Over the last year or so I have made an effort to carry a camera around with me at all times. This is not such a strange thing these days with just about everybody having access to a camera on their phone or other device whenever they need one. My camera however is a traditional film camera usually an Olympus Trip or Olympus 35rc. The beauty of these cameras, especially the Trip, is their sheer simplicity of use. Exposure is taken care of and the resultant images, made through biting sharp Zuiko 40mm lenses outperform most digital cameras 10X the price of my £40 Trip (the scans here are fairly low res however so that might not always be apparent).
This leads me on to a topic I have been musing over for some time now and that is should my photography continue to be instinctive, influenced by what is in front of me at that moment, unpredictable, hand held (no tripod) and 35mm (small neg) or should I slow down, take out my Yashica Mat 124G with it's 6cmX6cm negative, put the camera on a tripod and aim for utmost technical quality?
Perhaps I could do both as the mood takes me?
The image above was recorded on my refurbished olympus Trip www.tripman.co.uk whilst taking time out from visiting clients in Kent. Herne Bay Seafront in wintertime is much like any other out of season UK seaside destination - slightly down trodden, a bit weather worn and missing the visitors. There is a sense of expectation in the air, a belief that the good times will surely come again as soon as the weather changes. The first thing to catch my eye was the penguin dustbin with a damaged eye, my eye then went to the pier in the background. The penguin seemed to sum up the character of out of season holiday resorts - waiting for the good times and the pier isjust a great subject to photgraph.
If I didn't have my Trip with me the image would not have been recorded.
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