A Lot Has Happened In 5 Years

 This week I celebrated 5 years since my return to film photography in 2017 and a lot has happened in that time, the last two of which I have shared with you on this blog. I have gone from a total novice to being reasonably competent at this wonderful art and had my share of highs and lows along the way. I have grown as a photographer and my love of photography has grown too. The more I learn with each roll, the better I have come to understand how it all works. It's important to learn with each roll you shoot, it helps us improve, but I still have a long journey ahead of me.

I have spoken before about how a simple snapshot of a husky having a paddle in the fountain in Mesnes Park, Wigan gave me confidence I was doing the right thing. That moment in time has not been repeated despite my best lurking attempts when dogs are close by and it showed me more than anything else to capture the moment, seize the day. It doesn't always work out. As I have grown to understand about respecting the folk who use the park every day, one or two absolute bangers have eluded me.

One adorable scene last summer was one such banger of a wall hanger when a young child, probably only three years old, was feeding the pigeons with her mother close by. My photographers instinct had the aperture, shutter and iso all fixed in my mind, but my heart said no, not without the mother's permission. By the time I had made my way closer the moment had gone, but I still have that image in my mind.

Many of you might be thinking "why didn't you take the shot, you're in a public space?" You have a point, but ethics come into play. I don't carry business cards this is my hobby, I had nothing to give to the mother to reassure her I was a genuine chap and not "some creep with a camera." That view of photographers still exists in the public psyche despite the best efforts of the photography community to prove otherwise. I think this is an example of why I prefer architecture and landscape photography. I really enjoy street photography too because of that husky, but everyone has their own limits. Mine is people.

People often dont see me and carry on their daily business, others see me and don't really mind if they are in my shot. There are folk who will stop and wait for me to take my shot and others who walk right in front of me at the moment I release the shutter, going about their day in their own world totally unaware they have walked into mine. I have a few images of half a head obstructing the view I wanted to capture. Is this me not being mindful of the world around me and needing to pick my moments more carefully or have I perfected the art of being invisible and melting into the background?

It's been an interesting five years captured on film and digital and those are just a few examples of the new way of thinking I have developed since having to park my beloved motorcycle. I still have to make split second decisions like those I made during my biking days, but they no longer apply to the rules of the road. They now apply to my new sedentary life as a photographer and blogger, those split seconds are a bit longer now I have more time to think.

That's quite a profound shift in my psyche as I used to think about nothing else but going for a ride on my bike. Now I think about my blog and where I am going to shoot another roll of film. I went into this thinking "can you teach an old dog new tricks?" The answer is "apparently you can." Here's a few of my favourite images over the last five years, I hope you enjoy them.

My Flickr Account

Goodman Zone Z1

 Modern technology has been a huge boost for the film photography community. All manner of 3D printed accessories, lens caps, helical lens adapters, handles and grips for the many existing cameras currently in circulation has been a welcome addition and you can even print a camera if you wish. I freely admit that 3D printed cameras have intrigued me for a while. There are several on the market, mostly pinhole and large format 4x5 and 8x10, but there is one manufacturer that has been making strides into medium format, Dora Goodman Cameras.

Based in Budapest Hungary, Dora Goodman and her team have been busy designing, printing, building and selling 3D printed cameras and handcrafted accessories since 2016. Dora began making wood veneers and leather camera straps before embarking on designing and manufacturing 3D printed medium format and pinhole cameras and accessories.

A recent giveaway in conjunction with Peta Pixel had a Goodman Zone Z1 medium format camera as first prize and I decided to give it a shot. Lo and behold a few weeks later Dora sent me an email telling me I had won! I had to wait a few weeks as the christmas season meant Dora and the team were very busy, which I didn't mind. Dora has a great reputation for looking after her customers and was busy making sure everyone who bought items for christmas got theirs delivered in time. It was the first week in February when I finally received my Goodman Zone Z1 and it was well worth the wait.

First impressions always last and on unwrapping my new Goodman Zone Z1 I was blown away by the quality. We somehow expect 3D printed items to be a little rustic, but that's not the case with this camera. The 3D printed parts do indeed show the layers that the printer built up over 17 hours, but you can see the attention to detail that Dora Goodman Cameras has put into making this camera look good. Each part is meticulously fitted together with quality fasteners and the inside of the main box is painted matt black to stop light bouncing around and causing light streaks on your film.

The crowning glory of this camera is the lens, a Schneider-Kreuznach Super Angulon 90mm f8 with a Synchro-Compur Copal #0 shutter. This lens is highly regarded in the large format community and really stands out from the front of the camera in all its glory. The camera came ready built with a box of accessories I could fit and all the necessary fasteners and tools for the job. Dora Goodman Cameras have a series of tutorial videos on their you tube channel explaining how to build the camera at home yourself if you feel brave enough to give it a try. I fitted the strap bracket, the handle that also holds the cable release and the front sight.

My camera came with the MAG 66 film magazine that I must admit was a bit fiddly to load. I have limited use of my left hand courtesy of ill health and it took me a little while to get a roll of Foma Retropan loaded up and ready to go. I also found the light seals are top quality. I don't expect to have any light leaks, but the proof is in the shooting. I bought a Mamiya RB67 Pro S back for it as the camera is designed to use it. Ths should stop my ham-fisted fiddling about whilst loading.

I sourced one on ebay for a reasonable price. When it arrived I only had to lock it in place with the two screws on the top of the camera body so I now have choices when out and about. I also bought a Goodman Focusing Screen to help me get that all importnt focus bang on and really get the benefit of that Schneider lens. It is possible to use zone focus, but that's a skill I am not confident of using with this camera just yet. I still have much to learn but overall I am very impressed with my Goodman Zone Z1, it's a very well designed and built medium format camera that uses items readily available on the used market. in a world where we are encouraged to reuse, recycle and be more ecologically friendly, that's an eco win for me.

How does it perform in the field? That is a blog for another day, in the meantime say hello to my l'il friend. I am going to have a lot of fun with it. For more info about Dora Goodman Cameras please visit doragoodman.com where you can see their range of cameras and maybe be inspired to build one yourself from their open source files.

Eastman Kodak Double-X and Olympus OM-1

 Another sunny day in January saw me getting out for a wander along the local farm roads with my Olympus OM-1 paired with Eastman Kodak Double-X. My lens of choice was my Zuiko 50mm f/1.4, it's a sharp lens when stopped down for landscapes and is a joy to use. I first shot Double-X in medium format in 2021 and had a roll of it in 35mm sat in my fridge waiting for a day like this one to come along. I loaded the film into my camera and headed out the door.

Eastman Kodak Double-X is a black and white cinema film that is rated at 250 iso for daylight and 200 for tungsten studio lighting. In a rebellious mood I set my camera to 200 and made the most of the brightness the sunny, clear sky was giving me on this day. Most of you will probably know what Double X looks like, especially if you have seen "Schindlers List", the oscar winning Stephen Spielberg film telling the story of Oskar Schindler who bravely took care of his Jewish workforce in WW2. If you haven't watched it, go and do it now, then come back and pick this blog up again. Yeah, it's that important a Film.

I also took my Vivitar 45 light meter out again. I have found it to be an accurate and easy item to use whilst out and about. My OM-1 doesn't really need it's built in light meter as it is a fully mechanical camera. If the battery dies it's no big deal, unlike some of my other cameras that rely upon the battery to work. I was able to get decently exposed shots whilst in the shaded areas at the start of my walk which is where I needed the light meter the most. Once I got to the open areas I was able to switch to sunny 16 and test my memory out before taking a reading with the light meter. My guesses weren't too far off the mark, happy days!

Cinema film is best develped in its own proprietary developer, but you can develop it in whatever B&W developer you have. I used Kodak HC-110 and decided to be gentle with it and use dilution H, 1 part developer to 63 parts water. My developing time was 10 minutes at 20 celcius with continuous gentle agitation for the first minute and three gentle inversion every minute afterwards. When I had finished and got to see my film for the first time I was very happy with it, taking the gentle approach was the right thing to do and I hung it in my bathroom to dry.

Once dry I scanned my film with my Ion Slides2PC scanner and had a look at the Jpegs in Affinity Photo. To be honest they didn't need much processing, a few small adjustments were all they needed and the images began to stand out. I then began to choose some images for this blog and used the "DSLR Scanning" method to really get into the meat and potatoes of each shot. The dynamic range of my Nikon D700 really helped me bring the best out of each frame in Affinity Photo and the results speak for themselves.

Here's a few photos from my walk and I have put them and a few more in an album on my Flickr account that you can visit using the link below. I really enjoyed using Eastman Kodak Double-X and have purchased a couple more rolls from Nik & Trick here in the UK pay them a visit using the link below. From film to darkroom supplies, in store developing and used cameras they are excellent folk to do business with. I hope you enjoy my photos as much as I did creating them.

Kodak Double-X 35mm Flickr Album
Nik & Trick Photo Services