10.6.2008

Looking back to brighton from a foot bridge. Days off have raced by without a real frame being exposed. One day lost to a non specific grotty bug thing, and then playing catch up!
Digital has its uses.

update

Loads of images today, have moved everything into the one blog.
Roll eight is progressing slowly, 2/3rd done. Work days are long and have little opportunity to shoot film. Roll(!) on days off, starting tomorrow.

Roll seven, central brighton

This roll has gone a bit muddy. Not sure why. This is West Street Brighton, at Cranbourne street, where some significant work is being done.

North Road, by the clock tower, typical busy city junction

Mrs G window shopping in North lanes

Allyway off Bond Street

Fomapan exposed at 200asa.
could be better.

Roll six, Paradise Park

A wet afternoon on 28th May, finds us in Paradise park, Newhaven. This picture of a tame dinosaur taken at f1.4, in a sad attempt to make the resin model look vaguely life like. I am several million years too late, but this suffices to make the kids doubt this lot are extinct.

Being somewhat tight when it comes to spending money on the same thing twice, we bring a pack lunch. The weather played the joker, as did the park, in limiting the number of sheltered eating places. We found a pair of mildly damp benches looking over a pond, and munched slightly squashed rolls quickly.

This is an attractive location, and prehaps black and white images do not do it justice. Or rather, my ability with mono media is not sufficient to do the place justice. This is part of the minature tour of Sussex, plenty of walk ways over water, and nice models of key sites of the county.

Tacked onto the park, is a nursery, or is it the other way round? Its a plant supermarket, with the added bonus that unlike the mainstream supermarkets, they occassionally water the products, and customers.

Fomapan 100, exposed at 200asa, a tad stronger APH09 mix, about 6.5ml in 300ml, instead of 6.0 in 300ml. Timings as normal. Shot on 28th, processed that evening and scanned this morning.
This film seems to have nicer tones rated at 200asa, but then my processing is too shoddy to really take too much notice of that based on one film.
Forgot to take digital camera, remembered spare roll of film though....

Roll Five, settling into rangefinder.

Son with the famous Mr Philip Sharpe, (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1061602/) wildlife camera man, and special effects expert, all the way from New Zealand. He has helped create some of the movie magic in Bond, Tomb Raider, Alien and many others. Just keep him away from fiberglass resin, glue and chicken wire, unless you want a forty foot tall dragon in your garden.

When ever we see people on horses I hear the phrase, "you get the cameras you want, why cant I have a horse". Well my wonderful wife, cameras are cheaper, they dont have vet fees, or require expensive feed. If I am a bit short of readies towards the end of the month, and run out of film, I can use a digital camera for free, and will not be hounded by the RSPCA for neglect. The camera lives on a shelf, or in a small bag, it does not require a paddock, and a stable, at the cost of renting a small flat each month. If there is something wrong with the camera, I am unlikely to be bankrupted by costs to fix it. If I decide to have a duvet morning, I do not have to find someone to exercise it. Wonderful wife has not divorced me yet, she did not marry me for my overdraft, it must be love.

Ice Cream.
Bit of a dichotomy here. Damn things sell icecream everywhere, bit of a blot on the landscape, and generate a pavlov type reaction amongst small people.
But....
Useful for bribing young people ..... if you dont behave there will be no ice cream for you, or my favorite variation on a theme, if you dont behave, there will be no ice cream for either of you.
A sort of self policing threat, encouraging and rewarding good behaviours in a supportive and positive enviroment. What a load of tosh, I was not going to creak open my wallet unless behaviour was very good, I was postive about that, and we were outside in open greeen spaces, so it ticked enviroment too.

Nice straight froward portrait with a small p. No complicated lights, effects, or post processing. Just a picture of son relaxing in chair.

All shot on the same day, on the bessa, processed the following day. Fomapan 100, dev in APH09, 7 mins, inversions when I remember, rinse then fix just under 2 mins. Wash for about 10 mins, drop of rinse aid, hang to dry off nail in wall, hope not too much dust sticks, scan once dry on flat bed canon thing, which has a rather fragile negative carrier that I have not broken yet.
Despite that, there are images I am pleased with.

Roll Four, Brighton

Poorly executed reflections.Meet you outside primark

Cranbourne Street

Back to Patcham!

Third RF Roll

Busy track.

Alfie. Lokking a bit rough due to dodgy haircut.

Couple of Seagulls

Railings.


I toned down the inversions for the next roll, which is hanging up to dry. I had not taken the Bessa out of Patcham until yesterday, so Roll 4 may have something a little more interesting.
I really do not know what I would classify myself as, I am not too keen on shoving a camera in a strangers face, so "street" is out, I am way to sloopy for fine art, not to mention clueless as to what this means, only that Fine suggests a lot less hair and dust on the negatives. I like hidden spaces, allyways, paths, courtyards, and the backs of places, the working bits behind the glitzy front.
Mostly I like taking pictures of life as it is now.

Second Rangefinder roll

Alfie with Son

Kids

Industrial words

Nature Walk

More Fomapan, pictures not outstanding, but useful to me, and I enjoy taking them!

.

Size matters?

R3a and Nikon D80 with 18-70 Nikkor.
Like apples and oranges, they are totally different.
Image as indication of relative size.
And,
2nd roll finished and hanging up to dry. Only got two films through so far, but I do like the compact size, and the simple controls. Not a menu in sight.

First roll

Deck based washing basketLadies Mile road, Brighton

Patcham clock

The dog, Alfie.

Fomapan 100, processed in APH09, about 7mins at about 20c. Quick rinse in water, cheapo fix for 2mins, 10 mins wash in running water, drop of wetting agent at the end. hung in warm summer breeze, diagonally, for about an hour. Once dry, chopped to fit negative file , and scanned in bottom of the market flat bed scanner. Dust provided by dog.

Rangefinder!

A new film camera, in 2008? Am I mad?
I believe not.
I like the feel of film, its a nice tactile medium. It also has the suspense and surprise that instant playback and review lacks.
This is a rangefinder camera, close in size to a compact camera, but with interchangable lenses, an accurate rangefinder focus system, and it uses film.
Negatives and slides are great, they are easy to view, easy to store, and provided I dont loose them, should be viewable in twenty years time, when DVD's and CD's are a closed optical disc thingy.
I have been scanning some slides taken by my grandfather, forty to forty five years ago. Makes you wonder why your taking pictures, if they are to be so fleeting.
I am not abandonning my DSLR, but I dont think I'd replace it either.

Camera of choice, a Voigtlander Bessa R3A.
lens, a 40mm standard lens.
Film, fomapan, a lovely smooth black and white film.