I posted here recently about a new (very old) camera. I haven’t had a chance before now to scan in the first roll of film. It was a real pleasure going back to something so basic. I love the tones on the new Portra 400 film too. Here are two of my favourites:

and a very happy New Year to everyone.

I shot Karen and Simons wedding 3 years ago and was delighted to be asked back to capture some shots of six month old Kevin for Christmas. Capturing good images of kids of this age isn’t easy but I find working with natural light in their home environment pays off. Putting kids in a studio environment with lights, backgrounds and all sorts of props is a bit strange and uncomfortable for them. It doesn’t exactly seem real to me either!

It’s been a while since I posted some more work from 2011 but I’ve compiled a few randoms from the past few months below. This first shot is my favourite since my last post. It’s a very simple portrait and there is nothing special about its set up. I like it though because it captures a look reminiscent of the 1950’s.

Many images from that time were just the classic portraits and they didn’t have much by way of animation, in part due to the limitations of the equipment of the time. I think it captures Elaine’s theme perfectly (which she pulled off very well I think!):

Here are the others. Use the multi-directional arrow in the bottom right of the frame to go full screen:

Big talent, big character, huge loss to the sport.

R.I.P.

I really miss using film cameras and the deliberate way that they force you to work. Of course you can still buy professional film cameras (only a handful) but my latest purchase below is well over 30 years old and is an engineering work of art. It was beautifully built with levers, springs, dials and gears back in the day when machines were built to last. It’s practically mint as I was lucky enough to come across a buyer selling from a collection so it never saw much use. It’s all mechanical except the meter but I have a handheld meter anyway, so it doesn’t even need batteries. So much has changed in the way modern digital kit that I normally use works but amazingly despite all the advances, the basic concept and controls are still the same.

I started out using something of a similar vintage, so I can’t wait to run a few rolls through it. Film has a certain quality that is hard to describe or replicate using digital and skin tones have always been superior on film. I’ve a few projects to get stuck in to over the Winter which lend themselves to working on something like this so I can’t wait to get out and start using it.