I visited yesterday the very interesting exhibition “When Forms Come Alive” in Hayward Gallery in Southbank Centre in London. This is a contemporary sculpture exhibition centred on organic forms.
Ash Code is a Dark Wave band from Italy, actually form Napoli. They were playing here in March, opening for French band Corpus Delicti. I could not resit to go back to concert shooting after a very long hiatus.
I wasn’t sure how much gear the venue would allow me to bring in, so I settled for one lens one body set. Namely the LeicaM6 classic and the summicron 50mm v5. My favourite provider had no more Kodak TMZ 3200 so I bought two rolls of Ilford 3200 for the whole show.
The venue is 229 at 229 Great Portland and the evening organized by Reptile. I had no problem checking the camera in. I had set the body to 6400 ISO, but I will come back to this later.
The concert was great. Ash Code, produces some dancy tunes, not very remote to what Sisters of Mercy would have done, with a bit more synthwave side. Maybe a better comparison could be found in the direction off some 80’s belgian bands , remote cousins of Neon Judgement or Parade Ground.
They deliver a pretty good show, Alessandro and Claudia taking turns to the mic. Although I am pretty new to their music, that was a very enjoyable.
The scene was quite dark with a lot of back light, so not super ideal, but access to the front of the stage was super easy. I shot a concert of a friends band with the same set-up a few years back and I realised that the only good shots are those where there are both dark areas and highlighted ones, there is not point shooting a scene without contrast, whatever the ISO.
I also had a discussion with a pro about the value of metering : because most of the scene is in the dark, your meter will be fooled and try to over expose. So having shot the rolls at 6400 ISO I had them processed at box speed, actually pulling the film or compensating by -1 stop ( there is no compensation setting on the M6 ). I think that was a wise choice. Because most of the shots were taken at 1/125 f.2 or f2.8, I have a fantasy of setting the speed and aperture once for all and not to bother, but I was told otherwise.
Happy new year dear readers. January is coming to its end, but its never too late, so here is my first post of the year.
Back in December we visited the amazing exhibition of Daido Moriyama at the Photographer’s Gallery in Soho ( London) and I discovered that their shop in the basement has a dream selection of films.
I am still going to patronize the usual smaller shops but I think it’s great to be able to put one’s hand on the stuff you read about in blogposts. So I browsed the shelves and found a roll of the just available ( and if I am correct not for long) color film from Harman.
I vaguely remembered that Harman is the company producing the Ilford films, but frankly I don’t know much more. So at the end of December we were back home in Cannes for family holidays and I finished my roll of TMY400 and loaded the roll of Phoenix 200.
As you can see on the first picture the film has a very pretty ( odd?) yellow color out of the canister and once processed a pronounced purple tint. I loaded the film in full light, in the skate park above, but I don’t think it had any effect. And set the meter to 200ISO, although the film is said to have latitude ( but not so much if you read some reviews).
The skate park is a new addition to the Cannes cityscape, that day was really gorgeous and the tint of the film goes pretty well with the colors of the place.
Moving a bit further towards the Pointe de la Croisette I took a couple of shots of boats. I think we see here what people mean by the film being very contrasty.
I quite like the picture above, probably the color scheme fell right into the soft spot of the film, and the light being softer the contrast is less accentuated ( oxymoron )?
The four pictures above are taken along the promenade des Anglais in Nice. A certain atmosphere develops there, probably mid afternoon winter light and overcast day helps with the contrast. The feeling is very vintage.
Back in London, the dummies below were remarkable by their red heads. The glow is quite funny, I would say unexpected.
The Standard building renders pretty well ( overcast, mid afternoon ) with not so much color cast. Definitely vintage and some glow around the lights.
Bye Bye Georg Baselitz sculpture in Hyde Park.
Finally walking on a beautiful lunch time towards Hyde Park I met these two nice Brazilian students, one holding a Nikon F3, we had quite a long chat ( in the cold), and parted our way after taking this shot. This gives an idea of how skin tones are rendered.
Final word? Probably worth a try. Surely has a lot of character, I think Hartman said the film was experimental. A very specific vintage look, a lot of contrast but I probably won’t try again to be honest. If I compare with the post about the Cinestill 400 D I think the Cinestill has a lot less color cast, a smoother rendering of contrast, but ok its more expensive ( 12.5 GBP vs 17 GBP if I remember well).
Here are a bit too many pictures of my first ever Cinestill 400D roll for my first ever trip to Malta.
I bought this roll a while back, maybe 6 months, from Analogue Labs ( where this roll was processed) for what seemed to a bit too much money ( about 18 GBP).
Marsaxlokk
I waited for the correct opportunity and here I am going to sunny Malta for a family holiday.
Marsaxlokk Sunday market
The D in 400D stands for daylight, and the film is described as a fine grain color film with daylight balance. It has soft tones, natural saturation, warm skin tones. The film can be shot between 200 and 800 without push process and up to 3200 with push process.
Marsaxlokk Sunday market cleaning up
I loaded the film in the faithful Leica M6 classic, fitted with the Summicron 50mm v5. ( some shots may have been taken with the 35 Asph v2 or the 38 Asph v1, but generally the 50 is attached to the M6 and the others to the M262)
I set the ISO dial of the camera to 400, not knowing what was best for my situation, the box speed seems to always be a safe bet.
Valetta
The days were very sunny so a lot of the shots were done with high speed and smaller apertures. The colors remind of Kodak Portra ( warm tones) maybe and surely has a certain vintage look to them. Is this expected or not, I am not sure.
The film surely has very fine grain and shows a lot of details.
I also find the shots to have a lot of contrast, maybe just bit too much for my taste. But it is a very nice result I think. I an already looking to buy some more.
Oh and Malta in this story? Malta is a small country consisting in a few islands, the capital Valetta is where we stayed. If you are open minded there are plenty of things to do, mostly around history and architecture.
There are also plenty of outdoors activities.
Diving just outside the city walls is one of them.
The place is attracting quite a crowd of tourists, in this mid-term holidays the place was packed with French and Britons.
A street photographer with his box camera
A couple of steep streets with stairs are hosting several bars and eateries.
Our first stop was Marsaxlokk with a famous Sunday fish market. You can access from Valetta by bus or Uber. From the ferry terminal in Valetta you can access the northern island of Gozo ( we missed because the schedule changed the day we planned to go) or you can take a 2 Euros ride across to the 3 cities.
Tourist boat touring the harbour
Boats in the Three Cities marina.
Typical houses with their bow windows
The fortifications and the war museum
Wuestenwinds beach
At night
Finally on the light picture, you can see a very special effect around the led lights. I think its called halation. Very common on the 800T film, but I was not aware that the 400D would also produce it. Anyway, this picture managed to go in Explore on flickr, so thank you Cinestill.
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 SorbonneMazarin 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 libraryA 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.
I have been following the resurrection of Film Ferrania for a long time. This is very interesting story of passion and perseverance, it could be a plot for a movie.
Pallenza market
Their first film has been available for nearly two years now, but I must say I did not made too many efforts to get some.
Pallenza Market
We had a family trip in Piemonte this summer and I could not resist looking up photo shops ahead on getting there. In Torino, there I finally found a shop ( Grande Marvin ) very well stocked where I could purchase two rolls of the said P30 and two of the Ortho 50, for 13.90 Euro each inc VAT.
Grande Marvin is strategically placed opposite the Leica Shop
So the P30 is a panchromatic ISO 80 B&W film. I loaded my first roll in the trusty Leica M6 classic, using mostly the 50mm Summicron (v5 I think).
Pallenza back streets
The roll was processed by my usual lab in London ( Analogue Films in Brick Lane)
Overall I am a bit disappointed, I think this is due to me shooting the roll at 100ISO instead of 80, making it a bit underexposed. That said, I am not a specialist but I wonder what difference this really makes, but ok I’ll shoot the second roll at 80.
Castello Rivoli
Italy shots were very touristic and more about static subjects, back in London, I had something close to half a roll left that I used for my usual street style.
You got milk ?
100 ISO is not much for street shots and some shots were taken with big apertures so they appear out of focus, soft.
Hare Hare
Hara Hare
Also when there is some movement after 6pm, 125th/s does not quite cut it, particularly for the picture above.
Plant powered penises last longer
A not so sharp picture of the sharp dressed man you can meet from time to time in Soho. His large hats remind me of the The Mask but Sharp Dressed Man came to my mind.
The sharp dressed man
I think I mistook Joe Jackson’s “Look Sharp” and ZZ Top “Sharp Dressed Man” songs, but never mind I thought there should be a music reference in this nick name.
Duke of York Square food market
Next Saturday, I was lucky with the light in Duke of York Square ( Kings Road ) food market.
Paella stall
So what do I think all in all ? Well, I am a bit disappointed with this roll, but it can be down to my skills. There is plenty of details and I think there is little grain ( you can see on the shots with writing or small details like the above), this I like. I also like very much the blacks which are really really dark. That said, there is something I don’t like so much in the contrast. Lets see if I can make a better job at ISO80.
I always likes a bit of panning shots, as you can see in the two final pictures:
Saturday 1st on July 23 was my first time attending London in Pride. I wasn’t sure about my expectations, but it was soon clear that this is a very popular event.
Our right neighbour
We managed to find a spot near Hyde park corner with direct access to the parade (behind grids though). We were super lucky to have colourful neighbours on our left and right side, so many of the people participating in the parade engaged with them, giving me some opportunities for some “action” to shoot.
Tom was here!
As much as I like taking snaps, I like enjoying the moment, so I stayed at the same place all afternoon, this is not necessary a great idea as after a while I had some serious backlight which is visible on the later shots.
Flying proud and safe with BA
So on the gear side, I brought the M262 for the digital shots and the M6 for film as usual. I carried a 50 cron v5, a 35 cron Asph v2 and the 90mm Elmarit.
The fireman’s kiss
On the M6 I had a few shots left on a Ilford Delta 400 ( black and white ) and rummaging in my film box I realised I did not had many rolls, I stopped hoarding films a while back. I bet that colour would be best suited (good guess) so between a Ektar 100 and an expired Cinestill 800T I settled for the later.
Ni hao
Ok that’s a bit silly, to shoot in daylight with a tungsten film I know, but being unsure of how easy it will be to shoot film that day, I settled for the cheaper film. I purchased this Cinestill as least 5 years ago so it probably cost me half of the Ektar cost, it was time to shoot it and I had decent daylight shots in the past. We ‘ll see in a couple of weeks how sound was this reasoning. And I compensated a bit for the old age of the roll by shooting at 400 ISO
ReflectionSo here are a selection in my 600 or so pics. On the M262 I switched a few times between the 90mm and the 35. I think I rarely used the 50.Pups out for a walkA camera friendly diva
The flare due to the backlight is quite pronounced in the above, I did serious ( for me) Lightroom edition to compensate, but that’s not 100%. Also I did not put my reading glass when formatting my SD card so I inadvertently reset the camera to factory settings, so I lost the compensation control on the thumb wheel, which I normally use a lot.
Everything is better with bubblesMind the GapMister Leather was in townY.M.C.A.
A lot of fun, charm, good spirit and probably quite a dose of courage for some participants. I’ll be back.
So 4th of June 23 was a beautiful Sunday, where I forgot receiving an invite to join “Drum & Bass On The Bike” at 2pm at Wellington arch. But anyway as fate has it, by 5h30 I passed by the said arch and noticed there was quite a crowd.
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 saysThe 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.
These are shots done during a visit to the exhibition Ai Weiwei: Making Sense in London’s Design Museum. All pictures were done with my Leica M262 and a WWII area Summitar 50mmF2.
Ai, as he is referred to through the exhibition, is a well known global artist, advocate for freedom of speech whose constant conflict with his home country makes the background of his work.
Untitled (hand made cannon balls made of Porcelain)
The change from hand craft to mass production, the speed of changes in China over the last 30 years, the rush to modernisation are all themes that are exploited in his work.
Lego and vintage Chinese woodworksGlass helmet
A lot of the work exposed are challenging the perspective between the actual way they were made and what hey represent. The construction site protective helmet is made of glass, the cushion of which it rests is in marble not foam.
The iron reinforcing concrete made of marble, the Iphone of cut-out jade.
Some pieces refers to recent events that happened in China, the rod to the collapse of badly build buildings, the snakes made of schoolbags to lives lost in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.
Some pieces like the glass, wood or metal seems to be realised in a very detailed and technical manner. Some others are closer to ready made like the broken porcelain tea pots and ceramics below.
250,000 porcelain spouts
Pieces of broken pottery salvaged from the destruction of Ai’s studio by the Chinese authorities in 2018
And one of the big pieces is an arrangements of Palaeolithic tools picked up on markets ( likely a single big market).
Below , the same shot with the Summitar wide open, showing the effect of selective focus.
If my memory serves me well, three selections of pictures are completing the exhibition, some of earlier works in Ai Wei Wei first atelier, some of the construction of the Nest for Beijing Olympics (Ai participated before withdrawing from the project), them a series about transforming landscape in Beijing Hutongs.
Nice show, but a bit short, worth visiting nonetheless.
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