documentary photography

he came from nowhere

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There are times, just like in street photography that a shots just comes to you. What I mean by that is that a shot can just randomly present itself when perhaps you least expect it. A classic case of that is the shot below. I was out early one morning shooting street content in downtown Vancouver when I walked past this pile of pallets. As I walked past it I heard this rustling of heavy duty plastic sheeting and then this head popped up. It took me by surprise and the guy also by surprise to see me there looking at him.

My first thought was to say hello and to ask what he was doing there. his reply sadly was “I live here”. Clearly he was homeless. Now Im a believer of chatting to the homeless element of this world and listen to their stories. Of course I offered him and hot drink and something to eat, just common sense for me to do that.

We chatted for a while and I explained to him that I was a documentary film photographer with a love of portrait. You can see where this was leading. I had to ask him the question “may I take your photo” The reply was short and sweet, “yep”. I didnt ask him to pose and dress the shot, just to relax and I kept cahting to him until the shutter finally closed. I never got his name but I enjoyed our chat. Choice of camera and film that day? My Hassy 500CM and a roll of Ektar. A great portrait combo. RD

5 frames, one theme - Auschwitz

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Auschwitz is one of those trips I’ve being saying I’ll get round to one day and last month I finally got there. I arrived with an open view on what I wanted to shoot, or should I say what I was allowed to shoot. There are some parts of Auschwitz you simply cannot take images of and we all have to respect that. My vision was simple, 5 documented frames that for me summed up what Auschwitz was all about.

Black and white film for me was the right choice. Kodak’s Double X was perfect for the brief as its a high contrast stock and has a classic period documentary aspect to it, grainy.

Image 1: One of the remaining train wagons from that period that were used to transport the jews to Auschwitz.

Image 2: Clearly there was no escape as electric fences and watch towers surrounded the camp

Image 3: The most basic and impersonal spaces resembling cattle sheds. I leave to judge what they were used for

Image 4: Photographed, documented, the lucky ones were put to work but mainly all of them were put to death

Image 5: The twin fenced walk way that lead you to Dr Josef Mengele’s experimental buildings. Your fate unsure other than the final outcome

My article is not meant in any way to shock you, but more so to remind us all of that terrible Holocaust during WW2. I urge you all to visit the site and experience what I did alongside others. It beggars belief that human life can be regarded as so worthless.

Simple can also be effective

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Im a great believe that us photographers see things thats others don’t and we then capture the most basic of images. Having said that, the production of an image is all about what works for us. In this first example below, the light was the first element that drew me to it, then the colour and then the whole balance of the shot. Basic but, its works for me

Within this gallery below are a series of images that all work for me on the simple and basic front. I saw some element of interest in the first instance that attracted me to the content. All shot on film as always - no digi here thank you very much, and all shot on a series of formats and film stocks

what 50p got me on the camera front

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Im still amazed at what turns up at car boots these days on the photographic front. From old slides to box brownies and even the occasional real find like a Leica. However, on this occasion my latest find was this cracking little Kodak Pocket Instamatic 100. In its original box plus a set of flashes at a price of 50p, yes, 50p - a steal!!

So, given the fact that the camera didn’t come with a film, I went on line to that well known auction site and purchased a 110 cartridge of Kodacolor II at a cost of £9.00. The film arrived in the most amazing condition inside and out bearing in mind it expired back in 1974. It looked as if it had just come off the shelves.

At this stage, Im now into £9.50 for the camera and film, and yes I did check before hand as regards getting a 110 film developed and here in the UK too. Give the fact that this film of C41 is nearly 50 years old, I don’t expect that the film will be stable on the colour front and I’d expect some colour shifts, but that expired film for you. i might be lucky though.

The film is 12 exposures with an ASA of 80. With that in mind I’ll be shooting in bright sunshine with a little luck. With regards to the subject matter Ive chosen for this, it will be Sicily, somewhere Ive not shot before…… I’ll keep you posted



Cornwall - This glorious land that we all call home

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With over 400 miles of Atlantic coastline, this glorious land that we all call home has it all. From picture postcard coves, to rugged granite cliffs, deep blue skies and crystal clear Atlantic waters. Our landscape is diverse and spectacular.

From a photography point of view, we have some of the best and purest light here. In the summer months, that light, our Cornish blue skies and the Atlantic colourful tones make it a dream to shoot. I might add, it doesn’t always look like this but we love it when it does. We get a lot of storms and we love them too.

Littered in and around our Cornish coastline are a collection of many picturesque coves which we like to call our own. Throughout the winter months, we love these places even more as the tourists have moved on and we get our lovely land back.

We’ve all heard the following many times before, “you’re so lucky to live here”. My response to that as always is, “it’s not about luck, it’s all about choice”. Life is all about the choices we make and our choice was to live and work in this lovely land that we call home.

St Ives - through my eyes

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St Ives - One would say quintessentially Cornish, picture postcard views and one of the singular most popular seaside towns in the UK. Its colourful, great out of season and very photogenic. But as photographer like most, often see what others don’t. Tourists will continue to take those typical St ives seaside shots we all see and love, but personally, I prefer to see a different side to it whilst at the same time, seeing different views.
Enclosed are just a few of what I see……

I tend to search out colours, use different film formats and a selection of film stocks to mix it all up.

A cliff top view here overlooking Porthmeor beach before the crowds arrive and the emptiness disappears. i often find that the morning light delivers the best light, thats always providing the clouds stay away

At low tide, St Ives offers free food for all. I refer to Cornish muscles if your a seafood lover. Remember though, go safe and be careful of the rocks and watch the tides etc. Im certainly not going to tell you where I harvest mine from, but wherever it is, I get the biggest muscles time after time.
There is a saying that you should never harvest muscles in the months with an “r” in them. Ive never found that an issue

They’ll always be somewhere to point your camera in St Ives and there’s always a different view, if you look for it. Colour will always stand out here, even in the off seasons. St Ives will always remain popular with tourist and locals alike. I’ll continue to look for more ways to shoot more content here - but always at first light and when the place is empty

Camera & film stocks used :
Pentax 6x7, Hassy 500 cm & Konica Hexar. Portra 400vc expired, expired ultramax 400 & Kodak Gold 120

Shooting Kodak Vision 250 3 D

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For those of you who are uncertain as to what Kodak Vision 3 is, its a 35mm colour negative film originally made for motion pictures. The film's standard development process is ECN2 and Im told it can also be processed using the C-41 process. Double check that. I chose to go down the ECN2 route which is more costly one and you’ll need to search out someone in the UK who does specialist processing. I used Nik & Trick ( www.ntphotoworks.com), excellent service I might add. You’ll need to wait a little longer than the standard 2/3 days turn around time on this stock though. Factor in say 2/3 weeks to get your shots back.

So, the first set of images here are from the first roll I shot. I had no real subject matter in mind at the time other than to just roll off the film at whatever

Camera: Konica Hexar

Roll 2
On this occasion, i looked for more variety and colour to further test this stock and I found subjects that it suits, and perhaps others that it doesn’t. For me, the portrait shot below is fine in its composition but I can see yellow and slight green ish tones to it.
Given I know the subject well, the skin tones and studio walls colours, are not correct.

Further evidence of those yellow and green ish tones are highlighted here when I shot this image in low light conditions. The film was shot at stock and the light reading was fine, its just Vision3 that gives it these tones especially in low light

So, is it a stock Id shoot again? Hell yes! I like the fact that Vision3 for me seems to offer colours and tones that other stocks don’t as such. It’s never going to be one of my top 5 stocks but I will continue to shoot it

Please note: All of the images contained within this post and other posts, and on my site are free from Photoshop, Lightroom and presets. All my imaging is real

New Kodak Gold 120 200 review

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Since the recent launch of the new Kodak Gold 120 stock, Ive been looking for an appropriate subject matter to shoot it with, both on 6x6 and 6x7. Colour wise for me , Cadgwith fits the bill 100%. It’s one of those quintessential colourful Cornish fishing villages that has it all. Granite old school Cornish cottages, thatched roofs, pastel coloured boats, glorious views and the Atlantic ocean pushing into its sheltered cove

The colours look great for me and Cadgwith certainly delivered on the colour front. Early doors is always the best time to shoot these locations. On reflection, Im pretty happy with Kodak Gold

The new Kodak Gold 120 seems to sit somewhere between Portra 160 and Ektar I reckon. Maybe not so vivid perhaps as Ektar and not so neutral as Portra but the colours do pop for me, and Cornwall always delivers on the colour front which makes my job so much easier. By the way, Im no expert or a technical photographer in any way but these are my findings, results and my review.

Camera’s used in this shoot: Hasselblad 500 CM/ Asahi Pentax

no PS, LR. Presets, just straight out of the camera at box speed

Please note: other views and opinions are available but these are mine

Kiro 400 review

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Id never heard of Kiro 400 film stock before until a friend of mine sent me a roll, free of charge I might add - cheers Jonatas. I reviewed it on line as that what I do with most stocks I’ve not shot before and thought Id give it a go. I did have one narrative in mind at the time but the French buggered that up for me. That was snow! Dam, I still cant forgive those French fops.

Anyhow, Enclosed are a selection of images of different subject matters colour values and different lighting conditions.

Camera of choice: Konica Hexar AF

For me, the colours do stack up and there are some elements of other films stocks to Kiro too. I did read somewhere that Kiro might be a Fuji C200 rebranded stock. Im not convinced of that if im honest.

To summerise then, Kiro 400 is a solid colourful 35mm stock, not of the finest grain of course but it works under variable light and conditions. Would I shoot it again? of course. Remember, shooting film is all about grain and loving the grain, not those dreadful pixels things - #embracethegrain

Please note: All of the images contained within this post and other posts, and on my site are free from Photoshop, Lightroom and presets. All my imaging is real .

Other opinions are available