February was almost a bust. I won't lie, I wasn't sure I was going to have anything to submit for the project when my OM101 failed and I had to get creative on the 29th February, which doesn't come around again for another four years. It was squeaky bum time and no mistake! Thankfully my dear chum Wellies had given me two OM101's and I managed to get a roll shot and developed in the nick of time.
March was a waiting game as we still had more dull and rainy days than sunny ones, but with the spring blooms appearing, there was hope of a sunny afternoon to go for a walk with my working OM101 loaded with Kentmere 400 35mm B&W film. I didn't quite get one. The moment I walked out the door the sun hid behind a cloud and stayed there.
I had a walk around the local nature trails and farm roads just to see if the substitute OM101 was good for more than one roll of film. I was also enjoying using my Goodman Zone with a roll of Ilford FP4 and, after grabbing a couple of shots of the camera literally in the field, I concentrated on other stuff with my OM101.
There's new growth appearing everywhere. There's a few Hawthorne's flowering whilst others are just starting to bud their new foliage. In the woodland the moss and the lichens are brighter too and the trees are starting to fill out the canopy. Spring is definitely here and I was beginning to wish I hadn't left my thermal liner in my jacket. I also wish it wasn't so blummen wet!
I crossed the fields via the public footpath and almost lost a boot. It's not easy pulling your good leg out of the mud whilst desperately trying not to fall over or drop cameras. However, I am stubborn and had committed to crossing the field, so I did. One thing I did not do was head up to the old spoil heaps as they are just too claggy for me.
One thing I did see for the first time in a very long time was the pond in the top field overflowing. The last couple of summers has seen it dry up completely and not quite manage to fill again over winter. It's so full there's a stream flowing over the top of the dam and down the hill. Winter 2023/24 was a very wet one here and I don't think we need to worry about the water table being too low this year.
As always when I am having fun, I soon ran out of film and battery power and had to head home, very tired but happy to have been able to get out and about and almost shoot a full roll in my OM101 before the batteries died. I swapped the rechargeable batteries for a fresh set and shot the last frame at home. One short of a full roll isn't so bad considering I have been doing a lot of fiddling about over the last couple of weeks making sure it would work after the other one died.
I developed my film the next day in HC110 1+47 dilution E for 9 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom where I left it to dry overnight. I scanned 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 Photo 2.
Here's a few favourites from my wander in the countryside with my OM101 and Kentmere 400 for the Frugal Film Project. All I was looking for was consistency this month after having to change cameras and I will try and head somewhere different in April. Both February and March have been very challenging and I need inspiration so a change of scenery is in order. As always I have placed them and more in my 35mm Frugal Film Project album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.
Frugal Film Project 2024 - 35mm
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