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.

Do I or don't I?

Challenge, challenge, challenge.

I'd be lying if i said i didn't think about the word challenge at leat once every day.

I keep using the words on these blog posts, on my Facebook and Instagram pages, twitter, you name it.

Challenge is my buzz word and it has been for some time.

I have a freezer drawer full of films, ranging from 35mm Agfa Vista ISO 200 from Poundland to 120/medium format from the 1970's. All nice and cold to prolong the life a little more, waiting for me to use it.

Problem No. 1; Not really a problem, more of a question. Why shoot film when i have some amazing digital cameras? i know it doesn't make sense, its just a desire.

Problem No. 2; Will it come out alright?  Not the exposure, more, will the shop/lab develop it correctly, how do they know what i was feeling when i took the shot?

Problem No. 3; How to view my images? the traditional method was to print, i like prints but i want to share too. After all we are now the internet generation, travellers on the information super highway, everyone loves a 'like'.
The scans of previous films have left me wanting more, more quality, more information, bigger files. They lack sharpness, they're usually quite soft and muddy.

Problem No.4; The cost. Oh the cost. Pay to develop, pay for prints, pay for scans of the images so you can share them. The better the quality, the pricier the service.


So, the answer to many of my problems is home development. Yeah i can do that, i have lists of the equipment i need and have various kits saved in my eBay watch list. I figure it will cost me £100 to get set up.

The practical experiment will be enjoyable I'm sure once the paranoia and stress of getting it wrong subsides.

It does leave me with the biggest problem from above though; viewing the images and allowing others to see them too.
Do i shop scan?

Do I buy a flatbed scanner? the more you spend the better it is.

Do I buy a 'budget' film scanner, again it seems the more money spent the better the scan.

Do I scan with what I already have to hand; another camera.

Yes it's a little odd. Yes it almost defeats the object; Why shoot film if having to then digitise via a digital camera? 

It works though;

Tripod.

DSLR.

Macro Lens.

A light to illuminate the negative; iPad.

Film holders; pens.

With a piece of white plastic bag and the glass from a picture frame to block the pixels from the iPad showing through.

Crude!

Challenge.