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Mama

In 2020, in the first week of the pandemic lockdown, I was sick with Covid, and my partner Magda, said she felt like she was pregnant. She went out to Tesco, as I lay on the couch, got a pregnancy test and soon we found out we were going to be parents.

At the time, I wanted to change the way I was shooting and start shooting portraits. I thought photos of Magda throughout her pregnancy would be a great start. We were in lockdown throughout most of the year, so we had plenty of time. Learn how to shoot film, work with square format and start to develop my understanding of a slower approach to taking photos.

I wanted to work on a more considered set of photos, less snapshots and more arranged. Arranging the photos instead of finding them. I had never worked like this, so it was a real change in approach. I also wanted to consider light more and play with natural light in the different shots.

This was a real personal project for me and feel like, in the future, it will give us a look back to this time, place and memories. This project shows Magda as she became visibly pregnant, although in the early photos you can’t see any physical signs, its was always on our minds.

I’ve made a book of these photos since I wanted all of these images to live in the real world and be something. These photos really want to be printed and I feel like the book became what this body of work needed to become.

In the end, our beautiful beautiful daughter, Isabel was born and our lifes changed beyond anything I could imagine.

Crete Panoramics

I was in Crete on holiday a few months back and have finally got round to posting them here!

Below are a selection of photos using the Noblex 135 Panoramic camera. I shot a few different types of film; Ektar, Fujifilm Supreme Xtra 400 and Lomo Color Negative 800. I think these are some of the most successful panos to date with the film camera.

I also scanned them all in my self which took a while...

Kodak Ektar 100 Film

I tried out Ektar 100 on this trip as I had read that it is a very saturated film and was good for sunrises. I was heading towards good weather and sun. I was not dissapointed. This film seems to have really captured a light quality that I’ve not managed to get on digital. The shots feel sunny and warm and there is a brightness and dynamic range that you would struggle to get in all but the top end digital cameras.

What do you think?

Below is a selection of the 4 rolls of film I shot.

So, on to the shots!

I love the colours in this shot. The pink building and the blue sky work well together and the vibrancy of the light is really pronounced. Ektar100.

I think that this is a situation where the distorted horizon with the Noblex 135 actually works. I like the placement of all the people and I like the colour of the sea. I don’t think the colours are perfect but I probably need more practice scanning film. Ektar100.

A moment in the street in Hania. I wish I had the guy silouetted against the light, instead of sitting back in the dark street there. I’m still a bit slow with the camera since I need to maunally meter the shots. Next time eh! Ektar100.

This is a view in the Samaria gorge, looking up the gorge from an elevated point in the trail. I like the contrast of the colours of the trees and the ground on the left but i’m still undecided on the lensflare through the middle of the shot. Think its a bit distracting. Ektar100.

This is a shot in the Samaria gorge in Crete. This looks up to the narrowest gap in the gorge, which is about 3 metres across. There were a large amount of people doing the 16km trek and I hope this shows the busyness of the path. The warm light trickling through the gap is a nice contrast to the greyness of the foreground. Never do a gorge walk in sandles. Ektar100.

Loutro is a town of, according to my Lonely Planet 56 people. There are no roads and you can access it by ferry or walking. Great place for a quiet day! This was first thing in the morning as the sun was starting to rise. A lot of metering was needed and waiting for enough light for this shot. Ektar 100.

Early in the morning, looking out towards the rising sun, the sun just peaked over the distant hills and illuminated this scene. The Ektar 100 film really worked here.

Another shot from that morning. This is a nice motivation for me to get out of bed in the future and go to shoot the sunrise. The tones that the film produces are great! Ektar 100.

This row of Vespas are pretty cool. Think I could have done a bit more with the background and less with the pavement. Maybe get a bit closer in the future. Ektar 100.

I really like the light quality of this shot. The colours are nice and its an unusual panorama. I think there is a nice balance between the two buildings in the shot. Ektar 100.

Quiet scene in the street in Paleohora. This really shows the lens distortion of the Noblex 135 camera but I still holds together. Ektar 100.

Paleohora beach. This shot works quite well for being around mid-day. I like the water patterns around the rocks. Lomo Color negative 400.

Magda up on the fort in Paleohora. This composition is quite pleasing. Not too sure if I really needed to have the building in the right of the image but I like the soft light throughout this shot. Lomo Color Negative 400.

This layout of structures is unusual and would be hard to capture in a digital panoramic. The soft evening light on the church is nice. I need to shoot more shots like this in the future. Lomo Color negative 400.

Finally, a galleon sailing off into the distance. All sillouettes in this shot. Keeping the horizon close to horizontal works better for this type of shots.

Noblex 135 and Portra 160 in Shoreham

I headed down to Shoreham-by-Sea a while ago and thought I’d shoot some Portra 160 film in the Noblex. Got a nice day for it!

Portra 160

This is the first roll of Portra I’ve shot and I’m quite happy with how the film handled the colour! It is quite naturalistic but its also got a quality that I don’t think you see in digital. You hardly get any situations where you get clipping of highlights, all tones are smooth and soft and the tonality is very clean and realistic. I’m going to keep testing different kinds of film here but I’m interested in coming back to shoot more of this film and getting to know it better.

The grain is quite fine on this film which adds to the sharpness in the shots but the grain doesn’t distract from the images, I think.

At the moment, I do prefer a more stylised look when shooting film and am going to keep on shooting different film types to keep on expanding my understanding of film types. I think I need to choose the film I’m using based on what I’m shooting so I’ll come back to Portra at a later date.

I first stopped off at the boats that get stranded on the gravel along the river. There were some Korean women collecting some shellfish in the pools there.

I WOULD RECOMMEND TO CLICK ON THE PHOTOS BELOW TO SEE THEM AS LARGE AS POSSIBLE

I like this photo overall. The woman under the rope is a bit too small but it is an interesting idea. Think I’ll have to go back to Shoreham in different lighting conditions in the future.

I like the detail on the boat here and the girl in the pool but there is a lot of empty space in the left of the shot that could have been used.

The seaweed is nice in the pool and the blue reflection ties the pools and the sky together. I think the horizon works ok in this one, possibly because the buildings get bigger on the right, to stop it seeming so curved.

The scanning of this one is a bit off I think. The colours just don’t look right. Still need a bit of practice.

Scanning Film

This is also the first roll of film I’ve scanned myself. It has taken a lot of reading, research and testing but I think I’ve got there.

I’ve decided to do it myself so I’ve got control of the process and I don’t need to rely on someone elses interpretation of how my images should be scanned. Its going to take a bit of time to really understand this process and I might write up a blogpost about it in the future, once I have more experience.

After the river and the beach, I headed along to the House boats that are moored in the sand. There are a lot of very interestingly designed boats there. A lot of artists have moved into these boats and have decorated them uniquely. I think, each boat clearly shows a lot of the character of the resident on board. This is a fascinating spot and I think I’ll have to revisit in the future.

The colours are a bit out on this one too, mainly because I overexposed the shot quite a bit and had to bring it back down. There is a lot of empty space in the middle of this image and I could have framed the bomb so it stood out from the background more. I think the people in these boats are very creative! I love the car embedded in the boat on the left!

I like the sign with the womans name in this shot, the mail box and the plants growing along the walkway. It really gives an idea of the person who lives there.

Not too sure if a panorama would be necessary for this photo.

This boat at the end of the row of boats is surrounded by the mud. Generally, I think that the photos work better from this camera when you can’t see the curve of the horizon too clearly. The distortion can become the focus instead of the subject matter. Will need to bear this in mind.

Although the horizon is bent in this one, I think the overall composition works. For all you flat earthers out there, this shot conclusively proves that the earth is not flat!