Gareth Lewis Uses A Flim Camera Again
14th February 2025
In: News, Members' Articles
Using Film Again - A Nice Feeling
Gareth Lewis
I am (slowly) getting used to retirement, although I suspect it will take a little while longer to do so completely. Sometimes, when doing little jobs around the house, I find myself picking up tasks that I didn’t expect, or finding things to do that are a (pleasant) distraction. As an example, during August 2024, I was tidying up our bedroom, when I decided to clear a space under the bed. In doing so, I found my R9 (I knew it was there really) and ten rolls of black and white film - 9 of T-max 100 and 1 of Ilford FP4 - that I had forgotten about. This gave me the impetus to check batteries, choose a lens and load a roll, just to give it a try again.
Since it was a Friday, Caroline was working at home and busy, so to avoid annoying her, I went for a walk, to try a little street photography, maybe with a bit of abstract thrown in.
I decided to go local, into the centre of Nailsea 10 minutes’ walk away. I travelled light, taking only the R9 with a 50 f2 Summicron-R fitted and a spare roll of film. Seeking inspiration, off I went. The light was decent, with nice shadows and quite high contrast, so potentially pretty good. The first stop was just across the road, where a small copse of saplings was planted a couple of years ago in memory of those locally who died during the pandemic. The copse is looking a little sad, with long grasses, seed-heads and a large thistle amongst the saplings, but a good starting point I thought.
Onwards toward the centre I wandered, getting one or two funny looks - who said “street” was easy? Rather than risk taking people shots immediately, I was drawn to shapes, repeated patterns, shadows and textures, all working at the rated ISO setting of the film, but not expecting too much since the film stock is old and has not been kept cool - not a great recipe for success perhaps.
About half way there is a tree with a rope ladder - worth a shot at least, but not necessarily a great one, but I was still warming up. Nailsea town centre is quite compact, with a large central square at the western end of the High Street and just beyond the square, there is a church yard, which I found quite photogenic.
There are also several cafes, quite a few shops and a concrete colonnade on both sides, protecting a walkway directly in front of the shops. Since I was just experimenting, I wanted to try my luck at taking street furniture as well and we have a few benches, both wooden and metal to choose from. I was still getting odd looks, but what the heck. Also, using one lens is quite liberating - no need to anguish about what to fit to the camera, what you have is it!
After a while I realised that I needed to think more, so coffee called, but as I sat there, I did get a little more inspiration, so finish my drink and back to it. I mentioned the colonnade which looked quite bright in the sunshine, but also a London Plane tree trunk (bark peeling beautifully) and various benches took my eye, before i wandered towards the church to try my luck there. The church gardener was hard at work, mowing the grass, so I had to wait before taking my photos if I wanted him out of shot, but the contrast was good enough to make the headstones stand out against the background, which is a pleasing effect. Also, by using maximum aperture, I was able to create a nice differential focus as well, making the stones ‘pop’ in some shots.
I mentioned patterns and shadows - the pillars in the colonnade, roadside bollards and the shadows of café tables and chairs were all quite attractive images to try to capture. Being in an experimental mood, I tried them all, some more successfully than others, but the images I show here will be the better ones in my opinion. After an hour or so, I finished the film and decided to try something else, somewhere else. In this case, I loaded another roll of T-max, changed to a 35mm f2.8 Elmarit-R and, after a quick lunch, headed to Clevedon, a quaint Victorian seaside town with a pier. This is six miles away from home.
By changing the lens to a wider angle I felt that I was challenging myself again, with subjects of all types. A park, the pier, a swimming pool (seawater filled) and Poets Walk, up over the headland were a few ideas.
Poets Walk is so named because some of the old romantic poets - (Coleridge, Tennyson, Hallam and Thackery) spent time in Clevedon and used to walk this path, possibly for inspiration or just fresh air and the excellent views onto the Bristol Channel. Again, there is a good choice of street furniture, where patterns and shadows are worth a look, plus racing dinghies on the promenade and a folly in the woods (near the cliff edge), all of which (or none) may cause a frisson of excitement. I tried a lot of them, again with mixed results, but still all worth a try and I finished the second film of the day - 76 shots in total - profligate? Perhaps. I wasn’t finished yet though. On Sunday, we decided to go for a walk in Portishead, six miles further up the coast from Clevedon, towards Bristol. This time i wasn’t walking alone, but I was photographically solo. Portishead used to be a port, but the old docks area is now a posh marina surrounded by expensive apartment buildings and, at the estuary end, a lovely walk along the coast, heading west. The views are different, but both Severn bridges are visible on a clear day (not with a 35mm lens though) and if you are lucky with the tide, boats of all sizes, from gigs to large yachts, will be traversing the lock gates, in or out.
There is also a chance of catching reflections in the marina, patterns in street furniture again and some modern art (burnt matches about 15 feet high and standing stones are examples).
Since I was still using just the 35mm lens, finding the best spot (in my eye) for the photos, meant a little more walking, but the weather was good, I felt energised and the company was good, even if some of the photos were less so. There is also an RNLI lifeboat house in Portishead, but although I took a photo of it, I wasn’t inspired. Still, worth the try. The tide was high when we were there, so that aforementioned gaggle of boats was moving in and out and this is the time when I wished I had my 21mm lens - I couldn’t get one or two fully in the frame, which was a little frustrating, but never mind. Worse still, just as it was getting interesting, I ran out of film, so I had to use my phone for a few shots. Not being taken on a Leica lens, I won’t show them here.
Of course, since I was now using film, I needed to get it processed! I do have some chemicals for T-max, but they are so old, I suspect they have had it, plus I have no dark room to print anything, or scanner for the negatives. Instead I researched and asked for suggestions and was told “…try Photographique in Bedminster”. They are available on-line and in person, so for the first batch, I went to find them and they are very helpful and efficient. Not only that, but they will also scan your images and send them to you,
ahead of the prints and negatives, which is a boon if you want to see how well (or badly) you have done quite quickly. The images here were scanned at relatively low resolution (the lowest setting), as a guide and these files have been tweaked a little in Photoshop to make them look half presentable. Some of them I will get scanned at higher resolution as well to print them at home, but that is for the future.
I suspect that you will ask “did you enjoy your film photography?” and yes, I did. I also got several people asking what my camera was and telling me their photographic story - an unexpected bonus to the exercise. Will I be taking the R9 out again? Yes I will, I enjoyed the process of “analogue” photography once more and will expose the occasional film to keep my hand in. I won’t get any more than a basic scan though, at least not until I have used the old film stock up, no point in spending more money than necessary, or justifiable for old stock that may not be good enough quality, just yet.
Gareth Lewis - Thistle
Gareth Lewis - Street Furniture
Gareth Lewis - Seed Heads
Gareth Lewis - The Rope Ladder
Gareth Lewis - Nailsea Colonnade
Gareth Lewis - Churchyard
Gareth Lewis - London Plane - Bark
Gareth Lewis
I am (slowly) getting used to retirement, although I suspect it will take a little while longer to do so completely. Sometimes, when doing little jobs around the house, I find myself picking up tasks that I didn’t expect, or finding things to do that are a (pleasant) distraction. As an example, during August 2024, I was tidying up our bedroom, when I decided to clear a space under the bed. In doing so, I found my R9 (I knew it was there really) and ten rolls of black and white film - 9 of T-max 100 and 1 of Ilford FP4 - that I had forgotten about. This gave me the impetus to check batteries, choose a lens and load a roll, just to give it a try again.
Since it was a Friday, Caroline was working at home and busy, so to avoid annoying her, I went for a walk, to try a little street photography, maybe with a bit of abstract thrown in.
I decided to go local, into the centre of Nailsea 10 minutes’ walk away. I travelled light, taking only the R9 with a 50 f2 Summicron-R fitted and a spare roll of film. Seeking inspiration, off I went. The light was decent, with nice shadows and quite high contrast, so potentially pretty good. The first stop was just across the road, where a small copse of saplings was planted a couple of years ago in memory of those locally who died during the pandemic. The copse is looking a little sad, with long grasses, seed-heads and a large thistle amongst the saplings, but a good starting point I thought.
Onwards toward the centre I wandered, getting one or two funny looks - who said “street” was easy? Rather than risk taking people shots immediately, I was drawn to shapes, repeated patterns, shadows and textures, all working at the rated ISO setting of the film, but not expecting too much since the film stock is old and has not been kept cool - not a great recipe for success perhaps.
About half way there is a tree with a rope ladder - worth a shot at least, but not necessarily a great one, but I was still warming up. Nailsea town centre is quite compact, with a large central square at the western end of the High Street and just beyond the square, there is a church yard, which I found quite photogenic.
There are also several cafes, quite a few shops and a concrete colonnade on both sides, protecting a walkway directly in front of the shops. Since I was just experimenting, I wanted to try my luck at taking street furniture as well and we have a few benches, both wooden and metal to choose from. I was still getting odd looks, but what the heck. Also, using one lens is quite liberating - no need to anguish about what to fit to the camera, what you have is it!
After a while I realised that I needed to think more, so coffee called, but as I sat there, I did get a little more inspiration, so finish my drink and back to it. I mentioned the colonnade which looked quite bright in the sunshine, but also a London Plane tree trunk (bark peeling beautifully) and various benches took my eye, before i wandered towards the church to try my luck there. The church gardener was hard at work, mowing the grass, so I had to wait before taking my photos if I wanted him out of shot, but the contrast was good enough to make the headstones stand out against the background, which is a pleasing effect. Also, by using maximum aperture, I was able to create a nice differential focus as well, making the stones ‘pop’ in some shots.
I mentioned patterns and shadows - the pillars in the colonnade, roadside bollards and the shadows of café tables and chairs were all quite attractive images to try to capture. Being in an experimental mood, I tried them all, some more successfully than others, but the images I show here will be the better ones in my opinion. After an hour or so, I finished the film and decided to try something else, somewhere else. In this case, I loaded another roll of T-max, changed to a 35mm f2.8 Elmarit-R and, after a quick lunch, headed to Clevedon, a quaint Victorian seaside town with a pier. This is six miles away from home.
By changing the lens to a wider angle I felt that I was challenging myself again, with subjects of all types. A park, the pier, a swimming pool (seawater filled) and Poets Walk, up over the headland were a few ideas.
Poets Walk is so named because some of the old romantic poets - (Coleridge, Tennyson, Hallam and Thackery) spent time in Clevedon and used to walk this path, possibly for inspiration or just fresh air and the excellent views onto the Bristol Channel. Again, there is a good choice of street furniture, where patterns and shadows are worth a look, plus racing dinghies on the promenade and a folly in the woods (near the cliff edge), all of which (or none) may cause a frisson of excitement. I tried a lot of them, again with mixed results, but still all worth a try and I finished the second film of the day - 76 shots in total - profligate? Perhaps. I wasn’t finished yet though. On Sunday, we decided to go for a walk in Portishead, six miles further up the coast from Clevedon, towards Bristol. This time i wasn’t walking alone, but I was photographically solo. Portishead used to be a port, but the old docks area is now a posh marina surrounded by expensive apartment buildings and, at the estuary end, a lovely walk along the coast, heading west. The views are different, but both Severn bridges are visible on a clear day (not with a 35mm lens though) and if you are lucky with the tide, boats of all sizes, from gigs to large yachts, will be traversing the lock gates, in or out.
There is also a chance of catching reflections in the marina, patterns in street furniture again and some modern art (burnt matches about 15 feet high and standing stones are examples).
Since I was still using just the 35mm lens, finding the best spot (in my eye) for the photos, meant a little more walking, but the weather was good, I felt energised and the company was good, even if some of the photos were less so. There is also an RNLI lifeboat house in Portishead, but although I took a photo of it, I wasn’t inspired. Still, worth the try. The tide was high when we were there, so that aforementioned gaggle of boats was moving in and out and this is the time when I wished I had my 21mm lens - I couldn’t get one or two fully in the frame, which was a little frustrating, but never mind. Worse still, just as it was getting interesting, I ran out of film, so I had to use my phone for a few shots. Not being taken on a Leica lens, I won’t show them here.
Of course, since I was now using film, I needed to get it processed! I do have some chemicals for T-max, but they are so old, I suspect they have had it, plus I have no dark room to print anything, or scanner for the negatives. Instead I researched and asked for suggestions and was told “…try Photographique in Bedminster”. They are available on-line and in person, so for the first batch, I went to find them and they are very helpful and efficient. Not only that, but they will also scan your images and send them to you,
ahead of the prints and negatives, which is a boon if you want to see how well (or badly) you have done quite quickly. The images here were scanned at relatively low resolution (the lowest setting), as a guide and these files have been tweaked a little in Photoshop to make them look half presentable. Some of them I will get scanned at higher resolution as well to print them at home, but that is for the future.
I suspect that you will ask “did you enjoy your film photography?” and yes, I did. I also got several people asking what my camera was and telling me their photographic story - an unexpected bonus to the exercise. Will I be taking the R9 out again? Yes I will, I enjoyed the process of “analogue” photography once more and will expose the occasional film to keep my hand in. I won’t get any more than a basic scan though, at least not until I have used the old film stock up, no point in spending more money than necessary, or justifiable for old stock that may not be good enough quality, just yet.
Gareth Lewis - Thistle
Gareth Lewis - Street Furniture
Gareth Lewis - Seed Heads
Gareth Lewis - The Rope Ladder
Gareth Lewis - Nailsea Colonnade
Gareth Lewis - Churchyard
Gareth Lewis - London Plane - Bark