Leica Sofort - instant & blue

Ive owned a Leica Sofort for some time now and I find it invaluable when I need an instant image prior to shooting some film. That instant view is great to give you a reasonable indication of how your film shots will look

This post is titled “instant & blue”. 10 images shot with one thing in common, varying shades of blue. One of the many colours Leica process’s so well. Its worth bearing in mind here that the lens on the little baby is still only a plastic. Imagine if Leica would of ran with a glass option instead…

A series of random images

Id normally start a post within this journal on a particular subject but on this occasion this post is nothing other than a series of random images that I often like to take. Make of them what you will.

Please note: No photoshop, lightroom or presets were used or will ever be used in the making of my images. All the shots you see are straight out of the box. Real photography you might say

Peak Design - everyday messenger, 4 years on

Ive had my Peak design Messenger bag now for over 4 years now and I guess if would be fair to say that Im happy with it.
It works from a point with regards to what I was looking for in a camera bag in storing and protecting my camera gear but I do have a few small issues with it.

Firstly, the fastening buckle on the bags strap slips slowly over time and needs to be re adjusted time after time. Now this might be that 4 years of wear and tear has had an impact of the materials used and thats just a “take it on the chin” thing. Im not too sure if Im honest

Secondly, the spine of the bag on each end sags where the strap joins the bag at either end. This could of been easily modified if Peak Design inserted a light weight plastic strip into that area but Peak Design dont listen to their customers - Allow me to elaborate on that comment. Ive email Peak Design as an end user on a number of occasions with what I thought were some useful comments on the R&D front which might be helpful in future design of their products. One creative to another here. They chose not to respond. Correct me if Im wrong here but am I not one of your customers PD. What I also find surprising is PD are American company, the world leaders in customer service. This occasion guys you’v got it wrong.

So ,to summerize then. The bag is pretty much a solid unit. It does what it says on the tin. Its travelled over 40,000 miles plus and visited 11 different countries with me. Would I buy another? I guess so. However, this time I wont be wasting my time in contacting PD customer service department. It seems its generally closed and they don’t want to listen to their customers. Very sad PD

Cornish coastal villages - Mullion cove

Mullion Cove is a small picturesque harbour which was built back in the 1890’s. Also known as Porth Mellin, its a cove thats sheltered from our powerful westerly storms. A tiny fishing community located on the west coast of the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall. This is how Im see it…

Vancouver - an urban street view

Ive had an interest in urban street photography for sometime now but its doesn’t pay the bills. Its a “for the love of it” style of photography for me. I shoot what I see. There’s no format to what I look for. It just what leaps out and grabs me. Often it can be the simplest subject matters. A splash of colour, some movement, people or just a simple shot that conveys a story that has caught my eye. Look hard enough and you’ll always find a shot somewhere.

I travelled to Vancouver recently. which I found very clean, very modern with some interesting areas to explore and walk around safely. There’s an element of concern for me when I travel to a major city that Ive no knowledge of so Ive eyes in the back of my head all of the time. Here’s a street shooting tip for you. Keep an eye on who’s around you and be careful if your pointing a camera too close to the subject matter. It might be the case that someones in your potential shot thats not too keen on his or her photo being taken. Lets refer back to a shoot I did in Marrakesh. (http://www.rickdavy.co.uk/blog/marrakech-a-photographers-guide) Some useful tips here.

Anyhow, shooting in Vancouver was a dream even though it rained most of the time that I was out and about. Enclosed within this post are a select of random based urban street imaging. I hope you like what you see.

NOTE: All of the enclosed images were shot on my Hassy 500 C/M and my Leica M6. My film stock of choice was Provia and Ektar and as usual, all expired….

Moscow - A different view

When Im traveling, I tend to shoot stuff that others might not see. Im not really interested in the normal tourist shots of buildings and scenery you might associate with the city or country your visiting. I like to find something different that often just comes to me. Street photography works where ever you are. Sit around for a while and look at what surrounds you. Sometimes it can be the simpliest of things that makes you lift your camera and take that potential shot.
A recent visit to Moscow gave me that different view. A street view…

Moscow - A different view

Moscow is full of colour, street art and much much more. We often associate Russia as been rather dark and oppressive. Thats not the case. Some areas are off limits and the security is tight but general speaking you can point your camera and shoot in most places. The art of “street photography” is be seen but not be seen if you know what I mean. Tourists can be a good subject matter to focus on as they are unaware of you as they shoot away

What I saw of Moscow was a clean modern city. There was no real evidence of past brutal soviet architecture here just a rich westernised developed city thats been cleaned of every element of homelessness, begging and graffiti you might see in other large cities around the world. All part of Putins vision. The odd old women beggar can be seen from time to time in the most popular haunts, but thats about it. Everywhere I travelled I felt safe and at ease

Ektar - I wish I'd discovered it earlier

I came across some friends work recently and loved how the film he used delivered great colour and fine grain. It was clear from the images I saw that this wasn’t a film stock Id seen or comes across before. The film stock in question was Kodaks Ektar 35. Now, vivid colour is something I love to shoot and incorporate into my work so it was time to try a roll out myself. The results, well, Im super chuffed with them. There are all what I expected and more.

Now as you can see from the images above, the colour is punchy and vivid and the grain is super fine. Its a film that lends itself to bold colours and detail. When shooting my first roll of Ektar, I made sure I targeted bold colourful subjects to get the best out of it. At the same time, I thought Id try a few other options such as portrait and interiors. As you see, Ektar also offers some nice rich tones too and delivers on that front as well.

To summerize then. Is it a film that Im going to be using on a regular basis? Hell, yes… Its also a film id be keen to try out on Medium Format. Given how good it is and the right subject matters and light, I feel pretty sure it will deliver on all counts. Watch this space

The Ten Shot Project is live !!!

The Ten Shot Project is now live. Ten shots, one theme, chosen by you. It’s a analogue based project with no pixels here. For those of you who answered our call, we thank you. What you’ve done for the project is provide us with a diverse and interesting collection of images.

Our logo represents the letter 10 in a minimal yet abstract form. The added red dot represents the proximity sensor, which completes the visual reference to the camera icon. The Ten Shot Project will continue to evolve and we’ll be adding new features along the way. You can find us on line as well as on Instagram. If you’re interested in submitting your work, we’d love to hear from you. Check out our submission page. We welcome you all.

Glossy and glamorous

When your considering buying a new camera these days, on line seems to be the first port of call when looking into whats on offer. They all look very much the same in their appearance and when you get round to purchasing the one your after, its turns up and its all very nice I guess. No glossy brochures or lovely looking manuals anymore. Just a downloadable link for a black and white option.

That wasn’t always the case though. If you go back to the days when it was just analog camera’s for sale, the clever marketeers of the world would entice you in by offering glossy brochures promoting their camera’s. Good looking women, happy families at the beach, blue skies, models galore etc etc.

A classic example of that was this Hasselblad 500 /CM brochure. The beautiful women leads you in as if you were the lucky man behind the lens. The marketeers of the period seemed to pitch their campaign towards the male only element of photography by embracing the camera itself with large manly hands. Somewhat sexist to a degree I reckon but that seemed to be the sales direction at the time.

What this brochure has become though is retro, old school in its design but at the same time, still very attractive to the end user. I love it…

"a day in the life of a"

18 months ago, I set about putting together the ”a day in the life of a “ project. The narrative/idea behind this project was to shoot and document individuals who live and work by the coast. At the time, I thought the project might have some legs to it but I was never really sure to what level. The overwhelming interest since setting this project up has gone through the roof. When I started to dig a little deeper, I soon realised that the projects lifespan was endless in terms on its content as there are so many interesting people out there. The project will continues to evolve week by week and month by month as I add further content.

Read the full stories of those who live and work by the coast here: www.adayinthelifeofa.co.uk/ourlives/

the 10 shot project....

Im constantly looking for new ideas and projects to shoot at the moment. I generally start with a rough idea in my head, then look on line for some further inspiration and then think how I might display that project. However, this project needed to be about other photographers rather than me. Its also a project I wanted to share and it was super easy to find someone to collaborate with, Gareth Morton. A cracking film photographer who will bring a wealth of his knowledge to the project.

So, here’s the idea I came up with. The “ten shot project”. Ten shots, one theme, chosen by yourself and then submitted for review by way of our site. A social platform where we can share your work for all to see.

www.thetenshotproject.co.uk

Im trying.....

When I set about putting this project together, imaging was never my concern in terms of the finished result, it was always the writing/copy aspect of it that I feared the most. Writing for me doesn’t come easily . I know what I want to say but when it comes down to banging the copy out, It takes me a huge amount of time to put these stories together. Ive had to learn and learn fast. I have a supportive other half that corrects and proof reads the final drafts but its down to me to rely these stories to you guys. Along the way I sort guidance and help from others that write for a living and thats been quite helpful. Lizzie aka “The Cornish Bird” offered me advice as well as suggested a few individuals that might work for the project.
A big thank you to Lizzie and to my other half and to those of you who have corrected me along the way. RD