Documentary photographer Cornwall

Foto app review - Finally some great news

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Over the past few years, we’ve seen quite a few of new photo related apps spring up such as the likes of Grainery/Newgrain which is great to see but after a short while they generally seem to either run out of money to support their R&D plans or just sit there and never gather pace. Consequently, us real photographers out there have really struggled to share our work the way we’d like to socially.

Forget about Instagram, its an utter waste of space unless you enjoy the elements of endless pushed advertising content, reels and other valueless content. Its go longer a place for photographers.

So, whats the choice then? Well, I think Ive finally found one in the shape of Foto app. This platform is ace. Ive only been on it a few weeks now but its has all the qualities of a real game changer on the photography front.

Image below: design layout

Easy to use? Yes. It current runs on Android and iOS, great for smart phone and Ipad users. Desktop users will have to wait a little while for that experience but the guys at Foto app are looking at that this summer. I cant wait!

Uploading is easy, the design is great and the sharing of content is immediate. What I love about this app in relation to the others out there is that you cant see others followers or who they are following, you can only see your own. Who give a toss about that numbers anyway.


So what are your options then?

Well, you can go down the “free” option front. That will of course limit your uploads but its still a good choice. Or you can become what they call a Foto Ambassador · $5/month · $50/year · $500 For Life. If Im honest here, its not a lot on the $50 a year choice, my choice. Im not sure about the $500 tag though. I think i’d like to know a little more on the future of the app and their final goal before I opted for that kind of payment.

To conclude then

Great start, great design and great interaction with other real photographers. Foto app already has a premium look and feel to it which leads me to believe that this might very well be what we all been looking for. Chronological, ad-free, and uncropped. RD

The faces of Mumbai

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There’s one thing certain about shooting portrait content in Mumbai, you’ll never be short of it. Wherever you look, wherever you turn, there’s another face you’ll notice and yet another one you’ll spot out of the corner of your eye, or perhaps they might even be one staring at you. After all, as a white European, we’re somewhat of a novelty.

Remember this though, don’t assume that everyone likes the idea of have a camera raised and pointed at them. You need to connect with your subject first. I was fortunate enough to have some language skills to help me along the way as well as a local fixer gifted in the art of explaining in detail to the subjects who I was and what I’m was doing in Mumbai.
A freelance documentary film photographer working alongside UK & European media outlets. On this occasion, searching for print based media content to share with us all.

Please note: All of these shots were taken with the subjects consent

why Im not "smart" and never will be

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Since the introduction of smart phones, I never found the need to own one, use one or interact with one. Remember the days when people use to use the power of voice to communicate which these days seems to be completely lost. We as a nation have become so addicted to “smart” that life outside has simply been lost.

Ive been what one might call as a “dumb” user for years. A phone user that enjoys the engagement of voice and the odd text, not the distraction of pushed valueless content. Over the years, Ive endeavoured to stay brand loyal and some years ago I finally found a phone manufacturer that meets my needs and offers something that smart phones will never, Simplicity! Who am I referring to then? well, its Light Phone. Designed by a bunch of clever guys from the US with similar values to me.

Just take a moment to watch one of Light Phones informative video’s (below) to educate yourself and see how dumb is real.

The new LP3 now includes a built in camera which has not been featured on their previous models. Will I use it? I think not but Im sure others will. I tend to use a phone for the simplest of reasons, to speak direct to someone. Texting is so impersonal.

Walking down any street this days and you’ll just how engrossed smartphone users have become as they sit in their own little social bubble or surfing the net whilst on the move. Thats never been me. Im so far removed from the lives that they lead. Thats why I love LP so much. My new LP3 will soon be on its way and I’ll soon be dumber than Ive ever been. RD

shooting Expired with the odd colour shift - but it works..... →

Ive been shooting expired film for years and I get some great results from them. In fact at one stage, I was shooting 80% of my work on expired stocks. Why you might ask? Well, I l just love too and more so with E6 stocks. Now there are a number of you out there that are nervous about shooting expired and maybe more so E6. Expired slide film is so much more stable than c41 stocks so dont be nervous on that front.
The latest slide roll Ive just shot some content on is a roll of EliteChrome 100. I did a little review on it some time back and I love it so I shot another roll. As with the first roll, I did experience some colour shifts but I reckon that was down to poor storage in its earlier life before I bought it. As I said before, E6 is so stable

So, here’s the first shot for you. Whilst it might appear that the colours look real, and they do, there Cornish, there are further elements of blues tones. Take a look at the second shot and you’ll see what I mean in more detail. The sand is now blue but the colours of the flag in the reflection remain the same.

Ive placed the next set of images in a small gallery so you can compare the tones and the shifts in colour and blue here seems to be the primary one. Now there’s this photography rule I’d really like to quash or should I say Id like EM from Emulsive to tell you more. the One stop rule! its rubbish - here a link to his article - https://emulsive.org/articles/rants/how-to-shoot-expired-film-or-no-you-do-not-need-to-add-one-stop-per-decade

Personally, I dont do it with slide, there is no need. However, with C41 I have done it a few times with rubbish results. Hence why I don’t do it now. Shoot your stocks at box and see what you get. I like the results here and that colour shift for me works. RD

Shooting the shoot

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A couple of seasons ago, I was lucky enough to get a formal invite to a local sporting shoot which I simply could not turn down. This was a shoot like no other. It was so far removed for the general publics perception of Range Rovers, Purdy’s (very expensive shotguns) and people drinking whisky out of lead crystal glasses. This shoot was far from it. Not a single Range Rover in site but plenty of harris tweeds and well dresser shooters ( the guys with the guns). This was and is a budget end local family run shoot. Open to all and invites to all, providing you have some experience of course.

The shoot was headed up by Dan (centre stage in the image below), a local farmers son which has access to woodlands, hidden valleys and acres and open farm land that is so well suited to shoots of this kind. For Dan, putting this shoot together was and is all about budget end shooting. A level where all can afford rather than the high end “Purdy” end of the market. Dan’s shoot is different, the beaters are the shooters and the shooters are the beaters. All of the members takes a turn. The high end shooters just arrive to shoot and leave the beating to others. They see themselves as being beyond that brief sadly…

An integral part of any shoot are the dogs. “Trained to the gun” as they are often referred to. Endless hours of training by their owners to get to a level where they can send them on to hunt out and retrieve the birds. Amazing to watch and their reward is nothing other than working.

The shoot as a rule takes a day and the “peg” selection comes first thing. The “peg” is a ground marker that you will stand at during the shoot. Each member has their own peg. Selection sometimes can be the luck of the draw. In some cases it appears to be pain full - see below

I follow Dan and his members throughout the shoot and captured all that I saw. This kind of “sporting” activity is closely monitored and managed and rightly so. There will always be a high element of danger when the likes of guns/firearms are being used but it was very clear to me from the off that professionalism here was key and everyone understood what was expected of them.

Its rare to be invited to these type of shoots as a photographer, but with my connections I was invited in. I was made to feel very welcome and to some degress put of the shoot myself. Lunch with the shoot was epic by the way. A farmers wife cooking is second to none. Thank you Dan and a thank you to all your members that made me feel welcome that day. RD



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

Penberth Cove - The tiny fishing hamlet

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The tiny fishing hamlet of Penberth Cove lies at the foot of a wooded valley just to the east of Porthcurno. Fishing still remains part of Penberth but only to a few local families nows that still fish this cove and its Atlantic waters.

I spent a few hours one early spring morning capturing all that I saw. All images are shot on film. None of those pixels or photoshop here. Just real images

Camera’s: Asahi Pentax 6x7, Hasselblad 500 CM
Films: Kodak Ektar & Kodak Portra 160

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Portra 400 VC - Another first

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I’m a big lover of Portra as a film stock both on 35mm and Medium Format, so it was only question of time before I tried 400VC. The “VC” as you are all no doubt aware of stands for “Vivid Colour”. A brief history on this will tell you this film stock was around until 2011 when production stopped. The rolls I picked up on a on line auction web site were expired back in 2007. Shooting expired stock can be a bit of a gamble but i like that risk.

Images enclosed are shot on my Hasselblad 500 CM and my Pentax 6x7. No push, no pull, no over, no under, no one stop, two stop, Lightroom or Photoshop, just straight out of the box

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Ive chosen a variety of colours and subjects to see how a 2007 rolls handles the colour. There are a little grainy but Portra’s never been a fine grain stock anyway. Would I say they were vivid. Certainly not by todays standards but the colours are there with little or no real separation to speak off.