So I thought it was a good time to take stock of my move into analogue photography… or should I say… back into analogue photography!

I shot film for years – since my start in photography in 1984 when Neil got his Nikon F301 and I “borrowed” it any time he left it unattended until the advent of the Canon EOS 5D I was a prolific film shooter. I worked with colour negative, black and white negative and colour transparencies, always on 35mm. Most of my cameras were painfully manual – other than the times I got my mitts on Neil’s F301 I was shooting with defunct light meters and having to guesstimate exposures. I actually got pretty good at it, so much so that I shot transparencies in the Amazon on a Nikkormat FT3 without a working meter and pretty much everything came back good!

That was where I was… until the Canon EOS3 which was a beautiful machine – it was my first autofocus camera, it had a highly advanced and refined metering system… it was just awesome. I stuck with Canon from then for quite a long while as my next camera was a 5D when they launched… then the mkII… and then they dropped the ball just as Nikon launched the D800, and I had always wanted to return to Nikon!

But that is kinda beside the point, other than to explain how far away I left analogue technology and never thought I would go back. Why would you? Digital gave me brilliant files with no hassle of developing and scanning for use online. I could see what I had shot on the back of the camera there and then and make any adjustments I saw necessary… it was brilliant!

It does, however, loose something in the authenticity stakes though. Digital is almost enhanced real world, and with photoshop it is easy to take it far beyond what was infront of you. I think this is largely what is driving the analogue fine art market, there is a layer of truth about what is photographed, and the skill set required is physical rather than digital too. You need a deeper understanding and can’t just wing it in the same way… and any manipulation after the event is simpler in terms of output if not in process.

There is also the skill set involved in developing film and printing images by hand (should that be the route you take). It is all together more artisanal and artistically honest in terms of process. This makes it more unique and interesting to the buyer as they can see the artistry in creating that piece. This is why I am so excited by the move to film and getting back into the dark room again – everything I do and produce will be done by me… by hand (ish… I may employ a smart developing system once I start working in colour film – if I go down that route – as there are systems that compensate for temperature change in the chemistry to ensure consistent results… and with film costing what it does, and the time taken to create the photographic image… I don’t want to lose it to my developer being a degree too cool!)

So where am I in the process just now. I have started to get solid negatives now that I have remembered to turn my approach on it’s head. Shooting digital is similar to shooting transparency in that you err towards a slight underexposure to retain highlight detail and colour depth. In negative film the process is the other way around, you need to burn the image in more so err towards over exposure if anything. Since making this change my negatives are much denser with better graduation.

Printing has been another challenge that I think I am finally coming to terms with. I made a couple of prints yesterday that I am quite happy with for the first time. They aren’t perfect… but they are a massive step in the right direction with inky blacks and white highlights. I need to get a little more highlight detail in still and refine things a touch, but it’s a big improvement! I was starting to think that the cheap Kentmere paper was the issue!

So far I have tried:

Ilford FP4, Ilford HP5, Ilford Pan F, Ilford Delta 100

Kentmere 100, Kentmere 200, Kentmere 400

Formapan 100, Formapan 200

Kodak Gold

Lomography Earl Grey

The only one I don’t like so far is Kodak Gold. My favourites are probably Pan F and Delta 100, but I have had some great results from the Formapan stable and the Lomography started to come good as my skills improved so I want to take another look at that soon. There are many more to try though so I haven’t settled on the emulsion I want for the next big project as yet. Ilford Orthopan is on my radar as a potential candidate though so I need to get a couple of rolls of that next!

Here are some of the shots taken this month though on a variety of cameras and films!

I am not quite sure why Leanach Cottage came out so intensly grainy! I quite like it – the camera and lens were both 60 year old Soviet numbers and the film was also developed in the CCCP and is still made in the Czech Republic… and in this instance it looks exactly as I would expect for a camera and film from this era and part of the world. But the other photographs from the same combination are fine grained wonders!