FP4 Party Week 3 and 4 - Show, Celebrate and Lament

Developing and scanning my negatives was fun and I have become more comfortable with my basic skills each time I develop another roll., but as always the proof is in the images. Week 3 of the FP4 Party is all about showing your images, week 4 is all about lamenting what went wrong and celebrating what went right. For me a lot went right.

Wasn't entirey happy with this composition, but I managed to get the exposure and focus reasoanbly decent.

And this is what happened when I missed by a mile

I was happy with most of my images, but using expired film that has been in the fridge for a long time can be a challenge. I kind of underestimated that challenge, but got lucky at the same time. The film photography community has always been filled with folks willing to share their knowledge, but now it has the added bonus of the internet to help novices like myself get that all important education and keep our wonderful art alive.I decided early on that I would keep my learning pretty tight and not get distracted by dozens of websites and possibly get the wrong advice. I must stress that what worked for me may not work for you, so always keep an open mind and be receptive to the great knowledge base the Film Photography community has built over the last 150 years.
There are many websites in the ether that have all kinds of advice and techniques for the budding film photographer, it can be quite overewhelming at times and have the opposite effect, holding back the unsuspecting chap wanting to learn. I was lucky to be directed towards a wonderful community on facebook, the "Negative Positives Film Photography Podcast" group, by Mac Macdonald after a chat with him on his you tube channel "Mac Shoots Film". The Negative Positives Film Photography Podcast is the brainchild of Mike Gutterman, from Louisville, Kentucky in the US. It was through listening to the podcast and joining the community that I heard about the FP4 Party and Em's wonderful Emulsive.org website. That conversation with Mac was the luck I needed to put me on the right path and give me the structure I needed to take my Film Photography forward.

Over exposure was a battle on the day

But when I got it right I was happy

The FP4 Party was a great way to learn both shooting expired film and getting my developing skills up to speed. I really enjoyed taking part and, whilst not everything was perfect, I have the knowledge to move forward with confidence. I made a couple of mistakes along the way and learned from them, but I also learned that I am not as green as I was in 2017 when I started my photography journey. I have the confidence to do something like this thanks to the excellent knowledge given to me by some fine folk, most of whom I have never met.

Huge thanks to Emmet from Emulsive.org for the FP4 Party, Mac from Mac Shoots Film for pointing me in the right direction and Mike, Andre and Roxanna from the Negative Positives Film Photography Podcast for ther enthusiasm and inspiration. You can find them by clicking the links below. Here are some more images, including a couple of not so great shots that made the FP4 Party an excellent educational experience. 

Emulsive - https://emulsive.org/
Mac Shoots Film - https://www.youtube.com/c/macshootsfilm
Negative Positives Podcast - https://anchor.fm/mikegutterman

My Olympus OM-2 needs new light seals

But still produced this banger on the same roll.

I like the contrast on this, but the clouds weren't right.