Another roll of HP5 with the Olympus Mju ii

After discovering that yes, my old Olympus Mju II does indeed work, I put another roll of Ilford HP5 through its paces to see what I could come up with on my commute. Again, it’s another mixed bag of images, which I guess I need to learn is par for the course with film photography. But the key for me is to keep taking it out, keep trying shots and keep trying out new approaches. I’m never going to take 36 bangers, I just need to accept that there will just be a handful that come off, whilst the majority…don’t. I mean, it’s quite a pricey endeavour when you look at it like that, but sooner or later its bound to pay off, right? RIGHT?

This time I tried a different lab for processing: AG Photographic in Birmingham. Coming to a grand total of £24.43, the processing included a high resolution 8bit JPEG scan (with no adjustments), negatives sleeved in Kenro translucent paper ring binder sleeving, and scans delivered via email. Fairly pricey, I guess. But the service was excellent. I sent the film for processing on Wednesday 11th January. They received them on the 12th and by the 13th I was able to download the films on my iPad, transfer to Lightroom and make some light edits. Less than 48hrs between posting them and receiving them. Now that’s pretty impressive! Maybe I caught them on a quiet week and turnaround was quicker than is typical, but less than 48hrs was pretty impressive and helped soothe the pain of the bill (again, something I’d probably need to get used to anyway with film photography).

So, that’s the processing, what about the images…ok…let’s dive into them…

As per the previous batch, there were a number of photos where the focus just wasn’t quite on it:

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I’m still yet to figure out why I’ve not quite nailed the focus in these shots. I tried to focus on a particular spot using the crosshair, moved the camera and fired the shot but something is obviously not quite right. The one above was shot in daylight (albeit around sunrise) and the person was walking through the shot, not running. Maybe it’s down to the camera (an easy excuse which I have no shame in employing when it suits!), or maybe I just screwed up the shot. I dunno.

That said, some other shots that missed focus seemed less of a problem to me, for example, the two shots below taken in the rain:

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Even though in both of those I missed focus, I kinda don’t mind and I’m not particularly unhappy with them. They could be better, but I’ll take them given I was shooting quickly and in the rain. The top one I thought I was much closer when I took the shot than it turns out. I guess I’m still judging the focal length.

Others came out pretty sharp which I was pleased with, even if the compositions could have been better.

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And there were a couple of experiments that didn’t quite come off (but I’m cool with that, I’d rather try things out and see what happens).

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And then there was the odd shot that I was just really pleased with…

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So in short, still got a lot to learn. I’ve got a third film on the go now, so we’ll see what comes of that.

I’ve put together a selection of images in the gallery below, would be interested to hear which you like (if any!) or any other constructive comments you may have.

Scotland, family discoveries and a bit of photography...

A couple of weeks back I took myself off on a long drive to Scotland for a few days away. For those that aren’t aware, a few years before my mother passed away, she had managed to track down her biological mother. Sadly her mother had already passed away by the time she discovered who she was (she had been told that her mother died in a car crash when she was young, it turned out she actually passed away 25 years ago so mum had missed the chance to meet her), but she had also managed to track down a brother (shared mother, different father).

After mum passed away, I had intended to go up to Scotland and learn more about her biological mother and meet family members we didn’t know we had. The opportunity finally presented itself to me this summer, so I booked a few nights in a Premier Inn in Dundee (topped up with a few nights staying at a good friend’s house) and made plans to make the trip north (a drive of approximately 500 miles!). Of course, this also presented an opportunity to explore new locations and give my photography a bit of a boost (summer is a difficult time of year for sunrise and sunset photohgraphy). Not only was it an opportunity to take photos in some new locations, I also used it as an opportunity to shoot a vlog.

Edinburgh at night Calton Hill.

Making a vlog has been something I’ve been thinking about for some time. I’m not wholly comfortable with the idea, I’m not keen on being filmed and putting my face out there. I’ve always much preferred writing as a means of communication, for a variety of reasons (the ability to more carefully craft what I want to communicate, for example). I also wasn’t sure I had the required equipment to do it well. I’ve done a little bit of filming at work for things here and there, but they have been made using a smartphone. I don’t have mics or a camera dedicated to video. However, I purchased a Manfrotto mini-tripod and smartphone clamp a little while back thinking they might help in terms of recording footage, so I thought that maybe the combination of a decent smartphone camera and a mini tripod might make it do-able.

Something I have tried to always do since taking my photography more seriously, is to take on new challenges. Whether it be going up to people in the street and asking if I can take their picture, or trying to take candid street photographs, I’m keen to try to learn new skills and take my photography further. Of course, shooting video doesn’t necessarily help with my photography, but I figured it would be good to learn some new skills and try to shoot and edit a short video to see how I get on (there may be additional benefits in my workplace too).

The Angel of the North.

I tried throughout the trip to take a variety of different types of video. I shot some time lapse video of the journey there, and a couple of locations I visited, as well as shooting footage of me talking to camera. One thing I found tricky throughout was trying to remember to shoot video footage wherever I found myself. My priority was always the photography, the video was a secondary element to documenting my trip. This meant I sometimes missed out on recording things that I think would have been good additions to the fininshed video, but I was fairly relaxed about that, not least because I wanted to keep the video relatively short.

Editing the video was a whole different ballgame. I’ve plenty of experience of using iMovie on iOS, but I’d never played around with iMovie on a Mac, which was far more complex in what it could do. I found some elements of creating the video a bit frustrating (sometimes trimming elements seemed more difficult than they should have been - but I’m not sure if that was down to me or the software, and I found it difficult to insert text elements exactly as I’d like), and the overall process took much longer than I anticipated. I think I must have spent a couple of hours playing around with the footage and getting it just right (and even then I have noticed some errors since I published it). One thing I was quite lucky with was the soundtrack. Apple provide an increasing number of free music via iMovie that you can incorporate into your project. Music can be an absolute nightmare in terms of repurposing on video, not least due to licensing, and most options for freely available music come with the requirement to pay or subscribe to a service (as far as I can tell anyway - do let me know in the comments if there are other options!). Fortunately there was at least one track I could use in iMovie that seemed to me to match the mode of the piece.

I’m not sure whether this will be the first and only or first of many, but I think I learnt a lot about putting one together, even if this one wasn’t a complete success. And, more than anything else, it’s a nice way to document the trip and the things I learnt about my family, not least for our children who were unable to join me on this occasion. Hopefully we’ll have a family holiday in Scotland in due course. Not sure about going for an 11hr car journey with two kids in the car though…

YouTube channels that have helped me progress

One of the things that I’ve found really helpful in the past year as I’ve been learning the ropes about photography are photography YouTube channels. These have been invaluable for me in terms of getting me to think about my photography more, particularly in terms of composition and technique. Something I have been keen to do since taking a Shaw Academy basic photography course is to keep progressing and learning, vlogs have been really helpful in this process. (I’ve also become a regular buyer of Digital Camera magazine, but there’s something about vlogs that I find particularly helpful.)

Given I’ve found these vlogs useful (and given I’m trying to get back into the habit of blogging!), I thought I’d share a list of the vlogs I’ve subscribed to. Do let me know in the comments if there are others you have found useful!

1.     The Art of Photography – This is the first vlog that I subscribed to on YouTube…albeit in a weird way. I’d subscribed to the channel via iTunes as a podcast and, after a while, thought it was a bit weird it was rarely update and yet Ted often talked about stuff that seemed to have happened previously that I was completely unaware of. Eventually I twigged that what I should subscribe to is his YouTube channel, and it has been an invaluable source of information. Ted’s channel is exceptionally well produced (many times looking like a professional documentary, particularly when out in the field) and his passion and enthusiasm are infectious.  He’s got me thinking a lot about composition as well as about ensuring that I never lose sight of the love of photography, that I don’t fall into it being a routine or something that causes anxiety. As part of his channel, Ted also does a series of interviews with respected photographers. I admit I’ve not really checked into these yet, but it’s something I intend to start doing as I feel engaging with the styles and approaches of respected professionals can only aid my development. If you haven’t already, I’d definitely recommend checking out Ted’s channel.

2.     Nigel Danson – Nigel is a landscape photographer, one that not long ago gave up his career to be a professional. As someone interested in landscape photography myself, I have found Nigel’s videos to be essential to my development and understanding of great landscape photography (although I have a way to go until I get close to his quality!). Nigel covers everything from his spectacular field trips (he even uses a drone to produce his films which produces breath-taking results) to tips about equipment. I’ve got to admit, I often watch his videos with awe and a degree of nervousness (I’m scared of heights and often his ‘standing on the edge of a mountain looking down’ viewpoints fill me with dread…and cause me to doubt the extent to which I can take great landscapes). But I have learnt a lot about style, technique and composition from his films and, like Ted, his enthusiasm and passion can’t help but make you want to go out and experiment.

3.     Jamie Windsor – Jamie has a very different style to Ted and Nigel, but he is no less passionate and engaging. Jamie takes a rather relaxed, offbeat look at photography, primarily focusing on techniques rather than kit. He also produces some challenging videos that really encourage you to critically reflect on your photography (eg “Why BAD Photographers THINK They’re Good”, “You’re NOT as TALENTED as you think” and “Why WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY is BORING (and how to change that)”). I particularly enjoyed his video on approaching strangers for portraits (something that he, as I am, was very nervous and reticent about doing), it gave me plenty to think about in terms of how I would approach street portraiture (although I’ve still not done it yet!). If you want something a bit more informal, yet still inspiring, I’d definitely recommend Jamie’s channel.

4.     Mike Browne – Mike is someone I think of as the kind of traditional idea of a photographer (although that doesn’t mean his photography is old fashioned by any stretch). Mike shoots his videos in a very professional way, but they still have the feel of someone who isn’t a polished performer, which is great, it feels much more natural than some other photography channels. Mike makes mistakes, he sometimes writes notes that he refers to during his videos, but none of this detracts from the videos he makes, if anything it enhances them. He recently ran a chat on growing confidence (I missed it but caught up on the chat afterwards) and it really got me thinking about my own photography, my own issues with confidence and some of the ways I need to think about overcoming my fears and taking my photography on a level. Mike’s revelations about his own fears and lack of confidence certainly helped to make him appear a much more natural presenter than some others you find online. And, well, that’s quite refreshing when polished performance is seen as an essential component of a good video, when the reality is that good information makes a good video.

Anyway, they’re the main channels I follow, what about you? Are there great photography channels on YouTube that you find useful? Do you have a channel, or thinking of starting one? I’d love to hear your recommendations in the comments below!