February's Roll of Agfa Vista

Month two.

February 2020.

Agfa Vista 200 aka Pountdland film.

It's May, we're well into lockdown, my house is full of screaming kids, barking dogs and a wife intent  on decorating every room in the house all in.......NOW!

When I used to develop my own film, it always took me a while to get round to doing it, now I get it shop developed but it still takes me ages to scan and digitise the negatives.
Month's after shooting February's roll I'm trying to find time to share the images with the world.

Armed with a roll of Agfa Vista, the trusty Poundland film, of which I've still got a few rolls left in the freezer and my £10 Canon EOS 600 SLR let February begin.

One Sunday afternoon we decided to all jump in the car and take the dogs for a walk around The Walks in Kings Lynn. A perfect way to tire out a toddler and a perfect excuse to record some memories on film for me.

The day was a golden and warm one for winter; great weather for a 2 year old to explore his surroundings.

Using my trusty 24-105L zoom lens made following Charlie around on his travels a breeze.

It's not a lens I use much, typically only for newspaper work but when it does good it does really good.

You can't take a child to a park without going to the park.

And sometimes I get things wrong.
Faced with this backlight, with the sun behind Laura I dialled in some over exposure to combat it but it seems it wasn't enough.

With either a light leak or seriously blown out highlights right at the top of the frame.

My next trip out was meeting up with Jasmine & Lee in Shouldham Warren.

When I'd got the 'proper' shot's of them celebrating valentines together I pulled out my film camera attached to my 24-70L lens and shot a few frames.

Shot wide open I missed focus on the last frame but the film aesthetics are still lovely!

Another month, more growing up, Florence tried food for the 1st time.
Why not document the moment.

And Charlie wanted to steal the limelight as always.

One miserable day outside, Charlie & I were stuck in doors watching Bing, probably, when I looked outside and it was snowing.

Quick!

Charlie grab your wellies.

We only went as far as the driveway but Charlie had a great time experiencing snow for the 1st time.

Whereas, I've never liked the cold white stuff, I was happy to go back in the warm.

So that was February's roll and February's fun.

A few mishaps but that's what it's all about. When you can't check a shot on the back of a camera you have to wait and see what you've got and it's sometimes it's what you've missed.

I've still got a handful of Agfa Vista left in the freezer and I'm looking forward to shooting it again.

I've now got to get my arse in gear and scan March.

See you next month.

1 roll of film a month, how hard can it be!?

New years resolutions, does anyone stick to them?

I don't know if I ever have before?

But then I can't think of any that I've set before this one.

Shooting a roll of film each month isn't just a new years resolution it's a personal project, something for me to enjoy, something to not worry about, if the shots come out they come out, if the film camera breaks half way through the roll then #*^% it! That's already happened by the way.

I've got a freezer drawer full of film that I've collected over the years. Some of it is the famous AgfaVista aka Poundland film that is no more, some is black and white film long expired and among others are multi packs that stared me in the face in Holbeach Tescos a few years back and I just had to have it.

A mixture of 35mm and 120 medium format, all sitting in the cold and dark all waiting to be pulled out, defrosted and loaded up. All waiting for it's time of glory.

So yeah a roll each month, it shouldn't be too difficult. I just need to get back in the habit of carrying a camera with me where ever I go, something I haven't done for a while, apart from my iPhone, after all the best camera is the one that you have with you!

I need to get back in the habit of just shooting a few frames of things that catch my eye. Something I've not done for a long time. We live in the digital age, information and data is filling up our computers, phones and the internet every minute of the day. Why take pictures of things that aren't going to make me any money..........Why?

For the love!

Seriously, as I sit and type this blog in March I've already had 3 months of this project and on occasion I've gone for a walk and have literally shot pictures of puddles and the sun shining through shapes on the street. Walking along with camera in hand, tunes on in my headphones and a massive smile. I hadn't forgot but it really has felt like I'd forgot how much I love photography!

So back in January I shot my 1st roll, a roll of Kodak BW400CN film, loaded up in my £10 Canon EOS600 SLR.

Actually back in September I shot my 1st roll, that roll above, before I forgot about it and then really kicked my arse in to gear to carry on in January.

So in September I shot 9 frames of this 12/2006 expired black and white, colour negative, film at Richard & Lydia's wedding at The Ffolkes in Kings Lynn, Norfolk.

I remember being excited to pull the camera out and snap away whilst I was shooting their newlywed portraits in the early evening light.

It was literally heavy work as I had 3 cameras hanging off my harness; my 5d3 with 85mm, my X-pro 2 with 23mm and finally my EOS 600 with my 24-70mm, all waiting for their moment.

Then the EOS600 got packed away again, it was taken to weddings afterwards but it was either too cold or too wet to mess about with 'another' camera whilst my couple stood waiting.

Back to January and I committed to doing this, I started to carry the camera around on dog walks, family trips and sometimes just around the house.

This is where this project gets really boring and it looks like your being subjected to my family album.

I'm sorry OK but when you've got kids it's easy to finish a roll of 24 exposures on bath time, play time and bed time.

Sorry, not sorry!

Shooting with an ISO 400 film at ISO 100 makes things a little interesting when shooing in doors. It's wide open aperture or nothing.

Shooting moving children with a wide open aperture on a camera that only has a centre focus point, now that's a challenge.

And on top of that, pressing the shutter when that moving child has their eyes open, sometimes you catch a funny 'drunken' expression!

The film; Kodak BW400CN 14 years out of date, shot at ISO 100, it did great.
I love it!
It's got that film softness and grain and all the imperfections of shooting expired film on a camera made 31 years ago.

I can't wait to develop February's roll.

I'll see you soon.

Truprint Portraits

Occasionally I get given film and cameras.

I love it.

One of the many Kodak Brownies I've been given sits proud in my living room. It makes a great ornament.

This post is about a roll of Truprint 35mm film that was a welcomed gift from an ex work colleague.

Its been stored in my fridge for a year. Im not sure how it was stored previously; likely a kitchen drawer.

I have know idea of the expiry date but I'm guessing it would be in the 90's or the early 00's. It was labelled up as ISO 400 but because I was unsure of the life but also sure it was well beyond I shot it at ISO 100. Besides I sometimes feel that my film images can be a bit under exposed so at ISO 100 I could even be over exposing by a stop....win win!

I loaded it up the last week of March into my Canon EOS 600 SLR and headed out with Laura around Kings Lynn with a Tamron 90mm f2.8 attached. 

Plenty of available light on this bright and fresh day.

All images f/3.5.

Colours!!!

The day after we went for a walk around Sandringham woods.

All images f/4

I wish I had more of this film. Its scanned really well (since this roll I've improved my scans so these images could be better), the colours are really vibrant and all the images have come out really warm.

Early Mornings. Find beauty. Shoot.

So I've blogged the Analog Nights and the Kodak Moments in Wisbech.

This leaves the shots i took on early morning winter starts.

Cold, foggy, intense low sun, wet, fresh, either/or but always there is beauty if you look for it.

And you really don't have to look far.

Perhaps the wrong way to go but ill start with my most treasured early morning frame.

I can't explain how magical i found this scene to be.
I hate fog, i especially hate the use of car fog lights. So a foggy start is guaranteed to put a downer on the journey. It was one of those bright early mornings where the sun is intense in your windscreen as your trying to see past the condensation on the window. Nothing visible but the street furniture and cars directly in front.

Heading to somewhere that i don't want to go to.

And then.....

Blue sky, white clouds and the towers peeking above the fog. The beauty i wasn't looking for that found me. It sent shivers down my spine. Something as simple as the change in weather.  The moment that the fog started to clear.

This is what opened my eyes to looking for beauty, this shot, this scene right here.
No matter the crap that you have to wade through everyday, if you just look, something like this magical moment will be happening in front of you, if you just open your eyes.

Maybe it was just a turning point for me. Not long after this i walked out of my day job.

Shooting the scenes on film really did let me relive the moments. When i scanned the fog scene and it slowly appeared on my screen i shouted out loud "yesssssssssss", knowing me there would have been more swearing. Id forgotten that i had taken the shot on film. Id also taken a shot on my iPhone and so i thought the moment was captured but over.

Oh, the waiting for film magic!

Why do i take so many car mirror shots?

Bloody love this car. It reminds me, I've not driven it for a month. Time to wash, polish and sell.........sad face.

So theres the final bog from the roll of Kodak Color Plus shot with a Canon EOS 600 SLR.

A Kodak moment in Wisbech

This roll of Kodak Color Plus has got to be the best roll of 35mm I've ever shot.

Or at least its the best roll thats ever come out. For all i know those fails, when the film wasn't winding on or when the camera back opened, now they might of been epic.
Emphasis on the might of been, probably less on the epic.

I enjoy using the EOS 600 SLR. It cost me about a tenner, its electronic, i already had a battery that fit it, its simple to use; years of DSLR use means its a doddle to pick up and alter the exposure. My collection of EF lenses from fisheye to 70-200 means i can grab a lens and go.

Autofocus; the photographers best friend. Ive got camera & lens combos that are manual focus only, with a bit of patience you'll get the shot. But having autofocus, despite it being only in the centre is a welcome feature.

Back over to my favourite photography haunt; Wisbech.
Im always there. Ive shot it a million times but i will continue, although i admit its getting a little boring. The same roads, the same alleys, the same shadows, the same faces.

But different camera, different lenses, different medium.

I tried and tried to get the purple tone out of this image.

Peekaboo 

Yes please.

Standing in the same spot, using the same exposure, you can get a different photo every time.
Zoom, crouch, focus.