Month: December 2023

35mm · Film photography · Photography

A farewell to 2023

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I don’t tend to celebrate New Years Eve. I haven’t gone out on New Years Eve since before my eldest son was born three decades ago and we’ve never hosted or gone to any New Years Eve parties either. I generally stay up until the year turns, wish any of my family members who are awake (my wife has usually retired hours before midnight) a happy whatever year it is to come, and then go to bed. Some wine will be drunk and some snacks consumed.

Ideally there would be something entertaining to watch on TV but, it would seem, there is rarely anything other than middle-of-the-road music and entertainment programmes being broadcast on the main terrestrial channels, none of which hold much appear. I think that TV schedulers must assume everyone is out at parties, or wants to see the New Year in with the blandest programming available. There will be a short break at midnight when everyone sets off fireworks (although only the ones in London tend to be televised and, let’s be honest, watching fireworks on TV loses some of the impact anyway. At 1pm local time today the news showed the fireworks in Sydney, Australia which went on for TWELVE solid minutes). Then the shows continue.

I might see if I can find a movie to watch.

I looked through my recent photos but couldn’t see anything that particularly suited a New Year’s Eve theme, so instead here’s a picture of a vintage bus that I spotted after I visited the My Brutal Life exhibition a couple of months ago. Someone was getting married, so the bus was bedecked with ribbons, as was a similarly vintage VW Beetle parked just out of sight to the rear of the bus. Hopefully the happy pair will enjoy their first New Year as a married couple.

A Happy New Year to you all, and I hope 2024 is a good one!

Wedding bus #2

Olympus OM-1N, G-Zuiko AUTO-W 28mm f/3.5 & Ilford FP4+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 @ 20° 10mins.

Taken 21 October 2023.

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Bins (and a new camera)

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A new camera arrived in the post today. I say new, but it’s both used, and also a camera I already own, so not even new “to me”. It’s another Yashicamat 124G TLR.

I’ve had my current Yashicamat 124G for almost seven years, and it’s a favourite to use. It was my first proper medium format camera (I had a Lubitel 166 Universal before this, but the Yashicamat really surpassed it in terms of quality). Unfortunately my current camera has some haze in the taking lens. While this doesn’t always have an impact on the photos, sometimes it does, producing the occasional image with a foggy, low-contrast look. As I like using the camera a lot, I decided it would be worthwhile finding a replacement without the optical issue.

Just before Christmas I was alerted to a sale at a film camera supplier here in the UK and they had a very nice model there with 10% off, so I took the plunge. The new camera looks in very tidy condition (although my original model is hardly looking rough), so I’ll have to find the time to put a roll of film through it to make sure all is well. After that I’ll look for a new home for my old camera as, despite the haze, it’s still very capable.

It certainly isn’t ready for the bin (a feeble link to today’s picture, I think you’ll agree…).

Bins

Olympus OM-1N, G-Zuiko AUTO-W 28mm f/3.5 & Ilford FP4+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 @ 20° 10mins.

Taken 21 October 2023.

35mm · 4x5 Large Format · Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Twelve favourite photos from 2023

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As another year comes to a close it’s time for my annual selection of favourite pictures, one from each month. As is always the case with these things, the list is based on my thoughts in the moment and the selection could easily change if I were to pick them yesterday or tomorrow.

Looking back through the year I was curious as to which camera has been used most for my photography. I thought there might be two or three contenders for the prize but, in actuality, there was a clear lead in the shape of my Bronica ETRSi, which has been used to shoot sixteen rolls of film in 2023. In distant second place was my Yashicamat 124G with six rolls (including one I developed today and have yet to scan), and then a tie for bronze between the Olympus Trip 35, and the Fujica GW690. I wonder which camera will be most used in 2024? Tune in this time next year!

January

Crossing the Moss
Fujica GW690
Kodak Gold
Converted to B&W in Lightroom

I struggled to get colours I was happy with using Negative Lab Pro for this roll. It usually works very well, but this roll was having none of it, so I resorted to a monochrome conversion.

February

Motorway
Bronica ETRSi
Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE
Ilford HP5+
8sec exposure @ f/22
Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

March

Going about their business
Yashicamat 124G
Ilford HP5+
Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

April

St. Peter's Church, Elmton, UK
Chroma 4×5
Fujinon NW 135mm f/5.6
Fomapan 100
Ilfotec DD-X 1+9 12 mins @ 20°
1/30sec @ f/32

May

Venetian scene
Olympus Trip 35
Kodak Colorplus
Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

June

Past the lifeguard flag
Olympus OM-1N
G-Zuiko Auto-W 35mm f/2.8
Ilford HP5+
Ilfotec DD-X 1+9 @ 20° 15mins 45secs

July

Skegness lifeguards
Bronica ETRSi
Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE
Kodak Portra 400
Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro

August

Watching the world go by
Bronica ETRSi
Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5 MC
Ilford HP5+
Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 @ 20° 9mins

September

St Peter and St Paul's Church, Sturton-le-Steeple
Chamonix 045N-1
Fujinon NW 135mm f/5.6
Fomapan 100
Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°

October

This year's autumn
Fujica GW690
Kodak Portra 400 NC (expired 2007)
Lab Developed.
Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

November

Rother Valley sunrise
Canon Sure Shot Z135
Kodak Gold
Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

December

Garden shed
Yashicamat 124G
Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 @ 20° 10mins

I expect that December’s picture might be changed as I still have a bunch of other stuff to develop and scan, and there may be shots amongst those that I prefer.

So that’s another year’s round-up. Now onto 2024! Have a happy New Year everyone.

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Almost time for my year in review, but in the meantime…

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It’s this time of year that I post my retrospective of the last twelve months, showing my favourite picture from each. I have the post written and almost ready to publish, but with one small obstacle – December.

While I’ve taken some pictures in December, I’ve only just developed them and not published any online yet. To compound matters, I also shot a few rolls with the Fujica GW690 today and I suspect my favourite December picture may be amongst those. So, what I think I need to do is upload my favourite December picture so far tomorrow, and then use that. And then maybe sneakily update the post at a later date. 🙂

So, hopefully, my end-of-year post should arrive tomorrow.

I picked up a few rolls of expired Velvia 50 slide film recently for a decent price. Some of it is only a few years past date and had been fridge stored, so hopefully that will be good. The other rolls are about 15 years expired but, on past experience, should also hopefully be ok. Included with the Velvia were three bonus rolls of 120 format Ektachrome 64 – these are considerably older, with an expiry date of 1987. I’m not expecting them to give anything close to accurate colour reproduction, but they might still produce something worthwhile. Having three rolls of it means I at least get a few chances to nail the settings.

The pictures shared here today are the remainder of the Kodak Ultramax pictures from my Leeds trip back in October. I thought I’d get them out of the way as I’m still running a backlog of several rolls of film yet unpublished!

Up there
Arches
Eight cones
New build
A walk by the canal
Planks
Once again
Leeds town hall
Leeds art gallery and town hall
Frankster's

Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Ultramax. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted using Negative Lab Pro.

Taken 14 October 2023.

35mm · Film photography · Photography

My Brutal Life

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Back in October I visited the My Brutal Life exhibition in Sheffield. The exhibition featured a variety of pieces from various artists, covering photography, painting, collage, poetry, and film, all linked by the theme of brutalist architecture.

Moore Street substation #1
Moore Street substation #2

The venue for the exhibition was the Moore Street Electricity Substation, itself a notable brutalist building that sits just on the edge of the city centre. While the substation is in active use, one of it’s floors is empty. This floor was originally intended to hold the equipment that would provide electricity to two foundries and a car factory that were never built.

Moore Street substation #3
Moore Street substation #4

It forms an impressive space – effectively a large concrete emptiness with no source of natural light at all – that was perfect for this exhibition. I had seen a number of the pieces on show previously – something that’s bound to happen when you visit local exhibitions featuring local artists and of local subject matter – but others were new to me, or at least not seen before by myself in person.

Moore Street substation #5
Moore Street substation #7
Moore Street substation #8

One of the artist’s featured was Jen Orpin, a Manchester-based painter who has produced a number of works featuring roads and bridges, notably concrete spans across motorways. I first came across her work in a feature in the Guardian newspaper and her compositions of brutalist bridges crossing mysteriously empty stretches of road caught my eye. There’s a photorealism to the work that evokes recognition and a sense of otherworldliness. You can see example of her work on her website: https://www.jenorpinpaintings.co.uk/

Moore Street substation #11
Moore Street substation #12

Although the exhibition space was far too dimly lit for me to take film photos (I had no tripod), I did take a number of pictures of the staircase that needed to be ascended to reach the exhibition space (126 steps!) and of the substation itself, which you can see here in this post.

Moore Street substation #13
Moore Street substation #14

Olympus OM-1N, G-Zuiko AUTO-W 28mm f/3.5 & Ilford FP4+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 @ 20° 10mins.

Taken 21 October 2023.

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Sweetcorn and ice cream

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A quick post for Christmas Eve (and not a very festive one).

There are a lot of these sweetcorn vendors in Leeds. I’m not a particularly well-travelled person, but I’ve been to quite a few places in the UK and overseas, and Leeds is the only place I’ve seen these sweetcorn stands.

Sweet Corn and ice cream

Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Ultramax. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted using Negative Lab Pro.

Taken 14 October 2023.

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Ultramax red

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The roll of Kodak Ultramax from which these photos (and those of recent and coming days) have been taken was the first I’ve ever shot of this particular film stock. I’ve been quite surprised at the strong, vivid colour in the pictures. I’m not sure if this is just how the film looks, or if my Negative Lab Pro settings have enhanced the saturation in some way (I’ve not purposely boosted the saturation).

The reds, in particular, really jump out at me, especially in these two pictures of the street-food vendor, Falafel Guys, and the traditional red British phone boxes. There’s even a hint, daresay it, of Kodachrome in those reds and blues.

Falafel Guys

Some of the effect comes, I think, from the vignetting that the Z135 has a tendency to add to pictures, but that’s not all of it. Whatever the case, I have another three rolls of Ultramax waiting to be shot. I’ll not hesitate to use it again.

Red frame white light

Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Ultramax. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted using Negative Lab Pro.

Taken 14 October 2023.