[Photography] I Have Burned My Tomorrow And I Stand Inside Today.

The Breakwater in Bude, Cornwall.

I've longed for years to get this shot, the Breakwater at sunset. I've seen the Breakwater all my life, different times to day, different times of year. I've seen water rushing over it on a high, stormy tide, I've seen it it sitting in the middle of the sand at low tide. I've walked to the end of it and up the steps.

I've shot it before, just after sunset in May 2009. The sky was pink, blue and purple.

But this was the first time I've seen the sunset behind it over the Atlantic. My Dad and I had originally planned to drive to Widemouth and get some sunset shots from the top of the cliffs there, but as we drove through the town we saw the orange glow along the canal and decided to stop there instead. So glad we did, Im really happy with this image. I shot the sunset of loads of cameras and set-ups. Digital wide-angle, digital ultra-wide, film slr, cross processed film... even on Polaroid Blue as featured in my previous update. This was the one I was happy with the most though.

The sunset was nice and slow and gave the clouds time to drift slowly in and out of the scene. The seagull sitting on the pole stayed there until the last light had gone and we had stopped taking photos and then flew off.

[Imported from old photoblog]

[Photography] Coaxing The Shadows Back To Let The Sun’s Light Shine On Through.

So this is Polaroid Blue film. Its packfilm (or peelapart, depending on which school of thought you are) meaning that its not like the integral stuff people are used to with the Polaroid name. You have to take the shot, pull the film out, leave it for some time and them peel the positive from the negative, and it is awesome fun to use.

Even more fun when it is like the Blue film. You see, the blue film is meant to be monochromatic film, but you will notice that within the blue colour cast you can see hints of greens, browns and reds.



Take the sunset shot above. That was taken looking towards the breakwater in Bude, Cornwall. As soon as I saw what the film did, I knew I wanted to capture a sunset with it. It came out exactly as I wanted it to.

I've also noticed that the hints of other colours come through more if you leave the film longer between taking it out and peeling it. Of course, that means richer blues if you peel it quickly. Sometimes you cant help but peel it right away; other times there is no way you can peel it (out on Bodmin Moor for example) so you have to leave it until you get home. its part of the charm of the film.



[Imported from old photoblog]

[Photography] While Down Below The Trees, Bathed In Cool Breeze.

Finally got round to shooting some PX100 on my SX-70. I missed out on the FirstFlush but managed to get some of the early second version from a UK retailer (who I wont be using again - too slow). I had used the PX600 on an old 600 CoolCam and I loved the results, so expected even better from PX100 in the better SX-70. But I found it really hard to work with. I didn't help myself by forgetting to take along something to shield the shot from the sun with, so I had to resort to pulling it out quickly and shoving it in my back pocket, which worked to some extent but it was a hot day and the contact with my body gave all the shots a red hue which faded over the course of a few hours.

Beside all that, I managed to get 4 shots that I thought were "keeper" on a trip to Pinch Hill with my Dad. Pinch is in Marhamchurch, Cornwall; just of the A39 as you travel north towards Bude. I've walked round there loads with my parents as it is one of the places they walk their dog. Lovely place with a high hill on one side and a great stream at the bottom of the valley. All the trees were in full leaf in the height of summer and the place was so peaceful. I also fired off some Polaroid Blue on the Land 100 and some digital shots. There might have been some 35mm film and Holga stuff too but I cant remember!

I've got no more Px100 left now as I used the pack up. Not sure if I'm going to get any more as I've got 2 packs of PX600 and I prefer using it in the 600 camera.

[Imported from old photoblog]

[Photography] Rise the Ghosts Of War.

A series of photos from the old abandoned RAF base at Davdistow in Cornwall. The main focus of these shots is the old Control Tower that sits at the top of the main runaway. There are some smaller buildings at the other end that I will explore next time I'm down that way.

The RAF base at Davidstow was created in 1942 and closed in 1945. After, it was used for a short period as a racing circuit, hosting a few minor non-championship Formula 1 races in the 50s. Today it is common land, generally consumed within the overall Bodmin Moor area. The runways are still there but in bad condition and are now home to ponies and sheep.

The interior is covered in garffiti from various people at various times (I spotted tags marked as English, French and Argentinian). Most of the ground floor is covered in sheep droppings and wool where the local sheep have sheltered.

Upstairs is more clean and more open to the elements. There is a stunning view, from what I can assume was the main control room, out over Bodmin to Rough Tor and Brown Willy.

I only took shots on the Polaroid SX-70 and the Canon 400D as it was too windy to bother about getting other cameras out. Even then, I only took a single shot on the SX-70. The Canon shots are with the Sigma 10-20 ultrawide lens.

[Imported from old photoblog]

[Photography] I See Your Hair Is Burnin' Hills Are Filled With Fire.

We had the perfect summers day a few weekends back. It was at the end of a hot week, and the temperature dipped just enough to make it a good day for a walk. The colours in the fields were lovely and the Holga caught them so well. I'm actually impressed with the ISO 400 film here, the Holga has a fixed shutter speed and aperture and I was convinced the shots would be washed out and overexposed at 400. But no, once again the latitude of Fujifilm films impresses me.

I had noticed this before from Fujifilm 135 film I had put through my OM1. They coped better capturing errors in my exposure settings than other monochrome films I was trying out (Kodak, Ilford and Agfa).

Of course, I noticed all this after I had order some ISo100 120 film to put through the Holga in Cornwall. Hey ho!

[Imported from old photoblog]

[Photography] They Talk Of Days For Which They Sit And Wait When All Will Be Revealed.

Getting to grips with using the Polaroid SX-70 I think now. It's not that using it is really different from any other camera (point, focus, shoot); its just those little things about different cameras that you have to remember when using them. With the SX-70, it moves a fair bit when I fire that red shutter button. And I mean a fair bit, the mirror inside creates from big movements. When you add a film of ISO100 I ended up with some blur in my initial shots.

Now, give the camera a good light source and hold it steady and you are working. Currently got it loaded with a nice pack of "Edge Cut" ATZ from TheImpossibleProject. Half a pack in and Im liking the colours. Not as green as I was getting with ATZ, and seems to be sharper too.

This shot is probably my favourite Polaroid I've taken to date. It seems to just work well and came out exactly how I wanted it to.

Another shot from the same day out in Thorndon Woods in Brentwood is below. I like this one too, but I didn't see the tree reaching in to the frame when I took it.

[Imported from old photoblog]

[Photography] Soon You'll Leave and Then I'll Lose You, Still We're Going Round.

Got a large batch of Holga films back from FujiDIS, some of which were not good, some better and some excellent. Looks like my Holga is playing up a bit as a couple of shots look like it was stuck on 'bulb' setting (when I definitely wasn't); on the plus side I'm finally getting some semblance of light-leaks and "lomo" colours. Maybe these beauties need a period of running in? 26 keepers out of 48 shots is not a bad ratio at all.

The carousel was at Kensington Gardens when we visited there a few weeks back. The colours were stunning and I had to get a few shots of it on the Holga. It's not often you see a really nice old fashioned carousel like this.

A Polaroid SX-70 with ATZ version of the shame horse. notice how the colours on the ATZ are really muted, and most of the purple is cancelled out entirely.

[Imported from old photoblog]