#FolderWeek with my Balda Baldax.

 Baldy, my Balda Baldax 4.5x6, hasn't been out to play since before I went on holiday. As it was #FolderWeek it would have been rude not to take dear Baldy out to play. #FolderWeek is an idea put forward a couple of years ago by my friend Tom who shares my love for vintage folding cameras. He figured as there's a week to celebrate Holga's and a week to celebrate Polaroid, why not have a #FolderWeek. I was hooked and I wasn't alone. It's good to see the film community giving these folding cameras some love as #FolderWeek has spread. I loaded a roll of Kentmere 400 into Baldy and went for a wander to see what I could find.

I have said it many times, but Baldy the Baldax has a special place in my heart. This diminutive 4.5x6cm folding camera never fails to make me smile. It doesn't care about the weather, it doesn't care about crap light, it just does what it was built for, time and time again. I often carry Baldy in my pocket, just in case I spot a photo opportunity, but Baldy isn't a camera for happy snapping with. Baldy is a camera for enjoying photography with.

That's the thing with cameras, if you don't get along with a particular camera, let it sit for a bit and try it again. If you still don't gel with it, move it on to someone else. Baldy got my attention straight away and I have learned to embrace it's quirks. When I get it right, Baldy rewards me with magic. To me help try to make the magic happen, I meter the light with my trusty Gossen Trisix selenium light meter. 

I went for a wander around the local nature trails and farm roads to finish some colour film before reaching for Baldy. Autumn means dull days and shutter speeds that require me to breathe like a sniper with 200 iso film. Loaded with Kentmere 400, Baldy has enough range to cope with darkest Wigan and I really enjoyed my walk, despite the rain at the beginning. I was trying variations on familiar compositions and also tried to get a decent photo or two of the horses. I was having fun and saved my last couple of frames for a favourite tree and headed home.

I developed my roll of Kentmere 400 a couple of days later using Bellini Euro HC diluted at 1+31 dilution B for 6 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it 400 hanging to dry in my bathroom. Once dry I digitised it with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi medium format film holder and A5 size led light pad. I processed my RAW files with Affinity Photo 2.

Again, Baldy the Baldax never fails to put a smile on my face. Were my shots perfectly exposed? If anything I was a touch under with my metering. Have I got well composed images? Apart from the one with my finger in the way, yes they are reasonably composed photos. Am I happy with my effort? Is the Pope a Catholic? I could mess about with my shots for hours in Affinity Photo and try to make them perfect, but that's not what Baldy is all about. Baldy is a Folding Camera made in the early 1930's and has it's quirks. I work with them, I embrace them and it's why I love this little pocket camera so darn much.

Here's a few of my photos shot with my Balda Baldax 4.5x6 for #FolderWeek. I had a lot of fun, despite the weather, and it wont be long before Baldy comes out again. I have placed these photos and more in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Kentmere 400 - Baldy The Baldax