#CameraChallenge May 2023

 We all love a good challenge now and again and one particular challenge that started out as a one off has become a regular event thanks to the enthusiasm of photographers from around the world. I'm talking about the #CameraChallenge organised by Jason Avery on Twitter. With democracy in mind we were once again given some choices about which camera we could use and what the theme could be. For the second month running the choice of camera was open to whatever we wanted, film or digital and the theme chosen by popular vote was Architecture.

As is now customary with the #CameraChallenge, week one is get out and take photos. I have been threatening to use my Praktica Sport Royale for one of these challenges and this was the one where it got the nod. I had loaded a roll of Kentmere 400 into my Praktica Sport Royale (which is now sporting go faster stripes to give it some cheese factor) a couple of months earlier, but hadn't got around to using it. I popped the cheesey camera into my pocket and headed into town on an overcast Thursday afternoon to see what I could find.

The demolition of The Galleries is proceeding at a steady pace and although I am sad to see the place being demolished, I am glad to see as much of the fabric of the complex is being recycled where possible. The slates have been removed from the roof, copper piping and electrical wiring is being removed as well as some fixtures and fittings The bricks and mortar are going to be used as hardcore for another building project somewhere and very little is going in landfill.

One thing I am sad to see has been removed is the big glass front at the Market Gate entrance on Market Place in the town centre. When this was built in the 1980's it was well received as being modern yet in keeping with the mock tudor shops on either side. I was hoping it would survive as a part of the new development, but someone else had other ideas. I think it's a shame it has gone, it was a well thought out addition to Wigan town centre 35 years ago and still didn't look out of place up until it's demolition.

It didn't take me long to explore the changes to the buildings around Wigan, I soon finished my roll of Kentmere 400 and headed back home. I was glad to be honest as I had been away with friends the previous weekend and I was still pretty tired after one hell of a party. I was chatting with a friend there who asked me if I wanted a camera, and of course I said yes and gave him my address.

A few days later I received an Olympus OM10 through the post with a couple of lenses, a posh neck strap and the manual adapter for the camera. I quickly checked the camera over, it looked to be in great condition and had fresh-ish batteries in it. There was also a roll of Fuji Superia 200 already loaded and, well, it would have been rude not to use it.

So, on the last day of the first week of the challenge, I headed into town to shoot that film and see how the camera performed. I will talk more in depth about the camera in a future blog, but it's safe to say I was suitably impressed. I soon polished off the roll of film and headed home to prep for Development Week.

Week two is time to develop your film or process your digital photos. I developed my Kentmere 400 in the tried and trusted HC110 Dilution B for 6 minutes at 20 celcius. My Fuji Superia 200 was developed in my aging Cinestill Cs41 kit and both rolls of film were soon hanging to dry in my bathroom. Scanning was done with my Ion Slides2PC 35mm scanner and post production done with Affinity Photo 2.

Finally we are in show and tell week and here's some of my favourite photos for the May edition of the #CameraChallenge. As always I have placed them and more in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. These challenges are a good way of fending off a creative rut. There's always plenty to consider when figuring out what to use and where to go in order to take part and it's always a good excuse to use cameras we may not have used for a while. I had a lot of fun taking these photos, the weather wasn't playing ball when I shot my black and white film, but it added to the shots I reckon. I hope you enjoy them.

May #CameraChallenge

Lucid - A Trbute To John Whitmore

John Whitmore was a man I had never met, but I felt his loss to the film community when he sadly passed away in 2021. John was one of the presenters of the Sunny 16 Podcast and he loved film photography. He was the technical guru on the podcast, the man to go to when anyone needed advice on all aspects of this art we love. He didn't mind if we asked beginners questions that have been asked thousands of times before, or was asked to dive deep into a particular process we may have been struggling with. John answered them all with genuine grace and an infectious enthusiasm for his craft.

When John Whitmore's stash of 35mm film was spooled, branded as "Black and Whitmore Bananachromatic" and sold on Analogue Wonderland with a Zine he had published, I was lucky enough to be able to buy some before it sold out. I was wondering what I could shoot with it to remember John and the lessons he taught with his love of film photography. I wanted to make some kind of Zine, but really didn't know how to go about it.

Turns out I wasn't alone with this idea as a few other film photographers were thinking the same thing. I spotted a twitter post by Richard Hall who also had a desire to make a zine and a few more from other like minded folk and it started a conversation. How would we do it, what subjects would we photograph etc. The ball was rolling.

We knew John wanted to do a collaboration zine and get photographers to contribute to it with a working title of "Silent Lucidity". The thought of somehow bringing that idea to fruition was well and truly in our minds as we talked further. We decided that we would each shoot from the heart, finding inspiration within ourselves with all photos shot on Black and Whitmore Bananachromatic.

Deadlines were loosely set for early spring to shoot our film and come up with some words too. Seven photographers, Dave Wenham, Steve Starr, Richard Hall, Yant Martin-Keyte, George Griffin, Martin Ley and myself managed to shoot our film during the winter and put forward our best shots and words. Richard designed the Zine and after we all had a look at it, sent the files for printing. 

"Lucid" is the result of our efforts and we have begun taking orders with Richard handling the finances and distribution. We are not going to personally profit from it, nor would we ever wish to. The profits will be donated to Asthma and Lung UK with a guarantee that a minimum of £7 per copy will be going to the charity. We have a small run to start with, but if we get a lot of interest, another print run is a distinct possibility. Richard has details of pricing and how to order your copy on his blog which you can visit at Richard Hall Online 

We all hope you enjoy reading Lucid and appreciate our photographs. It has been produced with genuine love and respect for John, his wife Anne-Marie and their daughter Harriet and of course his friends and colleagues, Graeme, Ade and Rachel on the Sunny 16 Podcast.

Sunny 16 Podcast is broadcast weekly and you can join in the community there by visiting Sunny 16 Podcast.com where you will find news, reviews and interviews from around the Film Photography community. Hosts Graeme, Ade and Rachel lead the main show, Billy Sandford presents a series of interviews called the Music and Photography Podcast and Emma and Alex talk about their experiences as female film photographers on Grainsplaining. It's informative and educational, but above all it's fun to listen to when youre out and about in the car, on your bike or in your darkroom.

Jim, Richard, Dave, Steve, Yant, George and Martin

Frugal Film Project 2023 - May

 We had a visitor recently, our old chum Keith Sharples came to visit and he very kindly took my wife and I on a day out to Liverpool on a very sunny Saturday for a day of film photography fun. I took the opportunity to take my Agfa Isolette I and document our day on Kentmere 400 medium format film for the Frugal Film Project. I also took my Pentax K1000 with Tamron Adaptall 2 28mm f/2.5 and my Pentax SP500 with a Panagor 200mm f/3.5 to get plenty more shots for future blog posts.

It's been a while since I walked along the waterfront in Liverpool and the changes that have been made over the years are evident. I remember the Three Graces being covered in soot when I was a child and later when the council spent millions of pounds having the buildings cleaned up they looked so much better.

The redevelopment of the waterfront that began with the Royal Albert Dock has since seen a new multi purpose events arena added and the extension of the Leeds-Liverpool canal along the waterfront to allow canal barges to moor at the Royal Albert Dock. There is also a new Museum, Mersey Ferry terminal and Cruise Ship landing stage at Pier Head. The cruise ship landing stage has brought a lot of tourism to the city.

I began my roll of Kentmere 400 with a shot of the three masted schooner, De Wadden and the old Liverpool Pilot ship which are moored in dry docks as a part of the Maritime Museum. De Wadden is sadly going to be dismantled at the end of 2023 as it is beyond economical repair. The Museum plans to conserve as much as they can and display it, but the ravages of time and the salty air have taken their toll and it will be sad to see her go.

Next was the Ferry Terminal and Museum which just don't look quite right next to the Three Graces in my humble opinion. Brutalism and Victorian architecture are so far apart that it takes an acquired taste to appreciate them. I'm not one of them, so I concentrated on the Three Graces as we made our way along the waterfront. The Port of Liverpool Building, the Cunard Building and the Liver Building are looking every bit as regal as they day they were completed and I made sure to take a few photos with all my cameras.

Edward VII is still looking out across the Mersey astride his horse, as he has since the monument was inaugurated in 1916. The monument was restored in 2008 and several layers of protective paint and various layers of dirt were removed to reveal details lost over the years. He is aging gracefully and will undergo more treatment in the future to fend off the salty sea air. I got a nice shot with the statue between two of the more modern additions to the waterfront in the background.

The redevelpment of the docks to the north of the waterfront, and the new ferry terminal and museum between the Three Graces and the Royal Albert Dock caused much consternation between the Council and the United Nations who withdrew its World Heritage Status in 2021. The docks needed redeveloping and the City Council knew it couldn't let them stay derelict and unloved just to keep a prestigious name. We do things our way and the city will continue to grow and prosper without it.

I finished this part of our walk with a shot of the cruise ship Norwegian Dawn and a few more of the Three Graces, the Museum and Mersey Ferry terminal building before we headed back towards the Royal Albert Dock, which was still very busy despite it being early evening. Day trippers like ourselves were being replaced with revellers visiting the many bars and restaurants there. I finished my roll of film here with a final shot of the Earth floating in the Dock.

We had a great day out along Liverpool Waterfront, but there's only so much we could see and photograph in the time we had. We will definitely be back at some point this year as the Tall Ships are visiting during the summer and there's always a cruise ship paying a visit. There's so much more to see and do that you simply can't do it all in one day or even one weekend.

On the following Monday I developed my Kentmere 400 in Kodak HC110 dilution B (1+31) for 6 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry. I scanned it with my Nokia phone camera and processed the images with Affinity Photo 2. Here's a few favourites from our day out and I have placed them and more in my Frugal Film Project 2023 album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Frugal Film Project 2023

Lomography 800 Colour Film

 Spring is always colourful as the earth wakes up from its winter slumber and flowers begin to bloom. It's not just the flowers, there are a few trees near my home that bloom quite early and give me a clue that the annual display of Cherry Blossom is about to arrive. I decided to keep an eye on the blossoming trees and loaded a roll of Lomography 800 into my Minolta X-700, fitted my MD 50mm f/1.7 lens and toddled off around my neighbourhood to see what was showing in early spring.

Magnolia always comes at around the same time as the Cherry trees begin to blossom along the main road, so I knew it was close to the time the riot of pink would appear. I took a few shots and continued on my way. I also managed a few shots of some early blossom as I walked to the shops, there was plenty of pink and white flowers making the most of the sunshine of this early spring day. It was a little early for the cherry blossom on the main road and I didn't take any more shots that day.

I had to go to the shop again a day or two later and soon soon caught sight of the yellow blooms across the road that heralded the daffodils were giving a fine display. I put my Hoya 28-105mm f/4 zoom lens on my X-700 so I could have the reach I needed to capture the flowers and blossoms I saw on my walk. Hoya may not be the sharpest or fastest lenses in my kit, but does the job when I need it to. I was using my camera manually and one thing I noticed about Lomo 800 was I needed to keep an eye on my shutter speed.

My X-700 has a fastest shutter speed of 1/1000th of a second and should I need any faster than that, it was going to give me problems. Thankfully my Hoya lens has a smallest aperture of F/22 which, although not the best aperture for keeping the colours in check, would certainly help me out. Using my X-700 in full manual on this day was a challenge and I just didn't quite get it right. I like to use manual settings on my cameras, but on this day I really should have gone with Program or Aperture priority mode. Definitely a lesson learned for another day.

It took me another day to finish my roll of Lomo 800. I was testing out a new lens I had bought for my Minolta Dynax and took the opportunity to finish off the film in my X-700. This time I made the right call by using Aperture priority. I had reasonable success at trying some close ups using my Vivitar 28mm f/2.8 with its close up focus capability. I soon finished my roll of Lomo 800 and it was promptly placed in my fridge to await developing.

It was a month later when I finally got around to developing it. I like to have a few colour films in the queue to make it worthwhile getting my Cinestill C41 chemicals out. They have a finite life and I want to get the most from it. When the appointed day arrived for my developing session I soon had my Lomography 800 developed, blixed and hanging to dry in my bathroom. I scanned my film with my trusty Ion Slides2PC 35mm scanner and processed the images with Affinity Photo 2.

Here are a few of my favourite images from my first experience of Lomo 800 colour film. It's a film I have heard a lot of hype about and now I was able to find out for myself, I quite like it. It was a challenge to shoot in bright sunshine and if I do choose to use it on a bright sunny day again, my Nikon F801s will be the camera it goes in. That camera has a fastest shutter speed of 1/4000th of a second, which is plenty enough to handle Lomo 800 in summer and matrix metering will certainly make a difference should I try it on manual settings again.

Having said that, I am happy with what I managed to achieve with Lomography 800 colour film and will be using it again at some point during the year ahead. I have placed these photos and more in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Lomography 800 - Minolta X-700 

Nikon F801s, Ilford FP4 and an Orange Filter

 Spring is well and truly upon us and Motorcycle Shows are happening again. The weather is warming up and folk can bring their pride and joy out to play afer tinkering and polishing over winter. I enjoy a good Bike Show and I recently attended an event organised by the National Association for Bikers with a Disability, (NABD), here in the UK. A Charity I am proud to be involved with. As part of our annual fundrasing activities we have a party in a field with our friends and it's a chance for folk to bring their bikes out and show them off whilst enjoying great entertainment a good company.

I hoped Saturday would be bright and sunny, but it was a cloudy day with the odd sunny spell and I thought my choice of an orange filter may not have been the best idea I have had lately. However, I sallied forth with wanton abandon. I was at the event to take digital photos, but I like to take a film camera with me for my own personal enjoyment. This year I took my Nikon F801s and AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 D and fitted it with a Cokin A filter holder and Cokin A orange filter.

An orange filter will boost contrast and reduce red, orange and yellow to lighter shades, it also makes black go even blacker. Nice! I knew there would be a couple of shiny gloss black bikes there and I fell in love with a 125cc BSA Bantam that had been beautifully restored. There are usually a few clues that a bike has been kept clean and ridden or has been polished within an inch of it's life, only coming out on sunny days. This was in the first category.

It had been done properly, but not over done. You can go too far when restoring bikes, but this one was done just right in my humble opinion. Polished where it was needed and painted where it wasn't. Stainless nuts and bolts held it together and it looked the business. It was also ridden to the show (we dont accept entries that have been trailered in) and it's owner declared it to be a lot of fun to ride and hoped for nice weather on the following day so he could take a couple of detours on his way home.

There were plenty of other bikes and trikes on show, from a kids bike and a Honda C90 to a huge V12 Jaguar engined monster, with some shiny British, American and Japanese marques in between. There was also a couple of Rat Bikes, they're kind of bike you fix with whatever you have in the shed and polish is a dirty word. My mate Billy won the Rat Bike trophy with his Suzuki he lovingly named BinBag. Check out the digital photo of it at the end.

Bank Holiday Monday is traditionally wet here in the UK so I saved my developing for that afternoon and was helped by my grandson Ethan who had come to visit. He is still buzzing about developing his film and it was good to talk about it as I did mine. I chose to develop my roll of Ilford FP4+ 125 in Kodak HC110 dilution B (1+31) for 8 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I scanned it with my trusty Ion Slides2PC 35mm scanner and removed dust spots and scratches with Affinity Photo 2.

Here's a few favourites from this roll and as always I have placed them and more in an album on Flickr for you to enjoy in full resolution via the link below. I had fun shooting this roll of film and with more sunshine on the way in the days and months ahead, I hope to shoot more of it. I hope you enjoy them.

Nikon F801s - FP4+ 125 - Orange Filter

 

Frugal Film Project 2023 - April

 This month's roll of Kentmere 400 was a bit Britney. "Oops, I did it again!" I left it late and almost never got the darn thing shot. I'm not making any excuses, this stuff happens and I try not to get all hung up about it. It wasn't a bad day though as I was able to get out and about with my Grandsons who wanted to spend time with Grandad and take some photos.

It's been a while since Ethan has shot any film and he remembered how to load the Minolta Dynax 500si with a roll of Ilford HP5. It was his little brother Joseph's first experience of using a camera, so I had to think for a minute what to let him loose with. To keep him interested and engaged I gave him my Fuji Instax Mini 90 to use, which was a wise choice as it's magic! He's 5 and things like that still amaze him. With our cameras loaded, we set off around the local footpaths.

It didn't take long to find our first photo of the day as a few yards down the road to the farms we found a small patch of Bluebells and I explained to Joseph how to use the Instax camera. Once the boys were happy with their photos we carried on our way. The Bluebells photo was Josephs best shot of the day and I will put it with mine below.

We soon arrived at the fields that I was beginning to think would be fallow this year. The lines of polythene covering a freshly sown crop stretching across the fields proved otherwise and we couldn't resist the lure of the lines for a shot or two as we wandered along the road. Then Joseph spotted the Horses.

Joseph wanted to feed and stroke the horses, but a swift lesson on the Country Code soon set him straight. I told him "Please don't touch or try to feed the animals. The grass is growing now so the horses have plenty to eat and their humans will be giving them carrots later." Joseph is a pretty straightforward young chap and accepted that lesson off me, so he stood and chatted to them instead. Well, he is nearly 6...

Our walk took us past the farm and around the top end of the field with the horses in where we saw two more horses that I didn't recognise. We introduced ourselves and though these new horses were curious, they soon got back to their business of eating as much grass as possible whilst it was daylight.

The path across the field where the corn was growing last summer has been ploughed away and lines of polythene covering the newly sown crop stretched as far as we could see. The line of the path is no longer defined so we decided to follow another path around the edge of the next field to avoid walking across the newly sown crops. It also gave us a chance to see if we could use those lines in some more photos. This path took us to a place where the two fields are joined by an access for tractors where we were able to cross it. We headed for the gate where the previous path met the gravel road and we made our way back towards home.

I finished my roll of Kentmere 400 at my usual Power Lines location and the lines of polythene ran more or less parallel to the power lines which helped my composition. It also marked a change from the last photo I took not long after the field was ploughed. The inexorable change of the seasons continues and it wont be long before this years crop starts to appear and turn the stripes green. The boys and I had a good wander with our cameras, but we were glad to get home and tell my wife what a good time we had. I was done for the day and we decided to develop our film the next day.

Having two Paterson tanks comes in handy when one film is 35mm and one is medium format. Last time we shot B&W film together we had used the same film and both went into the same tank, but this time Ethan was able to develop his own. I mixed up some HC110 dilution B 1+31 and loaded Ethan's film onto a reel for him, but he did everything else. I just supervised whilst he poured the chemicals in the right order and twiddled the twiddling stick at the appropriate time. 

5 minutes at 20 celcius is what the Massive Dev Chart told us to develop Ilford HP5 shot at box speed and it wasn't long before he had developed, stopped and fixed his film. The smile on his face when he was able to pull the first few inches of film from the reel after a good rinse and see his work was wider than a Cheshire Cat.

I developed my roll of Kentmere 400 medium format film in HC110 dilution B for 6 minutes at 20 celcius and I hung both our films up to dry overnight in the bathroom. I scanned my film using my trusty Nikon D700 and Tamron 90mm f/2.5 macro lens then processed the raw files with Affinity Photo 2.

Ethan wasn't able to scan his film as he had to go home shortly after developing it, but that's ok. We can do that next time the boys come to stay for the weekend. I did it for him this time with my trusty Ion Slides2PC 35mm scanner and to be fair his didn't need much editing. The aperture priority setting on Ethan's Minolta Dynax 500si is pretty accurate. I just removed dust spots and scratches where needed.

Here are a few of my favourites I shot for the Frugal Film Project during a very enjoyable walk with my Grandsons. They had a lot of fun taking photos and spending time with Grandad whilst I enjoyed documenting the day and teaching them some skills that I hope they enjoy for many years to come. I have placed them and more in my Frugal Film Project album on Flickr for you to enjoy in full resolution using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

What's that? You want to see Ethan's photos too? Oh go on then. I put his photos in an album on my Flickr account, click the link below to see the photos he chose to show you and Ethan hopes you enjoy them as much as he did taking them. Joseph hopes you like his photo too.

Frugal Film Project 2023
Ethan's Photos 

Joseph's Photo