London on Film - Kodak Portra 400 (14/01/2013)

Ok, so here's the last Kodak Portra post for a while.

Again, the images are shot on the Nikon FM3a + 28mm and 35mm Nikon E series and 50mm f1.2 Nikkor lenses and Kodak Portra 400 film:

London on Film - Kodak Portra 400 (11/01/2013)

I know how everyone loves Kodak Portra... and that's why I keep posting these. However I'm coming to the end of my Portra shots and have no more rolls to shoot or develop. At a minimum price of £6 per roll and a development of price of £3.99 it's not a cheap way to shoot. If anyone wants to donate any unused rolls of Kodak Portra to a good cause, then let me know and I'd be delighted to take your rolls in to care :-P

Alternatively if anyone knows of a cheap place in London that sells Kodak Portra 400 135 film 36 exp please let me know.

Shot on the Nikon FM3a + 28mm and 35mm Nikon E series and 50mm f1.2 Nikkor lenses and Kodak Portra 400 film.

London on Film - Kodak Portra 400 (08/01/2013)

Some weird and wonderful scenes across London town, during the summer. Seems so long ago now :-(

Shot on the Nikon FM3a + 28mm and 35mm Nikon E series lenses and Kodak Portra 400 film.

London on Film - Kodak Portra 400 (05/01/2013)

I just came back home from a quick trip to Brick Lane, and I met Charlie Abbiss from Film's Not Dead. A cool community website and resource for people who are in to or want to try out film photography. They had Kentmere 400 at £3.50 which is pretty cheap, if anyone is thinking of stocking up on black & white film.
Charlie's a cool guy and his work is great; black & white street with an emphasis on shadows and light, so check out his site if you've got a few minutes spare.

Here's today's set of pics, shot on the Nikon FM3a + 28mm and 35mm Nikon E series lenses and Kodak Portra 400 film.

 

London on Film - Kodak Portra 400 (03/01/2013)

Scenes from a Christmasy London...

Shot on the Ricoh GR1v + Kodak Portra 400, lab developed.

Happy New Year - Highlights of 2012 (01/01/2013)

Happy new year people. 2012 was a good year for me in many respects however 2013 is one in which I hope to achieve many of my goals.

I hope it's also a year which I capture better photos than I have in the past.

Here are some highlights from the past year from both my digital and film collection. It's a very quick selection without much thought behind it.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on shots which were better or any that do not deserve to be in here.

Digital:

Miyajimaguchi, Japan. 2012

Tokyo, Japan. 2012

London, UK. 2012

Budapest, Hungary. 2012

Budapest, Hungary. 2012

Film:

London, UK. 2012

London, UK. 2012

London, UK. 2012

London, UK. 2012

London, UK. 2012

London on Film - Kodak Portra 400 (30/12/2012)

I hope you're all enjoying the festive period. I've some more colour film scans to get through so here they are...

Shot on the Nikon FM3a + 28mm and 35mm Nikon E series lenses.

Oh, and I wish you all an action packed new years eve. ;)

London on Film - Kodak Portra 400 (06/12/2012)

Portraits on Kodak Portra 400... You can see why they call it Portra. Lovely skin-tone rendition, even with flash.

Most of these were shot when I was drunk, so I have little to no recollection of the events, but it's always fun when checking your developed negatives and scanning them, bringing back fragments of memories.

The one event that I do have a recollection of is the last photo in this post. I noticed a bloke with an Olympus XA, quietly observing people on the corner of Oxford Street and Regent Street and firing off the odd shutter. Naturally I was drawn to the scene which was reminiscent of watching back a video of yourself, so I sneaked up to him, aimed the camera, and waited for him to turn to face me before pressing the shutter button.
I then chatted to him briefly before continuing down Oxford Street. Does anyone know him?

Edit: The guy in the photo is Alistair Redding (Hi Alistair), I realised he actually emailed me a while ago. Here's a link to his work on tumblr:
http://alistairredding.tumblr.com/

London on Film - Kodak Portra 400 @ ISO800 (03/12/2012)

Apologies for the lack of updates during the past few days. I was away and out of the country on a work trip so I didn't have time to post anything.

Here are some more Kodak Portra 400 photos shot on the GR1v, but keep checking back to see some photos from a more exotic location (coming soon to a photoblog near you):

London on Film - Kodak Portra 400 @ ISO800 (28/11/2012)

More Kodak Portra 400 photos shot on the GR1v...

For those who don't know what that is, that's 35mm photographic film shot on a compact film camera. Simplez.

London on Film - Kodak Portra 400 @ ISO800 (26/11/2012)

There's nothing better than getting your negatives back from rolls you shot a while ago and being reminded of memories long forgotten, when you scan them. That's a feeling you will never experience unless you have shot film.

All shots taken on the Ricoh GR1v + Kodak Portra 400 shot at ISO 800. As always, click on the images to view a larger version:

London on film - Kodak Portra 400 @ ISO800 (24/11/2012)

Here are some more photos shot on Portra. It's a great film and so versatile it looks good with flash or without, shade, 1/15s exposures... You name it, it does it.

It's almost like an auto exposure algorithm in the chemical format of film.

Love that stuff... Too bad it's so expensive. I don't know what's happening with Kodak's film division but I sincerely hope they don't stop producing film or reducing their portfolio.

All shots taken on the Ricoh GR1v + Kodak Portra 400 shot at ISO 800. As always, click on the images to view a larger version:

London on film - Kodak Portra 400 @ ISO800 (22/11/2012)

In the past I have posted numerous black & white film photography from London and Japan. However I have also been shooting colour film occasionally, in the form of Kodak Portra 400.
There's been many debates and comparisons in street photography about colour vs black & white. Personally I have no general preference, rather choosing between the two depending on the project, place or  the mood I am in.
However there are moments where I will see something which will only make sense in colour and end up disappointed as I happen to have black & white film in my camera. I guess this is one downside of film, but on the other hand it teaches you to focus your mind on the style of photos you are about to take rather than shoot haphazardly, without an aim.
Colour vs black & white, film vs digital... these are common sources of heated debates between photographers, but you can't deny the clear advantages and disadvantages of both. You just have to choose what works for you.

All shots taken on the Ricoh GR1v + Kodak Portra 400 shot at ISO 800: