Black-and-White Film: The Selective Photographer...

'Across the Seine'  (2013)
Zoë Bull

Summer. Holidays, sun and photographs. 

The magic thing about photography, now with it's instancy, is that it is so accessible. You can just reach into your pocket or your bag and whip out your phone or tablet and take that picture of a beautiful Parisian building and edit it within minutes of it's capture. But then it just sits there for a while or a little longer while yet, collecting invisible digital dust. It sort loses it's value, don't you think? 

Sometimes if you have a collection of images, such as from a holiday, you may transfer them to your computer, before another couple of months, before they actually get printed. Do they ever get printed? Really? How often these days do your holiday pictures get printed and returned to you in the post, enclosed within an envelope? There is such excitement in that and it rarely happens anymore. 

The present alternative seems to be a photo-book. They can look good, but where is the tangibility; the feel of those thick self adhesive pages, lightly covered in clear film, protecting each individual print, that you have taken time into thinking about and capturing? Is it more about the collection of photos as one, rather than the individual photos that make up the collection? It's hard to tell, isn't it? 

'Stacked Chairs'  (2013)
Zoë Bull

However, regardless of what the modern norm seems to be and how agreeably affordable it is, I wanted to do something a bit different for my recent holiday in Paris. It was hot and the sky was blue, but I had in mind, from the very words that initiated the trip that I wanted to photograph in black-and-white film. 

It had been a while since I had photographed with Ilford HP5 film seeing as the darkroom seemed to be too long winded for me when you would only achieve several decent prints after a whole day in there - I contradict myself with some instancy that I do need. So I have been using Kodak coloured film instead, for the meantime. I do however, adore the aesthetics of black-and-white film, with it's fine grain that gives it that timeless look and the purity in the tones of the highlights and shadows. 

Digital photography is still fantastic and I use it a lot, but it's only crisp. The image of the chairs I captured, would still be beautiful in a digital crisp in black-and-white form, but for an artistic purpose I personally think that the fine grain of the film, brings some little extra magic. It brings value to the image, that I know wouldn't be there if it was a single photo within 200 other photos I took that day.

'My Notre dame'  (2013)
Zoë Bull

I only took two films with me and got about 65 well developed images back, by sending them to one of the few labs in the UK. When it comes to black-and-white film, there is no point going to Snappy Snaps or Boots, because they won't be able to do anything about it. It's not like coloured film where the negatives are digitally developed, so it felt quite special knowing that these films would be developed in a different way. I even got a CD with my prints, along with the negatives.

'Eiffel in Seine'  (2013)
Zoë Bull

The magic of film is that you have about 36 exposures, 36 chances to capture your holiday in the way you want to. You can really think about what you want to take and what would make the moments away from home special. There is more of a reason behind why you took them, rather than just working on impulse. But nonetheless, you can work in the same way with digital photography if you really want to. I like working like that when I can. I ask myself *What do I really want to capture?*. I want my images to have a purpose and not just sit around on the drive of an electronic device or computer.

I want to make the most of my photos, we all should.

'Let us play'  (2013)
Zoë Bull

If you recently have used some black-and-white film and you are looking for a lab to get them developed, try B&W Film Processing based in Plymouth, UK.

Motivation...

Hipstamatic 365

Starting a post with some positivity is much more exciting and interesting compared to a moan. I find a lot of people including myself can be quite negative. We don't want to see ourselves fail and we complain about it because we think that we will get some sympathy. On some scale, that is ok but if we do it all the time and complain about the same things, it then gets boring.

I can drift on a tangent quite often but I believe that you can have transferable thoughts that can relate to any kind of interest and body of work. It's life. Everyone loses motivation sometimes, particularly if a project we are working on is falling behind, it can be easy to give up, sometimes we just lose interest and want to work on a new project.

I came to writing this post wanting to be more true to myself and to be more positive but in the back of my mind I was writing about how I was going to give up my Hipstamatic 365 project, just because I had hit a few stumble blocks. I have missed about a week in total and I thought to myself that it wouldn't be a 365 project if I hadn't got 365 photos. So what?! I have been trying to tell myself that every photo won't be fantastic and a work of art but what I want to create at the end, won't matter if they are in such a state. The fact is that I would have been more determined and carried on through the rough moments that simply reflect life itself. Challenges are difficult, they are not supposed to be easy and they acquire effort. For too long I have been trying to skip round the effort pole just so I achieve things the easy way when really I would feel like I would have achieved something more if I spent more time on it. I need to get out there and take more photos rather than sitting around hoping that these pictures will find me.

At the beginning of the year, my aims were take photos everyday of the year and select the twelve best ones to present in a slideshow. I may still do that, however I thought a large collage would be more exciting instead. This project is about the bigger picture rather than the individual pictures that I am living through.

Once you have achieved then you can celebrate.

And what a better way with my latest Hipstamatic photos and indulgences from the week before last.

Hipstamatic 365

Hipstamatic 365

Hipstamatic 365

Venice, Coloured Film and Tourist to Professional Holiday Photos...

colour film
Venice (2012)

colour film
Venice (2012)

colour film
(Venice 2012)

Venice is beautiful. I'm a lover of Italy and I have travelled to various famous cities that include Rome and Florence.  There is something about the reddish hue in the landscape and the buildings, that really fascinates me and that it would look stunning through the slight enhancement of coloured film. I use a pretty standard coloured film of 36 exposures with an ISO varying from 200-400 that you can get from somewhere like Jessops or other photography shops. The problem with film is that it is running out, the is less and less of it these days and comes at a price. I think it is important that have a purpose for it. Earlier this year I remember thinking how I was going to take a single roll of film on my next holiday and to try and capture subjects that were not so tourist and were more unique and professional. However I think every person with a camera wants to make their shots interesting and professional as possible, whether they want to get involved with the industry or not.  As I have mentioned before: Everything has been done before and ideas have been created before. 

The fact that I made conscious effort of deciding what I wanted to capture rather than just going 'Oh that looks nice' was what differs the amateur to the professional. The first photo I took is of the water's wake frothing in an almost solid form which I thought looked rather beautiful. I also liked that I was at a lower angle compared to be high up on a cruise ship, looking down at the 'V' . I then found that once I had taken that picture, it gathered interest from my family and they started taking pictures of this scene too. That had selfishly frustrated me a little because I didn't think they were really thinking about what they were taking and they had merely imitated my ideas. The amateur photographer is at lust with their scene. They look into the camera and feeling instantly attracted to this sight, ignoring all else in the frame apart from their chosen subject. Once they press the button, the scene is captured, they move onto another, before being re-aquainted with that scene on their home computer screen, giving it a blank look, feeling forgetful that they took that picture in the first place. 

It doesn't mean to say that enthusiasts and professionals don't have this problem too. It just means that they can handle the situation better, probably capturing more what they want too then what they don't. 

I have tried my best and some of my photos, yes do have those tourist qualities but I was a tourist as well as a photographer. Afterall, we are always learning. 

Past...Present...Future....

Sometimes I feel like I want to punish myself for not keeping up with this blog. Since when has it ever been update and parallel to my events etc.

Since I have last written I have been to another Wedding, snapped my sisters engagement photos and been on holiday to France and been on a five mile walk in the countryside. Another thing is that I have completed one year at college. It's scary, and as a future orientated person I'm constantly wishing my life would move to the upcoming events quicker. They move too fast. Selfish?

I am lacking motivation again. I shouldn't. I have been asked by two people, that doesn't include Stuart to do photos for. I should be happy and grateful. Somewhat I am, but I don't feel like I am a good enough photographer. I am an amateur still, and I want to get to the part where I become professional and know what I am doing. I should know how to use all the gadgets on my camera by now, I am still unsure. Is this right?

Well I've got to keep track on what I have done before it gets whipped right under my feet, so here are some pics from my recent life.

Want to visit my Flickr photostream with the featured photos in my blog and more then click the following link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brown_eyed_dreamer/

On my travels...

Why is it when i'm stuck in the library on a rare warm day, supposed to be doing work, where I get the inspiration to write to my blog. It's been a while and it always has been.

Fortunatly you will be happy to hear that I have been doing alot of photography as I have been away - that is another story. Over April I was to go away to Florida for my birthday. I didn't realise that I would be staying away for another two weeks. Now, everyone has been saying that there could be worst places to get stranded, which is true, but maybe i'd be selfish saying that I wanted to be home more than away. Ok, I need head back to my photography, this isn't a travel blog!

In these extra two weeks, we got a Trans-Atlantic cruise around Europe. Yes, it blew most of the money that my family have but we needed to get back due to family affairs. What I did get out was a trip down nostalgia lane to Rome and Florence. They are such beautiful places and amazing photography oppertunities. If you have been on my Flickr recently then you would have seen some photos I have taken. It was a bit of a shame though because seeing as I thought I was just going to Disneyworld I didn't think I would need my beatiful SLR - Canon 500D. Luckily I still keep my little digi camera, so that was ok, but imagine how much depth and quality was wasted. I guess I will never know....

So, I havn't been to couple of photography events with Stuart, the photographer. He has been away too so we had to cancel some weddings etc. I'm a bit dissapointed because I really want to learn, and dispite the fact I missed a photography day course he was holding when I was away. It's a shame because that would have been another tip filled post for you to share and I would have had the chance to meet young teenagers with dreams like mine. Kinda annoying.

This Saturday should hopefully be heading on the right track again, as long its not cancelled. With having this almost job is that its starting to collide with my social life and my friends and I are starting to go out more. I think I will need to learn how to balance everything out, but it is really time for some more photography...

Want to visit my Flickr photostream with the featured photos in my blog and more then click the following link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brown_eyed_dreamer/

Camera news!

I am back from my photogrpahy trip to Liverpool. Here are some photos i took while i was away.

Also more news on my photography - I am going to get a professional camera for my sucess in my GCSE's that i recieved yesterday. The camera is really for my college work but after that I will be heading for my Wedding Photography career. Unfortunatly i didn't win the the photo competition with the "Creative Colour - the Cd" but it is ok because the prize was a camera and now I am getting one i don't need to enter. So good things come out of life even if you don't win.

The camera I am getting is the Eos Canon 450D. I heard it's pretty good. Can't wait.

I edited the bottom two photos shown here, with "Cross Process". I hadn't never tried it before but it gave really good effects. Remember exploring new tools helps on the road to improvement :D

Want to visit my Flickr photostream with the featured photos in my blog and more then click the following link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brown_eyed_dreamer/

Once in a lifetime memories...

As I have a bit of time on my hands, while in the middle of packing for my latest holiday I thought I might as well write, seeing as my holiday is photography related.
I am going to Liverpool. My family and I are big Beatles fans and we are going to see the whole Beatles history in their home town. Perfect oppertunity to snap those photos for a photo diary that will be remembered forever.

Thats the thing about photos. They help define a memory a special moment in time that you never want to forget. What would we do without them. How would those wedding couples really remember what that speical day was like? What you looked like ten years ago or the first ever picture of you when you are newborn. We can't remember that, and even when we do remember things, memories fade and that moment is lost.

So go out and capture a one in a lifetime oppertunity pic that you can have with you through life.