Roll 4 / 52 Rolls of Film (Leica MP and Kodak TMax400)

Photos from my trip to Warsaw taken with Kodak TMax 400.

Warsaw is a beautiful city. Friendly, good food, easy to walk around and has clearly benefitted from throwing off its communist yoke all those years ago.

The first two photos were taken at the Palace of Culture and Science. The tallest building in Poland; a "gift from the Soviet people" and the "people's castle."

The second two photos were taken in the Saxon Gardens while the snow fell.

Roll 3 / 52 Rolls of film (Leica MP, Ilford HP5)

Week two taken with Ilford Hp5 400asa black and white film....

Near Freshford...

 Not everything at Gloucester docks has been renovated into a homogenous retail park...

Photographing Defenders

On Friday, Andy at Land Rovers UK, gave me the chance to drive a custom build 25 year old Defender.

Our task, with wing man Zach (whose DJ-ing skills were exemplary - the introduction to Goyte was most welcome), was to take the Defender out for the day and photograph it just before it is despatched to another happy customer in the USA.

I have worked closely with Land Rovers UK for over six years, but I had never had the opportunity to drive one of their very special Defenders before. I was given a quick lesson and drove it around the car park so that I could get used to its quirks (it has a manual choke!) before we were let out on the open road. It was surprisingly easy to drive and to manoeuvre. Stu, their head of the workshop, told me it is in fact shorter than a Mondeo Estate and no wider than your average car.

I had great fun driving this classic, well loved vehicle. It reminds me of Leica cameras - full manual control and lovingly crafted.

Here are a selection of photos from the day.

Week Two of 52 Rolls

I have nothing to show this week but I have finished two rolls of film.

The first was some discontinued Kodak slide film taken with my Leica iiig. This is a beautifully built, all mechanical camera made in the 1950's. 

There is no light meter. Exposure is set in the traditional way with an instinctive click of the aperture, or shutter speed. That is all.... although some guidance from an iPhone light meter app does help....

The film is now being developed and should be ready by late January. 

The other finished roll is an Ilford film, which is sitting on the top of the Wellington waiting for me to develop it. Soon, I shall mix and shake the chemicals and expose what I have seen. 

Roll 1 / 52 Rolls of Film (Leica CM, Kodak TMax100)

The first week of my 2014 photo challenge has seen me try and finish the unfinished rolls of film in my cameras. The first to be used up is a roll of Kodak Tmax 100 black and white film which I have developed myself. 

Some photos were taken over the last few months. The first photo of Bearfield Church looks like it was taken last summer. The second photo has a rather charming bit of light leakage. The final photo is of the floods that we are currently enduring in Bradford on Avon. 

This highlights one of the most pleasing aspects of film - the anticipation of not knowing what is on the roll, or how it will turn out. 

The unique quirks of film, the grain and the tonal range are all things that provide a welcome alternative to the precision of digital. It's all a bit more organic (despite the use of silver halide and chemicals to produce the photos....)!

My photo challenge for 2014 - a film each week

A couple of years ago, I challenged myself to take a photo a day. I kept up with it most of the time.... However, some days just weren't conducive for taking photos and so I'd maybe steal one from another day.

The challenge did help improve my photography as it forced me to take my camera places where I had previously not bothered. 

So I have decided to try another challenge this year which is to take a different roll of film each week. 

As you can see from the photo, I have a pile of unused film some of which is going out of date. 

The majority is Kodak Elite Chrome Slide Film. I bought up rolls of the stuff when it was announced that they were discontinuing it. In the right conditions it produces beautifully saturated photos. 

So I intend to choose a film at the beginning of each week and a complimentary camera. They will be selected by a mixture of the weather forecast, what I'm doing that week and, most importantly, what I feel like. 

Given that it takes time to develop the film, I won't be able to show you the results straight away. However, I will try a keep this blog up to date with what I'm up to. 

I will be developing the black and white film myself, the Impossible Project film will do itself, while the colour film will take two to three weeks by Boots. 

Why do this? Using film is fun. It goes back to the basics of photography. There is the anticipation of waiting for the film to be developed. The tonal range of film is far superior to anything digital can offer. I also want to do my little bit at keeping analogue film alive.

So the challenge is set. I look forward to seeing how things develop and I hope you will be inspired to do something similar or at least follow my progress. 

Thank you for reading and Happy New Year!