Concerts : Ash Code ( IT) – March 2024

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.

More on on Ash Code:

Discogs : https://www.discogs.com/artist/3844956-Ash-Code

Bandcamp : https://ashcode.bandcamp.com/music

Oh great party afterwards by the Reptile team, but it takes too long to recover past a certain age.

A Harman Phoenix 200 test roll

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).

Malta on Cinestill 400D

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.

I hope you enjoyed the reading.

When in Rome… my first roll of Ferrania P30

Lago Maggiore

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:

Take your tree for a ride

A vintage ride

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#03 – LONDON IN COLOR

Borough Market – Hot Chocolate

OMG this is roll 03 already ! But one sec where is roll 01? Well ok Roll 01 is sitting tight in the computer, waiting for its blog post, but I think I could share a few colour shots for a change.

The players – Clerkenwell

So actually the trip starts where Roll02 finished, in Borough Market, I had a bit of a hard time to load a roll of Portra 400 in the M6, god knows why. This is always so easy but not that day. So I missed a few shots and soon after it was loaded it was too dark for the Summaron 3.5. On the way back we walk up to Smithfield market, then up to Clerkenwell, where we met these gents playing chess outside of a church.

Who cares about signs when you drive a Jag – Chelsea

Sunday was more a Chelsea / Thames river walk where I first met the above Jag then towards the Thames I met again the following acquaintance.

The return of the penny farthing- Chelsea

The guy on the penny farthing this time in colour, the cars don’t make much for a background, but I had not enough time to move them around.

Then a long walk along the Thames.

My photographic weeks are long tunnels where nothing happens until the next week end, so after a long apnoea I carried the roll of Portra ( with the camera around it) to the west side that time.

The three wise men

Around Harrods I met these three happy Chelsea pensioners, they are retired servicemen from the British army, leaving in Chelsea. They were happy to pose for me in front of a big car. When I told them with such a big car one may think they were having a good life they told me that indeed they had. Nice to meet happy folks from time to time.

Kensignton Palace entry

Through Hyde Park and towards Nothing Hill I notice the doorbell of Kensington Palace, next time I am invited I’ll know where to ring. Two Pictures are not much for a Sunday but ok there’s no hurry.

Meanwhile life goes on

Opposite 10 downing street Ukrainians continue demonstrating against the war that is still going on in our backyard, while here life goes on.

… a special tourist

Moving eastwards, Benjamin Netanyahu was in town, causing some of his countrymen to express what hey think of his visit to the UK and recent policies. The man travels in style, staying the Savoy.

A couple of shots reminding of the Empire and its colonial past.

Monuments to the Gurkha’s

A Royal Enfield Side Car

Dancing in the streets

Luckily all is not doom and gloom and people are still dancing in the streets.

I hope you enjoyed the walks, maybe a bit of Paris action soon…

2023 Roll#02 – Week end strolls around London

Hey hey, slow shooter I am, we are mid April already, and I am just posting about this year’s second roll.

Around Chalk Farm Tube station

Actually I have my 3rd roll out of the lab now, the 4th is there and a 5th is on the way.

A nice day for a ride

SO this is my last roll of HP5+ from the infamous bulk I bought in Singapore in 2021 before moving to the UK. I am not sure how many rolls that was in total but I think that was worth it.

He is a great painter

HP5 made sense when I was doing Caffenol back then, as it is pretty friendly with this process, but I would say I am not the biggest fan, and unless I go back to shooting one roll a week as I did in Singapore, I may stick to the Kodak emulsions.

Anchored along the Thames

So this roll stayed in the M6 for a while. The first shot was probably taken in February, along Chalk farm on a long walk to Camden. Then subsequent pictures from another very long walk through Sloane street, Battersea Bridge, along the Thames,

Lady with a TLR

and back to South Ken.

Thames Heliport

Yes there is an Heliport along the Thames for the not so climate conscious in haste to join the city.

Black and white

These were 10+ km walks so the week after we probably just had a casual stroll to South Bank via Green Park (above).

Hayworth Gallery

Hayworth Gallery

I can fly

Something different the next week end for a walk to Angel to see a show at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre (Excellent Copelia by Scottish Ballet) and back.

Never get what this one was about

It seems there are defects like the white mark on some shots, not sure to blame processing or a light leak.

Finally comes the Saturday where we walked to Borough Market to stock up cheese.

Friendly Chap

I am not sure if the issue is with the processing or the film was scratched. Pity I wont be able to print it for him.

All shots with the Summaron 35mm F3.5 LTM, I love this lens, but you my know already.

It felt like Xmas

I enjoy browsing back the not so used scans and these are from one roll of November / December 2022. Unlike the most recent roll I posted, this one is shot entirely in London, it is the penultimate of my bulk roll of Ilford HP 5 bought in Singapore from Ruby Photo back in early 2021.

No surprise, the roll was shot with the Leica M6 classic and probably most of the shots were done with the Summicron 35mm Asph v2. The two shots above, early in the roll were taken around Spitalfields Market near my office and they were probably shot on my way to the lab to drop or collect one roll ( ANALOGUE FILMS https://www.analoguefilms.co.uk/)

Sloane Square

Because I am a slow shooter I carried the film around London for a couple of weeks,

Fenwick store in Mayfair will close soon

Chelsea frame maker

The highlight of the roll was bringing some dear friends to Spitalfields and Brick Lane, quite an interesting area for visitors.

But first to Liverpool street station

Then through the street towards the market.

Xmas Spirit indeed

Finally to Brick lane

Excellent Haloumi wrap

The famous shop I did not try

Hope you enjoyed the walk, this was roll #24 of 2022.

Hare Krishna Celebration in Trafalgar Square

A strange sadhu

Here are a few shots of a Hare Krishna celebration in October in Trafalgar square in London. Is stumbled over the party by complete chance.

Hare Hare its all in the flare

I was armed for the occasion ( well not for the occasion then as it was by chance) with the Leica M6 classic and the Summicron 50mmV5.

Hare Hare its all in the flare

For once I had a Kodak TMAX 100ISO film loaded, not the usual Ilford HP5 coming from my endless bulk roll.

Cling cling

And the band kept on playing

Very friendly atmosphere, an opportunity to remember and share our love of India and its culture.

Some may still be lost…

Paris in Summer

“Paris est une fête” as goes the say (Paris is a party) ; I am not 100% sure about it but Paris in summer surely put me in a great mood, and I enjoy shooting in the streets that I am rediscovering after so many years.

— Asian tourist checking a Korean restaurant —

This is summer 2022, probably my 5th or 6th trip in a year, carrying the M6 (The old one) and the Summicron 50v5 and a roll of Kodak TMA100, my favourite film very appropriate (I think) to the summer time. This is my 16th film of the year, so I am now far from my past One-roll-a-week diet, but ok this is not a competition.

— Lets go surfing —

— Watching the world goes bye —

— two trios —

— A classic style paint shop —

— Saint-André des Arts —

— Passage Choiseul —

— The Conran shoppers —

— an odd workshop in the centre of town —