Walk in the woods
Last week’s post perhaps came across a bit too much doom and gloom-ish with me feeling a bit fed up with photography (or edging towards it). I think it was more a case of me having shot a lot of black and white street photography with my analog equipment this summer and I might have done a bit too much of that without shooting other things now and then. Therefore I jumped at the chance to head out into the woods for some fall colors with my constant photo buddy (a.k.a. Dad). He graciously “allowed” me to shoot with my 18-200 lens on my Canon 600D (it’s been on long-term loan to him while he figures out what lens to get for his camera), while he used my backup 35-75 mm crap lens.
Photographic rut
It is one of the dreaded parts of a creative endeavor, be it music, writing, photography, painting etc. That feeling of “what is the point really?” or “my stuff really sucks” or “I should just sell all my gear and withdraw into a cave!”. I’ve had it happen before, so it’s not exactly a new feeling, but it’s still uncomfortable and unnerving when it does arrive. I’ve felt it slowly creep up on me during the summer even though I’ve been quite happy with the stuff I’ve been shooting and posting. The change in weather and most important - light - might also have something to do with it.
So long my friend...
I had planned that this week’s blogpost would be illustrated with analog images from a recent photowalk in Malmö with the IgersMalmoe group, but last week I found out via Facebook that one of my longest online friends had passed away, so I’ll postpone that idea into the future. I just don’t have the urge to write a whole lot of words on photos I haven’t had the urge to edit.
...and it's time for a Street Festival again
Lately I’ve posted a lot of festival and event pictures…I guess I’ve gone to a few of those here at the tail end of summer. It’s fun to shoot at these events, and for a street photographer it’s “easy pickings” when people come to these events in (hopefully) large crowds. You have so many potential images walk right by you that it’s hard not to shoot A LOT. Of course that will come back to bite you in the rear end sometimes (case in point: my 700 raw images from the Landskrona Carnival a few weeks ago), so a happy medium point between frugal shooting and “spray and pray” is definitely desirable!
The 365 Project Mark IV - The Eighth Month Summary
Wrap-up post number eight of the year and only four to go now before this year’s edition of the 365 idea is done. Yay! It did feel a bit endless there for a while in March when I was on month three, but now it absolutely feels like something I’ll finish, making this my third success out of four tries at this sort of thing. Of course, by saying it like this I’ve no doubt jinxed myself somehow…aw well…shrug
Festival days, part II
Last blog post I showed some of my digital images from the recently finished Malmö Festival, the annual event held in Malmö, Sweden (for the last 35 years). I took analog shots too during my visits to the event, but I had yet to develop them at the time. I’ve done that now and scanned them as well, so this week’s entry in this blog is all about the analog shots I took, both with my 135 camera (a Canon 650) as well as my 120 camera (a Kiev 60).
Festival days are here again!
There are certain things that happen annually that with time become markers of where in the year we are (other than for instance Midsummer, which funnily enough is in the middle of…yep…summer). One of these is the Malmö Festival which happens in August, just before the kids go back to school for the fall semester. So in a way it marks the end of summer for us here in the southernmost part of Sweden. It certainly feels that way today as I write this, with rain outside the window and temperatures that barely reach 20 degrees Celsius!
Colors, Drums and Sunshine!
A few weekends ago I attended the Landskrona Carnival with the parents who hadn’t been there before (I’ve been before, but not the actual parade part…which was the main reason we went). It turned out to be quite an interesting and entertaining experience, not to mention a challenging one, photography wise.
I had lent my dad my 18-200 mm zoom lens, since his is no longer working, so I was using only my 50 mm on my Canon 600D. Yep, I was shooting digital again…it seems to be something I’ve gotten back to this summer, at least a little bit. No worries though, I am still using my analog gear as well. It’s just that when you expect a boatload of colors and action my black and white analog setup doesn’t really work that well!
The 365 Project Mark IV - The Seventh Month Summary
And once again it’s time for a monthly wrap-up post on my 365 project (after a one-week hiatus in my posting). The months just seem to fly by…it almost feels like it was yesterday I was out there in February freezing various body parts off shooting images for this project. Nah, not really…it actually has been quite awhile since then and I’ve amassed quite a lot of pictures in my project since, passing the 200 mark during the month of July!
Beauty in decay
This weekend I went on a photographic expedition in the central parts of my home province to an area where I’ve never photographed before. We made several stops around the lake Ringsjön and shot in various landscapes and sceneries. The photographs in this post are all from a place called Söderto, where in the 50s a slightly peculiar farmer got it into his head that he should build up his farm to a bomb shelter, strong enough to withstand the Soviet bombs he was certain would fall sooner or later.
Dance like everyone's watching!
There are photographic outings that are planned far in advance (such as the outing to the Viking markets last weekend), and then there are those that happen very fast and with next to no planning. That was the case this weekend when my dear mother told me at lunch there was a Latino festival in Malmö that day and I thought “cool, that’d be interesting to photograph” and off I went. There’d be a carnival parade too, but given that I had heard about it late I figured I would miss that part (turns out I did), but that was okay. It just felt nice to be out and about with my cameras in the summer sun!
Vikings and Odd Sports
These last few weekends this analog film shooter has done quite a bit of digital photography (sacrilege I know!), since I’ve visited a few events where there are more action filled elements and I am not really good at capturing action with my analog cameras…yet.
The 365 Project Mark IV - The Sixth Month Summary
Half the year is now done and I’ve amassed 181 pictures in my project. Just 184 to go and this year will be done. “Just” 184 pictures. That does feel like quite a challenge when you put it like that, but I also thought it’d be tricky to put up the first 181. It’s actually been a pretty relaxed project this year so far, mostly because I’ve allowed myself some slack when it comes to what camera to use. No longer restricting myself to just cell phone shots was a good thing for sure! It’ll (probably) be pretty smooth sailing to the finish line I think.
(Although by writing that I’ve no doubt jinxed myself in some weird way…aw well…we’ll see what happens!).
Shooting with a new film stock
Through the 3 years I’ve shot film in earnest I’ve tried a few film stocks, but mostly shot on Fomapan 400, HP5+ or Kodak Tri-X. A little while ago I shot my last roll of Fomapan 400 which meant it was time to get started on the most recent acquisition, my supply of Rollei Retro 400 S, a film stock that I heard about from Ted Vieira when he was a guest on the Negative Positives podcast. I shot a roll of that stock in my medium format camera a while back and enjoyed it so I figured I’d give it a go in my 135 cameras too.
Photowalking is fun!
A little while back I went on a lot of different group photowalks, both in my photo club, in various Facebook groups as well as through Instawalks with the IgersMalmoe group/collective/heap of photographers (whatever noun fits). Lately I’ve done more solo meanderings through cities with my camera; not because I find anything wrong with group photowalks, it’s just something that’s evolved over time.