A sunny morning in mid April gave me an opportunity to get out with my cameras and I decided to take two cameras out. I wanted to shoot my Frugal Film Project roll of Ilford HP5+ 400 for April in Baldy the Baldax alongside a roll of Harman Phoenix 200 in my Minolta Hi-Matic 7 rangefinder. The colour film we can talk about at a later date as the nice sunny morning soon had other ideas. Today we shall talk about my Frugal Film Project roll of Ilford HP5.
I headed into town and I had shot around 10 photos of spring colour in Mesnes Park when an ominous dark cloud appeared and was heading my way. I was waiting for blue holes between the clouds to light up the lovely new growth that has appeared this month and made my way to the Bandstand in Mesnes Park.
I had a feeling it was going to rain, but little did I know what was to come. I soon found out when the first spots of rain started to fall and I took shelter under the cover of the splendid Bandstand we have in Mesnes Park. It was time to change cameras and forget about taking any more colour photos for the rest of the day.
I was soon joined by a young lass on her balance bike who had just got to the bandstand ahead of her Mum and Grandma when the rain had started to really come down. She made me laugh when she boldly proclaimed, "It's chucking it down!" Oh the joys of being a 4 year old. We were soon joined by a few more folk and three dogs as we waited for the rain to stop. It didn't, it got heavier, then we had hailstones.
I had high hopes for a walk in the sunshine not half an hour before the rain started, but nature has a wicked sense of humour at times. It took around half an hour for the rain storm to finally move away and we could all go our separate ways, but only after being regaled by the innocence of a 4 year old nattering away without a care in the world. She brought a little happiness into our lives and showed us all it's the little things that mean the most. Bless her.
I was last one out from the shelter of the bandstand and I set about finding compositions and taking light readings with my Gossen Trisix meter. As I wandered through Mesnes Park I was stopped for a chat by a chap who was curious about my camera. We had a good chat about it and he told me he was visiting the park for the first time in around 30 years to see if there was anything to photograph.
He enjoys shooting Digital and was genuinely curious about this oddball with a vintage camera. It was nice to chat and introduce Baldy the Baldax to a new audience. It can be hard to comprehend how easy it is to use a basic viewfinder camera when you're used to all the bells and whistles a modern digital camera has. He appreciated the fact that my 90 year old film camera still worked thanks to the skills of the folk that built it.
I gradually made my way into Wigan town centre, taking photos as I walked and revisited a couple of compositions I had shot when I first used Baldy in May 2023. Yes, I have owned Baldy the Baldax for a year and it's been fun to use it for the project, despite giving me a fright and needing a bodge. Speaking of which, that bodge has done the trick.
I was able to open and close Baldy with no problems and I made sure to check the lens and shutter assemble was in the right position. I would find out for sure when I developed my film. I was having fun and it didn't seem like I had been out for long when my last frame was shot and I headed home. Guess what happened when I got home? The clouds departed and the lovely sunshine returned to stay for the rest of the day. Yes, nature has a wicked sense of humour.
I developed my film a day or two later in my now customary Kodak HC110 1+47 dilution E for 8 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. Digitising was done with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 Macro lens, Valoi medium format film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 sized led light pad. The RAW files were processed with Affinity Photo 2.
Most of my photos were shot at 1/100th of a second between F/8 and f/11 and I could see during editing that I got some decent exposures. Being
out in the rain isn't my favourite hobby, but taking photos when the
sun appears after a period of heavy rain does produce wonderful light
and reflections. I also noticed my framing has definitely improved now that I have sorted Baldy the Baldax back into useable condition. The guitar string bodge held and the lens and shutter assembly now opens into the correct position. I will fix it properly at some point, but for now it will do.
Here's a few of my favourites from my roll of Ilford HP5+ 400 medium format film for the Frugal Film project 2024. Despite the weather "having a giraffe and taking the michael", I enjoyed my walk. I just didn't enjoy the three days recovery time I needed after it. However, summer is not far away and it can't rain forever here in dark, wet, cold, dull and gloomy Wigan, can it? Once the temperatures get higher I will loosen up a bit and be able to function better, 'he says hopefully'. As always I have placed them and more in my Frugal Film project 2024 120 album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.
Frugal Film Project - 120 Medium Format
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