Tag: street photography

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Concealed weapon

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If you look at today’s photo carefully you will see that the kindly (or scary, depending on your disposition) looking plastic butcher is actually holding something in his right hand. It’s mostly concealed by the sheet listing the prices for some of the sandwiches on offer, but is, in fact, a meat cleaver.

It’s an innocent enough thing for a butcher (artificial or otherwise) to be carrying – it is, after all – a tool of the trade. So it’s probably just me, and a diet of horror / slasher movies during the 1980s, that provokes all manner of dark imaginings whenever I see it. The cleaver doesn’t have blood stains, at least it didn’t last time I passed when it was visible, but who knows why he’s carefully hiding it from view? Best not get too close…

Boo!

FILM - Plastic butchers with concealed cleavers

Olympus 35 RC & Ilford HP5+.

Taken on 21 July 2019

35mm · Film photography · Photography

A man and two motors

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I’ve been out much of this evening taking photos of two actors in Victorian dress in the old General Cemetery in Sheffield (organised by the photographic society of which I’m a member). I will hopefully post some of the results at some point. Anyway, I’m now quite tired and so this is going to be a short post. In fact I feel a little bit like the chap in today’s photo looks.

FILM - Man and motors

Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 D & Ilford HP5+.

Taken on 30 June 2019

35mm · Film photography · Photography

The look

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This photo captures a girl giving a somewhat scathing look at her colleague. Or at least that’s what you would assume looking at the photograph in isolation.

It’s something that we see regularly in the media – particularly the press and news sites that make use of still images – where an image will be chosen to suit the tone of the article in which it is used: a sneaky look on the face of a politician the paper is opposed to; the beaming faces of parents with their healthy new baby; the triumph or despair on the faces of athletes; the shadowedy, unkempt look of someone charged with criminal offences. Each representing just a fraction of a second in that person’s existence, and each picked as being the right image to match the tone of the story being told. How often would another photograph, taken just an instant before or after the one selected change the whole feel of the image?

In my photo below, it looks very much like a dissaproving glance is being given, but the reality of the situation is that these girls were smiling, laughing and apparently getting on like the best of friends. My single captured instant is just out of context. It’s a fairly innocuous example, but it goes to show that, while a picture may paint a thousand words, the slightest movement in time can result in a whole new story being told.

FILM - Red aprons

Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Portra 400.

Taken on 17 June 2019

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Disposable fun

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A forum I frequent has been running a disposable camera challenge where each participant can enter up to three photos taken with a single-use camera. I didn’t have a disposable laying around, so I bought myself an Ilford XP2 model especially to take part ( I had planned on getting the HP5+ variant, but the shop didn’t have them).

I’ve used it on three occasions – in Sheffield on the day I bought it; in London when visiting for a work meeting; and in Sheffield again this weekend just passed.

The camera itself is (or was – it’s been destroyed presumably when the film was developed) a very lightweight piece of kit with a snazzy red and white striped design. It feels like it would smash into a million pieces if dropped on a hard surface. Feature-wise, it has a viewfinder, lens (30mm f/9), flash activation button, shutter button, and a film-advance wheel. And that’s your lot.

In operation there’s not much to do other than frame the shot through the basic optical viewfinder, click the shutter, and wind on to the next frame. The frame counter is reversed so you can see how many shots remain. The flash is advisable for dim conditions – I took several frames in what appeared to be decent light in St. Pancras railway station and they’re all pretty much useless.

In terms of the results produced, they’re pretty much as you’d expect from a disposable camera with a plastic lens – soft at the edges, but with acceptable sharpness in the centre of the images. Of the 28 frames I eked out of the roll I probably have half-a-dozen that I like, several more that are ok, but nothing to write home about, and the rest are underexposed or just badly composed – I think I had a bit of a tendency to ‘snap’ images with this camera rather than taking my time to find better pictures with it. That said, I’m really happy with the first two of the five shots I’ve posted here today, and the others aren’t bad either.

I can’t honestly say I’ll bother with a disposable camera again – even if the competition is run anew in future – especially given the other good cameras I have, but it was a good experience nonetheless.

So, here are five of the photos I took with the camera.

This one is my fave of the bunch. It’s not a sharp as it might have been had I used a different camera / lens, but I’m really happy with the result. This was taken at the Barbican Centre in London

FILM - There's no such word as Barbican't

Another one I really like. It’s mostly negative space, but I think it works well. This is Blast Lane near Sheffield city centre.

FILM - Blast Lane subframe

This golden taxi sits atop the cab firm’s offices on Abbeydale Road in Sheffield.

FILM - Taxi

The lens on the camera had a tendency to flare in certain conditions, here rendering the figure with a ghost-like haze.

FILM - Barbican ghost

And finally, another shot from Blast Lane where a dmaged bicycle lay (I presume) abandoned next to the tunnel.

FILM - Buckled

Anyone else gone the lo-fi disposable route?

Ilford XP2 single use camera.

Taken in April and June 2019

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Standing in the rain outside Grand Central Terminal

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After our visit to the WTC Memorial, we caught the subway back to midtown and got off the train at Grand Central Terminal. After grabbing a few snacks from the food court on the lower level, we decided head back to the hotel.

Upon approaching the exit we noticed people entering the building with umbrellas, or with significant signs of being caught in the rain, and upon exiting found that it was absolutely tipping it down.

While we waited for the rain to ease off, we sheltered under the road bridge outside the south entrance, and I took a few photographs, including this one.

I know many photographers who complain when it rains, but for me it’s always a treat to be able to get photographs in this sort of weather. The way the floor suddenly becomes a diffuse mirror for light and clolour, and the way people behave and take shelter makes for very interesing photos in my opinion. There’s obviously some work to be done to ensure you and your camera are not soaked, but the effort is definitely worth it, don’t you think?

FILM - Outside Grand Central in the rain

Canon Sure Shot Z135  & Kodak Portra 400.

Taken on 26 May 2019

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Lucky bull

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I’ve seen the Wall Street “Charging Bull” sculpture on films and TV shows on numerous occasions, It’s also regularly shown when someone runs a story on the US financial markets. It’s maybe not that well known by people in the UK, but I knew about it and thought it would be nice to get a picture or two while we were in southern Manhattan.

I got my chance on the first full day of our trip after we got off the boat back from Liberty Island. We decided to have a walk around to find something to eat and came across it by chance. Alas, my idea of getting a picture of the bull was somewhat thwarted by the huge crowds of people with exactly the same idea however. It was absolutely swamped by people: taking selfies; taking photos of others; climbing on the concrete barricades that protect it; touching its nose; touching its horns; and, yes, most popular of all it would seem, touching its balls (which have been rubbed so many times as to be shiny from all the attention!).

So, in the end, I figured a capture of the moment would probably have more meaning to me than a plain old shot of the bull by itself, so here you go…

FILM - Wall Street bull

Canon Sure Shot Z135  & Kodak Portra 400.

Taken on 25 May 2019

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Just do it

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You can’t fail to be struck by the advertising hoardings in Times Square, whether it be the high-tech animated electronic boards, or the more traditional versions like in today’s photo.

I’m a little disappointed with the roll of Ektar I shot in NYC – not due to the film itself (the colours are glorious), but because of my results. Apart from a couple, all the shots (including the one here) show at least some minor signs of softness. I know the camera is capable of sharp images, so this is down to camera shake or DOF blurring when using wider apertures. Although it wasn’t badly lit on the day I shot the roll, the light meter app on my phone was giving somewhat long exposure times when I metered the shots, so I was shooting with longer shutter speeds and / or wider apertures than I’d have liked. As this was a family trip, not a photography expedition, I was also taking less time than I would have liked to compose and take many shots, which probably exacerbated things too.

I wish I’d have taken my Sekonic L-208 meter with me instead of relying on the phone app. The phone app is normally ok, but on this occasion seemed to be giving me somewhat variable results even when readings were taken in similar conditions. I think the L-208 would have been a more reliable companion.

FILM - Just do it

Zeiss Mess-Ikonta 524/16 & Kodak Ektar.

Taken on 27 May 2019