Sakura Hanami - It Never Gets Old

 Sakura season 2026 hit Wigan right around Easter and, despite Storm Dave trying its best to ruin it, the local cherry trees here in Wigan were magnificent this year. When the world is going to hell in a handbasket and we need something positive in our lives, nature brings the goods every single time. Here in darkest Wigan we have just come out of the wettest winter for many a year, so the sight of the Sakura in full bloom really does lift my spirits.

I introduced my pal Keith to the display and he was smiling from ear to ear at the sight of all that pink blossom that greeted us as we drove around the corner. I got stuck into my first roll with my Nikon F801s and 35-70mm zoom lens. I had chosen to shoot Kodak Gold first and managed half a roll before we headed off to another location to find some bluebells. However, It would not be my last encounter with the cherry blossom. 

I had a couple of rolls of Kodak ColorPlus to use in my Olympus OM-10 and had put fresh batteries in it to ensure I could make the most of any sunshine whilst the Sakura Season was in full swing. Thankfully the weather held for a few days and I headed back to the local display to finish half a roll off. Well, that turned into more than half a roll as I made the most of the sunshine and loaded another roll of ColorPlus. 

I knew it wasn't going to be the last of the sunshine and headed into town to see if the cherry trees in the Park and at Wigan Parish Church were blessed with sunshine. I did get a couple of minutes of sunshine at the park, but mother nature saved the best of the days sunshine for the trees in the Church Gardens. 

I wasn't alone in enjoying the display there as a few people were also taking photos and appreciating nature at her finest. I always say Sakura Season is nature's "Hold My Saké" moment every year. The Sakura was glorious this year and it never fails to impress me. All I had left to do was send my film to Analogue Wonderland for processing.

When I received my scans a few days later I was blown away by the colour rendition of the Cherry Blossom on Kodak Gold. I managed to get several nice photos and to be fair, the difference between Kodak Gold and Colorplus made for a nice comparison of Kodak's consumer grade 200 iso colour films. I love ColorPlus, but Gold makes the blossom come alive just a touch more. I am of the opinion that photographing Spring on Kodak Gold should be enshrined in Law.

Here's a few favourites from my 2026 Sakura Hanami in the glorious sunshine here in Wigan. The first three are on Gold, the rest are ColorPlus and I think you will agree that ColorPlus is good, but Gold is just a little bit more lush. As always I have placed them and more in albums on Flickr that you can visit using the links below. I hope you enjoy them.

Sakura Hanami - Kodak Gold
Sakura Hanami - Kodak ColorPlus

Kodak Gold

Kodak Gold

Kodak Gold 

A Grand Day Out

 Our friend Keith came to stay with us for a couple of days after Easter and, as has become customary when he comes to visit, we had an afternoon out and about with our cameras. We headed back to a location we visited at the start of Autumn 2025, Worthington Lakes. On our previous visit we had only explored the lower lake. This time we headed straight for the upper lake and set about enjoying finding some colour in the pools of light shining through the trees. 

We enjoyed finding bluebells and dandelion flowers. We also saw what looked like a few hardy snowdrops in the shade that were still in bloom months after their variety had showed up and left when the daffodils appeared. Further investigation suggests they may be Whitebells. Whatever they are, the spring flowers grabbed my full attention. I soon finished my roll of Kodak Gold in my Nikon F801s and switched to Ilford HP5 whilst continuing with colour film and Kodak ColorPlus in my OM10. 

On our journey around the upper lake it soon became clear we would have a problem. Keith was using his faithful mobility scooter, Nedward and we began to encounter sections that Nedward wasn't quite powerful enough to conquer. Steep slopes on the path and more than a few protruding roots had us both using our limited mobility to literally drag Nedward past the obstacles in our way. 

I'm not saying it was easy, but to a couple of Lancashire lads with a stubborn streak a mile wide, It was a challenge that had to be answered. We refused to be beaten. Off Roading with a mobility scooter is not something we ever thought we would do, but it was a lot of fun, despite using up all our energy and having to rest a few times along the way. As we say here in Lancashire, It were a grand day out.

I posted my colour film to Analogue Wonderland for processing and I developed my roll of Ilford HP5 at home using Bellini Euro HC 1+31 dilution B for 5 minutes at 20 celcius. Once dry I digitised it with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi 35mm film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 size led light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Studio.

I am happy with the photos from our grand day out. I enjoyed photographing the colour of spring and the wildfowl busy feeding on the grass or begging from the humans as one enterprising Hissing Cobra Chicken tried on me without success. I don't feed the wildlife I encounter, they do perfectly ok without me spoiling their diet. My black and white photos are ok and properly reflect the day going from sunny to overcast about half way around the reservoir. It was a bit gloomy on the path, but we managed it despite the challenges put before us.

Here's a few favourites from our grand day out. As always I have placed them and more in albums on Flickr you can visit using the links below. There's also some Cherry Blossom photos there too, which I will talk about next week for my annual Sakura Hanami. I hope you enjoy them. 

Grand Day Out - Ilford HP5+ 400
Grand Day Out - Kodak Gold 
Grand Day Out - Kodak ColorPlus

Frugal Film Project 2026 - SLR - April

 After finishing my roll of Kentmere 400 with my Hanimex, I decided to take a walk around my local woodland with my Minolta Dynax 4, again loaded with Kentmere 400. I had to make the most of a sunny Monday afternoon and to mitigate the harshest light and heat of the day, a walk in the woods was definitely welcome. I grabbed my bag, hung my Dynax 4 around my neck and headed to the woods. 

I enjoy a good wander along the nature trails through my local woodland. It's literally across the road and the difference between being on a housing estate to being in the woods so quickly is quite profound. It's like turning a page and starting a fresh chapter in a book. It was also a couple of degrees cooler and soft lad here had his leather jacket on. Fonzi would approve as leather jackets are cool. As are baseball caps with flames up the side. Yep, my Summer Hat came out to play too.

I love to see the changes of light and shade during a wander around the woods, the sun light through the trees makes for interesting shadows. There was also a lot of late Hawthorne blossoming and a lone Lilac too. One place I like is the glade where the Bluebells are. I was using Black and White, but it didn't stop me photographing the clumps of Whitebells next to the farm road as I made my way through the woods. Dapples of light were isolating a few flowers from the rest and I thought it made for a good composition. 

This is why I enjoy using a zoom lens. I can get closer to my subject without having to struggle with bending down or getting to my knees to take the photo. I have to say that Minolta made exceedingly good kit lenses for their Dynax/Maxxum series of cameras. Do I have better lenses? Yep, but I am sticking with the kit lens for the year as it came with the camera when I bought it from my friend. It's the best £10 I have spent in a long time. I soon finished my April roll of Kentmere 400 and headed for home for a well earned cuppa.

I developed my April roll of Kentmere 400 shot with my Minolta Dynax 4 using Belini Euro HC, 1+31 dilution B, for 6 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised my film with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi 35mm film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 sized led light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Studio.

Once again, Donkey has not let me down. My Minolta Dynax 4 with 28-80mm kit lens has given me a lot of joy since I bought it for £10. My compositions may not be the best, but I know they are well exposed. I even got most of them in focus. There are plenty of changes that have happened since my last wander there in Autumn 2025. 

More trees have fallen, the campfire site has been altered by some enterprising youth with a saw and the sapling growing from the base of the dead tree is still alive and a fair bit bigger. This makes me happy as the dead tree is slowly, but surely collapsing. It will probably rot away before the decade is out and I hope it doesn't fall onto the sapling that is taking nourishment from it's host.

Here's a few favourites from my April roll of Kentmere 400 shot with Donkey for the Frugal Film Project 2026. As always I have placed them and more in my Frugal Film Project - SLR album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Frugal Film Project 2026 - Donkey - April 

Frugal Film Project 2026 - Compact - April

I left my frugal films late in April, a busy month at home meant I didn't get out as much as I would have liked. Then I strained summat in my left arm whilst my wife and I were doing a little DIY. It's a pain I have felt before and it's healing with rest, but it stopped my fun for a little while. Carrying cameras was a no go for a week or two and it was the last week of the month when I got out and about with my Hanimex 35RAS to shoot my April roll of Kentmere 400 for the Frugal Film Project. 

I'm glad I had to wait out an injury as the last week of April turned out rather nice. Plenty of sunshine, a cool breeze and temperatures us Brits are built for saw a lot of people enjoy a day in Mesnes Park. It would have been rude not to head there myself as there's been a development I needed to see for myself.

When I arrived on a sunny Saturday afternoon, the park was full of folk relaxing at the Pavillion, having picnics on the lawns and generally enjoying their day. I began my photography near the Pavilion. A couple of long shots down the length of the Park was a good starting point and I made my way around the park, finding compositions as I strolled. 

It wasn't long before I reached the bit I had come to see. A tree I have been photographing since I came back to film has been felled. I was surprised that it had survived the previous cull, but it was merely delaying the inevitable. The tree hadn't produced much foliage over the last few years and, despite having a great shape, it was dying. I'm genuinely sad to see it go, but the great cycle of life will continue when a new tree is planted to replace it.

I walked over to the the Park Lodge where a few wedding cars were parked and took a couple of snaps of them. I hope the happy couple enjoyed their day as it was beautiful weather for them. The lawn outside the wedding room was filled with Bluebells too which I hope added a little colour to their wedding photos.

I headed into town, happy snapping away and I was really starting to feel my arm giving me a bit of grief, so I headed home for some painkillers and a well earned cuppa. I finished my roll the following Monday with another quick wander around town before heading back towards home, happy that I finally got my first roll of Kentmere 400 in the can for April.

I developed my April roll of Kentmere 400 shot with my Hanimex 35RAS a couple of days later using Belini Euro HC, 1+31 dilution B, for 6 minutes at 20 celcius. For the first time this year I had to cool my chemicals down before letting them stand as I loaded my reels and tank and let them come back to 20 celcius. I soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised it with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi 35mm film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 size led light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Studio.

Considering my Hanimex 35RAS gave me a fight in January, it's been great ever since. I didn't have to do much to my photos with Affinity Studio and was able to work my way through them in short order. Overall I am happy with my photos this month and I am hopeful that the summertime will bring me more opportunities to get out and about in the sunshine with my intriguing Hanimex 35RAS.

Here are a few favourites from my April roll of Kentmere 400 for the Frugal Film Project 2026. I have also added a photo of the tree that was felled that I took recently for comparison. As always I have placed them and more in an album on Flickr that you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

 Frugal Film Project 2026 - Compact 

Now You See The Tree
Now You Dont....

Olympus Trip - Kodak XX

 I took advantage of the first decent spring sunshine of the year to get out and about with my Olympus Trip loaded with a roll of Kodak Double X at 200 iso. With a clear sky and time to wander, I set about the task of finding compositions as I walked around town. Early spring sunshine gave me a chance to enjoy the shadows and I also wanted to find out how well my Olympus Trip handled a 200 iso film. 

Kodak Double-X is a much loved and respected black and white cinema film that can be developed in standard black and white chemistry as well as the dedicated Kodak D-96 B&W cinema film developer. It has been used in several of Hollywood's greatest films. Schindler's List was filmed entirely with Double-X at Steven Spielberg's insistence. Digital cameras had become widely used alongside Computer Generated Imagery, but Spielberg dug his heels in and refused to make the multi Oscar winning movie with anything other than film. 

Oppenheimer is another blockbuster that used Kodak Double-X during principal photography, but not to the extent of Schindler's List. The story of the first Atomic Bomb and the people who built it during the dark days of WW2 benefitted from a mix of high resolution colour digital imagery mixed with scenes filmed on Double-X. They got the balance right in my humble opinion and I have to admit, a dramatised historical documentary looks good on b&w film. 

I like using Kodak Double-X, it has a lot going for it and is much loved by the film photography community. I was having a think about how I would develop it whilst I was walking around finding compositions. I could have gone for high concentrate dilution and quick development time, but my thoughts were to go long. Not super long, just pick the dilution that speaks to me every time I use this film. It's a dilution and time that I got from Alex Luyckx and he has a lot more experience in developing film than I will ever have. It was in the midst of that thought that I finished my film and switched cameras for my last roll of the day before heading home.

I developed my roll of Kodak Double-X in Bellini Euro HC, 1+63 dilution H, for 10 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I have had good results with this dilution in the past and I hoped I would do so again with this roll. I digitised it with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi 35mm film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 sized led light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Studio.

On processing the first couple of images, I knew I had shot a good roll of film. The sunshine definitely helped, but also the quality of this little pocket point and shoot shines just as brightly. Double-X is a film that can easily be messed up, but thankfully it has a decent dynamic range that can forgive mistakes. 

As I said in my previous blog about this camera, the selenium meter is definitely still working and it had my roll of Double-X looking good, leaving me little to do but invert the negative and make a few slight adjustments. I am very happy with my results and wont hesitate to reach for another roll of Double-X to load into my Olympus Trip when it comes up in my regular rotation again in the not too distant future.

Here's a few of my favourite photos shot on Kodak Double-X with my Olympus Trip 35. I have placed them and more in an album on Flickr that you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them. 

Kodak Double-X - Olympus Trip 35 
Nik & Trick - Kodak Double-X 

Type 517 Cine Film - Unfinished Business

 I thoroughly enjoyed using Type 517 film for the 2025 edition of the Frugal Film Project in my Kodak Retina Ia, but I feel I still have unfinished business with it and have to scratch that itch. I learned that Type 517, the Cinema Film version of Ilford FP4 that expired whilst sat for years in refrigerated storage, is a very robust film that responds well to a yellow filter. The filter brought out shadow detail and gave my photos a little more contrast, making the blacks a little deeper and taming the highlights a tad. I didn't have an orange or red filter for my Kodak Retina Ia, I could find them, but the extra cost was going to send me over budget for the Frugal Film Project.

Now I am free from the constraint of budgetary limits and camera choice, I can use the few rolls I have left to see how it responds to orange and red filters. Heck, I may even throw in a green filter just for fun, and you know I love to have fun with my photography. I loaded a roll of Type 517 into my OM-2 with Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 lens, set the iso to 100, fitted an orange filter and went for a wander in Mesnes Park.

Sunny days were getting closer together as we headed into spring, but on this day there was a brisk cold wind from the north that dropped the temperature a few degrees, and thus, fake spring was upon us. Did I care? Not really. I was out and about in the sunshine and that's all that mattered on the day.

With plenty of light to play with I began documenting a few changes in the park. The Council have begun felling trees that have been affected by disease and become at risk of branches, or worse the whole tree, falling down. Should one hit a passer by, well, you can imagine the compensation claim will be very expensive for everyone but the lawyers. Once the deed is done and the affected trees are cleared, the council assure us that new trees will be planted around the park in the not too distant future.

Having an orange filter on my lens gave me hope I would pick up some texture and deepen the blue holes between the cumulus clouds that were scudding across the skies above the park. As well as documenting the trees I also photographed a few favourite items and tried different angles and fields of view. 

By the time I reached the clock tower at the Thomas Linacre Centre, I was half way through my film and swapped my lens and filter. I had been using my Zuiko 28m f/3.5 on my OM-1n and just swapped the whole shebang from one camera to the other. This was purely to see if made any difference to my shutter speeds as I was using aperture priority on my OM-2, my favourite setting with this camera. 

I soon worked my way through my remaining shots on my roll of Type 517 in my OM-2. Changing to the 28mm f/3.5 and a yellow filter gave me hope that I would get some variety in my photos. The construction work on the new development, Fettler's, is gathering pace and it's good to see the progress being made. I finished my last few frames in Wigan Town Center and came home happy with my effort on the day. I definitely needed a cuppa and a warm up from being exposed to that biting wind.

I developed my roll of Type 517 Cine Film using Bellini Euro HC 1+31 for 12 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised it with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi 35mm film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 size led light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Studio.

As I was processing my photos, I could see I had got the choice of Orange filter for the bright sunshine spot on. I am confident with using Aperture Priority on my OM-2 and it made processing my RAW files a quick and easy process. I could see the difference between the filters, with the photos taken with an orange filter having a darer sky and a bit more contrast than those taken with a yellow filter fitted, but it's not a huge difference. Overall, I'm happy with my little experiment and I will try the red filter if we get some summer sunshine.

Here are a few of my favourite photos from my roll of Type 517 Cine Film shot with my Olympus OM-2 and orange and yellow filters. I have placed them and more in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Type 517 Cine Film - Olympus OM-2 

#FP4Party - Fun and frolics with Ilford FP4+ 125

The #FP4Party began in 2016 when Emulsive.org used it as a means of bringing people together to enjoy the delights of Ilford FP4+ 125. You can read about the origins on the Emulsive website via the link below. Needless to say it was a success and was a regular feature on the film photographers calendar. I took part in my first #FP4Party in March 2020, just before we got locked down for the summer thanks to our microscopic nemesis, Covid 19. 

I had a lot of fun, shot a few rolls of film and continued my fledgling education in developing film at home that I had started in January that year. It was my first collaborative event and gave me a great appreciation for Ilford FP4+ 125. Sadly it became dormant over the last couple of years until recently when fellow film photographer Paula Smith over on Bluesky proposed having another #FP4Party in April 2026. I jumped at the chance and checked my stash to see if I had any in stock. 

Collaborative events like the FP4 Party are fun ways to get out and shoot some film then share your photos with the film photography community. It never ceases to amaze me at the creativity people have when challenged to use one particular film in the camera of their choosing. I have no doubt whatsoever that it will be the case this time around too.

My first roll was duly loaded into my Minolta X-700 with MD 50mm f/1.7 lens and a yellow filter added. My plan was a simple one, have a wander around Wigan Pier and the first couple of locks at the bottom of the Wigan Flight of 23 locks that rises 217 feet in the space of 2.5 miles. This was the last stretch of the Leeds & Liverpool canal to be completed with a grand opening ceremony at Britannia Bridge in 1816. 

It was at Britannia Bridge where I finished my roll of FP4 in my X-700. A walk up the Wigan Flight is not on my bucket list, but I may walk down the flight from the Top Lock, in stages as Im an old man, my legs are old, my eyes are dim, my nose is knackered! I switched to my second roll, this time in my FED 2 with Jupiter 12 35mm f/2.8 lens and took a few shots around Wigan Pier and a couple in town as I made my way home, thoroughly worn out, but happy with a very productive day in the spring sunshine.

I would like to say that Spring is officially here now, but Winter had other ideas and it blew a hooley for the rest of the week. Thankfully it had mostly cleared off by Saturday afternoon and I was able to complete my plans for the week.I finished my roll of Ilford's finest FP4+ 125 in my FED 2 with a gentle stroll in my local countryside. I had my trusty Gossen Trisix to help me with my exposure settings and it's good to give the old skills a run through. Once I had finished my roll in my FED 2, I got my Agfa Isolette out and shot a roll of FP4 in 120 medium format to round off the afternoon. I still had a fair distance to walk so it gave me something to do as I headed home for a well earned cuppa. 

I developed my three rolls of Ilford FP4+ 125 with Bellini Euro HC, 1+31 dilution B, for 8 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had them hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised them with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2,5 macro lens, Valoi film holders, Pixl-Latr and A5 sized led light pad. I processed my RAW files with Affinity Studio. 

First impression of my films as I hung them to dry was very favourable. I had well developed negatives which made it easy to digitise and process with Affinity Studio. I was happy with my choice of a yellow filter I used on my Minolta X-700 on that first beautifully sunny afternoon. I got great photos and may even print one or two in the not too distant future. 

My roll shot with my FED 2 was a different vibe. No filter used meant no real definition in the sky, but I'm OK with that. It was also the roll that bridged the gap between the rolls of film shot with my Minolta X700 and Agfa Isolette. The first half was in the late afternoon as I made my way home from my walk along the canal and the second half was the first half of my gentle walk in my local countryside. I could easily have been happy with one full roll, but after finishing the week with my Agfa Isolette, I'm happy I got 3 rolls and that will do for me.

Here's a few favourites from my 3 rolls of Ilford FP4+ 125 shot for the return of the #FP4Party. I had a lot of fun getting out and about and really appreciated the workout I got, both physically and mentally. Well, maybe not as much as I would when I was younger and much fitter than today. 

The important thing was having fun along with the good folk of the film photography community who chose to take part. It doesn't matter how many rolls we shoot or even if we only get one sheet of 4x5 done. "The King Of Trichromes", Andrew Keedle got into the spirit of the event with a superb 7"x17" trichrome shot on FP4 that you can see on Bluesky or via the link below. As always I have posted these and more in my albums on Flickr you can visit using the links below. I hope you enjoy them.

Emulsive.org - Introducing The FP4 Party
Ilford FP4+ 125 - Minolta X-700 
Ilford FP4+ 125 - Fed 2 
Ilford FP4+ 125 - Agfa Isolette 
Andrew Keedle - Trichrome on FP4