Second roll makes an appearence

I have recaptured my photography youth!

Actually, I'm not that old but in terms of technology, I must be somewhere near 250 years old.  I should explain.

Right up to around 2004, I was still shooting on film.  I had a brief flirt with digital but went straight back to film although I did start learning how to scan and manipulate prints in photoshop.  When I finally went fully digital I soon began to realise that I missed something about my photography.  One day, I actually put my finger on what it was.

Back in the good old days, I didn't do my own processing.  Not even black and white.  In fact, I actually shot mainly colour and its only as I have got wiser (not older, I hasten to add) that I have found a love for monochromatic film and processing it.  In the good old days, you took your roll of colour film to a lab and you waited three or for days to see what you got back.

If I concentrate I can still feel the excitement and anticipation building as you wait for the lab assistant to hand the envelope with you pictures in and stepping out in to the cool air as you slowly prised open the end to have a quick flick through them before anyone else could see them.

For colour I still go to a lab.  Especially, with something like a roll of film from an essay.  The lab I used is based at Hayhursts Camera Shop in Nelson and they do a fantastic job for me.  They are still as passionate about film and film photography as ever.  Even still selling film cameras and equipment.  They are well worth a visit and a mention!

I suppose what I am getting round to saying (in a round about and convoluted way) is that I have found that bit of excitement again.  Taking my film off for developing, waiting a few days, getting back and then being as eager to scan it and see it on the screen as I was to open the envelopes.  I have to admit, I do take a sneak at the negs before I scan them.

Anyway, the second roll has now been developed and the essay is beginning to find it's feet.  Switching to the K1000 is proving to be a good idea.  The images now have a look about them and are beginning to develop a theme. 

This roll of film covers Blackburn and Earby and has a few nice shots on it.  I'm not sure if I'll use all the ones that I posted on flickr this weekend but there will be one or two that make it to the final essay.

Like the first roll this one is made up of mainly external shots which of course put the business in the context of the communities that they serve but this is useful.  Not every external shot will make the final essay but it has to be balance across the region.  After all this is supposed to be about Pennine Lancashire and not just Blackburn and Pendle.  Therefore, I will have to take trips out to Burnley, Darwen, Hyndburn, Ribble Valley and Rossendale to catch more external images.  These will come in time.  For now, I think I need to capture some detail shots and some people.



Visit Laundry's flickr set and see the full set of images.



Cheap versus Expensive

HP Scanned Negative

The other day I posted the scans of the negatives that had come back from the first roll of film.

I wasn't over happy with the scans.  There was a really bad blue cast and they weren't quite as sharp as they could be.

I scanned these negs with an expensive HP scanner with a dedicate TMA negative attachment.  You would think that a machine designed for doing this job that cost around £300 would be pretty damn good.  However, it wasn't and neither were the scans.

Maplin Gadget Scanned Negative

So, I decided to re-scan them with my cheap little Maplin Gadget Negative Scanner.  Costing £25 you would think that this would be highly inferior to the HP scanner.  In fact, I normally call this scanner the crappy little scanner.

I know have to hold my hands up and say I was wrong.  The scans from 'my little brilliant scanner' are sharper
and have far better colour.  Take a look for yourself.

Out of the tank

You know when your essay is coming together when your first roll of film comes out of the tank and the negatives go through the computer.

I have actually shot two rolls of film on this project but only one has been developed so far.

This first roll of films contains images from the two shoots that I had mentioned in earlier posts.

The scans of the negatives are in fact quite poor which has led to a blue cast over each of the images. The negative scanner that I own isn't the best and I have to admit, as far as scanning negatives go, I am a complete novice and I have a lot to learn.  Perhaps this will be an on-going tech-talk subject.

That being said, I have ended up with quite a retro look to the images that sort of match the original roll of film.  With this I am pleased.  I'm also pleased with how the essay is going so far.  I have some nice landscape type images that have a good feel to them and the pictures of the kids are great.

The second roll of film contains more landscape images.  I do need to shoot a few more external images to get an overall feel to the laundrette landscape in Pennine Lancashire but I'm quickly beginning to feel that it is now time for detail and portraits.  It's time to get serious!

The images from this recent shoot and the original mini-essay can be found on my Flickr photostream or in the Laundry set.