptune sits atop the fountain - again wonderful tones and dynamic range with this film, shot in mid afternoon bright sunshine but the camera meter, the film and developer all working to produce an image which captures the detail in these carved statues, the water stains rendered in white adding a layer of depth to the carved features.

The Alexanderplatz TV tower dominates the skyline of the City - if someone asked me to design a TV tower, it would definitely look something like this! I have no idea what purpose the huge disco ball serves (in fact we have a huge TV tower near home which seems to function perfectly well without one) but if the choice is “do you want the huge massive disco ball or not” then the answer has to be yes! Good work people of Berlin!

Overhead Tram lines make for some interesting compositions…

Details at street level - Rollei Retor 80S is such a lovely film, it sings in bright sunlight and can also render wonderfully contrasty tones too, the front of the image was awash with light - it made the bicylce wheel really stand out from the background which has translated onto the film as a difference of tone and contrast, the lens is showing off it’s sharpness here too.

I am a sucker for leading lines, come on - who isn’t? whether it’s a run down, poster covered side street or a neo classical collonade the effect is always the same; a visual invitation… step right this way!

Neo classical architecture abounds…..

….none more so than the Reichstag!! I wasn’t quite prepared for just how HUGE the building is! such a wonderful piece of architecture and rich in history.

Just visible in the background is the huge glass dome which surmounts the building (it’s a shame i didn’t have more time to go and visit properly but it gets very busy and you have to book)

The final stop on our mini tour of Berlin is the Brandenburg Gate - a beautiful neoclassical monument and famous landmark of the city, during my visit it was closed off in preparation for a concert so I couldn’t get a full length photo of the columns, but it prompted me to work the angles and I quite like how these compositions came out.

The final shot from this roll of film is taken looking up as I walked alongside the Brandenburg gate; I love the gradation of light to shade on the right hand side and also the contrast of the neo classical and the clean, straight lined modern building next door.

It’s worth noting at this point that I developed the film in Kodak HC110 dilution H as per the Massive Development Chart for Rollei Retro 80S, this is one of my fave film and developer combinations especially for work in bright sunlight.

Berlin is a city with a rich history - one that it wears on it’s sleeve; it’s such an eclectic and vibrant mix which I hope I have conveyed in some small way here! This is Part 1 of my postcard from Berlin - next time I’ll share some images that I took with some film bought locally from the good people at Fotoimpex, in the meantime thanks for joining me on this trip!

Portraits on film - Night shoot with Cinestill 800T and Lomography 800 Colour

Sharing details of another portrait shoot, this is part of a major ongoing series I’ll be working on as a I rebuild my portfolio - it gives me an opportunity to share some insights on the cameras/films I’m using, the story behind the shoot itself as well as a place to share those photos which might not make it into my main portfolio.

Having made the switch to full time film only and also recently adopting the very wonderful Pentax 67 as my main camera I have been keen as mustard to rebuild my portfolio, to explore the creative possibilities (and challenges) that shooting with film offers and basically have a shed load of fun along the way :) To that end I have been seeking out opportunities to collaborate with some of the very creative souls I am fortunate enough to know - hence this series of blogs! :)

This shoot was for my mate Paul who is a Music Producer under the pseudonym ‘Gamma Prime’ he’s been working on some new material and wanted a set of publicity images to help promote the new work.

The idea was to shoot at night and make use of available artificial lighting to add some creativity to the portraits, this assignment called for some special film stocks - Cinestill 800T and Lomography 800 and I also used a roll of Kodak Portra 400 too. I’ll give you a bit of an overview of these film stocks along the way and some thoughts on their particular qualities in use. I hadn’t used either the Cinestill of Lomo films before so I was excited to try them out - Cinestill is an expensive option and Lomo is more of a budget offering so we’ll see how they stacked up against each other.

First thing to consider when shooting in low light/night time is to take account of sunset! Golden hour light is there for the taking either side of the actual sunset so before I broke out the Cinestill and Lomo films I used a roll of Kodak Portra 400 to snag some of that golden hour light.

Kodak Portra 400

Shooting with the Pentax 67 you only get 10 frames per roll of film so you really have to make each frame count! As the light fell I loaded the roll of Lomography 800 and since we were still in golden hour I used the first few frames here. At this point it’s worth stating that in a stand up contest Portra 400 vs Lomo 800 there’s really not a huge amount in it, they’re both great films although I think Portra has the edge - crisp grain structure as you’d expect from portra and shadows hold up well with lots of detail. That being said the Lomo film is no slouch and it has a very definite character and feel all it’s own.

Lomography 800

We drove into town for the night shots and took a walk through the University Campus to take advantage of the artificial lighting and interesting architectural features. These first couple of frames are still on Lomo 800 and I really like how they came out - a very definite grain charachter which I like very much, shadows don’t hang on to too much detail but in this artificial lighting I think it adds to the effect.

Lomography 800

The images below are all shot on Cinestill 800T - this film stock is repackaged motion picture film, the stuff they use to make Hollywood movies! I was very excited to try it out and it did not dissapoint! the letter ‘T’ in it’s name designates that it’s a Tungsten balanced film so it was designed to be shot under artificial lighting - as you can see the tonality and detail are really great here.

Cinestill 800T

Note my iphone acting as a fill light here! Focussing was getting a little difficult as it got darker so this helped - I’m thinking of getting a little LED light to help in future

Cinestill 800T has been processed to remove the Anti Halation layer which in some conditions gives lighting a strange glow, it also appears quite prone to light leaks as you can see on the left side of the above image - although in this case I kind of like the effect!

This shoot was planned as a portrait shoot for a friend to create some promotional images for his work as a Music Prodcuer - you can check out Paul’s music HERE :)

I hadn’t planned to compare and contrast these film stocks but the differences between the final images and the way I shot them presented the opportunity to reflect on the different charachters of each stock, overall I like all of these films and very happy with how they came out - here’s my thoughts on each in turn:

Portra 400 - what is there to say about this film which hasn’t been said already? It’s a classic for a reason and is one of my firm faves - clean grain, great details and rich colours. I’m tempted to explore how flexible this film stock is maybe pushing it to 800 and beyond in lower light to see how it coped. Portra is my go to film, a quality product capable of wonderful results.

Lomo 800 - this was a bit of a wildcard choice and it’s a very solid performer, espeically when you consider the price for a pack of three rolls of 120 is about £18. I shot it in good light and in low light in both situations it doesn’t hold up shadow detail as well as the other two stocks but this shouldn’t put you off, the grain structure is more prominent than either Kodak or Cinestill but this is also not bad news - it gives the film a look all it’s own which is good.

Cinestill 800T - this film blows me away - I love the colours, contrast and tones but more importantly for these shots it’s how the film handles shadows with details holding up really clearly even in very low light, it’s expensive stuff that’s for sure but it’s definitely worth a shot in the right conditions. It’s proneness to light leaking could be annoying if you have ‘THE’ killer shot and some random leaks could spoil your hard work - on the other hand it could just add something to the image!

It’s worth stating at this point that I was really pleased with how the Pentax 67 worked on this shoot, I was able to achieve useable images down to 1/30 of a second in low light which pleases me very much! The 105mm 2.4 lens continues to impress me with it’s ability to create 3D like images with pristime sharpness and beautiful bokeh too.

I have some more creative portrait shoots lining up over the next few months so I’ll be continuing the portraits shot on film series and looking forward to exploring more wonderful film stocks!

Nikon F2 review

Having owned the F2 for 6 months now I can confidently say it has become a firm favourite (yes I know i say that about all my cameras)! The F2 has a big reputation for being a seriously kick ass camera and I can heartily confirm that this reputation is well deserved! The Nikon F2 is an absolute joy to shoot with - I’ve used it on portrait shoots, taken it hiking and shot landscapes with it, used it for street photography and candid portraits of my little boy running about and playing at home - in every situation the F2 is the right tool for the job.

Often when we think of professional spec cameras we assume that these are complex esoteric beasts which require some form of initiation rite to operate and only the enlightened few can master it - and while that may ring true in some cases, not so for the F2! It is a VERY simple camera with an intuitive set of controls laid out in a such a way that it allows the F2 to do what all great cameras do - it gets out of your way and allows you to concentrate on your subject, lovely.

I’ve already introduced you to the F2 on this blog HERE but it’s such a great camera that I feel it deserves it’s very own blog review! I’ll give a run through of the features and operations of the camera and then we’ll get down to the business of sharing photos taken with it on various shoots and thoughts on using the F2 in practice.

The F2 is a modular design and when it was originally released back in 1971 it was a major selling feature that you could choose from a range of different focussing screens, in later years different prism heads were released which were interchangeable with any F2 body made at any time during it’s production run - this allowed you to decide on which kind of metering system (or no meter at all) worked best for you/a particular situation - my F2 is an F2A which means that it has a metered prism head that uses a needle meter readout, I much prefer this form of read over LED’s but if you like an LED readout then you can check out the F2AS head, or if you don’t want a meter at all you can get a plain prism - lovely! These days the interchangeable nature of the F2 is probably less of a selling point although it will be nice to experiment with some alternative viewfinders at some point in the future.

OK so we get it, its a nice camera - so what? how’s it different to all the other bloody cameras you have…. great question! I’m glad you asked! let me explain:

Form factor: it’s a big camera! bigger than your standard 35mm camera, I like this! fits in my hand comfortably, the F2 is perhaps the most ergonomic camera I have had the pleasure to shoot with so far!

100% viewfinder: What you see is what you get! the viewfinder shows the whole of the frame (not always a given on some cameras) it’s big, it’s bright, it’s beautiful!

Mechanical: The body requires no batteries to operate, it’s powered by springs and gears - I like this very much! (obviously the meter needs a battery)

Build quality: The F2 was hand built to a very high specification for professional shooters, in an age when things were built to last, its like a Swiss watch that you can also use as a hammer from to time (or just maybe, make photographs with it)!

Looks: yes I am shallow enough for this to be a ‘thing’ in my choice of camera, but flipping heck look at it! Industrial Design at it’s finest - an exercise in form following function if ever there was one.

I enjoy shooting with the F2 so much and I am such a big fan of the amazing Nikkor lenses that I’ve decided to concentrate my 35mm kit around two Nikon F2’s (I just bought a second one) and an FE2 which I already own (and who knows what other Nikon F mount bodies I’ll take a shine to in future) in part because these are simply amazing pieces of equipment and also because running several different lines of camera (Olympus, Pentax, Canon and Nikon) at the same time gets a bit expensive!

I’d much rather own several bodies which can all utilise the same lenses - giving me more capacity to get some killer glass and shoot it across any camera body that takes my fance. Obviously for Medium Format shenanigans the indomnitable Pentax 67 will be a fixed feature and for just the sheer lunacy of it a Holga 120N is also firmly on my ‘keeper’ list of cameras!

I want to share some of the images I’ve taken with the F2, to date I’ve used it on several portrait shoots and also a few hikes into the wilderness to shoot landscapes, I’ll start with some of the portrait images which I took on a shoot with my friend Arya Ravenswood you can see the full shoot HERE these were all shot on Portra 400 on the F2 with the Nikkor 50mm 1.4 AI lens.

And now a few images from out and about in the moors around my home, the following images were taken on the same day at two different locations - first three are from Dovestones Reservoir and the rest are from West Nab, all shot on Fomapan 200 on the F2 with the Nikkor 24mm 2.8 AI lens and an orange filter (the observant will notice this is also the same time that I took the header shots for this blog - planning ahead you see, I don’t just throw these things together you know)!

So there we have it - another blog during which I heap praise upon a particular camera, stating something like ‘so this is the only camera I’ll ever need’ or whatever, clearly I’ve established that I am prone to bouts of enthusiasm when it comes to this kind of thing but this time it’s different… as a result of how much I enjoy working with the F2 I’ve sold off pretty much all my other cameras now, I‘m a photographer not a collector so my ultimate aim here is to shoot not to have loads of cameras just sitting on the shelf - the F2 is a shooters camera, a pro series camera from a time when being a pro photographer was a badge of honour. I make no claims to that badge myself and certainly just owning a decent camera will not make you a better photographer, but owning something as well made with such attention to detail and design is a joy in and of itself - to use it as intended to create work that you are proud of is a whole other level of joy. I can’t guarantee that I won’t buy some other random cameras in future but what i can say is that for me the F2 is the ultimate 35mm film camera.

Pentax 67 review

Ever since I first picked up a film camera and got slowly drawn deeper into the wonderful world of film, I’d heard tell of a mythical monstrous machine called the Pentax 67, today dear friends I am happy to report that my long held dream of owning such a mechanical marvel is realised - behold! the behemoth!!

So… another new camera eh? yes dear friends - let me take a moment to explain… I’ve sold all my Digital camera equipment!! I’m officially now full time film only! regular visitors to the website will have noticed a different look/format - no more commercial/events/wedding pages, in fact I’ve completely re-imagined my photographic practice so that it’s more in line with my passions and interests and one thing that i had realised for some time was that my digital gear only ever saw the light of day for commercial/events work - having decided to forgo that area of work my digital kit was effetively rendered redundant - i loved my Canon 6D, it served me very well in the 33,000 ish clicks that i made with it.

Having decided on this course of action and sold off all my digital kit and studio lights i was in the market for a suitable main battle camera to replace my 6D and of course in a very short space of time my attention rested upon the Pentax 67!

I’ve spent the last couple of weeks putting the Pentax 67 through it’s paces,adding a few more lenses and accessories to the set up, just generally getting to grips with it and starting a complete overhaul of my portfolio with the resulting images, let’s take her out for a spin and I’ll show you around….

A BIG part of the draw towards this camera was this lens - the Super Multi Coated Takumar 105mm 2.4 - it is properly LEGENDARY!! able to simultaneously render dream like out of focus areas alongside super sharp and crisp details, giving a wonderfully 3D effect - it’s my favourite lens ever, ever, ever! Here are three of my fave portraits shot with it so far :)

The 105mm fulfills the ‘standard’ focal length on 6X7 format giving an equivalent field of view to a 58mm lens on standard 35mm format, what’s even better is that thanks to a cheap adapter I can also use this amazing lens on my other Pentax medium format camera the Pentax 645 (see review of that camera HERE) when used in this way thanks to the smaller negative size of the 645 it works as an 85mm portrait lens :)

Anyway back to the Pentax 67 - in use it’s actucally a very simple and surprisingly ergonomic experience for such a large camera, as usual the internet is rife with ill judged, misinformed claptrap perpetuated by people who’ve never even held the camera - first and foremost being the “you can’t shoot it handheld” to which i say (insert swear word of choice) I’ve had sharp results hand holding this beast consistently at 1/60 of a second with no problem at all and with a bit more care and attention 1/30 is totally doable too, the mass of the camera is such that any mirror slap is soaked up by the sheer weight of the camera body, plus most of the vibrations/noise comes from the mirror returning to it’s start position i.e. after the shutter has closed and the frame has been exposed so total myth about handholding.

My version of the Pentax 67 is the thrid version and dates from about 1989 - 1994 (I have no idea how to specifically date the camera by it’s serial number) and to my mind is the best version; earlier models had some mechanical issues present within them from the outset and of course are also much older, there is also a later model the 67ii which is the pinnacle of the range but… it’s EXPENSIVE! and really the only thing it adds is a built in grip (I don’t need this) and an aperture priority mode (I don’t need that either)! so if you’re looking for one of these cameras then go for one that says ‘67’ on the front of the body (earlier models have 6x7 written on the front)

It’s a modular system which means that you can change the prism finder to a wasit level if you like or a metered/non metered head - mine came with a metered head. looking through the prism the finder is about 90% of the actual image which is a bit of a shame but i guess having a 100% finder on a camera this big would have rendered it too unwieldy, it’s not the brightest viewfinder in the world but it’s good and pops into focus well, remove the prism and the focussing screen is HUGE and wonderful!!

let’s get this out of the way… it’s heavy… no denying that, you’ll notice that you have this camera slung over your shoulder!! it’s also big, no getting away from it - although considering the format of negative you’re working with it’s actually smaller than other 6x7 cameras, I really like the straight forward SLR format too - this makes it very easy to transition from your 35mm manual SLR camera and just start shooting straight away.

My latest fave camera combo - the P67 alongside the lovely Nikon F2 a perfect match

My camera came with the wonderful 105mm 2.4 lens already- i swiftly added the very cool looking lens hood to this and then started casting about for more lenses to try out, the great thing about this system is that these lenses are generally very large and so aren’t really coveted by the mirrorless digital camera crowd, this means they are pretty cheap! By shopping around (in the case of the 200mm that meant importing from Japan and in the case of the 55mm it meant not being too picky about cosmetic condition of the lens body) I was able to put together a selection of three amazing additional lenses for my 67 for less than £250 in total! here they are:

From left to right:

55mm f4 - a wide angle lens equivalent to about 28mm on 35mm format

165m f2.8 - a short tele lens equivalent to about 85mm on 35mm format

200mm f4 - a medium tele equivalent to about 100mm on 35mm format

I’m still testing these lenses out and deciding which to keep in my line up, since I love the 105mm 2.4 so much the two portrait lenses don’t get much of a look in at the moment, despite being fine lenses in their own rightonly time will tell if they will remain in my collection; the 55mm on the other hand is a keeper! Just to prove that the P67 is a flexible camera and suitable for landscape as well as portraiture here are a few shots I got on a short hike in the wonderful West Yorkshire Moors near my home and all shot on the 55mm f4.

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It’s a bloody brilliant landscape shooter - I don’t know why this surprised me since it is basically an oversized 35mm SLR, but i was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable it was to shoot on this walk, it’s weight is a bit of a limiting factor for longer walks and as someone who enjoys the great outdoors I’m not sure I would i regularly take the P67 on a long hike as it is a heavy beast to lug up hill and down dale but I’d definitely take it on shorter walks or to shoot specific scenes with the intention of darkroom printing the results, the 6X7 negatives are wonderful, lots and lots of lovely detail and the 45mm lens is amazing, I’m looking forward to getting into the darkroom soon and printing some of these!

So there we have it, my dream camera is living up to expectations (if not exceeding them) the P67 has helped me to transform my portfolio in a way that no other camera has, it’s flexible enough to shoot on location for portraits and is a very capable landscape shooter too - as with any camera nothing is perfect, but the Pentax 67 is the next best thing!

Street Portraiture on 35mm film with the Nikon FE2 & F2

Partners in crime - my trusty FE2 (left) alongside it’s new bezzie mate the F2

Lots and lots and lots to update you with since the last blog post which was all the way back in December!! I’ve been mega busy with lots of different projects and got loads to tell you all about, so since it’s almost a quarter of the way through already let’s finally get the 2019 blogging season off to a start shall we!

Remember last time I was saying things like “I’m going to focus more on creating photos” and “I won’t be doing as many gear reviews” and “gear just gets in the way” well I still think that’s true but owing to my contrary nature I’d like to introduce you to my latest gear acquistion… the Nikon F2!! Rather than just a boring old review thought this time I’ll be sharing some images i shot with this amazing camera on a recent portrait shoot as well, but first let me take you for a walk around the F2

Ever since selling my Nikon F3 last year I have had a Nikon F Series shaped hole in my heart/camera collection (check out this link for the reason why I sold the F3) back in mid December I decided (after not very much deliberation) to buy myself an F2, cos ya know..I worked really hard last year and it’s nice to treat yourself every now and again and it was the run up to Christmas and… well, you get the idea…

I found this beauty on Evilbay for the ridiculous price of £70 and so a deal was done, the caveat being that the camera was from Japan so taking a bit of a punt on condition and shipping times, but as with my previous experience of international purchases the shipping is mega quick, it’s really only on arrival into the custody of Her Mahesty’s rip off merchants here in good old blighty that things slow down, after an almost literal ice age in UK customs my camera was finally released to me and there was much merry making and feasting by all….. sort of… two things became clear fairly quickly 1: it was in very good condition and functionally worked perfectly 2: there were traces of dreaded fungus in the viewfinder and in the mirrorbox which didn’t bode well and therefore i was going to have to shell out some more cash (and wait even longer) before getting to grips with the F2 - it’s all sorted now though, fresh from a good clean and service I even managed to negotiate a part refund from the ebay seller which paid towards the cleaning :)

There’s oodles of info out there on the interwebs about the F2 so there’s not much point in me re-hashing it all, suffice it to say that between 1971 and 1980 if you wanted a professional level Nikon SLR then this was it!! Instead of reeling off a list of it’s features and functions I’m going to share with you a series of images I shot with both the F2 and my trusty Nikon FE2 on a portrait shoot recently, I’ll share my experience of shooting with it too of course and no doubt indulge in some techno-babble along the way as is my want…

Oh yes and interesting/geeky factoid alert! The serial number on my F2 is 7865098 and thanks to the wonders of the internet and some Nikon nerds who collate all this info I was able to date manufature of my particular camera to between May & August 1977 - so this camera is only a few months older than me! :)

Ok so that’s enough camera geekery for one blog, what’s the damn thing like to shoot I hear you cry… well… it’s amazing! build quality is second to none, it just feels very well balanced despite being quite a large camera, the viewfinder is HUGE and bright and lovely which makes manual focussing a doddle, alongside the ever brilliant FE2 I now have my perfect 35mm dynamic duo!

Portra 160 with the FE2 and series e 100mm 2.8

These images were taken on a portrait shoot with Model Rebecca back in Feb when we had a mini heat wave - I was so glad we made the most of the sunshine! The FE2 was loaded with a roll of Portra 160 and with the F2 I shot a roll of Fuji Acros 100 and a roll of Portra 400 - I enjoyed using this combination of film and cameras so much and was very happy with the results that I decided right there and then that I’m going to shoot film from now on for portraiture.

Fuji Acros 100 on the F2 with Nikkor 50m 1.4

Let’s take a moment to reflect on the film stocks used on this shoot - I’ve had a couple of rolls of Fuji Acros 100 on ice in the freezer for a few years now and since buying it Fuji have discontinued production :( having only shot one roll of it before I figured I’d give it a whirl and I love the results, developed in HC110 it has a clean and balanced finished with lovely contrast.

Colour film duties were fulfilled by Kodak Portra one roll each of 160 and 400 flavours - I think i overexposed the 400 speed a couple of stops to 200 and shot 160 at box speed - having developed these myself I had some issues getting the right colour balance when scanning at home and for some frames it took me a little while to get the colours to look and feel ‘right’

Portra 400 on the FE 2 with Nikkor 24mmm 2.8

So there we have it - I was so pleased with how both cameras performed and I continue to be impressed at the quality of the Nikon lenses, the images here were shot on the Nikkor 50mm 1.4, Nikkor 24mm 2.8 and the Series E 100mm 2.8 - super sharp shooters the lot of them! If you’ve not tried an old Nikon camera and lens I would urge you to do so - there’s a reason why these were the manufacturer of choice for professionals back in the day.

Portra 160 on the FE2 series e 100mm 2.8

I developed the colour film at home too - the first time in a long time that I’ve done that, I was really pleased with how they came out and I’ve got a write up of the process and kit that I used on the way, I promise it won’t be another 3 months before I write another blog, in the meantime happy shooting!

Just Passing Through

Hello there! long time no see! It feels like a long time since the last blog although looking back it seems I’ve managed to keep it to one post per month just about! My (non photography) work has taken off in a big way and I’m now working away quite a bit and whilst being on the road is certainly a great experience it does eat into my time for things like blogging and of course being away from home and family for prolonged stints is hard too. It is cool that I get to travel though and see all sorts of weird, wonderful and sometimes just plain ordinary places - it also helps that I have a firm belief that if we have the eyes to see it, the world around us is full of images just waiting to be discovered - good job i write a blog then innit?!

So what have I been shooting whilst out and about, well literally that…these images represent moments on the go, on the bounce, on the hop, out and about, in betweener moments - inbetween meetings, in between appointments, in between places and spaces, hurrying along to catch a train, a bus, a plane - that in between mindest when you’re moving from one place to the next, just passing through, finding a route, not putting down roots…

I’d love to stalk the streets for hours on end searching for the perfect shot, the decisive moment but when I’m travelling it’s often as I’m on my way from point A to point B that I have the opportunity to take in my surroundings, to connect however fleetingly and momentarily through the lens of my camera.

I titled todays post ‘passing through’ by which i mean to draw attention to the difference between being a passer by and the act of passing through places and spaces. Passing by suggests an act of avoidance, a disconnect, whilst passing through a place denotes a willingness to explore, to experience, to navigate, to see…the gift we bring is an outsiders eye, a newcomers curiosity but this is neccesarily a temporary state of being with a transcience that will inevitably lead us out of reach.

As you’ll have no doubt guessed by now this isn’t a technical review post - I definitely subscribe to the idea that the act of photography is about more than a set of techniques and their technical application (althogh these are of course important aspects, they are ultimately a means to an end not the end itself)

So what end is being achieved here? What is the intent? With these images and subsequent blog post I wanted to apply a more intentional mindset to my work so that it’s less about ‘testing’ the various aspects of a camera and film combo in order to write about it on the interweb and more about creating images which have an underlying theme as in todays case, I’m also interested in incorporated elements of storytelling and exploring different themes, thoughts and emotions through my work and I’m working on several projects to that end as we speak (or as I type - whatever, you get the idea)!

These images represent the beginnings of a train of thought for my photography, a desire to create a body of work that is ‘connected’ with the theme of passing through which prompts a reflection on how we navigate the world around us, both physical and metaphorical, are we passers by in our own lives? We are bombarded with imagery online and onland which seek to capture our time and attention, can we make time and space to set ourselves apart from the hubub of modern life and simply ‘be’ in a place, eyes open to the expanse of infinite possibilities of fleeting moments.

And if all of that sounds a bit grandiose then as the great Ferris Beuler once said “life moves pretty fast, you might miss it if you don’t stop and look around once in a while” Amen to that!

For those who are interested the majority of these images were shot on an Olympus 35RC with a couple of shots from my Holga 120N thrown in for good measure films are Kodak Double X, JCH streetpan and Ilford HP5 all developed at home by my own fair hand….I’ll still write gear reviews of course but I’d like to think that at least some of my photography is capable of being more than window dressing for a rambling rumination on the vagaries of X film combined with Y developer to produce Z effect or extolling the virtues of A lens, B camera and C film - this may just be wistful thinking on my part, the true test comes via your contribution dear viewer and how you receive the images, if you made it this far then my sincere thanks for passing through…

Semi stand developing black and white 35mm film at home

A how to develop 35mm film at home blog has been at the back of my mind for flipping ages so here it is at last! I wanted to share the process invovled for developing your own black and white negatives at home using basic equipment and to show the steps involved.

A few years ago I was very fortunate to have been able to purchase a job lot of home developing equipment for the absolute bargain price of £25 which had belonged to a local photographer who had very sadly passed away - in fact when I went to collect the film developing kit I was also given enough equipment to set up my own darkroom (which i fully intend to do when i have the space)! I am very grateful to have been given this kit and will treasure it always by continuing to put it to the use it was originally intended. :)

The kit to develop your own film at home is as follows:

1: Developing Tank - with reels to load the film on

2: Change Bag

3: Chemicals - Film Developer, Stop bath and Fixer (I'll explain more about these in a minute)

4: Measuring Jugs to pour out and mix the chemicals

5: Thermometers to control temperature of your chemicals

And basically that's it! Oh and somewhere preferably with running water in which to conduct this alchemy - for me the bathroom is best.

So we've got our kit together, the process involved is as follows:

1: Load film onto the reel and seal up the developing tank (this bit has to take place in the dark, I use the changing bag which I'll explain later - it takes some getting used to but if I can do it then anyone can)!

2: pour in the developer and leave for a specified amount of time - sometimes giving it a spin every couple of minutes and other times leaving it alone altogther depending on the particular developing technique you want to use

3: pour out the developer and pour in the stop bath - this stops the developer from doing anything else then pour out the stop bath (you can re-use this)

4: pour in the fixing solution

So in effect what you are doing is mixing all of the chemicals up, soaking the film in the developing tank in the developing solution for an alloted amount of time, then washing it in a 'stop bath' to stop the development and finally a fixing solution to 'fix' the image onto the negative - it's a very hands on tactile process and I'll try to explain it without making it sound complicated!

This being the 21st century as per usual there is an app which comes in very handy when considering all of this - for reasons best known to themselves it's called the 'Digital Truth' Massive Film Developing Chart the digital truth part sounds a bit odd when we're dealing with an analogue film but hey who am I to question these things?! whatever, it's a resource of 1000's of film types and developer combinations and it can work out the correct developing time for the outcome that you want - you see that's an element of the creative control you have, want more contrast? OK well we're going to have to agitate the developing tank in a particular way to achieve that you can see more about the Massive Development Chart HERE

The app works great on my iphone and as you can see here it gives me the times for each element of the process - simples! You can also create your own timings and this is one that i did for this particular process which is a 1 hour semi stand development in Rodinal film developer.

Now there are loads of different techniques for developing films so there's loads to go at, one technique which I think I've mentioned before in a previous blog HERE is called Semi Stand Development and it's a beautifully simple way of developing - basically you pour your developer into the tank, give it one or two turns to mix things up and then leave it for 30 mins, give it another spin and leave for another 30 mins and you're done.... there's an even more simple method called Stand Development in which you don't even bother with the spin at the 30 minutes mark! but I prefer to give it that one or two spins just to make sure that the chemicals aren't getting spent and we get a nice even finish.... anyway it works really well with slower speed films of around 100 ISO and below and as with all things in life there are compromises to the simple developing process that it tends to average out shadow and highlight areas and it does bring out the film grain although personally I love film grain so that doesnt bother me!

Developing your own film might sound a bit complicated but actually it's fairly straight forward - albeit a bit technical process - there's a ton of information out there on the internet to help guide you, I'll put some links in a little later for good places to get you started.

Developing my own film is a whole other aspect of film photography and the creative process that I really enjoy and one which gives you another layer of control over the final outcome of the image. The films in question are Fomapan 200 and Berger Pancro 400  - Foma is a relatively cheap film but I really like it, it's got a classic black and white film 'look' to it which appeals to my eye, the Berger film is brand new on to the market so I was very excited to shoot this - I'll let you into a secret now, I messed up this roll of film and got no images from it :( it's sod's law that the one time I decide to document the development process is the only time in the 3 or 4 years I've been shooting film that this happens but hey ho! that's film photography for ya I guess! I'll go into how I managed to cock it up so spectacularly later (completely operater error i might add, I am sure Beger Pancro 400 is a lovely film, we'll just have to wait for another day to see it)!

The snazzy device on the left of the pic above is a film extractor - it pulls the film back out of the canister so i can load it on to the reel. In the image below you can see the changing bag which is a light tight erm... bag... you place the developing tank, the reel, the film and a pair of scissors in the bag and zip it closed, then stick your arms in the two arm holes at the top and you then have to load your film on to the reel, wind it on, cut it free from the canister and then load it into the developing tank and seal it shut... all without being able to see what your hands are doing as it's inside the bag! it's a bit of a head twister at first but you soon get the hang of it!!

The sharp eyed amongst you will notice that that's a roll of medium format film not 35mm in the bag - these pics were taken seperately to the films I'm talking about today but it was only when putting this blog together that i realised i didn't take any pics of me loading the foma or berger film in the changing bag...anyway you get the idea, film in bag, load it in the dark, bobs yer uncle!

So we've got our film loaded in to the developing tank - i usually pour in some water at 20 degrees C so that the film is at the same temp as the chemicals (temperature control is important - especially with a stand development process) - above I've got my developer, stop and fixer ready - handily labelled so I don't confuse myself! ADOX Adonal is a lovely developer - i bought mine from my favourite film supplies shop NT Photo Services check them out HERE

I also use a washing up bowl which i fill up with water of the requisite temperate and stand my developing tank in that whilst it's developing as another means of controling the temperature (it's important)!

After I've followed all the steps outlined above it's time to wash the film and look at the results.....

... And there you can see on the left I have a lovely set of negatives developed and on the right.... nothing... nada... bollox! the one time i decide to document my film developing process is the one (and only time) i have a problem :( turns out that i messed up loading the film into the camera - it didn't catch on the take up spool so when I was taking photos the film wasn't being exposed... hence blank roll of film! IDIOT!

So after hanging up the film to dry, i scan the negatives into the computer and here are the results! I'm pleased with how the Foma turned out - some examples below

A key thing with Semi Stand Development is that you can develop different speed films at the same time! 100 speed, 50 speed 400 speed?? stick them all in the same tank if you have the room - your timings, dilution and process will remain the same, sure the final effect varis depending on different factors but you'll get a solid image

A final note to say that all of these photos were taken with my much loved Olympus OM2n camera with a 28mm f2.8 Zuiko lens - a winning combo for travel/being out and about!

Nikon FE Review

I have been on the look out to join the Nikon film camera gang for ages - it's a proper gang with hats and handshakes and everything - and now I have! Welcome the Nikon FE!! Is this another case of Gear Acquistion Syndrome you ask? yes, probably! Does this camera do anything special that my other 35mm SLR's don't? no. not really? do I love it anyway? Damn straight I do!! here's why!

So upon handling the camera the first thing you notice is the build quality it's really well put together, feels solid and the mechanical components feel smooth and sounds great (the all important shutter 'schtick' noise is present and correct) but obviously you'd expect that since back in the day Nikon were undisputed purveyors of quality cameras.

In fact (at least initially anyway) the only fly in the ointment is the lens - or should i say the action of the lens, coming from a line up of OM and Pentax cameras I have to say that at first glance the basic Nikkor 50mm 1.8 lens didn't pass muster with me in terms of the focus ring which manages to feel loose and notchy all at the same time and makes fine focussing a bit of a faff to be honest.... I've gotten more used to it having shot a few rolls of film with it now so perhaps it just takes a bit of getting used to, the flip side of this is that now all my OM and Pentax lenses feel a bit stiff! (will the madness never end)?!!! :P

I'll have to see how I go with this lens though it is more likley is that my copy has seen one too many turns and is literally a bit worse for wear - it's ok to use but it doesn't exactly scream 'quality' when you're using it, and achieving fine focus is a bit of a chore twisting the focus ring back and forth so I'm now actively on the look out for it's posher older brother the 50mm 1.4

A juicy red apple is nice, but not every apple is red..... super sharp shooter Nikkor 50mm 1.8

You cannot argue with the quality of the optics on the 50mm 1.8 thought - seriously very good! The next couple of images were taken on a short walk around my village - the people's republic of Slawit, shot on Lomography 400 Colour film, unfortunately some of the frames have what appears to be a light leak across one side with a band of blue ish light affecting the image, bit of a pain really, or maybe that'sa special 'Lomo' feature for the film!! I'll change the light seals and see if there's an improvement - otherwise I like the Lomo 400 film it's a cheap alternative colour film, in fact I'm going to be shooting a LOT more colour film as I've been totally focussing on Black and White for ages and feel like a change. The weird thing is that I don't think it's the camera as the roll of HP5 i shot doesn't have any of these issues - ah the joys of shooting 40 year old cameras I guess, comes with the territory!

Focus ring faffing aside shooting with the FE is otherwise great, the controls are well placed (although at the risk of offending my new Nikon gang mates) I still prefer the OM2n layout - being able to control aperture and shutter with one hand whilst not taking your eye away from the viewfinder is a dream! again - it's probably just my technique having grown accustomed to the Olympus 'way'

These next three images were shot on Kodak Portra 400 with my recently added Series E 100mm 2,8 lens and I have to say that I love this combination! the lens was very cheap for how well it performs and of course Portra 400 is a fantastic film to play with, I took it for a spin around Huddersfield town centre and also grabbed a portrait of my friend Marco too.

My Nikon FE is in great condition - it's clearly been used over the years with a bit of brassing and the odd dent/scrape here and there but in my experience that's a good sign! Mechanically the FE is smooth as silk and runs really well, whenever I've bought cosmetically 'mint' cameras they can often have internal issues as the reason they are 'mint' is they've sat in uncle nobheads cupboard since 1972 and never had a roll of film put through them, it's usually much better to have a camera that has been used as intended although it may have picked up a bit of battle damage along the way.

I bought mine from West Yorkshire Cameras - a big thank you to Howard and Hattie for being super helpful and for running such an awesome shop, if you're ever in Leeds I highly recommend a visit!

The following black and white images were a good test of the Nikkor 50mm 1.8 focussing whilst trying to get my little boy to sit still for half a second (an impossible task)! I shot HP5 rated at 800 and developed semi stand in Rodinal and I'm really happy with how they came out, the 50mm 1.8 lens really is very sharp and contrasty so I can forgive it's wobbly focussing!

So in short I flippin love this camera, it's very well put together, the lenses are sharp and contrasty just the way I like! I'm now on the look out for some more of the legendary Nikon glass to put in front of the FE so watch this space as the next few blogs are likley to be all about those!

In the meantime if you've enjoyed today's blog post why not subscribe to the blog and get updates on new posts - see you next time! :)

Guest blogging - Emulsive and World on Film

Just a quick post today to basically say YAY and Hurray as I share the news that I am appearing as a guest contributor/blogger/waffler on the amazing film photography website Emulsive! here's a link to my first article and hopefully the first of many more to come -a huge thank you EM from Emulsive for accepting me into the fold, it's a great website with loads of fantastic images and stories from around the wold so I am mighty pleased to join their ranks :)  Take a look HERE

You'll recognise the images from a street shooting trip to Leeds last summer with a Rollei 35S and some Rollei Retro 400S film.

And double yay becuase I've also been featuured in World on Film which you can see HERE a this one was another street shooting advenutre to wildest Sheffield! huge thank you to Stephen at World on Film - it's a greta resource with some amazing photographers sharing their stories and I am delighted to be part of that! More to come!

Fear not - I'll be back very soon with more Camera, Lens and film review goings on and also an update on some of my recent commercial projects too that help pay for all this film photography tomfoolery!

The Ineffable Pathos of Ruin....

I flipping love a good ruin, don't you? I also love hiking and film photography - if you like those things too then today's blog will be right up your street, or path or moorland, whatever - you're in the right place!

Raistrick Greave is an ancient derelict farmhouse atop Heptonstall Moor in West Yorkshire - these photos were taken on a walk in 2017 but the roll of film has been languishing in the fridge since then (i keep film in the fridge - it's a thing, honest) but no longer, the images have been awoken from their icy slumber to tell the tale of the haunted ruins of... RAISTRICK GREAVE!!! (que thunder sound effects and scary music)!

Not only do I love a good ruin but I flipping love an open moorland too, the seemingly endless expanse of sky and undulating sea of grass - I can't resist the urge to stick my walking boots on and head for the horizon, which sounds like a really polite way of telling someone to bugger off doesn't it?! These photos were taken on one of my all to infrequent jaunts out into the wilds, on this occasion accompanied by my mate Dom who had discovered the ruined farm house on a previous walk and suggested we take a look.

On the approach to the site the first traces of human occupation appear - the remains of rough stone walls sunken into the ground tracing the boundary of what must have once been grazing or even farm land but is now very definitely open moor - this just adds to the sense of dereliction and dissaray.

It is difficult to obtain much detail about the history of the place except for it's name Rasitrick Greave and that it was (obviously) a farm house - when I say difficult to obtain I don't mean that the information is hidden away behind myriad booby traps in an Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom kind of way, just that having spent, ooh... litreally minutes on google I couldn't find anything - anyway myself and my esteemed Colleague Mr. Dominic Ranson Esq reckoned it to be 17th Century ish and that's good enough for me - alternative suggestions are welcomed!

Looking back at the photos now It's difficult not to get into a reflective mood -  this was once a home, build to withstand the elements and provide shelter and warmth, a place to live! People lived here, the buildings were... alive....host to all the mundanities of daily life, the hustle and bustle, the highs and lows, the births and the deaths....but now fallen silent, deprived of the one thing that brought them meaning - life! Home now only to the wind whistling through the cracks in the wall

I wonder how many people sat around that hearth warming themselves by the fire after a hard days work in the fields,how many times did they sit at the window and take in the views, what were there hopes, dreams and aspirations? All that's left are these tumbledown stones, monuments to forlorn hope. I wonder if in a few hundred years enough will remain of my own home for some itinerant soul to ponder....

I'm feeling far too reflective to bang on about the film gear used to create these images suffice it to say that they were shot on Rollei Retro 80S on my trusty Olympus OM2n and developed in Adonal which has once again prove itself to be a great means of creating images with contrast, depth and sharpness.

Shooting 35mm film in the studio

Using film in the studio is a really enjoyable experience, I was fortunate to be asked to second shoot my friend and fellow Photographer Ruth's fashion shoot in her studio a while back and had the opportunity to grab a few shots of very awesome model, Zivvy. All of the black and white shots were taken on Fuji Acros 100 film on a Canon EOS 3 camera, all the colour images on a Canon 6D DSLR.

I love working in the studio - it's a real treat, most of the time I shoot on location which requires some flexibility in your approach to allow for all sorts of variables in lighting and the general randomness that comes from shooting on location (although that is part of the fun)! However in the studio YOU are in full control!  In these images there are three studio strobes - one either side and another overhead, with a fourth light providing a backlight to the white background so there's a lot to take into consideration, it's an exercise in balancing and shaping light to achieve a certain effect depending on the look you're trying to achieve. I take no credit for coming up with the concept or the lighting arrangements for this shoot - that was all Ruth!

It can take a while to get your lighting and composition worked out even when using a digital camera with the benefit of being able to instantly review  your shot, the process becomes slightly more protracted when using film, which is why I recommend using a combined approach - shoot film AND digital!

Back in the day photographers would often use a polaroid camera (or back for their medium format camera) to assess how the light was falling on their subject, polaroid is still available but it's expensive stuff, you can also get flash meters but they're not cheap either so I used my Canon 6D DSLR to meter the shots and judge the lighting - think of it as a digital polaroid! :)

Zivvy, Gav and Ruth reviewing the mood board and deciding on final styling

As second shooter I took some behind the scenes photos on my 6D as Ruth, Zivvy and Gav the Hair Stylist did their thing - I really enjoy shooting candid, reportage images like this as it shows the hard work that goes in to making the final images - it's normal to spend a long time getting ready for even a simple shot and it's all part of the creative process that often gets missed out, behind the scenes shooting allows you to tell that story.

Zivvy trying out some vintage bling

The key to a successful model shoot is not lighting, or kit it's....wait for it.... team work! Your ability to communicate, collaborate and ultimately create with the stylist, model, hair and make up artist is fundamental, I was fortunate in that Ruth had put together a great team and concept (and also put her make up skills to good use), Zivvy is a very talented model and the hair stylist Gav was also awesome, having a good team of people working together towards a shared goal is much more important that a whizzbang camera or lens or whatever (although of course they're nice to have too) ;)

In order to integrate my digital and film sets ups when working in the studio I used a Canon EOS3 which has exactly the same mounts, inputs as the 6D so i could use the same lenses and flash triggers switching between film and digital as required, nice and simple it's no good spending ages faffing about trying to get ancient film gear to talk to modern studio lighting whilst the model, Hair and MUA, stylist et al are waiting for me to figure it all out, I like to shoot quickly and keep the energy going as I think this translates to the final images so having a fully integrated set up is a real bonus.

All of the black and white images you see here are Fuji Acros 100 35mm film which I semi stand developed myself in Adonal (on reflection probably not the best developer/process for the job as it's known to bring out the grain of the film and Acros is renowned for being smooth - next time I'll use something else)! I love the high contrast though!

After the shoot I had a couple of frames left so I used them up around the studio.....

Fuji Acros 100 is a lovely film, I kind of wish I'd been more patient and bought some more appropriate developer/used a more appropriate process but I was impatient to see the final images! Don't get me wrong though I love the images and am very happy with them I just think that a developer like Xtol or D76 would've made for a smoother finish perhaps - oh well! live and learn!

Of course I wasn't just metering with the 6D - I enjoy digital photography very very much also, here are a few of my digital shots...

So that's it then - I hope you've enjoyed this latest blog post. I'm really looking forward to working with a combination of film and digital cameras in the studio again soon :)

Fomapan 200 35mm film review

Film photography is a dear doo, don't let anyone tell you otherwise - if it's not cameras, lenses or film then it's developing kit or just random bits of film related paraphenalia all of which takes it's toll on the old bank account! So it can be very welcome to discover some relatively cheap film - enter Fomapan 200...but is it any good? well if you can't be bothered to read the rest of this review then the short answer is YES! Hopefully you'd like a little more insight than that, and hopefully I can oblige!

The first group of images were taken on a photo walk around the fair city of Bradford in West Yorkshire on my Olympus OM2n and trusty Zuiko 28mm 2.8 lens - I wax lyrical about this combo HERE,and the second group of photos were shot with the same camera and lens many months later in the fair town of Dewsbury West Yorkshire with a couple of shots in Hull and Huddersfield for good measure - it's like a tour of all the most glamorous towns in the world!!

I started my Bradford photo walk in the National Media museum - hoping to catch the National Photography collection before it was pilfered (sorry I mean transfered) to London... as sods law would have it I missed out by two days and was presented with nothing but this snazzily decorated staircase leading to a locked door :( whilst i was gutted to have missed the exhibition I was quite impressed how Fomapan 200 handled the dimly lit scene, helped along no doubt by my chosen development process of Semi Stand developing in Adox Adonal (Rodinal) for 1 hour (with 3 inversions at 30 mintues) at a dilution of 1:100 - this is my go to sem stand process and as you can see from the results here the Fomapan 200 responded very well to it, I was slightly nervious first time round for two reasons 1: at that point 200 speed film was the fastest film I'd semi stand developed and 2: Fomapann 200 is a 'Tabular' grain film (in the same vein as Kodak Tmax and Ilford Delta) formulations which traditionally do not respond well to stand development. Your mileage may vary but I think it works great in this developer - there is a grain texture which looks more like a classic old school film grain rather than 'Tabular' grain which is inherenlty smoother but for me grain is a good thing, when I shoot film I want it to look like, well - film! I've recenlty bought some developer specifically for Tabular grain films so I'll be interested to compare the results some day.

Fomapan Creative 200 (to give it's full name) is manufactured in the Czech Republic by long standing film producers Foma, there aren't really that many 200 speed films around most manufacturers offfer a choice of 100 or 400 films but Foma in their infinite wisdom have provided for those who would like a little more flexibility - in fact they claim that the film can be rated anywhere between 100 and 800 ISO but I've only ever shot it at box speed so I can't comment on how it performs when pushed/pulled in that way, what I can say is that on photowalks in varied lighting in and around busy city centres, inside buildings and the like it performs wonderfully!

They do a good line in 60's architecture in Bradford - here I've used the perspective to enhance the brutalist vibe of this civic building, the home of some truly brutal bureaucracy no doubts!

I find that the tonal range is very pleasing with rich blacks, smooth greys and clean white areas, look at he mod scooter above! very smooth image with a nice texture and finish - proper two tone! BELL BOOOOY!!!!!

The following two images are from Bank Bottom Mill - a semi abandoned building near where I live, I was just using up the last couple of frames on my roll after my visit to Bradford - again a great balance of tones, quite high contrast and nice detail and grain throughout.

We leave Bradford behind us and our travels now take us to Dewsbury - same camera, same lens, same make of film, same bottle of developer and guess what..... same outcome! Very balanced images with perhaps a touch more grain in than the roll I shot in Bradford - this could be from the development process maybe I introduced some extra inversions (which encourages grain) and of course the two rolls were shot months a part from each other so lighting was totally different, either way once again I am very pleased with the results so the first roll wasn't a fluke!

I've walked past this doorway so many times I can't remember, it's amazing how having a camera in hand encourages the eyes to pick out previously unseen details and generally be more open to your surroundings....in this case my eye was drawn to the faded paintwork where a Christian Cross was once fixed...suddenly this dilapidated old doorway was transformed, it had a story to tell - one that spoke of a once proud heritage but no current sense of purpose, a forgotten place echoing with the ghosts of finery long since faded... or something like that, whatever... either way cool doorway eh?!

Change your perspective and see the world afresh! For me this is part of the enjoyment of  photography, how do you show a subject (in the case above a building) in a new light, how do you generate interest through form and structure - it's a constant challenging to your composition to make the most of your surroundings within the confines of a 35mm frame, and of course you dont get to look at the results until you've developed the film! It's also one of the many valid reasons for shooting with a fixed focal length/prime lens - if you want to change your perspective then you need to move your body! it's a more physical and therefore meaningful experience - this is a lesson I need to translate into my digital work more and stop relying on telephoto zooms to do the work for me!

I suspect that films are NOT developed there anymore, in fact last time I cheked this building was covered in even more scaffolding so perhaps (unusually for Dewsbury Town Centre) it's about to be redeveloped - I'm not bashing Dewsbury although I think anyone would agree that it's a bit rundown - this makes it a great subject for street photography as many of the buildings have an evocative (if somewhat forlorn) sense of what used to be which I find quite visually appealing "the ineffable pathos of ruin" indeed! Having said that I do hope things start to change for the better for the town!

We leave Bradford and Dewsbury behind and head East for the next image which was snapped whilst on the train to another fair City - Hull, capital of culture no less - and what better subject than the Humber bridge, I really must go back and shoot this properly (i.e. whilst not on a train) it's an amazing structure - looks so graceful in the distance spanning the Humber estuary, for those who are interested in it's history have a look HERE

Photographically speaking (this is a photo blog after all) I quite like the reflection of the train lighting in the image and the blurred foreground which gives a sense of motion and direction to an otherwise static image, the shot was literally from the hip before the view was obscurred by trees and stuff so I was pleased it came out as well as it did.

A big yorkshire sky filled with cloud (it's default setting) underpinned by the Emley Moor Mast which is the seventh-tallest freestanding structure in the UK, fourth-tallest tower in the EU (sorry brexiteers) and 24th tallest in the world! At the risk of this turning into some sort of public information service about the buildings, bridges and towers of Yorkshire (that would be a niche website) there's a link for more info about Emley Moor Mast HERE

I like the simple composition a thin band of landscape and the tower piercing the huge blanket of sky - this image just presented itself to me as I was driving along one day, my view of the foreground obscurred by a wall and I literally abandoned the car in a grass verge and jumped out to see if I could match the image that originally caught my eye - and I did! The number of times I've been out and about without a camera and seen sweeping vistas, tiny details and all manner of scenes that I would have wished to capture are imeasureable.. all these moments are now lost, like tears in the (yorkshire) rain...

We've seen lots of buildings on our tour of Yorkshire with Fomapan 200 but what's it like on other subjects - portraits and the like? well the above photo taken in the fields behind my house attests to the loveliness of the film (and the horse)!  great contrast and level of detail and that grain structure that by now we've come to know and love too. it also works on people - here's a shot of my son when he was about 6 months old :) in it he's doing a great impresssion of one of those old Soviet propognda photos like he's a baby Kosmonaut or something!

So in summary then I am a huge fan of Fomapan 200, it's versatile, works well in mixed lighting, gives great contrast and high levels of detail, works well in a semi stand development process and ultimately it's very reasonably priced - you can buy 3 rolls of it for £14.99, which these days is pretty bloomin good! I heartily recommend this film, it's lovely, there is no compromise in quality in my experience and it creates a really useable alternative to all those 100 and 400 speed films out there, give it a whirl!

Walking and Meandering Round A Bit - Canon 70-200 f4 L lens review

I've shot loads of events with the Canon 70-200 F4 L lens and it's totally awesome in this capacity, but I rarely use it for recreational purposes so i thought I'd give it some time off for good behaviour and see how it handles the wilds of West Yorkshire....

My normal choice for a walkabout lens is a wide angle lens as it can capture the rolling landscapes etc but I'm always looking for opportunities to challenge myself photographically and swapping from a wide angle (which allows you to capture a broad sweep of things) to a zoom lens (which is designed to bring subjects in the middle distance into sharp focus) is a great way to literally change your perspective on things - in this way I'm able to challenge my eye to seek out the details rather than the big picture - it's all very philosophical....

The 70-200mm lends itself so well to events as it allows me to hang back and shoot away without intruding on the shenanigans, it is amazingly sharp and versatile in this role in fact (HUGE statement alert) I'd say it's my favourite lens!! being easily on a par with my prime lenses in the sharpness stakes but having the focal length to be really flexible - that's why i wanted to see how it handled outdoors on a sunny winters day walk and I'm happy to report that it was a great experience!

The 70-200mm is many things but subtle it aint!! If you're one of those folk who feels a bit conspicuous toting a DSLR camera around town then you'll feel decidely self conscious weilding this beige drainpipe! (I have no idea why Canon made this lens beige.... I mean, beige for gods sake)!  Fortunately for me I am long since past any hang ups about gadding around festooned with photographic contraptions so it really doesn't bother me - it's also relatively light so it's no bothers on the weight side of things, the construction is really very very solid since all of the moving elements are inside the lens and of course it's one of Canon's posh 'L' series lenses (which stands for "Fucking L" when you find out how much they cost)! ;)

Even with the zoom lens my eye was drawn to the horizon to create these minimalistic landscapes with the bright winter sun blazing away over head. Initially it was a bit of a strugge to overcome the muscle memory of composing the shot and for my eye to start searching out scenes that were suitable but that's the whole point isn't it? 

These two portraits of my fellow Wanderers were not intended to be cheesy "int the outdoors brilliant" type images- they just came out that way! And of course the countryside is bloomin brilliant...so get lost! :P

Our third travelling companion was less enthusiastic.....I missed focus on the shot of this sheeps skull - operator error - as you can see the rear edge of the skull is in sharp focus

I loved taking the 70-200mm f4 L Lens out of it's natural habitat and taking it into a natural habitat- it's actually a lovely focal length for a walkabout lens and I'll definitely be using it again on my travels

Will James Messes with your mind!

As you may have gathered from the recent flurry of activity, I have revived the blogging segment of my website, main reason being that I'm keen to give a bit of the context to the images, share the latest news and happenings and tell the stories behind some of my main portfolio shots - plus I've been shooting all sorts of events and 'things' over recent months which have resulted in some great photos (engage modesty chip) which don't really have a place in my main portfolio so this is a way of sharing them to a (hopefully) wider audience and also I kind of just enjoy chuntering on about photography....so without further ado here's the latest installment.....

I've known Will James for a loooooong time (even before he had dreadlocks - yes! that long ago)! so it was a real pleasure to be asked to photograph his new stage show 'Will James Messes with your mind'

Now, our William is a multifariously talented kinda guy - a DMC World Scratch DJ finalist rejoicing in the name of 'Dr. Weevil' (it's a long story) an accomplished Violin/Fiddle player with Dub/Electro/Drum n Bass outfit Celt Islam, an actual Dr. of Musicology (with a PHD and everything) a qualified teacher of Music and Music Technology and Business networker extraordinaire - i guess what I'm saying is that Will James knows a thing or two about a thing or two.... oh yeah and he can read your mind.....