The cure to bad luck…
My photography the last few months has been shocking! I don’t claim to be a master of the art form, but am pleased with the images I produce from the random selection of cameras that I own and buy.
Lately however I seem to be plagued with bad results, and not just for one reason. Let me explain…
Chinon Pocket Zoom - Jessops SHR200 (expired)
This roll of Jessops SHR200 was already in the camera when I bought it a couple of years ago, so I thought I would used it rather than put a fresh roll in. I didn’t know what film was inside, or how many exposures were left as the batteries were dead. Some people like the expired look, but not me! Yes you could say it is my fault for shooting it in the first place, but at the time it seemed like a good idea. As it happened there were only 8 frames left and I ended up with 2/3 of the roll being old people having lunch in the pub! Money well spent on the developing then.
Olympus µ[mju:] II - Lucky SHD 400
The next failure came in the form of the new Lucky SHD 400 film. I had seen some interesting images on Flickr, and as it was a new film stock, thought I was get a couple of rolls. I chose my trusty Olympus µ[mju:] II, that has accompanied me all around Europe and I knew I could trust it. So how the hell did all the images come out like this? The last film I shot in the mju was Harman Phoenix in bright sunlight and I had no light leaks. Even in overcast conditions the Lucky showed leaks. Also most of the frames look like they haven’t fully wound on. I am now very hesitant to shoot the second roll. I have shot a roll of Kodak Gold since that was fine suggesting it is the film.
Chinon CE-5 - Harman Phoenix 200
My film stocks were running low on this particular weekend when we headed up to the Black Mountains in Wales, and the only fresh film I had was Candido 200 and this Harman Phoenix. I did not want to shoot any of the expired stuff in the fridge, and the Candido works best during the golden hours. The weather was supposed to be bright sun, so I thought the Phoenix might produce some interesting images - but no! they are terrible! There is too much grain, most were too dark, and it wasn’t until we descended back down to the car park that the sun decided to make an appearance. So I did manage to get some of the interesting colours that I was looking for, but on the hole it was a bit of a fail.
Canon EOS 5 - Kodak Ultra 400 (expired)
Having recently picked up a bargain Canon EF 100-300mm lens for £20, I was eager to try it out. I opted for an expired roll of Kodak Ultra 400 (shot at ISO200). Yes you could say this is a nice shot, but this was the best of the 24. I keep doing this to myself - shooting expired film when I do not even like it. I should probably get rid of it all and buy more fresh stocks.
So this was four whole disappointing rolls shot in recent months - I was starting to get disheartened with this film photography lark and needed a break from the bad times. This break came in the form of a trip to Marrakech - a crazy city where the light is insane. I shot 3 rolls of 35mm Gold, 2 of 120 Gold and a 110 Lomo Orca, and was only hit by one issue. For some completely unexplainable reason one of the rolls of 120 looks like I messed up the focus on every frame.
Kodak 66 - Kodak Gold 200
This was the last shot on a roll where I was really excited to see the scans. I have since checked what settings I had left on the camera - 1/200th, f11 and infinity focus - nothing there should cause this to happen, so I am baffled. The first roll was perfect - Hopefully this is not an omen of things to come with my recent run of form! The only thing that was different with this film is I forgot to take it out of the camera and put in my Domke X-ray proof bag to fly home - could the airport security do this?
Canon EOS 500 - Kodak Gold 200
To end on a positive note the Gold 200 was the perfect choice for Morocco, with some great images captured and incredible memories made. So if you are in a photography rut - go somewhere amazing.