Wednesday 26 October 2011
Wednesday 1 June 2011
Anticipation
Here Comes the Bride! - Taken at my friend's wedding on my trusty D70s
So I'm sitting at home. I've recently returned from the post office where I have mailed 3 rolls of film to be developed at my favourite and only trusted place in England, Peak Imaging. 2 films are Kodak Ektar - a film that I have never tried before. The other is a B&W roll that I exposed at the wrong speed and have asked the lab to correct in development. There are so many uncertainties, so many magical possibilities. For me this is what the hobby is all about.
I have taken a lot of digital shots recently. I recently uploaded a bunch of photos from my friends' beautiful wedding - Click here to see them. I got some really good shots that I was really happy about. However, I hated the trawling, the endless decision making between 3 seemingly identical shots. The sheer volume of photos that you can take with digital is off putting at times. At the wedding there were a lot of cameras, but I glimpsed in the corner of my eye a young boy with an old pentax strapped to him with one of those hippy coloured straps. I was envious as he agonised and twisted the manual lens to and fro. Why? I don't know if he got better shots. I almost certainly took more keepers. I think it comes down to the fact that photography is not necessarily enjoyable. It can be a right chore. And if you feel this, you're not going to continue doing it for long. Film has me giddy with excitement just like the first film I took to a shop to be processed. I expect less too, even though developing prices have gone through the roof!
I am seriously considering selling all my digital gear and buying a brilliant compact film camera and a little digital for when it's absolutely necessary. I need to get back to basics so that I start taking more photos!
Looking forward to posting the photos on here as soon as I get them back and can finish the laborious process of scanning (+1 for digital there for sure!).
Monday 18 April 2011
Poor crayfish are ready for the pot
My brother added a good dose of sichuan peppercorns, peanut oil and dried chilli - nice and hot for those little buggers
Sichuan Crayfish Binge
Having ripped the heads of dozens of crayfish, we all decided that chopsticks and forks were rendered useless. Use your hands for all eating!
Crayfish escape plan
Our BBQ tongs proved to be invaluable in keeping the crayfish at bay - they are surprisingly nimble and extremely vicious. They even attack each other with those sharp pincers.
Tuesday 5 October 2010
Time-out from the Noodle
Apologies to all Noodle enthusiasts. I have sort of left my bowl of noodles stewing rather than the regular even slurps that are required. I have just started a course at college and am snowed under right now. I have some exciting stuff to go through so please bear with me!
Tuesday 24 August 2010
Reflection
So this was the first photo that I have submitted to 52x3. Yet another iphone photo. At this rate I might sell all my camera gear as they're not getting a look in.
Actually it's not just my iphone at play here. I really found it tough to find a shot for my chosen theme of reflection. I wanted to do something about myself. I am just changing career - from an assistant's role in law to a secondary school history teacher. I have a month off to get used to the idea and prepare for yet another trip to college. It seemed a pretty good time to reflect, and hence the theme.
It turned out that building the challenge up in my head made it almost impossible to find a shot I was happy with. I generally take photos on the spur of the moment, with only minimal planning. I thought of all sorts of ideas about staging shots but all just didn't seem to be me. I want to try different techniques but not depart from my own style completely.
In the end I was looking at my old medium format camera and testing the focus in the mirror. Then it came to me to shoot the viewfinder with my iphone and see what would happen. The iphone's shiny back reflected a whole load of light onto the viewfinder which was reflecting back at me. At first this was very frustrating as I could not get a proper shot of the what the vintage camera was focusing on. But then I realised that I could see my own face from 2 perspectives. I really liked that effect and went with it. Loaded up hipstamatic with some b&w film and bang!
I'm pretty happy with it. I like the fact that it was spontaneous. I was a little annoyed with my framing and the fact that it's a little blurry so I tried a few other shots but none had the same feeling as the first.
I strongly believe that this is what is in decline in photos these days. We all have such precision instruments that all we are led to strive for is the sharpest, highest resolution photo with spot on exposure. We often forget that these are only secondary to the feeling of the shot. This photo has a lot of faults but I like it because it harks back to this point.
Actually it's not just my iphone at play here. I really found it tough to find a shot for my chosen theme of reflection. I wanted to do something about myself. I am just changing career - from an assistant's role in law to a secondary school history teacher. I have a month off to get used to the idea and prepare for yet another trip to college. It seemed a pretty good time to reflect, and hence the theme.
It turned out that building the challenge up in my head made it almost impossible to find a shot I was happy with. I generally take photos on the spur of the moment, with only minimal planning. I thought of all sorts of ideas about staging shots but all just didn't seem to be me. I want to try different techniques but not depart from my own style completely.
In the end I was looking at my old medium format camera and testing the focus in the mirror. Then it came to me to shoot the viewfinder with my iphone and see what would happen. The iphone's shiny back reflected a whole load of light onto the viewfinder which was reflecting back at me. At first this was very frustrating as I could not get a proper shot of the what the vintage camera was focusing on. But then I realised that I could see my own face from 2 perspectives. I really liked that effect and went with it. Loaded up hipstamatic with some b&w film and bang!
I'm pretty happy with it. I like the fact that it was spontaneous. I was a little annoyed with my framing and the fact that it's a little blurry so I tried a few other shots but none had the same feeling as the first.
I strongly believe that this is what is in decline in photos these days. We all have such precision instruments that all we are led to strive for is the sharpest, highest resolution photo with spot on exposure. We often forget that these are only secondary to the feeling of the shot. This photo has a lot of faults but I like it because it harks back to this point.
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