Expired Film Results

19-10-20

Right this shoot seems like a thousand days ago now, but hey ho i’ve only just got the film snaps back so i thought i’d write a little something about it. I’ve got like ten rolls of film ready to be developed in my drawer and i’ve lost track of which shoots each one is from and i’m currently on a budget so cannot afford to send them all off at once so i’m doing a few at a time loool. Anyway! This was some film i bought right at the start of lockdown; West Yorkshire Cameras (who are based in Leeds) did a giveaway and i got three rolls of random expired film through the post, i was super excited to shoot it and we were in lockdown so i did this shoot straight away. I didn’t have a clue what to expect from expired film; my memory is awful but i remember shooting some in the past i think it was while i was at university and i couldn’t really notice a difference. But with this roll i definitely could! The grain in the image is very prominent, the colours are slightly faded compared to a typical film shot and as well the contrast levels are lower than normal. For this image in particular i think it works really well…

I love how the background is so subtle and blurred and all the focus in on the facial features. Even though the grain in the image is so prominent and compared to other portraits on film the focus lacks, for this close, intimate portrait it works.

I will definitely be experimenting with expired film again however, next time i would choose landscapes as a subject instead of portraits. There is more room to experiment with colours and textures when photographing landscapes which is beneficial for this type of film, also lighting is so important as often the film will need more light than it did before. When taking portraits i want the focus and detail to be the main focus which in this case it was not.

Snaps from Cornwall, 2020

17-10-20

Got a second batch of film back from CC Imaging in Leeds, my go to right now for developing film and having prints done it’s priced pretty well and you get the files sent to you really quickly, which is the most important thing for me right now. I also got some 6x4 prints of my holiday snaps as i’ve been keeping scrapbooks for years now of all the holidays i have been on, i just like having them to look back over and keep i suppose.

I shot this roll on a camera i bought off Ebay a couple of months ago now, the Olympus mju ii zoom 80. I wanted another point and shoot that would be reliable to take all over with me and one that was averagely priced, as some point and shoots are super expensive nowadays and i don’t personally think they are worth it. The quality of the images is not as sharp as my Canon A1 which is to be expected and i personally just bought it to take quick snapshots while out and about, but i am really surprised with the quality so far. There is one slight issue with the camera; you may be able to see it on the image to the right, theres a slight white ring around the corners of the image. I think theres maybe a problem with the light seal or it’s something to do with lens, either way i kind of like the effect and as the images are only for me i’m not going to try and get it repaired. I would definitely recommend this camera to anyone starting out in film photography, it is super easy to use and the flash works really well in all conditions!

I really love this image to the right, it was a place in Cornwall called Lizard Point, the most southerly tip of the UK (i think thats correct!?) Even though the weather was so awful, mostly raining and windy the whole time, it was such a beautiful place. The colours and the textures stand out to me in this image and i love the variety of the tones my little point and shoot has been able to capture.

A British summer holiday in Cornwall!

01-09-20

Obviously this year has been more or less a write off altogether, but as a family we look forward to going away every year so this year couldn’t be any different! Going abroad was an an awkward subject so we decided on Cornwall for our summer holiday, having been twice previously we knew we’d enjoy it just as much as being abroad (well maybe a slight exaggeration, the Amalfi Coast may have been a little more tempting!) Overall it was definitely one of my favourite trips i’ve done in the UK, the weather more or less held out for us the whole week and we did a lot of exploring which was perfect for me to take as many photos as i possibly could. I shot mostly on film (Kodak Portra 400 obvs!) on my Canon A1 as i wanted to make the most of using it and shooting with my favourite medium in a beautiful place.

I am so so happy with how the first couple of rolls have turned out. I sent it over to CC Imaging in Leeds which was the first time i have used them and i will definitely be using them again, it was such a quick turn around for my getting my files so I was really pleased. I think i shot around four rolls of film whilst i was out there; it’s crazy how a new environment inspires you and just how much you want to take pictures. The coastline down in Cornwall is amazing and like nothing up in the North of England, the picture to the right is of a beach called Porthcurno (if i remember correctly) which is not too far from the town of Newquay. It’s a real hidden beach that i came across on Instagram so we decided to go there for the first day of our trip and i am so glad that we did. Despite the pretty dangerous trek down to the beach in my birkenstocks (totally wrong footwear choice oops) we made it with just a couple of scratches. I’ve never seen a beach like it in the UK before, the sand was so soft and the sea was just about warm enough to go for a swim. I would definitely recommend heading down there if your ever in Cornwall!

Back to the image, i think it’s probably one of my favourites from the trip even though theres so many i really love! The subtle, summer tones carry on throughout all the images from the trip and i’m happy that i spent a little more on Kodak Portra for the effect it gives. I think i have a bit of experimenting to do on Photoshop with the highlights and brightness levels however, i think it works great just as it is. The over-exposed look really gives a calming summer feel to the image which reflects everything i felt whilst at this beach.

The floral theme continues…

02-07-20

This time with a rose in our back garden, not very adventurous i know! But i have been wanting to shoot some more portraits in the garden since lockdown, almost making a outdoor studio space but with a white bed sheet hung up on the washing line - improvisation at it’s finest! Since lockdown i have seen so many photographers online making the best out of what they have got and producing some really eye-catching photography so i thought i’d try it out myself, with my sister, a white bed sheet and a rose. All of the images recently are taken with my (quite old!) digital camera that i have had for 5+ years now since i started doing photography as an A level at sixth form which seems like a lifetime ago. It really doesn’t produce the greatest of detail in the images compared to some of the cameras i got to use at university but it’s definitely better than nothing and i really like the outcome of some of the shots in this and previous shoots.

I waited till later on in the day to shoot, when the sun was starting to set as you can see on the image to the left where the sun creates this gorgeous orange light on the side of her face. Without this bit of light on the image would look dull and dark and just wouldn’t work, light really is everything in photography that is why choosing the right time to shoot really is so important! However admittedly i did leave it a bit to late on in the day to shoot as i was loosing light too quickly as my garden is not south facing i should have started earlier in reflection, but as its such a quick shoot to set up i can easily shoot a similar scene again. I found inspiration on pinterest and from photographers i have been enjoying on instagram for the different compositions and the models poses, as often when i start to shoot i completely forget what i was trying to achieve so it’s really handy to have screen-shotted inspiration and ideas for what images you’d like to get.

The image to the left is probably my most successful from the entire shoot. How the light captures that part of the face almost like a frame around the eye stands out to me. I think it creates a unique image that if the shadows were to be increased on photoshop would be even more eye-catching. The one thing i would like to have seen would have been the rose lit up by the orange sun to create another bright part of the image as well as the eye. But i really like the crop and the composition being moderately zoomed in, focussing solely on the facial features which works well.

Photographer - William Eggleston

03-05-20

I’m having another really boring Sunday so i wanted to write about something that i’m really interested in and since i have no new content of my own i’d like to talk about some photographers that have really inspired me and made me become the photographer that i am today.

Firstly, one of my all time favourite photographers, William Eggleston. He was the photographer that made me want to start shooting and experimenting with colour film. I had previously only shot with black and white film which we were taught in my first year at university. I fell in love with the process so i started to experiment with colour film in my second year and hand-printing the images in a colour darkroom. The whole process from ‘shooting blind’ with the camera, to hand-developing the film and then hand-printing the images in a darkroom resulting in a beautiful, physical print was why i chose to shoot on film. Eggleston is known for his striking colour images and banal subject matters, which is another similarity i have with his style of photography. I was drawn to subject matters that weren’t the ‘norm’ i suppose; my subjects were of the more vernacular and what some would say boring, abandoned buildings, garages and road signs for example.

Through the medium of photography Eggleston documented the environment that surrounded him, the subject matter was not particularly ‘picturesque’ however, the way he shot the scene these abandoned wastelands became picturesque. The colour he was able to achieve in his photographs brought these banal scenes to life and gave them a story. For me he has been the photographer that completely revolutionised colour photography and even fifty odd years on since his work was published, he is still influencing the next generation of photographers (including myself!)

Here we are… still in lockdown

01-05-20

Shoot numero three of lockdown, we’ve had some ridiculously sunny weather these past couple of weeks which has been so nice to wake up to and be able to spend time outside instead of being cooped up like hens indoors 24/7! I wanted to actually take advantage of this and also the bluebells had just started to come out which i’m obsessed with, i take photos of these every single year they’re just so beautiful around where i live. So i finally convinced my sister to come out again with me (she hates being my model as i ask her several times a week to model for me lol.) I took both my digital and film camera with me; i haven’t used my digital camera in so long before lockdown really i just prefer how my film photos turn out i suppose and its just something i’m used to now as all i shot on at uni was film. I think partly it’s the process of shooting on film how you only have 36 exposures on each roll of film so you think more about what you’re shooting, rather than shooting hundreds of photos on a digital camera. Also the end result of the images makes the waiting for developing and scanning well worth it, the graininess of the images, those unexpected light leaks and just the uniqueness of the images has just become my personal preference. However, as i wont be able to get my film developed in some time yet (god knows how long yet??) i wanted some images to be able to experiment with, so i shot on both my cameras.

I found such an amazing field filled with bluebells only five minutes away from my house; it was late afternoon so the sun was slowing setting and the lighting was really strong and bright which i wanted. I shot from a range of angles, close ups, high vantage, more landscapey shots. I think my favourites are the close ups (like the image to the right) i love getting closer to the subject because for me it tells more a story through the eyes and creates a more interesting shot in my opinion. The purple of the bluebells makes for a very eye-catching backdrop or foreground (depending on the angle it has been shot at) and adds such a depth to the images. I’m really looking forward to seeing the film results from this shoot - hopefully i’ll be able to send them off to a lab soon!

The weather has taken a turn for the worse, it’s been raining for the past couple of days or its been really overcast resulting in crap shoot weather :( So i’m hoping for sunnier days so i can shoot more and more and be able to feel more productive. I have one clear idea at the moment for a shoot at home so as soon as the sun comes out i will (fingers crossed) have some more images to share.

Isolation day 389273

13-04-20

So we’re how many days into isolation? I have totally lost track of what day/week/month it is at this point. I think its around the three week mark, its a Monday and i’m sat on the sofa watching another disney film not being remotely productive. Life has become so strange these past few weeks, i now look forward to going for a walk for an hour just to get out the house and to be on my own for just a while, as being around your family 24/7 can be pretty testing sometimes.

One positive that has come from this whole situation is that i’m actually getting to shoot more often (well, when my sister actually lets me take a thousand photos of her.) I have done two shoots so far, the first was in the cornfields near my house which the image to the left was taken in. I shot two rolls of film which i got from West Yorkshire Camera’s competition, they are both expired film so i am excited to the results! Anyway…we set off to the location i had in mind, the sun was shining and ten minutes later we got there and the weather completely turned and it started spitting with rain - typical! However, we made the most of it and shot a roll of film and a couple of images on my digital camera that i haven’t used in yonks!! I really enjoyed actually getting out of the house and doing something i forgot how much i enjoyed. My second shoot i found some inspiration for online, i really wanted to shoot in the rapeseed fields (you know them bright yellow fields you see all over?) I wanted to shoot in the golden hour so set off at around 6pm thinking i could find the perfect field straight away however, i drove around for ages trying to find one but finally did and it was perfect! I shot another roll of film here so i just need to send them off to be developed now which may be easier said than done right now, but we’ll see. I’m hoping to do many more shoots in the coming weeks, i just need to find some new inspiration now but i’m excited to keep shooting and to see the outcomes!