Two months to go. It feels a bit like the last couple of miles in a half marathon - almost there but still needing to push on for that bit further yet. No relaxing too soon!
I must admit, I have been finding it quite hard recently to try and get interesting shots around my home town of Bath. Sometimes no matter the difference in the people in a scene, it feels like I’ve already covered certain angles and views before. But having to try and force myself to find something unique is part of the challenge.
I’ve been away for Christmas and had a two week break from being in town. So I’m hoping I’m coming back with fresher eyes for these last two months of the challenge.
In the meantime (and as it was August I last made a 365 post), here are some of my faves over the past few months. And the full set can be seen here on Flickr.
Bergger Pancro 400
Bergger Pancro 400 is a film I’ve been wanting to try for a while and I recently got a couple of rolls - one 35mm and one 120. I haven’t shot the 120 yet, so these thoughts are going to be about the 35mm.
Pancro 400 is made up of two emulsions. Bergger say this gives a very wide exposure latitude. However, I had read that if you overexpose the film then one of those emulsions gets grainier than the other - the grain appearing in the highlights. Because of this I planned to shoot at box speed for my first test of it.
But as with all good plans, it didn’t quite work out that way. I decided to shoot it in my Yashica Electro 35 on a relatively overcast day at Rockaway Park near Bristol. Rockaway is an old scrapyard which has been taken over by a group of artists - shipping containers are used for studios and there are loads of random rusty old things around the place, from Trabants to rockets via carved up metal signs. You know that besieged oil refinery in Mad Max 2? Well, it feels like you’re in that but with more trees.
Anyway, it was overcast and looked like rain. So I figured shooting at 400 was fine. And then the sun came out. And back in. And out again. So to give me a bit more control for when the sun was out, I rated it at 200.
And yes... I can confirm that the highlights get quite grainy!
At first I was unsure but as I scanned more shots in, I started to quite like it. It has quite an old look, and certainly one that is quite unique - the blacks are nice and clean and the grain becomes more obvious as you move up through the tones.
And the tones are very nice! Superb gradations and a lot of detail too.
I’ll be interested to see what happens when this is shot at box speed - I’m planning on doing so with the 120. So I may have further thoughts about this film in the future…
365 Challenge - the halfway mark!
I’ve suddenly realised that today was a milestone in my 365 challenge. I’ve only gone and hit the halfway point!
It being a leap year next year (and me ending the challenge at the end of February), then the 365 challenge is actually 366 shots. So today’s image #183 is the milestone!
There’s been a variety of reasons I’ve gone for a particular shot each day. Sometimes something has just been asking for it out of many photos from that day, sometimes it’s the only shot I’ve got that day. Sometimes it has been an interesting face, sometimes it has just been an interesting composition.
I think this one falls into the latter category for me. It’s probably not my best photo ever but I like the old woman’s face (which is what I first noticed) with the sign above her. I also like her being framed by the window, the different textures within the shot and also the random face appearing on the left. I wanted someone to appear in that space and was quite pleased when it was just half a face.
This was on my trusty Oly Em10ii with my 7Artisans 55mm f1.4 lens.
Standing in the middle of the road.
365 Challenge - FOUR MONTHS IN ALREADY!
Wow. As the heading of this post says…. I’m four months in to my 365 challenge. I’ve been meaning to make much more regular updates than I have but… y’know… life, photography, and a crazy small man knock things for six!
Anyway, I’m still doing it. Some days better than others (which I expected). Some days have been a bit ‘meh… it’s the best I could get today’ whilst other days have given me a shot that has got in an exhibition! (More info on the latter when dates etc arrive in my lap!)
I’m 1/3 of the way into this and it has already changed my way of working. I'm definitely looking out for shots constantly; sometimes seeing a scene with good light and waiting for the right person to emerge into it. Or sometimes I’ll see something and think “that will work better in the right light… maybe I’ll check back later or tomorrow”. I’m still sometimes getting shots that are just instant things that I’ve noticed, but I think I’ve slowed down and got a bit more layed back about those too.
I’ve got over a bit of a ‘hump’ of worrying about getting my ‘shot of the day’. For example, one day I didn’t find much of worth to take a shot of. I can’t remember why - I might have been shooting on film and forgot about getting something for the project on my phone, or I may not have been in the right headspace, or just nothing worked right. These things happen. So I just reminded myself that these photos didn’t have to be of random strangers; they could also be about my life.
So I thought I’d get a shot of my beautiful little man just as he dozed off to sleep.
Most of the time I do sleeptime with my MiniMe. Sometimes it’s frustrating but most of the time it’s funny and ridiculous. And no matter how much I should be calming him down, it ends up with him honking my nose and me laughing my head off at him. Yeah, yeah… bad parent! But those kinds of funny moments get him to sleep and to look gorgeous like here… (yes, I am very baised!!)
Anyway, I’m digressing. What I’m learning is to just let go and just take photos of what occurs during that day. It may be something bizarre on the street, or it may be something daft at home. It all counts!
Another thought: through concentrating on monochrome, I’ve also noticed a difference in my colour photography. The colour work has become more tonal too. So there is a lot of change going on with what I do, which is very exciting for me!
Here are some faves from the recent past….
365 Challenge - the first couple of weeks
Somehow the past two weeks have zoomed by and I appear to be in the thick of my 365 Challenge.
As I said in my last journal entry, my 365 Challenge has two rules: it’s all to be in monochrome and there has to be someone in shot that is important to the composition.
I’ll be honest: I’m finding it a bit trickier than I thought. Some days more than others.
This is for a couple of reasons….
Firstly, my rule of getting someone in shot. That in itself isn’t an issue, but getting someone in there which is important to the composition and isn’t just incidental makes things hard at times. There have been a couple of days when I’ve become very aware of not many people around, although a wander round town at lunchtime always seems to give a couple of photo opportunities. Added to that, weekends have been tricky - working in town means weekdays aren’t such a problem. But there’s less people on the weekends near where I live.
Secondly, sometimes finding the time to get some shots is harder than I thought. I usually shoot quite a lot but some days I don’t get anything. Now I’ve set myself a challenge I have to get something! But I don’t want it to be anything - I want good shots (even though I’m well aware that not every day of the year is going to bring something fantastic). And this past week has been hectic at work so I’ve often not had the time to get out with my camera.
However, I am finding that it is changing my approach to my photography already. I’m finding that I’m shooting with more sense of purpose and also noticing possibilities for a shot more than before. I’ve taken to hanging around in a spot for something to happen to make a shot work (see the puddle shot below) or scouting out a location (the guy on the rooftop - I walked round that building several times for a good angle), as well as my usual opportunistic shots.
The Flickr link to the 365 Challenge is here
These are some faves from the last couple of weeks….
Kodak Tri-X.... finally braved it!
Kodak Tri-X.
What do we know about it as a film?
Well, it’s been used by some of the most famous photographers to create important, fantastic, iconic images across all genres of photography. If you’ve seen a black and white photo over the past 60 years (or more) that has stopped you in your tracks, chances are it may well have been shot on this film.
It was originally released in 1940 in sheet format, with 35mm and 120 formats being released in 1954. Like other things that have stood the test of time of that era (like a Fender Strat or a Gibson Les Paul), some tweaks have been made since then. But fundamentally it is still the same. They got it pretty much right first time out.
Some of the photographers that have used this film are my benchmarks: Don McCullin, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, Pennie Smith, Garry Winogrand, Vivian Maier, Anton Corbijn….. and many more. Apparently Sebastien Salgado wouldn’t even switch to digital until he was 100% sure he could emulate Tri-X.
It’s the kind of black and white photography I love. It’s not overly grainy, but still has a bit of bite and grit to it. It has life to it. But it also has a lot of history to it because of all those fantastic photographers. In the same way as picking up a fantastic guitar has, you know that you can’t hide behind any excuses. There’s no “oh, this film is a bit too grainy/doesn’t expose properly in the midtones/hard to scan” etc etc blah blah blah.
No. This film has been proven to be bloody awesome.
Which is why I think I’ve not tried it until now. I’ve been a bit scared of it.
So, I put a roll of it in my OM10. Rated it at 200, took a deep breath, and went out to play.
I’m not sure if I got my best ever shots whilst trying it out (more down to the usual things - light not being perfect, missing a particular moment etc) but WOAH!!!!!! this film is soooooo good!!!
I’ve said before how I love Ilford Pan 400. And I do. Really, it’s an ace film.
But Tri-X really is on another planet to anything I’ve shot with before.
Once I’d scanned the negs and popped them in Lightroom, it was an absolute breeze working with the shots. So much flexibility in the tones. I could crunch the blacks down but still keep loads of detail if I wanted (look at the blacks below! Yum Yum Yum!!!). There was massive amounts of detail in the highlights I could pull back down. The grain was nice and tight; just enough to give the shots a bit of life without being intrusive.
The missus even stopped what she was doing to say how good the shots looked (this is a rare thing - she likes my photos but rarely stops what she’s doing to actually come and look over my shoulder as I work).
This film just has life to it. It has something which you just cannot put your finger on.
It’s not cheap. So I’m not going to shoot a lot of it. But it’s going to be my go-to film for special stuff. (Honestly. I’m not going to order shedloads. Really!!)
Is picking up a 60s Strat going to turn me into Hendrix on Voodoo Chile?
Is picking up a 50s Les Paul going to help me make the sounds Clapton did with John Mayall?
No. Not a chance.
I’m not expecting this film to give me McCullin’s eye. There’s way more to it than just the film.
But shooting with this is a pretty damn good starting point to getting a gorgeous image.
Seriously hooked on this….
Zorki 4
As an addition to the Jupiter 8 lens I bought last month, I thought it only right that I also had a nice rangefinder which it would have originally been paired with.
So I got myself a Zorki 4.
The Zorki 4 came out of the Krasnogorsk factory near Moscow and was the first Zorki to be sold in large quantities to the west, which is probably why there are quite a few examples around. And which also keeps the used price low!
Built between 1956 and 1973, my model is from 1960. I could have got one for the same price from '58, but they upgraded them slightly in '60 and added some extra shutter speeds in. The Zorki 4 was basically an update of the Zorki 3, which itself was a copy of the Leica III. And it's a very nice thing. Feels like a decent solid camera to have in your hand.
I'd not used a rangefinder before. So the focussing took a bit of getting used to. And the photos I got back show that I need more practice! But the shutter is lovely and quiet - I can see why so many street photographers in the past liked these. I've also been a bit wrong footed with the focussing distance of the Jupiter 8. Unlike a lot of modern lenses which allow me to focus up relatively closely, the closest I can get with this is 1m, so I'm having to rethink some shots. Added to which, there is also the parallax of looking through the rangefinder/viewfinder window to what is actually captured on film.
I loaded the Zorki up with a roll of Foma 200 film as I had a few kicking around. I think as a film it works quite nicely with this vintage of camera and lens. Although not my best shots ever, there's a certain way this camera, lens and film combination is capturing the light which I really like (the shot of the bottles above being a good example... if you'll forgive the slightly dodgy focus!). It reminds me of the look some European cinema was getting in the 1940s/50s; in particular Luchino Visconti. It's grainy with a real nice three dimensional feel to the shadows.
It looks old. it isn't about the precision, but capturing the tonality beautifully.
I've loaded it up with some more Foma 200, so with a bit more practice I'm hoping to start capturing some really nice images with the Zorki.
It would also have been rude not to have bought yet another of my favourite straps for the Zorki. So I went shopping at www.1901fotografi.co.uk. Check out their straps. They're lovely.
Fomapan 200
Recently I've been playing with some Fomapan 200 film in my OM10. I've previously tried Foma 100 before in 120 format and read some good reports about the 200 speed variety, so thought it might be good to try out as it's a pretty cheap film.
As with pretty much all my photography on film nowadays, I tend to rate the film so I overexpose. Having read that Foma 200 had a couple of stops of latitude, I rated it as 100. And I'm liking what I'm getting (although some reports say rating it at 160 is even better).
It's got a nice bit of grain to it, which is something I quite like in black and white film. And it has what I'd consider quite an old look; slightly vintage. It doesn't have the precision that some newer films have, it sort of has the feel of street photography or documentary photography from the 1950s/60s, of which I'm a bit of a fan.
Tonally, it was really nice to play with afterwards. I could get some nice deep blacks whilst keeping a nice range of greys up to white to give the kind of contrast I like. I think I'm a bit of a fan of this lovely Czech film!
