Saturday, December 08, 2012

OK Diner is Open

I love taking photos of diners, signs, neons etc. Endless subject matter in the USA but we seem to have far fewer here. Some may say that's may good thing.
Stopped off at the OK Diner on the A1 Northbound near Stamford with the Polaroid 103 Land Camera loaded with Fuji FP100c instant film

Keep It Analogue

Sunday, December 02, 2012

By Ramsey Hollow - Fenland

Another in the Fenland series.
Driving to Ramsey taking the "scenic route" with my Polaroid 250 Land Camerta loaded with Polaroid Polacolor film that had expired in Aug 2000.

Keep it Analogue

Monday, November 05, 2012

On Tick Fen - Warboys

Our fathers father worked this land and his fathers father too;


We're farmers drainers countrymen and Fenmen through and through;

We've fought the Romans and the Danes and the French men many times,

We've battled against the elements to quell Crowland abbeys chimes. ( ref - Danger Bell )

We've mastered wind and rain, we've controlled the floods and tides,

Tempests storms and cyclones, and snow and ice besides;

We've moulded this flat land into to what it is today,

A jewel in the farming world to everyone's dismay.



A Poem by Rex Sly

[www.rexslyinthefens.com/contact.html]   Keep it Analogue

Sunday, November 04, 2012

16 Foot Drain

You walk the roof of the world here.


Only the clouds are higher

And they are not permanent.

Trees are too distant for the wind to reach

And mountains hide below the horizon.

The wind labours through reed

As though they were the final barrier.

Houses and farms cling like crustations

To the black hull of the earth.

Here, you must walk with yourself,

Or share the spirits of forgotten ages



Edward Storey [www.literarynorfolk.co.uk/fens.htm]   Keep It Analogue

Thursday, October 25, 2012

IMPOSSIBLE Camden Market Portraits



When was the last time you visited Camden Market?
I hadnt been there for years. Georgia and I met up with some other Polaroid shooters and spent a great day in this vibrant, busy area - full of market stalls, food stalls, old records, books, antiques - you name it its there. Plus you can wander anlong the canal.
I took the Polaroid SX70 Folding SLR and the SLR690 folding SLR with me and of course these wiers old cameras cause quite a stir. Its much easier to approach these people when you have an unusual talking point to shoot with rather than the common camera phone.
This latst film from THE IMPOSSIBLE PROJECT does not need shielding from the light and is a major development in the re engineering of instant film.

Keep it analogue

http://www.the-impossible-project.com/

Monday, October 08, 2012

More Holga Street Moments


There's a moment that often passes me by, a moment when I dont have a camera only the one in my mind. That's OK, it's good to train your mind to see images everywhere you look. But if you have a camera with you, then how much better it is to make that image permanent and share it with others.

Keep it Analogue

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Plastic Fantastic

This £30 camera, plastic "toy camera" called the Holga takes 120 film 6cmx6cm negatives. It has a single plastic lens that gives lovely crisp images in the middle and out of focus images at the edges. I used this camera whilst in NYC in August for all my film work.
Here are some of the images printed in the darkroom over the last week.
The Hard Roack Cafe in Time Square


Crossing one of the intersections along broadway heading North from Flatiron to Timesquare

Waiting for the Tour bus to take us on the "Northern loop" tour of Manhatten

Waiting for the bus, this guy walked past and waved

Friday, September 21, 2012

Provincetown Harbour

We had gotten up early to drive the 6a to Provincetown to go whale watching.
These are the cute huts that line up along the harbour, some are selling paintings, some tickets for the boats.
Polaroid 103 Land camera
Fuji FP100c

Keep it Analogue

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

In Provincetown, Cape Cod


So here we are, whale watching out of the way and walking along the main street of the "gay capital of the USA" - check out the drag queen cycling into the frame in the first image.
Getting a buzz from using the Polacolor 108 film which expired a few years ago.

Keep it Analogue

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Route 6a Cape Cod

Route 6a takes you along the length of Cape Cod to Provincetown, the Gay Capital of the USA and a great base for whale watching.
On the way we stopped at a small craft store so Julie could buy Pandora stuff, I went outside and was immediately drawn to the US flag and the thick electricity lines, I had Polaroid Polacolor 108 expired film loaded in my 250 Land Camera.

Keep it Analogue

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Obsessed with the Stars and Stripes

We moved on from the heat of NYC to the heat of Cape Cod, but at least here we had a sea breeze and a lake to swim in...bliss Oakcrest Cove at Peters Pond is the place to stay.
Since getting a copy of Robert Frank's The Americans for Christmas the other year have become obsessed with Americana images and the US flag. What immediately hits you in the US is that these things are everywhere, they are very patriotic. The flags began creeping in to my images.

Impossible PX70Cool film
Polaroid SX70 Folding SLR

Keep It Analogue

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Freedom Tower

We'd gotten off the bus at World Trade Centre stop. Already had our entry passes to the 9/11 Memorial so we walked on and were confronted by the looming spectacle of the nearly completed Freedom Tower. Tha stars and stripes were fluttering from a nearby building.
A jet airliner flew past and that was such a strange moment.
Polaroid 103 Automatic Land Camera
Fuji FP100c

Keep it Analogue

Monday, September 10, 2012

9/11 Memorial

We queued a while to get into the memorial site at Ground Zero. Once we'd got past the inevitable airport security we were blown away at the peace and tranquility of the place despite lots of people milling around.
Also met a guy who worked for Polaroid for 8 years

Polaroid 103 Automatic Land Camera
Fuji FP100c

Keep it Analogue

Sunday, September 09, 2012

More New York Streets




Still wandering with the 103 Land camera looking for images on the go.

Keep it Analogue

Friday, September 07, 2012

new York Streets #1

Time to wander from the Hotel, this is mid town NYC on a hot ealry August morning. Polaroid Land Camera in hand looking for instant (in more ways than one) shots of streeet life.
Store dummies and the man in the white shirt coming towards me - no time to think, shoot and peel!

Keep it Analogue

Wednesday, September 05, 2012

5th Avenue Blues


Love the expired Polaroid Blue Film, I have some packs still in the fridge but it's becoming increasingly difficult to find at a reasonable price.
This is a "peelapart" 100 type Polaroid pack film, it does record colour but with heavy blue overtones.
The only modern, made today alternative is the Fuji FP3000b black and white film and the Fuji FP100c Colour - both excellent.

Keep it Analogue

Sunday, September 02, 2012

FlatIron from Madison Square Park

Polaroid Blue film is getting harder to find at a reasonable price so the stock I do have I try to use with care. This is no bad thing as it forces you to take care with each image. This is the complete opposite to the scatter gun approach of the digital chimpers out there (Chimping, look it up).

Keep It Analogue

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Avenue of the Americas

Loving this expired Polaroid Blue film

Leep it Analogue

Monday, August 27, 2012

Liberty on 5th

Lady Liberty, selling postcards on 5th Avenue

Impossible Project PX70 Cool Film
Polaroid SX70 Folding SLR

Keep it Analogue

Sunday, August 26, 2012

3rd Avenue and 42nd Street

We'd been on the "Southern Loop" of the bus tour, still stifling hot in NYC and we just wanted to get off and walk in the shade. UN building was the next stop so off we hopped and walked down 42nd street towards Grand Central Station. At the junction with 3rd Avenue I snapped a picture of the receeding street and the yellow cab.
Impossible PX680 Test Film
Polaroid SX70 Folding SLR

Keep It Analogue

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Brownstone and Water Towers

A morning walk from the Broadway Plaza, round the block via 6th Avenue (The Avenue of the Americas) and back up West 26th Street. The early morning sun was just creating dappled lighting on these classic New York warehouses with the wooded water containers on the rooftops. (low water pressure in Manhatten).
Polaroid SX70 Folder
PX680 Opacification Test Film V4b

Keep It Analogue

Friday, August 24, 2012

FlatIron

The FlatIron Building set against a bland sky really helps here I feel.
Looks almost like the bow of a ship.

Polaroid SX70 SLR
Impossible Test Film PX680V4 (Opacificaltion Layer Test)

Keep It Analogue

Thursday, August 23, 2012

FlatIron, New York

Our Hotel was just a few blocks away from the iconic FlatIron building. A much, much photographed building, not, however by me!
An early morning stroll before the heat of the day built up with the Polaroid SX70 SLR

Keep It Analogue

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Village Market, New York

It was toward the end of the same hot day, we retreated into this intereting little street market filled with quirky hand made gifts.
I found myself constantly looking up at the NYC skyline and there she was, in her shades, waiting to be photographed.

Polaroid SX70 Folder
Impossible Project PX680 Test Film

Keep It Analogue

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Immigration Hall, Ellis Island

We had queued up for ages waiting in the midday sun for a ferry to take us to Ellis and Liberty Islands. Into Ellis Island Imigration Hall, away from the searing heat, I was immediately drawn to the USA flag and the light streaming in from the high windows.
Out came the SX70 SLR loaded with PX680 test film

Keep It Analogue

Monday, August 20, 2012

Don't Walk - East Village NYC

Been a hot day in New York, temperatures over 30 degrees and the humidity was high. Like all true English people we went out in the midday sun.
By the late afternoon the sun was a bit cooler and it was time to bring out the SX70 as we walked through the East Village.
Went in some trendy shops, sussed out where the Impossible Project shop and exhibition space was and finally ended up in Chinatown where we had the most wonderful Vietnamese meal.

Polaroid SX70 SLR
Impossible PX680 Test Film

Keep it analogue

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Empire State from Madison Square Park

Returned from first ever trip to the USA with loads of instant images from the SX70 Folding SLR, 250 and 103 Land Cameras.
Our hote, the Broadway Plaza was a few blocks up from the flat iron building and about 15 blocks from Times Square. The Hotel is to be recommended in all regards.
Here I had wandered off by myself early in the morning, there were some street cleaners and joggers to keep my company as I made my first exposure using the new Impossible Test Film. This latest incarnation of the "Polaroid-Type" emulsion requires no shielding from light once it spits out of the camera. Finally, the Impossible team are getting close to the original Polaroid performance.
The colour is not optimised but the muted, almost sepia like tones I think work well.

Shot from Madison Square Park looking North up 5th Avenue.

Keep It Analogue

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Reg was 25 when he died in 1893

When I was a boy Reg still had a head, I wonder what happened to it?
I had forgotten how peaceful this old cemetery was, I even found some relatives from 1823.
I have stocked up on Polaroid Blue film for our New York trip.

Keep it analogue

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Polaroid Fenland Project



An on going project to document the Fenland area around Warboys using mainly instant film, in this case Fuji 3000B pack film in my Polaroid 103 Automatic Land camera.
This film has a box speed of 3000 ISO and is VERY sensitive to the smallest light leaks in these old cameras. This 103 is one of my better pack cameras and leaks are generally few and far betweem.
With this project I am trying to record the essence of the fens, straight roads (droves), drainage ditches and wonky electricity poles feature heavily.

Keep it Analogue

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Monday, July 09, 2012

Hardwick Road Cemetery #1

You can't beat a good old day out in a Victorian Cemetery with a pinhole camera...well each to his own is what I say.
Thing is with the pinhole camera, nothing is ever really sharp but everything is in focus.
With an aperture of f138 you can get pretty close to your subject, in fact you need to really to get a dramatic shot.
Composition is by guess work - exposure is a combination of experience and guidance from a pinhole exposure calculator.

Keep it Analogue

Sunday, July 01, 2012

Skegness #2



We knew that rain was on the way so it was a case of literally snapping away. It's always a little unpredictable using a toy camera with zone focusing but so , so liberating at the same time.
I was really trying to capture moments, little vignettes of this seaside town and the Holga is just perfect for this.

Keep it Analogue

Friday, June 29, 2012

A Day in Skegness with the Holga



Since I started shooting with the Holga my photography has been liberated......plastic camera, no shutter speeds.....a sunny or shady setting....guess the focus..........I am getting wonderfully exposed negatives, they print well in the darkroom.....and all for £25....makes you think doesnt it.
Ditch that expensive, boring, same as everyone else has, digital camera and

KEEP IT ANALOGUE