Half Frame, Lots of Frames

So, when its -1'c outside and I'm sat in my dressing gown, I am not going outside to look at the camera.

Ill just say, I'm not sure what model it is because I've look at loads of google images and wikipedia comparing to pictures on my Instagram and I can't find a camera that look s the same as mine; they all have different shutter buttons.

So mine looks like a PEN EE but has the shutter button of a PEN EE.S. If I braved the cold and gave the neighbours a fright id be able to figure it out, I'm sure by the maximum aperture. But right now I'm happy with just not knowing.  Stay warm!

Either way the camera comes from sometime between 1961 & 1981. It's half frame, fixed focus & fully automatic, meaning it does what it does when you point it at things.

I picked it up for something like a £1 from the Sunday market. At 1st I wasn't interested until I opened it and noticed that the frame mask was tiny and in my head alarm bells rang with a 'its a half frame camera, get it, shoot loads of exposures'

This half frame camera, shoots twice the amount of exposures on a roll of 35mm film. so 72 shots on a 36 roll etc.

But the negatives are small. So don't expect detail and large prints.

Ive only shot 1 roll, not including the few shots that were left on the roll in the camera when I purchased it. A lot of that roll was ruined when I opened the back of the camera not knowing there was a film in it. But who buys an old camera without checking it 1st.

The camera joined us on a weekend away in Norwich, December 2016, a roll of Fujicolor C200 in tow.

Point and shoot.

And sometimes you scratch your head and wonder how so much dust got on only 1 or 2 frames of the whole roll.

I like Anglia Square in Norwich. It's like the place that Norwich forgot. Once the big shopping centres were built there's no real reason to go there and so either shops sit empty or are used by discount chains but who doesn't like Poundland??

Theres a massive vacant office building, trust me I've looked round it for a way in, which is absolutely covered in graffiti.

A perfect subject to capture via a 20+ frame stitched image;

From Russia with love. To Stamford with art.

Don't go thinking that I've been to Russia. Or, by all means, you can go thinking that I have been to Russia, think all you like. I haven't.

However the camera used for these images has been to Russia, in fact it came from Russia.

The Kiev 4 was produced between 1947 - 1987. So I might have been 2 years old when was mine was made, might have?

I paid £5 for the camera and 50mm f2 lens attached. Half of me thinks I paid £5 too much for it. The trouble is I haven't decided if the camera is faulty or not. After about frame number 30 of a 24 exposure roll of Agfa Vista, I thought f@£* it! it's not winding on. Only to develop the film and to discover that it was.

Confused.com.

Granted, like many cameras, I only ever shoot one roll of film before the camera gathers dust in the drawer or gets sold on. So I have no hard evidence whether the camera is faulty or not, it seems I either wasn't counting exposures correctly or its fine?

On to the experience. Its a great camera, its solid, heavy and using the rangefinder is a pleasure with the focus wheel on the top of the body. Im not sure I had the 'Contax Hold' down to a T though as each time I put my eye to the viewfinder I saw my finger.

The photos for this blog were taken on New Years Eve in Stamford, Lincolnshire.
I was surprised to find street art and so I really should go back and search out some more.

Street Art by Snik https://www.facebook.com/snikarts/

The roll of Agfa Vista was my worst home developed roll so far. A truly awful amount of water marks had initially ruined the roll. Until I read that a little bit of breath and a lens cloth is the best way to get rid of it.

I do wonder if my chemicals are reaching their use by???
Maybe I did something that made the process very 'soapy'?

I've got a few rolls waiting to be developed in my fridge.
Theres only one way to find out if the chemicals are still good to use.

Don't let images collect virtual dust.

There is a real problem with film for me. Its my usual problem but it seems to really affect my film pursuits.

Time.

That whole magic, 'you don't know what your going to get', thing for me turns into 'you won't ever know what your going to get until you develop the film that's sitting wasting away in the fridge and then collecting dust waiting to be scanned'.

The saying then continues with 'and once you've scanned them, you need to import them into Lightroom and then finally do something with the images that have taken months to materialise'.

I don't see that phrase being famous and used on posters, t-shirts etc. But I'm  sure i can't be the only person in the world who loses images in their ever expanding Lightroom catalogue. I don't lose them their well named and tagged, its more forget. I've got lots of images that i have forgotten about; whole days, whole holidays that i have never shared and have definitely not printed.

All on my lonely hard drive waiting for one big failure to happen and poof........they're gone.


So to get back on track I'm going to start with the remaining shots from a roll of Truprint 35mm.

The box speed was ISO 400 but an unknown expiration date made me think shooting at ISO 100 would be a good idea....it was.

In a previous blog post I'm sure i said how much i liked the vivid colours that i got from this roll. I continue to apart from one shot where the horrible red skin colour is just too overpowering but its important to share a failure now and then;

But now thinking about this guy might of the beetroot persuasion???

For subjects such as a local funfair the vivd colours are very fitting.

What you looking at!? 

The House on the Hill

Kings Lynn Street Art

A little Macro photography with the Tamron 90mm F2.8

 So I'm really going to try and sort my blogging out and really start to share some of the photos that have been collecting virtual dust in my Lightroom catalogue.

Stay tuned.

And i do apologise for the random image content this time. I just really like the colours from this roll.

Spalding

Time is precious.

Any chance to use a camera and shoot some pics i want to take it.

Any excuse.

Ive purchased a 6D to replace my back up body as it was becoming a bit long in the tooth for me. The 6D is supposed to be a low light monster. Let me tell you it certainly focuses well in a dark room. I need to compare my 5d and 6d and see which really does perform better.

So 2 full frame camera's and 2 Fujifilm cameras for weddings. Its a good job I've got a big bag.

Im still not ready to leave Canon fully. Every time i put a big camera in my hand it feels so right. Big camera, big lens, big smile. Quit those dirty thoughts!!!

T
he fuji's are great for the candid moments, where you want to capture people having fun, when you don't want them to notice you. With Fuji's you can blend in. They're less intimidating.

But throw on a 70-200 on a full frame body and the images just have... something.

So. It turned up the other morning and in the constant challenge mode that I'm in, instead of throwing on one of my nice lenses, i chose to put on an old lens that i realistically paid about £2 for with a film body attached. 

The Helios 44-2 58mm, has a good write up by people who use it for swirly bokeh portraits and other images. 

'Swirly Bokeh' google it.

I just put it on because its small and i can use the depth of field scale on barrel to estimate focus for street photography. Ive not really shot street photography with a 'big' camera before, its always with a small Fuji. A new challenge.

Image quality from the 6D is nothing to worry about.

The 44-2 however suffers terribly from soft corners, so don't go putting the subject in the corner of the frame as you may/will be disappointed.

Spalding was the location for this Street photography outing. Not my favourite place in the world, though i have a great fondness for a night out there.

Much like my local jaunt of Wisbech, Saplding also has a huge eastern european population. Beer cans a plenty then.

There's alleys and claustrophobic streets, empty shop fronts and a general grey feeling to the place. Perfect for me then.

Look closely at your surroundings and you might find interest

Honesty may not be the best policy.

Let's face it.

Im no world famous photographer. Im not sure id even want to be one. 

I go through phases of picking photography jobs up. Im happy with those that i get through word of mouth. Theres nothing better than being told that so and so said your good and so can you shoot this for me. 

Thats a good feeling.

Times before I've really wanted to go full time but i feel that id have to shoot a lot things that i don't want to shoot. Im not that person. 

This is my passion, no one else's. 

My photography speaks to me. 

If it speaks to you, then i thank you.

What does it say to you? Speak your mind.

What it says to me;

This is who you are.

Seek to find beauty in everything.

Strive to stay positive but embrace the negative because it's always going to be there.

You will never be someone else.

So

I can shoot weddings, i like to, its one of my favourite subjects. 

I want to capture the beauty of someone else's moment. They've chosen to share this day with me and put trust in me to show them beauty in image form in return.

The ultimate challenge. Find beauty.

Sometimes it's the sunset behind the couple, sometimes its just that moment of contemplation when the bride thinks that no one is watching.

That moment.

Photography is capturing light. 

The light will be there if you look for it but why take a photo if its not 'That Moment'.

How does this read to you?

Have i said too much?

Have i put you off?

Now there is no link to the above and the imagery below.

The above is my mind, my honesty. Ive let you in. 

The reasoning for why i go out and capture strangers, dereliction & darkness.

If i didn't, where else are you going to see this?

Boston, Lincolnshire.

Fujifilm X100T.

The Characters of Wisbech, the Town in Decline.

You don't need a city to shoot street photography. You can do it in your home town.

Ive started to do it around my home town or village of Sutton Bridge.

If i had to choose my favourite nearest location though it would have to be Wisbech, without a doubt,

A town of many cultures. At least one third of the population is thought to be eastern european. 

A town in decline.

Even in my lifetime, I've seen the town spiral downwards, as the 'big named' stores have come and gone, the small local business have shut down. Mostly whats left is phone shops, coffee shops, Poundland x2 and Eastern european convenience stores, other store fronts lifeless or boarded up.

I suppose what i do like whilst at the same time hate about the place is the characters and the litter roaming the streets. 

Drunks, jobless' and bear cans strewn in the gutter. 

Maybe a paradise for those of us who like their hobby photography to be grimy, very different from my weekend wedding work.

I'll start with my favourite alley in the town, Scrimshires Passage. Some seriously old buildings with peeling paint, padlocked doors and an archway to provide contrast between shadow and light. I always head there hoping to catch someone walking through. 

This day i met something else, shoes, new shoes left on a window ledge. 

Only 10 seconds after taking this shot a drunk cyclist came through and asked me if the shoes were mine. I then had a conversation with her about how much i think she could sell them for. Good luck to her and her new items for sale.

The reason i love this alley so much.

When standing around in dark alleys for too long you start to get stared at, please, keep on staring.

Notice the beer can on the right

I manual focus a lot these days as it allows me to wait for someone to walk into the shot. I truly love this image.

Cool dude

The look, the 'why's he taking a picture of me' face.

Another can.

I wonder how long this couple have been in love?

Modern love?
Quick love?
Love you long time?

I still return to the penguin street art.

Whoever the street artist is, i do hope they continue.

Wisbech; the town i grew up in, lots of good times spent with mates.

Look after it.

Street Photography; Cartagena, Spain.

It was a good holiday.

Good weather, good food, good fun and some good photography experiences and subjects.

After the Mountain, street photography was my 2nd favourite photography past time on holiday.

The Spanish city of Cartagena was great; real hustle and bustle in the City centre. In between the shops and people, were bars and cafes serving real delicious tapas and cold beer! you cant beat beer and food. well you can beer, food and cake!

The thing I liked about this trip to Spain is that I really observed how much Spanish people like to congregate and chill with friends. The chilled vibe makes for some easy street photography.

Near the Roman theatre the roads and streets are on a gradient and offer some different views.

 

A quick beer stop!

 

Funny looking people in the city centre.

Remembrance of 9/11.

I loved the tight streets with tall old buildings on either side.

Light!

Do you ever feel like your being watched?

Seriously cool street art/graffiti

The smoking man

 

Another beer stop

The sad sailor

This was next to where the car was parked. A nice little find

 I want to go back.