Agent Shadow in Paris

The Leica M4 was my first Leica, I bought it in 2011 for the incredible amount of roughly 2000 Eur with a Summilux 50mm v2 attached, to the amazement of my son ( 9 years old then ) who looked at me counting 100 SGD bills as I paid the seller.

Bibliotheque Mazarine, Institut e France – Paris

The M4 had a strange double effect on me : first it was not love at first sight, second it still pushed me further down the Leica rabbit hole. Fast forward 12 years, I only shoot rangefinders ( 90% or more of my pictures ) and I sold my Nikon Digital Kit (awesome gear) .

Libre Service

So as per the opening picture I still own the M4, and shoot with it from time to time, the lack of a meter make me use the M6 more ( or the IIIC if I want to go back to basic). Over all these years however I am ashamed to admit that I have only shot about 50 rolls with it, so roughly 4 a year.

Bourse du commerce

Heading for Paris recently I attached the Summicron 35mm Asph v2 ( the only Leica Lens I ever bought new ) and loaded my second roll of Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow film. This is a pretty sexy combo, I also carried the Sekonic 380x.

La petite tailleuse de pierres

Actually not : the young lady above is not a stone mason, but close enough : she is a project manager in a company renovating historical buildings. And she was giving a hand for the “Journées du Patrimoine”, and yes : she can handle a hammer.

I can’t I have pop-up

So back to Agent Shadow… I found the name a bit ridiculous, why do you have to give witty names to films? Also I was not so amazed by my first roll. But at a third of the TMY / TRI-X price, it is worth giving it a second chance.

A Love Letter to Paris by Peter Turnley, by the Paris Townhall

In fact this roll gave me some good reasons to like the film : it is not too contrasty, grain is small, details are good. All in all this a very good midway between the HP5 and the TMY.

La Sorbonne

Mazarin statue on his tomb

We were lucky to be in Paris during the Journées Européennes du Patrimoine as we could visit a couple of historical buildings like the Institut de France, la Sorbonne and the College de France.

La Sorbonne library

A professor introducing us to the College de France

On the last day we had a bit of street action as the sun was going down. Walking towards Chatelet, we met what was left of a street party / demonstration.

On n’arrete pas un peuple qui danse

When suddenly arrived a massive party of rollers / cyclists.

Causing an interesting / interested reaction from the party side of the place.

Ensemble / together

I hope you enjoyed the pics. Film was processed ( and bought ) at Analogue Films in Shoreditch.

The Corpus Christi procession 2023 (The film version)

In Singapore I often shot Hindu, Buddhist or Taoist ceremonies, but never Christian ones ( nor Muslim by the way). I came across the Corpus Christi procession two years ago by complete chance and it is now on my agenda one year to the next.

You can find details info at https://catholicengland.org/ but if I may quote the site:

The Westminster Parishes of Maiden Lane & Spanish Place, together with the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, and the Order of Malta, invite you to a week of celebrations, centred on the Blessed Sacrament.

The week culminates in a procession bringing Christ to the streets of London, and honouring Him in the Most Holy Eucharist

One to two hundred devotees walk from Maiden Lane in Soho, through Regents Street, Oxford Street, make a first stop at the Ukrainian Cathedral (opposite Leica Mayfair), then cross Oxford street north along Selfridges to end in a short celebration at the Spanish church in George Street.

a guest

Regents street as you never saw it

certainly an interesting unday attraction

The Ukrainian Cathedral

This type of events is also a good opportunity to meet fellow photogs years after years, or to make new friends.

All shots with the Leica M6 “Classic” with either the 28mm Summicron Asph v1 or the 35mm Summicron Asph v2. I used two rolls of Ilford Delta 400 bought in my last trip in Singapore to my favourite shop there ( Ruby Photo ).

I also carried the M262 and the 90mm, but that’s another affair.

the good usage of the 28mm

If you read that far I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Shall I indicate that these pictures have no intentions to mock nor to proselytize?

2023 ROLL#06 – UNITE TO SURVIVE

This is the work

3rd of April 2023, Extinction Rebellion held a 4 days protest on Parliament Square in central London.

Sunday was a beautiful day, to march, dance and discuss.

Good opportunity to take a camera out, and make a bit of advertisement for the cause of fighting climate change.

So well there I went armed with the Leica M4 and the 50mm Cron, loaded with a roll of Kodak TMY400. I also use the handheld meter (Sekonic 380x) rather than the hot shoe one.

There is no planet B

… whatever Elon says

The mermaids…

.. are not yes instinct, and happy to pause for a snap.

The lady on the left photobombed the shot with her banner, I am not sure what is exactly her specificity. I feel that sometimes even if I agree with the big picture of the movement I may not find myself in one specific chapel, but ok I am here lets go with the flow.

A very witty speaker

There is no Planet B, encore !

I hope you enjoys the pics, and until proven otherwise lest assume there is no Planet B.

A Royal Affair ( 2023 Roll 09)

As most of the planet knows 6th of May 2023 was the coronation of King Charles III of Britain. Being in London it was another good occasion to go out and burn some film.

That was a particularly wet Saturday even for London, so I had a bit of hesitation on the weapon of choice.

I finally settled for the infamous duo : the Leica M6 for film, the Leica M262 for digital. This is the roll of Kodak TMY400 shot on the M6 with the 50mm v5 Summicron.

I did not want to carry too much gear, so I just put the 35mm Asphv2 on the M262 and put the Elmarit 90mmF2.8 in my Wotancraft bag (I cannot remember the model), which usually makes a pretty good job keeping the gear dry in wet weather.

The first set of pictures was shot in Hyde Park after a cumbersome walk around Hyde Park Corner then nearly up to Exhibition road where the park could be entered.

We hang around the giant screens with my friend L. an avid Sony shooter.

Cool crowd, good but not outrageous quantity of drinks ( well ok that was 10h30 am), a bit of silliness and dressing up in a festive mood.

Most everybody was happy to be snapped.

My roll ended up a bit dark, but what do you expect with such a weather.

Finding the exit of the park was just as complicated as getting in but we head out, looking for greener pastures. Through Mayfair and Regents street we made our way to the “Little Republic of Trafalgar Square” where Republicans were demonstrating their opinions on the affair of the day.

Also in good and cheerful atmosphere.

I swapped the lens for the Voigtander 21mmF4, time for a horizontal et a vertical snaps.

These pictures are a bit less descriptive but quite dynamic.

Finally a last supporter of the the King met on the way back, in full attire.

A bit later it was time for the maintenance team to regroup and head back home.

The last roll of 2022

A Well travelled one.

Well actually this roll was shot between mid December and the first week of January. It travelled around a bit as it started from London (Spitalfields market on the first three shots)

Then came Xmas holidays and a trip to see the family in Cannes on the French Riviera, and the long awaited trip to Lapland (Guess which shot). I will try to talk about my (limited ) experience shooting in Lapland but maybe another time.

We were back from Lapland in Paris the 1st of Jan

Then finally back in London (one have to work)

Then back to Cannes and Nice again.

and finally back to London where I have to go to Brick lane to drop this roll.

Ok so these two months were not very good for my carbon footprint and I feel a bit ashamed, although some of the trips were done by train. This also mean this roll of Kodak TMY-400 travelled quite a bit and went through at least 6 scans, and is still faring pretty well. I still have a TMZ 3200 that I bought for Lapland and did not shot, so it will also have a bit of mileage and it will be interesting to see how it turns out.

All shots were done with a Leica M6 classic and a Summicron 50mm v5 or 35mmAsph v2.

Thanks for watching.

French Riviera on Portra 400

Mare Nostrum

My posts since July are like a pinball : London – Paris – Cannes – London – London – London – Paris – Cannes – London. There are worst things in life particularly by the time being.

I have tried many times to shot the water on pebbles and finally above is a picture I like. Probably the only picture with amazing colors.

High FLyer

This a roll of expired Portra 400 shot on the French Riviera during the Christmas season.

I missed Santa but the Christmas trees were growing very close to the sea this year. I used the faithful Leica M6 and either the Summicron 35mm Asph v2 or the Elmar 50 F3.5.

L’estérel

I found the seaside less inspiring that the city, but if you look closely there is always something to capture.

The masked gamers

Older gents playing chess with their Covid masks on or not. I generally prefer to shoot Black and White on film, as I think the digital M renders more live like colours and the picture are popping more.

The “pétanque” club

The misaligned sign of the “pétanque” club…

Or the first bathers of the year (actually not quite but they will do for today)

Nice is nice as goes the song, not too far away from Cannes, a big 30 minutes by train, and a bit more city like.

Holidays !

Individuality

Topolino forever

The Michelin Building at dusk

Finally back in London.. thanks for watching

ROLL 2021#11 The Nikon F3 was back

Marina Bay Sands (who said “again?”)

This is bit back to the future as I already posted about rolls 12,13, and 15, but rest assured roll 10 will come in due time. I was complaining last week about life in Singapore being less photogenic since the Covid started last year. Man I did not knew what was coming.

Stands of the floating stadium

For one week now we are in Heightened alert mode, basically we are back in a quite strict mode, mostly : non essential workers are asked to stay home, it is not possible to eat or drink outside (eateries can thankfully to take away), quarantine form most countries are extended to 3 weeks in selected hotels and coming into Singapore is quite difficult (even for residents).

The Padang

Having enjoyed a lot more freedom than most countries since last July, we feel taken a bit aback by this new deal. So my color roll shot a couple of weeks before this soft lockdown 2.0 seems quite joyful and interesting for the place in time where I write from.

Tan Si Chong Su Temple

We were discussing our last holidays abroad, which were in March 2020, when we could still fly (in half empty planes though) and I remembered that I brought the Nikon F3 to Thailand and shot only two or three rolls before putting it back in the box. So it was time to pick it up again and give it another go.

Lonely smoker

I will explain a bit later this month but I am downsizing a few things, so I am shooting what’s left in the fridge rather than go and by fresh film. So I picked up my last roll of Portra 400, which is a bit overkill for just walking around, but ok I an clearing my fridge. The roll was shot over two days around Singapore.

Drink stop

I put the 50mmF1.4 on the F3, because my other lenses are too big for just walking around. I must say I have always been a big proponent of the 50mm, claiming the 28 / 50/ 135 were the trinity of my generation, and only young punks would walk around with a 35 as their normal lens. But I think I have moved my point of view a little bit…

The yellow Burmese girl

I have used many 35mm on the Leica system (film or digital) and I finally came quite used to it (I own 3 😦 ). The versatility of the 35mm, with a field of view larger by more than 30% is quite impressive and I think I really appreciate it on the Leica’s to the point that I find the 50mm narrow. Off course you have to step closer to your subject, but that’s not so much or a problem with a small rangefinder.

Sunday silliness

Getting closer with a SLR, even a small old fellow as the F3 is a bit less easy. Also (I am happy to be corrected) it seems the offer in term of 35mm (Vintage of course) is a bit lesser that the offer in 50mm, where Nikon has a few outstanding lenses.

Sunday Party – Tik Tok style

So ok I feel now that the 50 is a bit narrow but at the same I don’t think I will invest in a new (even a new old) lens for the Nikon at this point) (And remember I am decluttering).

Fishy business

The roll was processed at Whampoa Colours, scanned by their good services, and shared on the web. Damn I still have not collected my negs. The combo F3 + 50mmF1.4 AIS + Porta did a fairly good job. I shot most of the time in Auto mode, meaning the speed is controlled automatically by the aperture I selected, quite easy with a 400 ISO film (shot at 320).

Thian Hock Keng Temple (Really tight shot)

It seems the focusing of the F3 with the 50 is quite ok, I would need to try with the original 35-70 F3.5 AI Pro see if I have any problems. But that’s a heavy lens, not for casual walks.

A well deserved treat.

A final though for the road, a lot of my pictures from 25-30 years suck, I feel very bad, because souvenirs from this time are scarce, but on the upside It looks like my photography has progressed.

Hope you enjoyed the reading, stay safe.

Roll 2021#12 Tekka Market

The man who took me out of bed on that rainy day

Rainy day Saturday, when I left home to meet my fried Ez at Tekka Market, in Little India. The weather was quite bad so I left the Hassie home (Ez is the man behind HUGS the Hasselblad User Group Singapore) and only put the Nikon F3 loaded with a hand rolled roll of HP5+ (and a spare roll of TriX).

C est le pied.

I was soaked when getting to the MRT. I have not seen my friend for a while so we spent a certain time in front of a coffee and shot randomly what happened within range.

Grosse fatigue / tiredness

I set the F3 to ISO 320, to overexpose my film a little bit as recommended for Caffenol for medium speed film. My best lens for the F3 is the 50mmF1.4AIS so the combo enabled to shoot decently in the dimmed lighted market (also given the very gloomy external light).

Curry Puff stall

I came quite a few times in Tekka market but that’s not my favorite : I find it a bit too dark, and alleys are on the narrow side so you often find yourself in the middle of somebody else’s path. I generally feel a bit more at ease in Tiong Bahru or Chinatown Complex, but that Saturday was very nice and friendly.

The art of choosing the crab

Once home I quickly processed the film with the Caffenol Delta Recipe, adjusted for 500ml of water. At current temperature ( more or less 30 degrees), processing time is 4’40”. I use the Ilford rinsing method and Ilford fixer after that.

The smile of the butcher

Scanning was a breeze, the film is quite flat and after processing shows very little dust. The roll only had 20 full shoots and 2 half shots at start and end. 22 frames rolls are nice because I can hand them to dry in the shower without having to cut it in two.

Balance is everything

Loosing half a frame at the start is a bit obvious but why at the end? I remember now that when loading from a bulk roll the first part of the roll, which will be the last frame is partially exposed, only enabling for half a shot. It is very difficult to know when you last shot will be, maybe I should try to quickly load a new roll and retake the last shot?

Self Service

I still struggle focusing with the F3, but I think this roll is ok from that point of view. I have included a few more pictures below, I hope you enjoyed the reading

A really wet day

At the end of the year I feel expired

I am just trying to make a catchy title for this roll of Fuji Neopan 400 that expired in May 2014 and that I processed in Caffenol Delta. I very rarely shoot film that is so expired, that roll was entrusted to me by young fellow film photographer Brian Teo a few weeks back.

I shot the roll with the Leica IIIc and mostly the Elmar 50mm F3.5, but a couple of shots were also done with the Voigtlander Color Skopar 21mmF4. I processed the film with my Caffenol Delta recipe adjusted for 500 ml.

The recipe consist of 500 ML of water to use :

• 16 g of Arm and Hammer washing soda
• 10 g of pure Vitamin C
• 20 g of Nescafe Classic

At my average 28 Degree Celsius I process for 4’40”, 20 seconds inversion and then 3 inversions every minute.

I fixed with my first mix of Ilford Rapid Fixer for 11 minutes, this is my 18th film fixed with this batch, I’ll mix some new one next week. I don’t use a stop bath and use Ilford method for rinsing the developer and the fixer.

The result is quite grainy, which I blame on the age of the film. The film was also very clean, not much dust cloning was required. I think this is going to be my last roll processed in Caffenol this year, but I still hope to shoot a bit more before Friday.

The shot really shows my usual subjects when walking around Singapore : mostly passing strangers. I have added a couple more themes this time:

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Weddings

I stumble across a couple of weddings, actually only two shots turned out ok, but I met two other couples these last weeks.

I also made a short trip to Coney Island on the north shore. This popular leisure spot is also a good photo opportunity.

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Coney Island

More random stranger below

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Finally a bit of news

Santa was here

Lliang Court mall is dressed to go down

Robinsons shops are closing.

I hope everybody will have a great end of the year. See you in 2021, until then keep om shooting

Geylang Lorong 3 on Film (or nearly)

The church

You can read the about the context of the post here A rainy walk in Geylang Lorong 3

I managed to go to that place on Saturday and back on Sunday and I managed to f*ck-up two rolls of film in two separate days.

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As I did not really knew the place I rode there Saturday for a scouting tour ahead of a potential further photo outing. I don’t like carrying a camera on the bike, but I still packed the Leica M6 with the Elmar 50mmF3.5 loaded with a half roll of Kentmere 400. I found the place quite easily and a group of urban sketchers where at work on the late morning sun. You can check there Facebook group there : https://www.facebook.com/usksg

Mike Fellow Hasselblad user

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As per my last post the area, without lacking of interest, looks more like a slum than a rural village. There is surely a certain esthetic to it, and a small sense of history in the houses hosting places of worship.

The essence of moving places

So why did the film turn that bad? I was a bit stressed with by the fact that this was the first time I processed the Kentmere 400 in Caffenol and I could not really find any indication of processing time. I decided to try the Delta Recipe with the usual timing but even before starting the processing something was smelling fishy: my Caffenol mix did not have the usual smell, but was smelling as plain coffee. I pursued in pouring the mix … et voila: a very undeveloped film. I am surprised that the scanner (Epson v800) can make images of it at all.

Bis repetita Sunday : I went with the Leica M262 (hence the first post) and the Hassie 500. The weather was very bad, but I made a roll of Ilford HP5+ which I though could have been half decent

Lord Ganesha’s shrine (Hasselblad 500 CM)

I mixed the Delta recipe when I reached home and that one smelled fine. So I definitely mixed something incorrectly Saturday. Alas having a problem loading the film on my plastic spool, I split the spool in the dark bag and decided to pull it out and clean it, but in the movement I also pulled the film out of the bag. By the time I could put it back, the roll as been exposed to light and only 3 shots are exploitable.

The roll was mostly of frontal shots of the houses that I found geometrically interesting, this one shows the light leaks.

A village street under the rain.

Lessons learned: once again if is smells fishy it surely is, less haste, nothing is worth than the pictures you will never see.

Nevermind, I still have faith in Caffenol and home processing.