Shooting on Film – Southbank via TLR
I have been inspired by my friend and exceptionally talented photographer Brian Auer, and a growing number of other photographers, to try shooting film. Retro cameras are back in style, and I’ve been keen for a while to experiment with them. I asked Dad if I could borrow his Twin Lens Reflex cameras, which I photographed in another post. I thought that experiencing photography as it used to be – nothing auto, no preview, hand-held exposure meter – might help me learn more about photography.
Unfortunately, it took me a while to get around to shooting, and even longer to get the photos developed, but below you can see my first roll of medium format photography, taken on a short, solo photo walk along Melbourne’s South Bank. Eleven out of twelve photos worked out, not too bad for a first effort.
The Atrium, inside Crown Casino. Significant dust contamination on this negative and several others. I’m not sure what the source was.
Also inside the Crown Casino atrium, at exactly the same location as the last shot, but this time looking directly up. I really liked the circular lens flare that serendipitously appeared.
A large (approx 8-10m) metal sculpture, in front of Eureka tower, currently the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere.
A deliberately slow shutter exposure of a carousel. This was under exposed, but scanning the film at 16bit (greyscale) gave me the latitude to recover the photo in Lightroom.
This is one of my favourites from the shoot. The geometric structures caught my eye, and I was impressed with the dynamic range in the 16bit greyscale scan.
A “busker” blows giant soap bubbles with detergent, rope and dowels, and sells the devices. One little boy was fascinated for many minutes.
I had to squeeze my way to the front row to get the angle I wanted for this shot, but I think it worked. I like how the audience watches on, and the volunteer’s head is cut off. Naomi thinks it would have been better with the face in shot. What do you think?
The arch of the iconic South Bank footbridge acts as a dynamic element to draw the eye into the composition.
I liked the symmetry of this starkly geometric, architectural photo of part of the South Bank mall.
Old and new stand side-by-side. Eureka tower in the background.
Looking down the covered walkway in front of the famous Flinders Street Station. By this time I was really enjoying myself and was disappointed when I realised that this was the last photo on the roll.
Wow Neil! Great stuff from your first roll!!! You seem to have a good handle working with those waist-level viewfinders (you do get used to the flipped motion effect after a while.
Which film did you use? Oh, and when I scan film, I usually wear one lint-free glove, stick the film between two fingers and give it a good wipe down before I throw it into the film holder. then I use a rocket blaster to get rid of any loose stuff before closing the lid. That should clear up most of the lint dust problems.
Of all the photos, I like the bed of nails photo best — especially without the head!
Keep shooting with those cameras! Get yourself some really slow film (ASA50 or 100) so you can open up the lens and get some of that sweet TLR bokeh.
WOW!!!
From my own experience, a TLR is not the easiest of cameras to handle and for a first time you got 11 fantastic images.
My favorite? The last one. Maybe it’s a preference for the composition aspect, but it was the one that captivated me the most.
Further rolls to come?
Great effort Neil. Your welcome to take some of my Practika gear out.
Scott
The arch of the iconic South Bank footbridge is this in Manchester? forgot the name of the train station near it.
Defintly a great variety and strong keepers for a single roll of 120 film. Not to mention it was your first.
Any comments on the extra discipline needed when you know you only have 12 clicks before a lengthy reload process? Don’t tell me you would have only taken one photo of the bed of nails guy if you dSLR with you instead. ;)