14. develop all my films - roll 1

For those that know me, you may recall my interest in film photography and my collection of cameras. Photography has been in and out of my life since I was a kid. My stepdad likes to take credit for this, claiming he would hand me the family camera as a child and bought me my first 35mm camera as well as my first digital. I guess he's allowed that credit but the love I developed for film photography a few years ago is entirely my own.

I briefly studied photography at college back in 2010 but dropped out in my 2nd year. I get pretty sad that I didn't feel I could continue. But the course wasn't what I wanted. And my depression made it hard for me to stick it out. Funnily enough I bought my first proper 35mm film camera, an Olympus OM10 shortly before dropping out. And for two years I carried a film camera everywhere.

So here's my confession. As much as I still love film photography, as much as I still love the feel of a camera in my hands, the sound of the shutter clicking, and the eventual return of a developed film, I've become incredibly lazy with my photography.

Writing on this blog and messing with film photography have both taken a back seat to my job. Which is pathetic right? It's not even like my job is particularly engaging or interesting. I work in a contact centre. I used to love my job. Now I'm pretty indifferent.

I realised a few months back that I didn't have a good work/life balance. And that realisation led me to something of a mental breakdown. It drove me to reassess some things. That breakdown and my 29th birthday created the '30 before 30' list.

So on my list went the notion of getting all the undeveloped films that have been hanging around for these past couple of years developed. If you're not doing it yourself, getting films developed can be costly depending on where you go. So I took some time to find somewhere reasonable who would develop and put my images on a CD.

I found Photo Express, packaged up 3 films with an order form, posted it on Monday and got them back on Thursday. It was really exciting to look through the little contact sheet of my images and see photos from so long ago. The majority of them are from 2013!

So this is roll 1, from May 2013 when me and Andy went to Crosby Beach for the day. We wanted to see Anthony Gormley's 'Another Place'. It was a nice day.

This is just a selection of course. I'm not tech savvy enough to find a way to put masses of photos on a post without making it the world's biggest post. Maybe that can be something for me to look into as this goes on.

So for now I hope you enjoy the first of my developed rolls. Rolls 2 and 3 happened to have been from the same event so there'll be a bigger post about those later. And I've got 3 more films packaged up ready to send off. Wonder what else I've photographed in the past?

Another Addition

I really should stop trawling eBay for cameras. Welcome to the family though Pentax K1000.

Laters,

P x

February Photo Challenge

In an attempt to somewhat encourage myself creatively I'm going to try my best to complete the below February Photo A Day Challenge as set by Fat Mum Slim.

I think this is largely aimed at those lucky people with iPhones who can Instagram their way through life but I'm going to try it anyways. Knowing me I'll give up early on. I'm terrible with photo challenges. But I need some encouragement when it comes to shooting at the moment and this seems a fun way to do it.

I won't post my results daily but will group them up into one post a week. I'm planning on doing this on my Canon 450D and one of my film cameras so it'll be fun to see the difference between the two at the end.

Wish me luck!

Laters,

P x

Building the family

Thanks to Oxfam I finally got my hands on my long lusted after Olympus Trip 35.

It came with a roll in with roughly 12 shots taken on it. I love the mystery of getting a camera that has a used roll in it. Like with a couple of my other cameras I want to give it a proper test run with a new roll of film. May well do it this weekend as one of my distant friends is in town for a show. I actually have quite a few things I need to do with my cameras so whilst I'm woefully uneducated and unemployed I should really get on doing that. In between looking for a job of course.

Anyways welcome to the family Olympus Trip 35!

Laters,

P x

Analogue Gang

I wanted to introduce my analogue camera collection. It's a small collection for now but I have big aspirations for it. Before I started buying cameras for myself I would mess around with the various family cameras we've had over the years. As well as disposable cameras. I used to buy the Boots black & white disposables and take silly photos of my boyfriend of the time. My stepdad is one of those technology types especially when it comes to cameras and to this day he always has a camera on him. He was the one who pushed me to use the family cameras if I wanted. I must have used it more than I realised because I've got heaps of photographs from my school days, primary school mostly. When digital became more affordable for the common man my stepdad was there for it. And again I was allowed to use his latest bit of kit. What trust he must have had in me as this was in my secondary school days. Then he bought my first digital camera (which I've still got!) for my 17th birthday. And since then I've been buying my own cameras. I upgraded digitally, both times with a Canon, and then over the course of 2011 I fell back in love with analogue.

So this is my little analogue collection so far as I've purchased them over time.

Ah the good old Polaroid. Who doesn't love a Polaroid picture? This was probably the first film camera I purchased for myself many years ago before Polaroid went bust. I have a little stack of Polaroids and I absolutely love them. It's one of the most attractive and satisfying formats I'd say. I know you can buy film for this camera from The Impossible Project but it is painfully priced and you only get 8 shots in comparison to what you used to pay for a twin pack. Sigh. Maybe one day as part of something very special I'll treat myself.

Gifted to me by my darling friends the Supersampler was my introduction to Lomography. I must have been banging on about it somewhere for my friends to see this as a worthy gift. It's a funny old camera this one. With no viewfinder you just have to aim and shoot with this camera and you're encouraged to use it on sunny days for best results. I must confess the fad of this camera wore off after a little while but I re-discovered it last year and took it along to Portugal. I ran a couple of rolls through it, seen in this album, and in the Portuguese sun this camera became fun again. I am going to endeavour to use it more this year.

After a hefty few years stay in digital photography I began becoming interested in analogue photography again at the start of 2011. In particular I'd keep seeing blog posts about people using analogue camera and every so often I'd see Lomography related stuff as well. So once in a while I'd happily browse the Lomography website pining for the money to buy one of their cameras. When I finally got the full amount of my student loan early last year and a conveniently timed Lomography voucher came about I took that leap. I bought myself the Diana F+ deluxe kit and shortly after we fell in love in Seville. This camera can do just about everything and actually has 3 formats to work with; 35mm, 120 and instant. It's like 3 cameras in one!

After a summer in Portugal with my Diana I knew I was ready to take it to the next level with analogue. So shortly after returning I visited The Real Camera Company and invested in my Olympus OM10. That shop by the way is analogue camera heaven. I knew roughly which cameras I wanted purely from what I'd seen online and was actually leaning more towards a Canon since digitally that's what I use. But this Olympus won my heart and has remained with me at all times ever since.

Then a funny thing happened. I rediscovered eBay. As I began using the Lomography website more I would see all these great examples of photography and the same few cameras kept popping up. I know that it's the photographer who makes the photograph not the camera but undoubtedly the camera plays a big part in the deal. So when this Zenit-E appeared for the right price I went ahead and indulged. Be warned this is a hefty camera. And Russian. It has fewer settings than my Olympus and I'm yet to actually test it but I am excited to get to grips with it.

I still fancied a Canon SLR and as luck would have it eBay had one for me. So I hastily purchased this Canon AE-1 which came with a bag full of random accessories, a flash and a 28mm lens. Again I'm yet to test it out but rather excitingly the camera did come with a film already in it and about half used. I am so excited to eventually get the roll developed because what's more fun than mystery photographs? I'm planning on taking the Canon out to finish that roll and run my own test roll through soon. It's fully manual so it should be pretty exciting to get to grips with exposing photographs with proper consideration.

And finally, the latest and truthfully possibly one of the most exciting additions to my camera collection is the Lomo LCA+. I have lusted for this camera for YEARS now. Actual years. The more I read about it, the more I saw what it produced, the more I wanted it. And again eBay had one for me. Brand new in box and about £100 cheaper than they're sold on the Lomography website. I couldn't resist. I was so excited when it arrived and took on a state of unbelieving awe that I finally owned one. It got its first run at The Blue Planet Aquarium last week and I'll be taking the film to be developed tomorrow. Fingers crossed for that. This has become the second camera that comes everywhere with me now. Expect many photographs from this little guy.

So there you have it. My little camera family which I hope will continue to grow over this next year and many years to come. I may well do a separate post on my current camera lusts. I'm forever browsing eBay and am planning on exploring the world of car boot sales and charity shops in the hope of finding some camera gems. Should you happen to have any old cameras that you'd like to see go to a good home or know of anyone wishing to get rid of their old cameras, well you know who to contact ;)

All shots were taken on my Canon 450D.

Laters,

P x

The results are in...

So last Thursday, along with the 11 rolls of film from my Diana F+, I handed in the first roll I put through my Olympus OM10 to the photo lab I use. I've been occasionally worrying about the results over the weekend. Scared I might not have put the film in right and all that. I was a touch nervous about collecting them today but I couldn't be happier with what it's produced.

Here's some of my favourite shots from the roll.













If you wanna check out the rest then just take a look at my Flickr.

Can't wait to work with this camera more often.

Laters,

P x

Analogue love.

As we know I am currently a student of photography here in fair Manchester. The title of my course is Photography and Digital Imaging. You see that word there? After 'and' and before 'Imaging'. Yeah that one, 'Digital', that's the word I'm talking about. Want to know a secret? I don't like that word. I don't like digital. There I said it. So why study on a digital photography course? Who bloody knows? Not me.

Don't get me wrong. I've enjoyed some of what my Canon 450D has produced. We've had fun together. He's very handy sometimes. But to tell you the truth we're not the best of friends. We don't always get on. Sometimes we positively hate each other. But that's alright. It's no big deal to feel that way. What I love, what I have always loved is analogue photography. Ever since I was a kid and my stepdad put the family camera in my hands for me to play with. Then when I had my own camera and would take photos of my toys and my family. Even buying the black and white disposable cameras that Boots used to sell. I just love film. I don't currently develop my own prints but gosh I sure would love to learn how to. I should look for a course that teaches you. But handing in those little rolls of films and awaiting the results is just so exciting to me.

Now I've mentioned before how when I went to Seville I shot almost entirely on my Diana F+, a Lomography film camera. And I spoke about how much I planned to utilise my Diana F+ whilst I was in Portugal (films are still in the developing stage at the moment). I came back with 13 used rolls of film. But all the time I was there I was dreaming of owning a proper 35mm film camera. The Diana F+ is after all technically a toy camera. It's made of plastic for folks' sake. I wanted something more, I wanted something with more than 3 apertures, I wanted something without parallax.

So on Monday 26th Sept, you know the day, when I saw Harry Potter and The Boy With Tape On His Face, I took myself to The Real Camera Company. I've walked past this shop a hundred times and awed at the sheer volume of amazing cameras that they sell. So when it came to finally investing in my own proper camera there was no doubt in my mind that I would go there for help. Now I must admit I wasn't 100% sure on what I was doing. I know very little about film cameras. I only know I like them and I wanted one. I kind of had it in my head that I'd buy a Canon AE1 or AV1 since I've seen quite a few posts on other blogs from people with those cameras. And I'm technically a Canon girl. But as I was shown camera after camera by the lovely gentleman shop assistant I was overwhelmed by the choice. I explained how little I knew, how I needed something I could learn on, something that was versatile to any condition I used it in. We bandied about a few more cameras. I carefully picked them up, held them to my face and checked out how they felt mock shooting with. I wasn't instantly bonding with any of them so far. Then he popped down one last camera for me to try out.

It was an Olympus OM10. Now this is predominantly an aperture priority camera. Unless you have the manual adapter in it. Which the kindly gentleman happened to have and popped on the camera for me. I picked it up. I held it to my face. I looked through the lens. I adjusted the focus. I felt us click. I'd found it. This was the camera for me. Now the kindly gentleman shop assistant, without me even trying to haggle, talked the price down from £75 to £60. I know you can get these cameras for less online but I like to handle a camera before purchase. It's a good idea to do so. For their service, for their patience and for the camera itself £60 sounded just fine to me.

So there it is. My first proper film camera. They kindly threw in some spare batteries, a free film of my choice (I went for black and white) and an original Olympus canvas strap as seen separately above. Now here's where I'll probably show some of my true colours. Since the camera didn't come with an instruction manual I had to look up one online. Easy enough, found one straight away and downloaded it to read when I got chance. So eventually when I got chance I sat down with the instruction manual up on my laptop and my camera in hand. I had a film ready for insertion. Ooh er. But could I get the back on my camera to open? Could I balls! I don't know what was wrong with me that day but I kept looking at the instructions then looking at my camera and just couldn't work it out. How did the back open? I got so annoyed. I got so frustrated. I put the camera down on one side and stopped being its friend for a couple of days. Then I tried again. I slowly read the instructions this time. Oh ah right okay I saw it then. I actually followed the instructions this time and POP hello open back! I'm still ashamed of my impatience. But I got there in the end, back opened, film loaded, ready to go.

I have just a couple more shots to shoot and I'll have finished my first roll. Then it'll be off for development. And it'll be picking out the best to publish on here. I'll have them by the end of the week I promise.

But let's just take one last look at it shall we?

Oh I do love it.

Laters,

P x

Film.

I don't know how many of you have heard of Lomography and this whole analogue love culture that comes with it but I've been a fan of it for years now. A few months back Groupon offered a voucher for the Lomography shop and I absolutely couldn't resist. I was utterly torn in my decision of what to buy because Lomography has such a crazy range of cameras that you kinda want to collect them all. But I wanted a good all-rounder so I went for the Diana F+ deluxe kit.

Now what I actually did was purchase the deluxe kit off Ebay as it was considerably cheaper than the Lomo shop even with the voucher. And I used my voucher to buy the RingFlash.

I love the look of ring flash in photography and the best thing about the Lomo RingFlash is that it works on both my Diana F+ and my Canon. Amazeballs right?

Now when I went to Seville with college I used only my Diana F+ much to my tutor's annoyance but I loved it. Walking round in the blazing sun all day, I didn't want to be weighed down by my Canon so I stuck to my perfectly lightweight Diana F+ and we had a lot of fun together. I'd changed the back from 120mm to 35mm the minute it arrived and I had 5 films with me. All purchased from Poundland before I went but they worked out nicely. I really believe that Lomography in general works better in those sunny moments as it adds to the captured atmosphere. I think in the end I used about 3 films and admittedly not all the shots worked out. That's obviously down to my inexperience with film and still getting used to the camera settings. But I like the shots that did work out such as the following, taken with the telephoto lens attached.



More of my Seville shots can be found on my Flickr, in particular in this set.

So now as I get closer to leaving for Portugal for the summer I'm looking again at my Diana F+ and thinking about all the shots we'll be able to get whilst there. However I didn't want to take a suitcase full of Poundland film. Don't get me wrong, it's a good film. Kodak ColourPlus ISO200 24exp and I've picked up 3 for those first few days, just to get me back into working on film. But I wanted to experiment with other films and see what results I'd get. Of course film isn't as cheap as it used to be but I made use of a Lomo 15% discount offer on their films as well as some cheap shopping on Ebay. So I've got myself a selection of the following films.

I'm really excited to begin shooting with these in Portugal and I really hope they work out. I'll have to pay a bit more attention to the camera settings as I don't want there to be too many messed up shots. But then again I've now got something like 30 films to take with me so there's plenty to work with. Just hope there'll be room in the refrigerator for them all. Of course processing when I get back will be a killer but I may just go for getting them developed then investing in a negative scanner as it's a fair bit more sensible than getting prints and CDs made for them all.

Of course a selection of my best shots will be posted on here when the time comes so y'all can see how I got on.

Laters,

P x