For my 4th roll on my adventures with the Littlest Holga I decided on more slide film as we were going to the seaside and the weather was good.
The film in question was Lomography Color Slide X-pro 200 which I processed using the Tetenal E6 kit rather than X-proing it 🙂
Here are the images ..
All images on my blog are available as prints just drop me an email
I also have a film only blog over at usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want a peek 🙂
I am always looking on Ebay for any film bargains even though I have way more film than I actually need already and came across a few rolls of Kodak Ultra 400 that had expired back in 2005.
The seller said it had been cold stored and as I didn’t have any of this stock I took a punt.
I loaded up my Nikon FE2 & 35mm f2.5 and we popped down to the beach at Porthcawl, the weather started quite bright but by the time I was half way through the roll the clouds darkened which gave me two different looks to the images.
Once I started scanning the roll I was taken aback with how the images looked, pretty normal colours while shooting in the partial sunshine but when it clouded over the images had quite a pronounced colour shift which for me were the better looking frames if I am honest.
Overall I was very happy with how many keepers that I managed to get from this roll.
I even like the pronounced grain in the funkier one’s too.
I am going to print out a couple at quite a decent size as I think the grain/colour will pop more when viewed larger.
Thanks for looking ….
Click on an image to view larger
All images are available as prints just drop me an email
I also have a film only blog over at usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want a peek 🙂
I have been thinking about and then putting off buying a Leica M for an absolute age.
I don’t really know what the actual reason for putting it off was to be fair … everytime I saw one I liked and put it into my online basket something stopped me pressing the checkout button.
Well last month I bit the bullet and got hold of an M2 which was made the same year of my birth which made it that little bit extra special.
I got it without a lens from Red Dot Cameras but purchased an adapter for my Jupiter 8 50mm f2 as a stop gap until I decide which lens I am going to get.
Here follows 4 galleries featuring a selection of images shot on 4 different film stock all processed and scanned by myself.
The Jupiter 8 really impressed me with the colour rendering and sharpness/bokeh … God only knows how excited I will be when I get around to upgrading this little beauty.
Click on an image to view larger ……..
2. Ilford XP2
3. Agfa Vista 200
4. Kodak Tmax 400
Overall my 1st month with my 1st Leica has not disappointed in the least … this little camera oozes class and charisma it is such a pleasure to use.
I now know why photographers heap praise on the Leica M even a 50+ year old model works like a dream and it has to be said .. this is the best camera I have ever shot with … I don’t mean in techy imagey sort of way but as something that makes you feel happy everytime that you use it
God I even like just looking at it … ha haThanks for looking ….
I also have a film only blog over at usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want a peek 🙂
This months @TMAX_party entries were shot using my lovely new Leica M2 with a Jupiter 8 50mm f2 on Tmax 400.
They were shot in 2 locations 1st at Porthcawl beach and finished off at home in the Garw Valley.
To be honest Tmax is not my favorite film but I have to admit that the tones that it gives when using this camera/lens combination are lovely, its hard to tell looking here but when I look at the full res scans they are very pleasing.
I will be visiting the darkroom with a couple of the beach shots to see how they print.
Thanks for looking ….
Click on an image to view larger
I also have a film only blog over at usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want a peek 🙂
I had to pay a visit to a doctors in Swansea the other week to have a Steroid injection in my foot in the hope to ease the pain from arthritis and as I was not sure where it was or how long it would take we popped along on a Sunday morning just to get my bearings.
It was pretty easy to find and didn’t take to long so we decided to carry on along the Gower coast to Mumbles, somewhere we have not been since the kids were little.
When we left the weather was pretty poor and was still pretty gloomy when we arrived but the clouds dispersed and we got some lovely sunshine now and again which was nice as I had some ilford Delta 100 in the Canon T90 with the 50mm f1.4
There was not a lot to do there really as the Pier was shut for renovations but I did manage to get some nice shots.
I have not shot Delta 100 very much unlike 400 which I quite like and I was very happy with the results, the grain is very smooth and the tonal range is great, not as contrasty as my favorite HP5 but hey …. horses for courses.
I may push the next roll that I use just to see if I can bump up the contrast a bit, I could do it in Lightroom after the scans but I try to leave the scans pretty much as I get them with a bit of dust spotting and slight tweaks.
All in all it was a nice day and I was happy with the T90, 50mm and Delta combo.
click an image to view larger……..
Thanks for looking … I also have a “Film Only” blog over at usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want to take a look
Last week, well March 15th to be precise was Expired film day where photographers were encouraged to shoot a roll of expired film, the older the better and post up and possibly win some prizes.
http://schneidan.com/expired-film-day/
My chosen film was a roll of Fuji NPS160 that expired back in 1999 and I shot it with my trusty Mamiya 645 and 80mm f2.8.
I rushed home from work hoping to catch the last rays of sun down Porthcawl Beach which we managed to do.
I wasn’t sure how the colours were going to look like as NPS is more a portrait film with muted colours. With it being expired I shot it at iso 50 and told Film Dev that I pushed the film and if the could hopefully get something in the scanning for me.
When I downloaded the scans I was very happy with the results, the colours were just what I was after and captured the mood of the early evening at the beach.
I still have another 5 rolls of this film in my fridge and can’t wait to shoot some more weather allowing 🙂
Thanks for looking.
Click on an image to view larger…..
You can also find my film only stuff over at https://usingfilm.wordpress.com/ if you want to see more film loveliness …..
We paid a visit to Amy last week in Aberystwyth and just for a change we had a lovely bright day.
The last few trips to “Aber” have been wet and dark so it lends itself to some grainy B&W images but for a change I loaded the F100 with some Kodak Portra 400 and shot it 2 stops over.
I must admit I love the way Portra looks when pushed especially when shooting portraits and along with the 50mm f1.4 wide open the film really makes the image pop.
I really need to start shooting more portraits, I have to pull my finger out and make a point of getting some willing subjects ( its like pulling teeth getting my family to pose for me)
All in all it was a good day out albeit a bit cold but it was nice to shoot in sunshine for a change.
As usual the film was processed and scanned by http://www.filmdev.co.uk/ who did a great job, I can’t recommend them more highly.
Click on an image to view larger….
comments welcomed…. and if anyone local is up for some portrait shots drop me an email 🙂
I had the day off on Friday to take Amy back to Aberystwyth to help her move out from her year 2 accommodation into the new house she is sharing with her friends.
Typical British weather in August it poured with rain for the 2 hour drive but after parking up the rain stopped for a while giving me the opportunity to shoot a roll of ilford HP5 that I rated at 800 iso due to the crappy light.
I have shot HP5 at 800 quite a bit and I really like the contrast and grain I get much more than when shooting box speed.
The Nikon L35af is a lovely camera to use and the lens is very sharp the only thing I don’t like is the close focus which seems to be a little hit and miss and a few of the frames were out of focus but as a street camera its great.
As the weather was holding off a bit we walked up to the “Philip Jones Griffiths” exhibition at the National Library of Wales which was one of the best photography exhibitions I have visited.
Not only seeing the prints but all of the photographers cameras, paperwork, bookshelves reconstructed with all their contents and the various documentaries running in the booths.
I cannot recommend more highly that this exhibition is really worth the drive and long walk up to the Library it was a privilege to get to view it.
If anyone is looking for a small point and shoot film camera that takes well exposed and sharp images then the Nikon L35af is a cracker, I picked mine up for £15 off e-bay which in my eyes was a bargain. 
Thanks for looking…
Click on an image to view larger
I also have a film only blog over at https://usingfilm.wordpress.com/ if anyone is interested 🙂
Last weekend we popped down to Porthcawl for an hour or so with my F90x loaded with ilford HP5+ thinking I would capture some gloomy shots of dark clouds and wet holiday-makers but as soon as we parked up the sun came out and so did the people.
It’s a bit of a challenge to shoot candid street photos on film as you cannot just shoot loads and find the good one’s later you have to be very patient and when a shot shows it’s self make sure you get it right.
As the sun was pretty bright and most of the times I found myself shooting into it I was not really sure whether or not I got the shots even though I deliberately over exposed trying not to get silhouettes but the camera and film combo worked great.
It was quite a nice walk around the seafront and we popped into Coney Island on the way back to the car, I could have done with a roll of Colour Film then but they say its going to be a Sunny weekend so we may pop down again, its great to have the seaside right on your doorstep.
We popped down my Mum and Dad’s on Father’s day and I was determined to get some candid portrait shots of Dad as he never likes his photograph taken and as a challenge I was using film.
As usual he was a hard subject to pin down but I did manage to get a few nice frames with pretty good expressions.
When we left we popped down the coast to Porthcawl for a nice stroll by the seaside where I shot another roll of Tri-x 400. It is getting easier to shoot manual now after 15+ rolls and it is such a nice feeling to take my time and choose the shot rather than shoot everything and look through later for the best ones.
Ok, not every shot I take on film is perfect but even the one’s that are not quite what I envisaged at the time are still keepers.
Thanks for looking….comments very welcome
Keep film alive
click on image for a larger view………….
tim dobbs photography 