Alex – Always take the shot

Weekly Photos – [Lights in Edinburgh] – 03/12/2019

3rd Dec 20193rd Dec 2019 by Alex, posted in Photography

It’s the Christmas season in Edinburgh and with it comes many gorgeous displays of light.

The photos for this week are selected from some of the photos I had taken in the past few weeks as I had been unable to have them developed until now.

I had recently obtained a large spool of Kodak Vision 3 500T film and I wanted to test out this film and compare it to the 250D film that I was originally using. The 500T film is designed for tungsten lighting while the 250D film is balanced for photography in the daylight. The faster film was perfect for capturing scenes with low amounts of light and rendered colours beautifully.

The photos from the Christmas market were taken after the sun had set. There were many people at the market, but I wanted to capture scenes where I could focus on a fewer subjects. I was able to use the bright lights to frame individual subjects while still capturing the beautiful lighting in the scenes.

The last image wasn’t actually part of the Christmas market and was actually part of a storefront display. I really liked the framing and amount of detail that was put into this piece.

In addition to the Christmas market, the Edinburgh Zoo has a lantern display during this time of year. This year, the display was “Lost Worlds” and contained lanterns of dinosaurs and other prehistoric subjects.

I am a fan of incorporating people into my photos. In these images, I used the bright lights from the lanterns together with the people at the zoo to create silhouetted figures.

I hope you enjoy this week’s selection of photos.

Weekly Photos – [Reflections] – 10 November, 2019

10th Nov 201910th Nov 2019 by Alex, posted in Photography

The theme for this week is “Reflections”.

Reflections can be found in many scenes, from lights reflecting off windows to the reflections in puddles on the ground.

I thoroughly enjoy the images of reflections that can be captured after or during the rain.

The reflections in puddles that are left over from the rain are one of my favourite subjects to photograph. As the shapes of the puddles varies depending on the characteristics of the ground or surfaces, they can provide a uniquely shaped frame for any reflected images.

For reflections in windows, the type of effect that is captured depends on the amount of light from both sides of the window. In some cases, the light from one side overpowers the light from the other side, resulting in a single “scene” dominating the image in the window. Other times, both sides may be equally illuminated, thus resulting in a blend of different scenes.

The rain also brings out different effects and textures that can be used together with the reflections in a scene.

In this photo, the condensation in the window has obscured some of the baked goods inside the shop. However, the light on the right is not obscured and helps to emphasise the image of the man that is reflected in the window. The rest of the objects inside the shop create a frame around this person and make him the focus of this photo.

I hope you enjoy this week’s selection of photos.

Weekly Photos – [Lights] – 04 Nov, 2019

4th Nov 20193rd Dec 2019 by Alex, posted in Photography

I noticed that I haven’t posted in a while so I figured that I should find some old photos to share. This “Weekly Photos” series will be a selection of past photos that I haven’t published and will not be as detailed as the other photography posts. I will, however, try to have a common theme between each of the images that I have selected for the week.

The theme for this week is “Light”.

In the following images, I have chosen to focus on the beauty of light and how it interacts with the environments around me.

While I try to incorporate some kind of “story” in my images, sometimes it is nice to photograph something that is simple and visually-pleasing.

The sun is the primary source of light that is found in many of the photos in this selection. When used as the main source of light for backlighting, the sun casts a warm outline on subjects.

As the sun slowly rises above or descends below the horizon during the sunrises and sunsets respectively, the indirect angle of the light can produce beautiful effects when combined with clouds and the sky itself.

The remaining image of the fireworks captures the trails of light that are painted on the nightly canvas as the fireworks explode in a harmonious fashion. The landscape in the background was illuminated by the continuous stream of fireworks above.

I hope you enjoy this week’s selection of photos.

Photowalk – Manchester [Colour] – Part 3

11th Oct 2019 by Alex, posted in Photography

This post is a continuation of the series of photos from my trip to Manchester [Part 1 and Part 2].

Instead of photographs of people as in the previous two posts, this post focuses on the patterns and shapes that I noticed through my brief exploration of the streets of Manchester. In addition to the change of subject matter, these photos have all been taken in colour using the Kodak motion picture film stock Vision 3.

While black and white film stocks typically offer higher dynamic ranges than colour film stocks, all of the information about hue and saturation is lost with black and white film. Even though colour film results in lower contrasts in terms of highlights, midtones, and shadows, it offers contrast with the inclusion of different hues.

Thirty Thirty Three [Vision 3 250D, 1/250s,f/8, EF 50mm f/1.8 STM II]

Sometimes, beautiful scenes are rewarded to photographers who travel off the beaten path. For this photo, I wandered away from the downtown area of Manchester and was immediately drawn to an alleyway with aesthetically-pleasing designs painted on the walls. On a closer inspection, I realised that I would be able to draw out more from the scene than I initially anticipated (pun intended).

In this image, I focused on two patterns: the patterns of lines underneath the window sills, and the pattern of posters covering the window panes. I was able to frame each set of patterns using the rule of odds (in this case it is the rule of threes). There are three sets of patterns along the main horizontal that are equally-spaced apart.

I have a form of synesthesia where certain numbers are associated with colours. Hearing or reading about the number will result in imagining the colour and vice versa. Sometimes, I have also caught myself thinking, “that is a very [number]-coloured object” or “the number is [sequence of colours]”. For me, the number three is associated with orange so seeing the three orange lines made the lines even more orange (if that makes any sense).

For the photo, I used the piping alongside the walls to separate the scene into three approximately equal frames. Within each frame, there is a poster of a headshot of a futuristic-looking individual for the bar Twenty Twenty Two. Underneath each group of posters, there is a set of cyan, orange, and purple lines. I decided to take the photo at an angle to the alleyway to avoid too much repetition between the frames and also to avoid imprinting my own shadow on the wall.

Wall of Flowers [Kodak Vision 3 250D,1/250s, f/5.6, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM II]

The next photo was taken of a building near the town hall area in Manchester. I noticed that the outside of the windows were decorated with floral patterns alongside the south side of the building.

There doesn’t appear to be an overall pattern in the placement of the designs other than adjacent windows having different floral designs. Again, the number three appears as there are three unique floral designs.

I used a Dutch angle to photograph the building to avoid shooting the scene with a portrait orientation. Personally, I tend to avoid photographing architectural structures with a level horizon as I feel that it results in a boring image. The trees at the base of the building and the adjacent building help to offset the off-balance feeling from the Dutch angle. The use of the Dutch angle also helps to draw attention to the third column of floral designs as they are placed on the diagonal line within the frame.

Tram Lines [Kodak Vision 3 250D, 1/500s, f/5.6, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM II]

Interesting scenes can be found anywhere. It is up to the photographer to make the most of his or her surroundings and create interesting photos. In addition to being observant, it is also important to be able to predict the movement of the objects that make up the scene.

In the case of this image, I used the tram and the overhead electrical lines as well as the cross in the background. I had pre-focused the lens and used a fast shutter speed and narrower aperture. I had intended to capture the tram’s pantograph as the tram travelled past me, but the resulting image exceeded my original expectations with the use of lines.

This photo makes use of the diagonal rule where the points of interest lie on the diagonal line in the frame. On the diagonal line from the top left to the bottom right, the main points of interest are the connection between the pantograph and the electrical wire, and the intersection between the electrical wires and metal rods. On the diagonal line from the bottom left to the top right, the points of interest are the cross (with the metal rod stopping exactly in the center of the cross) and the intersections between the wires and rods.

I Love Lamp [Kodak Vision 3 250D, 1/180s, f/3.5, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM II]

The next image was taken of part of an art installation called The Manchester Lamps which was made by the art and design studio Acrylicize. There were five different lamps, each representing a different aspect of Manchester’s history [1].

This photo was taken underneath a single lamp. I chose to capture only a small aspect of the lampshade rather than the entire lamp as I was attracted to the patterns and shapes rather than the lamp itself. The lampshade combines softer rounded lines and circles with harsher edges and triangular shapes.

Reach for the Sky [Kodak Vision 3 250D, 1/350s, f/5.6, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM II]

Patterns do not always need to involve the repetition of shapes or designs. The repetition of objects may also form a pattern as shown in the above image.

In this photo, I used the rule of odds to compose the three tower cranes against the clear sky. The positioning of the cranes is almost perfect as they all lie on the diagonal of the frame and are equally-spaced apart.

Bars [Kodak Vision 3 250D, 1/250s, f/4, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM II]

This picture was taken in the Cathedral Gardens near the National Football Museum. I was taking a short break from walking around the city and positioned myself to shoot the wooden bars from the bench I was sitting on.

The photo is a bit different from the rest of the images in the set as it is the only one with people in the frame. However, I believe that the inclusion of the people helps to strengthen the image and also contributes to the patterns that were captured.

I waited until the woman on the left walked past the shortest pole from the left side. The curvature of the four poles draw interest to lead towards the woman and it feels that she is a part of the art installation itself. In the same vein, the four windows feel as if they are pointing down to the man sitting on the concrete slab. While the pattern for the woman was intentional, I only noticed the pattern in the windows after I had developed and scanned the film.

The images in the post are a bit different from the normal subject matter that I am interested in. However, it is fun to photograph different things once in a while. I hope you enjoyed reading about the images as much as I had taking them. I believe that I have enough images in colour to do a continuation of the Manchester series (this time with street photography).

The images have been shot on a Canon EOS Elan 7e (EOS 30) film camera using a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM II lens. The film stock used was 35mm Kodak Vision 3 250D (5207/7207) shot at 250 ISO. The majority of the photos have been taken using shutter priority with an adjustment for the exposure compensation depending on the scene.

As this is a motion picture film, the Remjet (Removable Jet Black) layer had to be removed before the actual development process. The film was developed using the Tetenal Colortec C-41 kit colour developer for 3:15 minutes at 38C (Cross-processed as the standard process is ECN-2). The film was then bleached and fixed using Tetenal Colortec C-41 BLIX for 4:00 minutes at 38C, followed by a water rinse for 3:00 minutes at 30C. Finally, the film was stabilised using the Tetenal Colortec C-41 kit stabiliser for 1:00 minute at 20C. The resulting negatives were scanned using the Epson V550 and edited in Photoshop.

Photowalk – Edinburgh Doors Open Days 2019

8th Oct 2019 by Alex, posted in Photography

Doors Open Days is an annual Scottish event where many venues offer free entry to the public. While I have been in Edinburgh for two years, I did not have the chance to visit many of the older buildings and heritage sites. I decided that this event would be the perfect opportunity to visit these places and also practice some architectural photography.

As I knew that I would have more time to compose my shots compared to my street photography sessions, I brought out my trusty Canon A-1. The lack of modern auto-focus and auto-exposure settings required me to slow down and think about my compositions. I chose to bring a 28mm lens for wider-angle shots and a 50mm lens for general shooting situations.

The images were taken over the two day period for the Doors Open Days event in Edinburgh from 28 September to 29 September.

New Register House Dome Interior [Ilford FP4+, 1/30s, f/3.5, FD 28mm f/2.8]

The first stop on Saturday was the New Register House for the General Register Office for Scotland. The building exterior was similar to the other buildings near the central area of Princes Street. However, the interior was a completely different story.

The shelves were lined with binders, books, and other archival materials. There was a television in the center of the room which displayed a video of the frame of the structure and certain points of building. A number of tour guides guided visitors around the room and discussed the building’s history and activities of the National Records of Scotland.

I had originally wanted to photograph the ceiling of the dome directly underneath the center window. Unfortunately, the 28mm lens was not able to adequately capture my vision for the dome’s ceiling. I chose to shoot half of the dome while still capturing the multiple floors of archives and I believe that it provides a better representation of the structure and its contents.

Playfair Library, Old College, University of Edinburgh [Ilford FP4+, 1/60s, f/4, FD 28mm f/2.8]

Next on the trip was the Old College campus for the University of Edinburgh.

The first location I had visited on the campus was the Talbot Rice Gallery. Inside, there was a large art installation of giant-sized musical instruments and lights supported by accompanying music. There were also contemporary art pieces related to music and sounds. I do not have many photos from this section as I am not a fan of photographing art pieces in isolation. However, the art gallery was very enjoyable and I would like to revisit it in the future.

The Talbot Rice Gallery connected to the Playfair Library and this is where I had taken the above photo. Large white pillars lined both sides of the library with busts of famous figures beside each pillar. Shelves and shelves of books filled the opposing walls of the library, only to be separately by large windows overlooking the central area of the campus and the surrounding buildings.

The sun had reached its peak in the midday and it shone brightly through the glass windows of the hallway. This was perfect for capturing harsh contrasts and separate the human subjects from the whites of the pillars.

I had finished off the day with a session of street photography while listening to the buskers in the park.

McEwan Hall Basement [Ilford FP4+, 1/15s, f/3.5, FD 28mm f/2.8]

On the second day, I headed to McEwan Hall, a large auditorium for the University of Edinburgh. I knew that this building was going to be a fun experience as soon as I had entered.

The entrance to the auditorium was a basement-like area with white walls containing the names of whom I believe to be graduates from the University of Edinburgh. There were curved hallways which led to smaller rooms around the circular building and connected to a central miniature atrium area.

The central area of this basement had pillars placed neatly with lights adorning the walls. The tiled flooring was smooth enough to provide reflections of the light from the pillars and the walls. I was captivated by the pattern of the lights from the pillars on the rounded surface of the ceiling of the room.

McEwan Hall Stage [Ilford FP4+, 1s, f/4, FD 28mm f/2.8]

Up the stairs to the main floor was the main auditorium area of McEwan Hall. This section of the building was spectacular in both form and magnitude. Rows and rows of chairs were arranged neatly and the walls were decorated with beautiful paintings and painstakingly-crafted sculptures.

I managed to capture this scene from the second floor of the auditorium. As I did not have a tripod available, I used the seats to steady the camera so that I would be able to expose the shot properly.

While the scene is mostly devoid of people, there is a lone photographer with his camera and tripod on the stage. I have used this person to emphasise the sheer size of the auditorium.

McEwan Hall Ceiling [Ilford FP4+, 1/15 s, f/3.5, FD 28mm f/2.8]

The ceiling of the auditorium was the highlight (pun intended) of the experience. A circular chandelier was suspended from the dome-like ceiling, lighting up the painted figures circling the center. Each figure had a corresponding field of study, ranging from the literary arts to the sciences and mathematics.

While many photographers attempted to photograph the ceiling from directly under the chandelier, I wanted to shoot a mixture of circles and rounded shapes. The curved ceiling above the main stage connects with the circular dome, and this in turn is surround by arched pillars which supported the entire auditorium structure.

I was impressed at the amount of detail that the film was able to capture. I had overexposed slightly in order to preserve the shadow detail, and the overall darkness in the scene meant that I did not clip the highlights (again, pun intended) too much.

[Ilford HP5+, 1/30s, f/2.8, FD 50mm f/1.8

The final set of images photos from the Leith Theatre. The Leith Theatre is a theatre for performing arts and other events. I believe that the theatre itself was to be demolished but the people of Leith were able to convince the council to leave the building alone. The interior of the building was bare, but still had the potential to be filled with life.

There were many small rooms within the theatre. There were change rooms, store rooms, dance rooms, and gin rooms. Each room felt distinct and unique but they all contributed to the larger building of the theatre.

The first photograph is of a disassembled organ that was repurposed as hanging fixtures above a bar area. While the individual pieces of the organ were separated, they were still able to contribute together to a greater, albeit different, whole.

Please take a Seat [Ilford HP5+, 1s, f/2.8, FD 50 f/1.8]

I decided to take an abstract approach when photographing the rows of seats in the balcony area. The seats had a nice alternating pattern of light and dark red hues and formed a sort of checkered pattern that is still pleasing in black and white.

Leith Theatre Stage [Ilford HP5+, 1s, f/3.5, FD 50mm f/1.8]

Finally, I ended with a shot of the main stage of the theatre. While the seats on the balcony are empty, the focus of this scene is the main stage. The borders around the stage, together with the rows of lights hanging from the balconies, provide a frame for the people on the stage. The Leith theatre was the perfect closing act to the day and the event.

Overall, the Doors Open Days was a very enjoyable event and exposed me to many buildings and sites that I was unaware of during my previous two years in Edinburgh. I hope you enjoyed reading through my experience and enjoyed the accompanying photos as well.

The images have been shot on a Canon A-1 film camera using either a Canon FD 50mm f/1.8 lens or a Canon FD 28mm f/2.8 lens. The expired Ilford FP4+ film stock (expired in 1996) was shot and developed at 125 ISO. An expired Ilford HP5+ film stock (expired in 1993) was shot at 200 ISO and developed at 400 ISO. The majority of the photos have been taken using manual settings with TTL metering set to +0.5 EV.

The Ilford FP4+ was developed using Ilford Ilfosol 3 for 6:00 minutes at 20C. The Ilford HP5+ film stock was developed using Ilford Ilfosol 3 for 7:00 minutes at 20C. Ilford Ilfostop was used to halt development for 0:30 minutes at 20C. The film was fixed with Ilford Rapid Fixer for 3:00 minutes at 20C, followed by a water rinse for 3:00 minutes at 25C. The resulting negatives were scanned using the Epson V550 and edited in Photoshop.

Photowalk – Manchester [B&W] – Part 2

23rd Sep 201923rd Sep 2019 by Alex, posted in Photography

This post is a continuation from the previous post about my black and white photos from my short trip to Manchester [Part 1 here].

The previous part showcased the images that I had taken with a telephoto lens with a focal length of 85mm. For lenses with longer focal lengths, I can take similar photos from farther away or capture details of my subjects without having to get uncomfortably close. As I was still not very familiar with the city and its people, the 85mm lens was a better choice for my shooting style. However, I needed to get out of my comfort zone in order to improve in street photography.

I had used a “nifty fifty” lens, referring to the 50mm focal length, for the majority of the following photos. The 50mm lens is my preferred lens when I am starting out in a location due to its ability to shoot close-up and wider angle shots. With a shorter focal length than the 85mm lens, this lens required me to get closer to my subjects. However, the advantage of the wider lens is that I am able to capture more of a scene than if I am to shoot with a longer lens from the same distance.

Although the autofocus had been very useful in both the 50mm and 85mm lenses, I did not want to rely on the autofocus to shoot from the hip. One small issue with the 50mm f/1.8 STM II lens is the lack of a zone focus indicator so it is difficult to judge the exact distance to which the lens is focused. This is a minor inconvenience as the autofocus has provided me with more shots than I could have gotten had I been using the manual focus FD lenses with my 1979 Canon A-1. When the autofocus wasn’t working with my vision for a scene, I was able to adjust the focus quickly with the muscle memory I had gained through shooting with the Canon A-1.

Man in the Park [Ilford FP4+, 1/125 s , EF 50mm f/1.8 STM II]

This first photo was taken in one of the parks near the University of Manchester. While walking through the park, I noticed a man on a bench who was feeding a large group of birds. I got close enough to capture some detail of the man but not too close to startle the birds. I had also wanted to photograph some of the birds flying in and out of the larger group, but I decided that I still wanted the man to be the main focus of the scene and the movement of birds would have drawn interest away from the man.

I adjusted for a slower shutter speed so that the camera would choose a narrower aperture to keep more of the scene in focus. I didn’t want to have a shallow depth of field as I knew that I could use the negative space in the grass to draw more attention to the man. I’m not too happy with the location of the tree being in the center of the frame, but I believe that this was the best angle at the time.

The man and the bench fuse together to form a single object, and this is complemented by the large group of birds in the center of the frame. I decided against a tighter crop in order to provide more context for the man. While the man is the only human in the frame, he is not alone as he is surrounded by a large group of birds. By including more of the surrounding park area, there is a sense of isolationism that is juxtaposed with the crowdedness in the center of the scene.

Life Moves On [Ilford FP4+, 1 s, EF 50mm f/1.8 STM II]

I wanted to capture the busyness of the city and I knew that a long exposure would be the perfect way to achieve this goal. Here, I saw a pavement area with a lot of pedestrian movement. I had held up my camera to pretend to shoot some shots and observed that many people just ignored me and kept on moving. This was a welcome change from the touristy city of Edinburgh where the inhabitants and visitors are sometimes a bit too considerate of people with cameras.

For a one-second shot, I propped my arm up against a pole in order to stabilise the camera. Thankfully, the slower shutter speed was compensated by a narrower aperture and this allowed me to keep more of the scene in relative focus. I decided set my focus point to a distance which was approximately 1/3rd of the way into the scene.

The results from long exposures are difficult to predict, but they are very satisfying when they work. There is a diverse selection of people in this scene, and the differing amounts of motion blur reveal the uniqueness of each individual. Some people are moving quickly and busily to their destinations, while others are slower and enjoying their walks.

Between the Frames [Ilford FP4+, 1/250 s, EF 50mm f/1.8 STM II]

Sometimes mistakes can occur in the photographic process, either in the development and printing of the film, operation of the camera, or otherwise. I believe that it is important to embrace these mistakes as they are an important aspect of shooting with film. In this case, there are light leaks in the frame and these led to two overexposed rectangles at the top and bottom of the frame. The light leaks are likely the result of a mistake I had made when I had respooled the film from a larger spool into the film canister.

The original scene itself is not particularly interesting. There is a woman talking on her phone and standing beside a traffic sign. I have included the out-of-frame person with the umbrella in order to indicate that it is raining in this scene. The reflections on the road also contribute to the rainy scene.

The light leaks help to remove distractions from the scene and increase the emphasis that is placed on the woman. While not forming a conventional frame around the subject, I feel that the light leaks around the woman also achieve a sub-framing effect. Interestingly, the top and bottom light leaks stop right above and below the woman respectively, leading me to wonder if there is something special to the woman.

The Disappearing Man [Ilford FP4+, 1/180 s, EF 50mm f/1.8 STM II]

Similar to the previous image, the things that you fail to account for sometimes produce the most interesting effects. In this photo, the man on the right’s upper body appears to be transparent while his lower half remains opaque. This is contrasted with the other people in the frame who are quite nontransparent (with the exception of the reflection of a person with an umbrella and a stroller).

The photo was shot in the rain while I was waiting under a bus shelter. I looked behind me and through the glass to see pedestrians walking past the stores. I decided that the man on the right would be my point of interest and placed him in the lower right corner of the frame using the rule of thirds. A mixture of the reflections caused by the rain and the reflections in the glass resulted in this peculiar effect.

The disappearing effect is caused by the reflection of the bright bricked building being reflected in the glass. The surrounding buildings around this bricked building are not as brilliant, and as a result are not displayed as prominently in the reflections.

I hope you enjoyed the images as much as I had enjoyed taking and editing them. I may continue the series in the future with more black and white images or move onto the colour images that I had taken on this trip.

The images have been shot on a Canon EOS Elan 7e (EOS 30) film camera using either a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM II lens. The expired Ilford FP4+ film stock (expired in 1996) was shot and developed at 125 ISO. The majority of the photos have been taken using shutter priority with an adjustment of EV +0. I have only listed the shutter speeds for the images as I do not recall any of the corresponding apertures.

The film was developed using Ilford Ilfosol 3 for 5:30 minutes at 20C. Ilford Ilfostop was used to halt development for 0:30 minutes at 20C. The film was fixed with Ilford Rapid Fixer for 3:00 minutes at 20C, followed by a water rinse for 3:00 minutes at 25C. The resulting negatives were scanned using the Epson V550 and edited in Photoshop.

Photowalk – Manchester [B&W] – Part 1

18th Sep 201923rd Sep 2019 by Alex, posted in Photography

I had recently travelled to Manchester as a break and also to do some street photography. I had never been to Manchester before and I thought it would be a good experience to broaden my horizons and improve my photography. For the first few days of the trip, I explored the downtown and surrounding areas and was mainly photographing in colour. I used these days for scouting areas which would contain interesting scenes and people, and also to identify any areas to avoid.

My preference for street photography is still black and white film and I chose to use the expired Ilford FP4+ film stock for this purpose during the last couple of days of the trip. I brought my 50mm lens for general shooting but also used my 85mm lens for some shots where I wasn’t able to get close enough to my subjects in time. The benefit of using prime lenses with these particular focal lengths is that it forced me to move around and keep my eyes open.

I Want to Ride My Bicycle [Ilford FP4+, 1/500 s, EF 85mm f/1.8 USM]

Sometimes, there’s no time to think about composition and you need to take the shot and hope it turns out well — especially with a medium such as film. This was one of those times.

I was resting on a bench in front of the town hall when I had noticed a boy performing tricks on his bicycle. As he was about to pass by, I turned around quickly and readied my camera for less than half a second before I snapped the shot. Thankfully, the autofocus on the 85mm was fast enough to focus on the boy as he performed a wheelie across the tiled floor.

The positioning of the boy in the scene ended up being even better than I had expected. The negative space in the image is perfect as the light-coloured floor and pillars in the background contrast against the boy’s dark-coloured clothing and bicycle. Due to the faster shutter speed and longer focal length of the 85mm lens, the other objects in this scene are not in focus, placing an even greater emphasis on the boy.

Street Portrait [Ilford FP4+, 1/350 s, EF 85mm f/1.8 USM]

This photo was also shot in front of the town hall, but on the other side on the bench. I was watching the trams pass frequently and figured that I would be able to work with the windows to sub-frame the passengers within the tram. I noticed this scene as the tram had pulled up to the station at the perfect location.

The metal pole and seat inside the tram, the border of the tram window, and the metal framing around the glass pane all combine together to form a frame for this “portrait” of a woman. I had intentionally metered so that the woman would be underexposed and appear as a silhouette against the white pillar in the background.

Unlike the previous photo where I did not have time to react, I had a bit more time here and noticed another pedestrian walking down the ramp from the station. I had adjusted the shutter speed to be able to freeze the motion as well as capture both the man and the woman in focus, and waited patiently for the man to come into the frame. Both people have similar postures, but the bright visage of the man provides contrast against the darkness of the silhouette.

Child-like Curiosity [Ilford FP4+, 1/250 s, EF 85mm f/1.8 USM]

In this scene, I was walking along the sidewalk and I noticed a little girl walking alongside her father. They had stopped at the bus stop and were likely waiting for the bus. I realised that the bus stop would be perfect for framing subjects and possibly be a subject in itself.

The adults are obscured by the signs and supports of the bus stop, leaving the children as the focus of the scene. The girl is interested in something outside of the frame while the child in the stroller is preoccupied with something in front of him.

I attempted to use the rule of odds in this composition with the three panels of glass of the bus stop. The scene may be enhanced with the addition of a third child in the last glass panel. Of course, part of the fun of street photography is unpredictability and oftentimes I find that the scenes are not exactly as I would like them to be.

City in Motion [Ilford FP4+, 1/2 s, EF 85mm f/1.8 USM]

I had wanted to capture the motion of the city while still having a stationary subject. Due to the placement of the tram tracks and the openness of the roads, many pedestrians were interrupted momentarily in their crossing of the streets by the crossing of the trams or other vehicles. With this knowledge, I took an opportunity to photograph a man who was waiting for a tram to pass before continuing on with his journey.

The difficulty of photographing motion in the scene arose from the high amount of light present. I did not have a neutral density filter available so I would need to use the smallest possible aperture in order to achieve usable images with slower shutter speeds. Thankfully, the slower film speed of FP4+ was a huge boon for longer exposures even in the daylight.

The blurred movement of the tram, together with the darkened trunks of the trees, frame the man perfectly. The trio of trees to the right also draws attention away from the other parts of the frame.

I feel that the man represented myself. While I was remaining stationary and resting on a bench, the world wasn’t going to stop and would continue on moving without me.

I hope you have enjoyed these images and I look forward to sharing more photos from this trip in the future.

The images have been shot on a Canon EOS Elan 7e (EOS 30) film camera using either a Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM lens. The expired Ilford FP4+ film stock (expired in 1996) was shot and developed at 125 ISO. The majority of the photos have been taken using shutter priority with an adjustment of EV +0.5. I have only listed the shutter speeds for the images as I do not recall any of the corresponding apertures.

Experiment with – Lomochrome Purple

18th Sep 201924th Sep 2019 by Alex, posted in Photography

Hey there, Mr. Green Sky

Lomochrome Purple is a colour negative film stock produced by Lomography, a Viennese-based company focusing on analogue cameras and photography. This film promises weird and wacky colour shifts while still maintaining fine grains and sharp contrasts. After seeing the results from many other analogue photographers, I knew I had to try it out myself and experience the world through Lomochrome Purple.

According to Lomography, the film exhibits different effects based on the ISO at which the film is being metered. I chose to shoot the film at ISO 400, which provided me with the flexibility to shoot scenes with lower available light or the fast-paced action of the street. The other suggested speeds, ISO 200 and ISO 100, would have resulted in additional exposures of 1 and 2 stops respectively. It was unclear how the choice of ISO would affect the final images so the only option was to experiment.

After developing the film, I was surprised at the resulting negatives and the scans. The lighter greens had transformed into lavender or lilac hues while the darker greens became indigo. Blues had become greens while yellows became pinks or magenta. Reds, pinks, and oranges appeared to maintain their hues.

I suspect the colour shifts are a result of different colour dyes being used for the blue, green, and red layers in the colour film — with the colour dyes for the blue and green layers changed and the red layer’s dye remaining the same compared to C-41 process films without the colour-shift effect. However, I won’t delve too deeply into this topic as it is purely speculation.

Interestingly, there is a yellow base for the Lomochrome Purple instead of the red-orange base found on most other colour negative films. Yet, I am not certain if this base colour has any contribution towards the observed colour shifts in the images.

Aside from shooting still subjects, I was also interested in the film’s suitability for street photography.

While these images were shot in harsh sunlight, the muted purple hues soften the scenes and provide a calming effect to the viewer. The film is able to modify the busy scene in the midday sun into one that is tranquil and bathed in a purple cast.

Familiar scenes are rendered alien due to the unfamiliar colours, and this departure from reality offers an almost otherworldly experience in purples. It has the ability to breathe new life into otherwise mundane scenes.

Overall, Lomochrome Purple is a very interesting film stock. The colour shifts provide interesting and surprising results which require more experimentation. I believe that this film lends itself to fine art or experimental photography but also has its place in street photography.

I look forward to shooting more of this film in the future and I hope you enjoyed my first foray into Lomochrome Purple.

The images have been shot on a Canon EOS Elan 7e (EOS 30) film camera using a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM II lens. Lomography’s Lomochrome Purple film stock was shot and developed at 400 ISO. The majority of the photos have been taken using shutter priority with an adjustment of EV +0.

The film was developed using Tetanal’s C-41 kit developer for 3:15 minutes at 38C. Blix was applied to the film for 4:00 minutes at 38C. The film was rinsed with water for 3:00 minutes at 30C, followed by a stabiliser for 1:00 minute at 25C. The resulting negatives were scanned using the Epson V550 and edited in Photoshop.

On a roll – Expired Ilford FP4+

12th Sep 201924th Sep 2019 by Alex, posted in Photography

Ilford’s FP4+ is a medium speed panchromatic black and white negative film with a fine grain structure. Like its sibling, HP5+, the film exhibits a medium level of contrast and pleasing midtones.

While browsing eBay, I had stumbled upon a deal that I just couldn’t pass up and obtained a 400 ft spool of expired FP4+ in 35mm format. Given the expiry date of 1996 and the one stop per decade rule, the film should have been rated at 25 – 50 ISO compared to the 125 ISO of a fresh roll of FP4+. However, I had previously tested the film at the box speed of 125 ISO and the film did not appear to suffer from a reduction in sensitivity even after all these years.

Looks like it’s from way before 1996

I shot the film during a sunny day trip in Berwick where the low to medium film speed wouldn’t be too restrictive. I decided to shoot the film at 125 ISO but metered for the shadows to compensate for the possible slower film sensitivity. The bright sunlight also allowed me to use faster shutter speeds while still having narrower apertures to keep the majority of the objects in the scenes in relative focus.

I set out to capture scenes with high contrast and detail in order to test out the film’s capabilities. To be quite honest, I did not have any particular scenes in mind and just shot whatever caught my interest.

Being a slower film stock, I needed to be careful with my selection of subjects as I would not be able to shoot fast-moving subjects without having some degree of motion blur. I was lucky to be able to catch the butterfly at rest as it was stretching out its wings to absorb the sunlight.

The film is also great for capturing scenes with patterns and textures as showcased in the following images.

Although I chose to slightly overexpose the shots with an intent to adjust the images in post, the expired film was still quite versatile and handled a few stops of under or overexposure with ease. Having previously shot fresh FP4+, the expired film yielded a comparatively softer level of contrast while maintaining a similar level of fineness in the grain.

My choice of developer was Ilfosol 3 as this developer provides a high level of detail and sharpness with films shot at box speed. The already beautiful rendition of the midtones in the scans meant that I had to spend a minimal amount of effort on editing.

This particular spool of FP4+ has aged like a fine wine. The reduction in contrast in the final images is desirable and the film retains most of its positive aspects such as the fine grain and film speed. Due to these attractive qualities, I look forward to shooting more of this expired film stock in the future.

The images have been shot on a Canon EOS Elan 7e (EOS 30) film camera using a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM II lens. The film stock used was an expired 35mm Ilford FP4+ film stock (expired in 1996) and developed according to ISO 125. The majority of the photos have been taken using manual settings with a tendency for overexposure by 0.5 – 1 stops.

The film was developed using Ilford Ilfosol 3 at a dilution of 1+9 for 5:00 minutes at 20C. Ilford Ilfostop was used to halt development for 0:30 minutes at 20C. The film was then fixed with Ilford Rapid Fixer for 2:30 minutes at 20C, followed by a water rinse for 3:00 minutes at 25C. The resulting negatives were scanned using the Epson V550 and edited in Photoshop.

Experiment with – Bleach Bypass

23rd Aug 20199th Oct 2019 by Alex, posted in Photography

I had heard about the bleach bypass process before and was interested in trying it for myself with street photography. The result was high contrast and colour shifts, perfect for the unpredictability of the street.

Under standard C-41 (Colour negative) development, the film undergoes a C-41 developer step, a bleach and fixer step (or sometimes in a single step with a Bleach Fix (BLIX) mix), and finally a stabilisation step.

In the C-41 developer step, the activated silver in the film are developed into metallic silver and colour dyes are activated to produce the colour negative. The bleach step causes the developed silver to return the undeveloped state in which it can be removed by the fixer. The fixer then removes all of the silver (since all of it should be in the undeveloped state) and only the colour dyes remain.

However, the bleach bypass process bypasses the bleach step and proceeds straight to the fixing step. By skipping the bleach step, the negative retains the metallic silver particles and the result is brighter highlights and mid tones while the shadows remain relatively unchanged.

Seeing that the day was going to be sunny, I had set out to photograph scenes which had medium to high contrast to test out the effects of the bleach bypass process.

Unedited [left] and edited [right] versions of Man with an Umbrella

In this first set of images, I was drawn to a man who was holding up a yellow umbrella in the broad daylight. I realised that this scene would be perfect to showcase the effects of the bleach bypass on the highlights in the umbrella.

In the unedited version, the entire scene appears to be overexposed due to the silver content in both the highlights and mid tones, with the greatest overexposure occurring in the highlights. There is also a slight colour shift which may arise from the silver content or it might be related to the fixing step (as the Ilford Rapid Fixer has a lower pH value than the bleach fix in the Tetenal kit).

In the edited image, I was able to correct for the overexposure in the mid tones by reducing the brightness and applying a slight colour correction. However, I was not able to recover any details in the highlights as they were complete blown out.

Unedited image to showcase differences in highlights and shadows

In this unedited image, there is a high amount of contrast between the highlights and shadows even before touching the contrast sliders. The shadow areas contain less silver and should appear similar to the shadow areas of an image obtained with the bleach step preserved. The highlights and mid tones in the negative space are used to place greater emphasis on the darker subjects of the amp and instrument case.

With these results in mind, I would need to shoot the film with an underexposure of at least 1 or 2 stops if I wanted to avoid completely blowing out my highlights. However, the blown out highlights might be desirable in scenes where I am able to single out the subject like in the photo of the man with the umbrella.

The majority of the photographs I had taken were in sunny areas where there were harsh shadows and bright highlights. It may be of interest to try the bleach bypass process with scenes where there is a lower amount of light or contrast.

Overall, I enjoyed the results and will continue to use the bleach bypass process in the future.

The images have been shot on a Canon EOS Elan 7e (EOS 30) film camera using a Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM lens. The film stock used was 35mm Kodak Vision 3 250D (5207/7207) shot at 250 ISO. The majority of the photos have been taken using shutter priority with exposure compensation set to +0.

As this is a motion picture film, the remjet layer had to be removed before the actual development process. The film was developed using the Tetenal Colortec C-41 kit colour developer for 3:15 minutes at 38C. The film was then fixed with Ilford Rapid Fixer for 5:00 minutes at 38C, followed by a water rinse for 5:00 minutes at 30C. Finally, the film was stabilised using the Tetenal Colortec C-41 kit stabiliser for 1:00 minute at 20C. The resulting negatives were scanned using the Epson V550 and edited in Photoshop.