Frugal Film Project 2025 - November

 November has been the usual dark, wet, cold, dull and gloomy that we have come to know and love here in Wigan. When the clouds part and the sun tries to shine upon us, you have to get out and try to make the most of it. I had to be patient and wait for the right day to get out with my Kodak Retina 1a and November roll of Type 517 Cine Film for the Frugal Film Project. 

That day came around and I decided to keep my photography simple and employed my usual "see what happens" style. I duly loaded my Kodak Retina 1a with a roll of Type 517 Cine Film and headed into my local countryside to see what I could find. I walked to the farm where the horses have spent the summer in the fields and found it is now sheep season. The horses have been put into stables for winter and the sheep have come down from the moors to sunny Wigan. I spent a while just happy snapping and enjoying the sunny autumn afternoon. 

I also had a wander along the woodland path that had been relaid earlier in the year and it's good to see people using it. There's a sign that has been installed near the old air raid shelter, giving some local history info and a couple of photos too. One of the local farms dates back to the mid 13th century. I took a couple of photos at the duck pond and was feeling really tired, so headed home for a well earned cuppa and saved my final few frames for another day.

I developed my November roll of Type 517 Cine Film in Bellini Euro HC 1+31 dilution B for 12 minutes at 20 celcius. This has become my go to development time for this film. Once dry I scanned it with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi 35mm film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 size led light pad. I processed the RAW files with the all new Affinity Studio.

I wasn't too happy with my photos this month and it's self inflicted. However, I was able to rescue my November roll of Type 517 Cine Film and didn't have to run around town like a headless chicken, panic shooting another roll. It may look like a sunny day when I went for a walk around the farm, but it was bitterly cold with a northerly wind bringing arctic air south. 

I wore my gloves and that's where my problem arose. I couldn't feel my fingers moving my aperture setting from f/11 to f/5.6 and I managed to overexpose most of the roll before I noticed. D'Oh! Thankfully, with the aid of the dynamic range of both the film and my D700 used to digitise it, I saved most of them. 

Here's a few of my favourite photos from my November roll of Type 517 Cine Film shot for the Frugal Film Project 2025. Whilst they are over exposed, bringing them back in Affinity Studio has given my love of contrast a nudge and I'm happy with them, despite the hiccup. I have placed them and more in my Frugal Film Project 2025 album on Flickr that you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them. 

Frugal Film Project 2025 - November