Back to Blackpool

Mirror Ball & Breakwater

Trying to shoot Blackpool last August left me somewhat dispirited.  However, a second attempt recently got me right back on track and enthused.

On arrival the first location was close to the Mirror Ball.  I had wanted to shoot this before but couldn’t I find a shot I wanted.  This time I found it.  Not only that, I exposed in the sand was some wooden stubs that made an interesting subject especially with the light.

Here are the first couple of shots.  I’ll return to Blackpool later!

Next up - Cleveleys

Stubs in the Sand

South Pier

Lancoast - The Way Forward

As with any essay the way to producing the final product usually comes out of trying to deliver your initial idea.

Just as a reminder the concept behind Lancoast was to document the Lancashire Coastline.  The final outcome of the project was to produce a series of salt prints made from the sea water of the Irish Sea.  It is still my intention to do this.  However, the main thing that has changed is the way I capture the photographs.

Salt printing involves contact printing a negative.  This meant that negative had to be big.  My first thought was to use the Micropress 4”x5” pinhole.  Combined with a low ISA film this would allow really long exposures that would turn the sea silky.

The first attempt at shooting the Lancashire Coast was shot on the 4”x5” pinhole.  The negatives weren’t quite right but still they were beautiful (I still find film negatives more captivating than a digital file).  There was also another problem.  The film holder only carries 2 sheets of film.  That means unless I with me more than one carrier or changing bag paraphernalia then I can only take two shots per trip.

Another issue that began niggling in the background was that I would be contact printing with the original negative.  While I didn’t see this as a great issue I could see myself writing off the originals and having nothing to show for all the hard work.

The way round this shoot the entire project on a 35mm, scan the negatives and make large negatives using the equivalent of Over Head Projector (OHP) film.  The advantages of this was that I could still use pinholes and have that film look to the project but keep the original negatives.  The other advantage is that I can make contact printable negatives up to the size of an A3 sheet of paper (over even bigger if I used a large scale printer).

Shooting Blackpool back in August last year would set me thinking about how I would end up reaching a decision.

Looking back to that and the subsequent post I said that I had an issue with Blackpool.  It was just too colourful and I was struggling to find an image that would work in monochrome.

All these little points brought about the final decision on how the project would progress.

When I came to editing my Remnants essay I found that being totally monochrome left it too heavy.  It became difficult.  So when I put it together I separated in to sections by a colour image.  In total there were four colour images in a total of around forty.  It helped brake up the intensity of the monochrome images.

My internal editing on the fly machine began to work and a way forward found its way.

As much as I love film and wanted to do this in film it is impracticable.  The cost and time in getting each image in 4”x5” format would out way the advantages and look.  If I were to use 35mm although it would work I would still scan the negatives, carry out some Photoshop work (levels, scratches, dust etc.) and print the large scale negatives.

Digital has become the answer that I didn't really want it to be.  Cut out the middle section of developing film, shooting with different film and/or cameras and I still end up with the outcome I want.

It is with this in mind that I have decided that this project would be a digital/traditional essay.  The image capture device will be my DSLR.  The long exposure idea has gone and the shutter speed etc. will be appropriate to the subject.  I’ll shoot for both monochrome images that will make up the salt print section of the essay.  The other side of the images will be colour which will be C-prints.  Combined they will make an accurate and artistic representation of the Lancashire Coastline.

How hard is Blackpool???

It's been quite some time since I last posted. In fact it’s been quite some time since I last picked up a camera and shot properly. The reason for this is that I have been a little ill and to be perfectly honest, I haven't felt up to my usual creative self.

The other week I took a trip out to Blackpool with my daughter and her friend with the hope of shooting some more Lancoast images. I thought it was going to be easy I actually thought it was going to be the easiest location of the Lancoast essay.

I'm not sure if it is because I am out of practice, struggling creatively or that it was finding something to shoot but I found myself having difficulties finding a picture. Well, that is not exactly true.  I found a few pictures, the difficulty I was having was finding a subject that would fit in nicely with the Lancoast images and also work in monochrome.

As I have discussed earlier, the idea behind Lancoast is that eventually I make salt prints from the sea water of the locations.  The final prints will have a brown monochrome tone to them so the images that I take must working in black & white.

The problem I was having with Blackpool is that it’s so damn colourful!  In fact it is so colourful that it doesn’t work well in mono.

The images I took on the night are nice and I am pleased with them but they won’t make the final selection because of the colour.

So I suppose the question is; do I return to Blackpool and have another go before moving north or do I continue north and return to Blackpool in the future?  One thing for certain is that Lancoast wouldn’t be Lancoast with Blackpool.

I’m also wrestling with other issues regarding the technicalities of delivering the essay.  The original intention was to shoot this entire essay on pinhole cameras using film as the medium.

Originally, I intended to use the Micropress 5” x 4” but attempting to do this in the field has been difficult due to the number of shots I can carry at any one time.  So I’m currently playing with a 35mm pinhole to get a similar result but without the weight.  I think the answer will be a limited series of salt prints from the 5” x 4” and then a mix of monochrome film and some digital to bulk out the essay.

The rest of the images from Blackpool can be seen here.

And so it begins...

Last week I had a little time to myself so it was time to go out and takes some pictures.

So I called it an Lytham St. Annes and took two shots on the 4" x 5" pinhole.  I also shot some 35mm film in my Pentax K1000 in order to test variable ND filters with film in addition to this I took the opportunity to shoot some digital images as well.

I'm now back in my quandary.  Do I continue to shoot on the 4" x 5" and make loads of visits to the coast or do I develop the 35mm pinhole to make better images.  Time for a think.

I've yet to develop the film but will post when I'm done.  For now though here is one of my digital images and the rest can be seen here

Talking Tech - Workflow

I briefly mentioned in an earlier post about workflow.

Workflow is one of those things that we all fall in to doing.  It is the set routine we have when we get to a location.  It’s the way we set up our gear; the way we alter our camera settings.  It’s our little rituals.  We all have them.

Digitally, this is relative simple.  Using film and in particular pinholes is a bit of a different story.

For a start off, with the pinholes you can forget using the camera (if it has one) light meter.  There ain’t enough light going in to the camera for it to work or you to see that darn needle!  It’s sunny 16 all the way.

Secondly, the viewfinder ain’t gonna help you compose it darn dark in there!

Thirdly, with such long reciprocity failure of film is going to cause your problems.

So with this in mind I’m going to guide you through my workflow.  For both examples I’m going to assume that the camera is on the tripod and ready and I will refer to my Sunny 16 Chart.

4” x 5”

1. Line the camera up with the subject.  This takes a lot of time!
2. Look around and decide what Lighting Situation is.
3. Read the shutter speed off the Sunny 16 Chart.
4. Check reciprocity chart.
5. Work out shutter speed.
6. Put thumb over pinhole making sure it is clean beforehand.
7. Remove dark slide.
8. Remove thumb while starting stopwatch.
9. After exposure cover pinhole with thumb.
10. Replace dark slide.
11. Turn dark slide over.

That’s one exposure of the 4” x 5” done.  Simples!

35mm Pinhole

My Pracktica MTL3 is an SLR and as a result allows the use of a lens and after a change over a pinhole.  So here is my workflow for this camera.  The ASA of the film is already dialled in to the camera.

1. Put 50mm lens on the camera.
2. Set to f16.
3. Read light meter and set shutter speed.
4. Make an exposure.
5. Read off shutter speed.
6. Change lens for pinhole.
7. Find the f16 shutter speed on the sunny 16 chart.  Move along the row until I am in the aperture column for the MTL3 pinhole.  Read off shutter speed.
8. Check reciprocity chart.
9. Work out shutter speed.
10. Make an exposure while starting the stop watch.
11. Make a second exposure 1 stop over exposed.
12. Make a third exposure 1 stop under exposed of the original.

So that is my work flow for making one image off both cameras.  It’s quite simple just takes a little time.  But that’s the thing with film.  You slow down and enjoy what you are doing.

For a little added help.  Here's a copy of my exposure chart.

 

World Pinhole Day and Lancoast Update

A while ago I posted about World Pinhole Day.  Well, I went out and shot an image on the Micropress 4” x 5” Pinhole.  I was out on quite a lovely warm morning and sprawled out in the sun for about an hour while the light, landscape, physics and chemistry did there bit and created a nice little image.

This has been uploaded to the World Pinhole Photography website and is now part of its annual exhibition.

The Lancoast project is divided up in to two distinct sections the first is the shooting phase which involved quite a bit of experimentation to ensure that I could get the results that I wanted.  I have to admit, I am a happy bunny.  I like the negatives that I’m getting.  I’m also now used to the film.  I have a good idea of how I should handle it in both shooting and developing.  So the experimentation phase is now well and truly over with for this part of the project.  Soon I will be going out on to location and making pictures.

Of course, I will be scanning the images and posting on here so there will be something to see but once winter comes the second phase of experimentation will begin.  That is the experimentation of making paper and prints.  Interesting and challenging times!

Just can't leave it alone

The funny thing with pinhole and film photography in general is that I just can't leave it alone.  It's addictive.  In fact in several posts that I have made I have consistently said that I'm enjoying the whole process more that digital.  I still feel like I'm crafting something.

Last week, I decided that I would shoot with the 4" x 5" again.  I had four sheets of film left (now two) but I thought I would continue to experiment with this film.

The other night I decided I would take a shot of Marsden Park, Nelson.  This is an area that has water in and plenty of activity.  It's a good choice to give me an idea a coastal 4" x 5" pinhole would look like.

Of course I was using the Rollei ATO 2.1 film that I had left.  This time I took some advice from Massive Dev Chart.  I decided I would shoot it with an EI of 1 but the exposure time would have been around 36 hours.  I didn't really want to spend that much time on site so I decided I would expose it for the amount of time I had and then see what happened.  So in the end the exposure ended up being around 40 minutes.  Quite impressed with this one.  Still could have done with a little longer exposure but it's nearly there!