What happened there? The last thing I knew I was writing a post, then 5 months shoot by! And some pretty big (ish) stuff has happened.
Firstly, I have been accepted to study Architecture at University next year! It’s so exciting and I just can’t wait. I have been doing a lot of Architectural Projects over the last couple of months and have just loved it all. I am currently doing my Final Major Project for my Art Foundation, designing a sustainable house, so it is all very exciting.
But the main event: I bought a film camera. And not just any film camera, but the daddy of analogue – the Nikon F3! It is wonderful. And I’m not just saying that. The build quality of this thing is second to none, and it is just beautifully designed. More importantly, however, are the pictures I’m taking.
There really is nothing more satisfying than going to the darkroom with a tube of metal and coming out with 36 photographs. I started with black and white photography, using Ilford HP5 400. The grain is an effect unimaginable to the digital world we live in today, and the vintage quality of the prints are very aesthetically pleasing. I have since moved on to have a play with some colour film, but have not had the chance to get that developed yet. I’ve got my eye on some Kodak Portra 400, but feel I have to budget quite wisely with this new hobby – I can definitely feel my pockets getting lighter… The whole process is very expensive, where a roll of film tends to cost about £6 or £7, and the paper is about £40 for a pack of 100. But I am enjoying every moment of it, and there really is nothing like the excited anticipation when waiting to see the results. I also feel like I am being much more considerate with my shooting, and savouring each frame, rather than being as trigger-happy as I was with digital.
Also, the adaptor mount for the Hoya 135mm f/2 lens came, and it works really well. The quality of the photos are not incredibly sharp, and when shooting colour the chromatic aberration is almost unbearable in high contrast situations. But it’s fantastic to have a play around with a fully manual telephoto prime, which I never have had the chance to use before.
That’s about all for now, but I’ll leave a few of my film photos which I scanned in for you to have a look at.
P.S. Please do leave a comment to let me know if any of you are in any way interested in my ramblings :)
my third eye 
I am interested in your ramblings, so keep it going! I know film is a rather pricy hobby, but considering the results, I guess I can forgive the high cost. I find black and white really nice to develop and print myself, and I run into the same issues. I can only recommend to either check ebay for used paper, or to buy Foma Fomaspeed. It is cheap(compared to Ilford), and I always use the smallest size for a final testprint, before I make the final print on larger formats.
Thanks – will do! yep the results do seem to outweigh the costs aha. yeah i really enjoy developing b+w, so that tip is brilliant – thank you so much. i’ve been using ilford up to now so i’ll definitely give that a go! thanks again :)
Great set of images. I love that you’ve scanned in the edges of the film as well. Have you experienced any “shooters remorse”?
Keep going Piggy ☺️☺️☺️
Thanks nads!!! :) :) :)