blogs killed the e-mail star
Recently, I found an envelope containing film negatives with candid pictures of P, taken between 2008 and 2010 when I was beginning film photography.
Given the reset brought about by COVID, this discovery feels almost archaelogical—you can even see P holding a Blackberry phone.
The negatives were badly scratched from sitting at the bottom of a pile of junk. I somehow managed to get some decent scans from them.
You’d think that, with more daylight, summer is ideal for outdoor photography, but it really isn’t. Trees turn into green masses dotted with bright reflective spots and put everything in shade. The sun rises too early – four o’clock, really? – and sets too late – around dinner time with P. And when I drag myself out of the house for a walk, it turns into a long and hot uncomfortable march.
Last Saturday, I waited until the outside temperature was cool enough to go for a wander in the neighoubood. I took a shortcut through the retail park on to Farnborough IQ business park. Despite my usual duck-and-dive routine, I was spotted on CCTV by security staff, cornered, and told that it was “a private estate” and that Heritage area was not the same as National Heritage. However, I was allowed to take photos as long as I didn’t loiter.
I brought the Minolta X-300 loaded with Fomapan 200. It hadn’t been used for a long time, so I wanted to excercise its mechanics. As I took pictures of the disused buildings in the Heritage area, I relied solely on the internal lightmeter.
Back at home, I developed the two rolls with Rodinal 1+50 and was utterly pleased with the results.
Some pictures from a photo walk around the neighbourhood.
Shot with a Nikon FM2 on bulk-rolled Fomapan 200, developed with Rodinal 1+50 for 10.5 minutes.
The unexpected 14th frame…
