I'm just back from the first day of my 2 day photography course and I'm resting my weary legs with a therapeutic glass of wine. I have walked miles and miles today taking photos, through busy shopping streets, along the pier (and back), over Brighton's pebbly beach and along the busy seafront and yet I have the bizarre sensation of having come home with no photographs, because everything I shot today was taken on film and is currently in a lab being processed.
The cameras we used on the course today were a Lomo LCA and an Olympus mju ii. The Lomo is a Russian made 1980s camera and the Olympus is a quite unremarkable looking 1990s point and shoot. These cameras which are now so prized by arty photographers are often lying around unused in drawers in people's homes, with the owners having no idea that the technology that they have outgrown could easily find a new home.
I'm absolutely itching to see what the photos are like tomorrow and if the results are any good I might be seriously tempted to add a film camera to my collection, something that definitely wouldn't comply with number 5 on my summer photography bucket list (Oops!) You'll be able to make your own mind up about the virtues of retro film photography when I share my pictures with you after the weekend, fingers crossed I have something worth sharing!
Never heard of a Lomo but remember the Mju. Look forward to seeing your pics.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger, I loved photographing with film using my Pentax - but eventually I just got too busy and didn't continue. But it teaches more appreciation of things that are time-consuming - like having to wait to see the photos in print. It teaches patience and the need to get it right because by the the time you see the results there may not be a next time. Still I used to have the odd photo of pavement or my hand. I also tend now to use autofocus and have forgotten how to change apertures and use different lenses. Yet the effect of playing with light and aperture creates amazing photos. I envy you this weekend - I know you will use the knowledge wisely...
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