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<\/a>\nThe problem is though is that Steve says he\u2019s a lazy photographer and doesn\u2019t want to work harder than he has to, so he wants his images to look different without too much effort. And that\u2019s one of the reasons he uses film.<\/p>\n
\u2018My current task is making Hertfordshire look different. I want to make it look a way no one else can \u2013 because I\u2019m shooting my vision of the place. No one else has exactly the same ideas so some people might not recognise my view of the place.<\/p>\n
I love going to far-flung destinations and exploring, but for the past two years I haven\u2019t visited anywhere, so I\u2019ve been going out walking locally and taking pictures of the things I see. I\u2019m extremely lucky that my two passions, photography and walking, can be done at the same time \u2013 unlike swimming and knitting.<\/p>\n \u2018Of course I take lots of pictures so some of mine do look the same as other people\u2019s, but my favourites are the ones that don\u2019t. They are a bit different. Film helps me do that in a way that doesn\u2019t require me to think creatively. I can load a roll of expired film and I might get a load of rubbish back, or I might get a picture that stands out.<\/p>\n The film can create the look on its own, and I don\u2019t have to do anything other than search for a good subject and shoot it well. Finding a good scene is half the battle, and it\u2019s what I like most. I like to find something to shoot when it seems the area is very limited. There isn\u2019t very much around where I live in Buntingford, and the countryside is quite bland most of the time.<\/p>\n I can walk 20 miles and not see anything that makes it worth getting the camera out, but if you walked that distance in the Lake District, Cornwall or Wales, there\u2019d be loads to shoot. So I have to try a bit harder.<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019m trying to compile images for a book at the moment and decided that I wouldn\u2019t include any double exposures as they don\u2019t give a true representation of a place \u2013 but I can\u2019t stop myself because I enjoy them so much.<\/p>\n \u2018The title for my book is Hertfordshire In Colour<\/strong>, because the way I\u2019m shooting and processing is very colourful. You mightn\u2019t associate Hertfordshire with lots of colour, but the place is bursting with it in spring. During the winter though it\u2019s very brown, so I\u2019m trying to inject colour using lighting and techniques like cross processing.<\/p>\n\t\t Steve likes to make his pictures look different, and double exposures are just one of his techniques for doing so. He also works with striking compositions and bold colour<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n \u2018As I walk so much I\u2019ve exhausted every footpath in my area, and I have to go ten miles before there\u2019s a chance of seeing anything new. But as things change so often, I\u2019ve found that places I had got totally bored of during the pandemic now look really different. The book is inspiring my photography, but I always take my Hasselblad when I go for a walk anyway. I take a tripod too, even though I hate it. A tripod hanging off you really can spoil a nice walk.<\/p>\n \u2018Yesterday I walked 15 miles and didn\u2019t take a single shot. I\u2019m never \u201cnot bothered\u201d when I don\u2019t get to shoot anything on a walk, but it\u2019s actually okay. A friend of mine went to a National Park in America for a two-week trip of a lifetime and found fires had made the air too hazy to see any of the famous views.<\/p>\n He was really disappointed with the pictures he came back with. I just put on a pair of boots and walk out the door, so it doesn\u2019t matter so much if I don\u2019t get a shot. I\u2019m happy when I find something amazing, but I don\u2019t want to give up photography if I don\u2019t get what I want. I try not to have expectations that are too high. Most of my trips away are family holidays, and I\u2019ll get up early to go out and shoot before the rest of the family gets up.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018I studied photography A Level at school and had the idea that I wouldn\u2019t mind being a Magnum photographer. I had the cheapest Minolta SLR available at the time \u2013 I had no one to advise me, so just got what I could afford. I went out with my camera in London to shoot street and discovered that I didn\u2019t really enjoy it.<\/p>\n It was hard work, and good street photography is a lot more difficult than I expected. I had shot a roll of film and remember being quite disappointed when I saw the results. Funnily enough though, during the pandemic I dug them out of the loft and realised that some of those shots were alright.<\/p>\n \u2018After that initial trial of street photography I concentrated on just shooting the things close to where I lived. I got a job as a photographer\u2019s assistant for a while but when that studio closed down I moved into IT and now install AV equipment. For about 15 years I didn\u2019t touch a camera, until we had kids and I wanted to document them growing up.<\/p>\n I bought a Fujifilm bridge camera and found I loved using it, so upgraded to a Nikon DSLR. I really enjoyed what that could do, but found myself getting into really difficult and annoying habits. Because I had the ability to take thousands of pictures, I did, and would get about one good one in a thousand \u2013 which were terrible odds.<\/p>\n\t\t Fortunately Steve\u2019s children like being in his pictures \u2013 most of the time. And they make great models for both natural and set-up shots<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n \u2018To look through so many rubbish photos deciding which one to edit just bored me, and I knew something was wrong. I eventually bought a lovely Nikon 35Ti point-and-shoot compact film camera with beautiful dials on the top. I really loved shooting and making sure the picture was going to be a good one, and slowly but surely came to really appreciate film.<\/p>\n I went on to get a Bronica ETRSi, which gave me decent-sized images I could scan and get great quality from. Eventually I managed to buy the camera I\u2019d lusted over \u2013 a Hasselblad 501CM. I\u2019ve been shooting with it for ten years now and absolutely love everything about it. I don\u2019t want anything more from a camera.<\/p>\n It does what I want it to \u2013 which is nothing. It would be nice to have a faster shutter speed than 1\/500sec on occasions, but when I have limitations I become more creative as I have to get over them. If a camera can do everything I get a bit blown away as I can take the scene a hundred different ways.<\/p>\n \u2018My major influences are movies more than anything else \u2013 especially films I watched as a kid. There are a few films I couldn\u2019t stop going to see at the cinema. Dune was one of those, as was Desperately Seeking Susan, The Last Picture Show, Psycho and the new one, The Lighthouse. I\u2019m always looking at the cinematography, which can make it hard to actually enjoy the movie the way we\u2019re supposed to.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018One of the things I like about film is that it isn\u2019t instant. I like the wait, and then having almost the same experience as finding the scene when you see the negatives and scan them. Film photography feels much more like craft to me. Because you can\u2019t get that instant feedback Always looking for something different, Steve makes panoramic stitches from two frames, and also looks out for abstract shots with his Hasselblad<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n That can also hinder my spontaneity if I spend so long contemplating the shot that the moment has passed \u2013 but over time I have learnt to \u2018Digital photography is an excellent tool for learning and for instantly seeing the results of experiments \u2013 to see if things work. With digital photography you have the chance to shoot it again. \u2018I probably wouldn\u2019t be shooting film now had I not enjoyed photography when I shot digitally earlier, and although I got some good images I didn\u2019t enjoy the process as much.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018I use double exposures to make my pictures of places look a little bit different. It\u2019s a simple thing to do that has a big effect. The Hasselblad isn\u2019t designed to do it and it doesn\u2019t have a dedicated button, but my Nikon F5 does and just makes it very easy. With 120 film it\u2019s too difficult to shoot the roll, wind it back and reload it \u2013 as you can with 35mm film \u2013 so you have to shoot the two exposures one after the other.<\/p>\n With the Hasselblad I take the shot, take the back off, cock the shutter and then reattach the back for the next exposure. Sometimes I shoot the same subject from lots of different angles or perspectives on the same frame. It can be hard to stop myself from cocking the shutter instinctively.<\/p>\n\t\t Hasselblad 501CM, 80mm CB, Fuji Reala, Jan 2021<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n \u2018The square format in a flat landscape can be hard to fill, so shooting a mirrored image can work well. I shoot with the camera on one side and flip it over to the other side to shoot it again so the sky and the land areas cover each other. It\u2019s hard to shoot with the camera upside down with the waist-level finder, so shooting with the camera on its side makes life easier.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a simple way to fit rectangular scenes into a square frame, and you can use the marking on the ground glass screen to make sure you know where the mirror line will be. Sometimes too I shoot a rectangular scene using two square pictures stitched together to create an oblong final picture.<\/p>\n I used to only use one lens \u2013 the 80mm \u2013 and found that sometimes it just wasn\u2019t wide enough for the scene. Stitching a few images together allows me to get a wider view. I don\u2019t do these much any more as they take a bit of time. I love working without any editing at all. I will still remove fluff and dust, but I don\u2019t want to have to do anything else.\u2019<\/p>\n\t\t Steve likes to experiment with different films as well as out-of-date rolls for the effects they can bring<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n \u2018The developing and processing is just as important to my photography as actually taking the pictures in the first place. After a few bad experiences with local labs I now process my own film. I used to get them done by a great lab but it went out of business, so I decided to invest in the kit and do it myself.<\/p>\n I shoot with an adapted \u201csunny 16\u201d rule and am flexible about how I develop the film according to how I have shot it. Sometimes that can depend on the conditions in which I shot what I expect to be the best shot on the roll, but I also consider how many other rolls have been through the chemicals.<\/p>\n\t\t Hasselblad 501CM, 50mm, Kodak Portra 400, August 2016<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n \u2018I use a simple Paterson tank that takes two rolls of 120 or three 35mm rolls, and I like Tetenal chemistry as it\u2019s consistent, it keeps really well and it goes a long way before it gets exhausted. For black & white I love Ilford Perceptol as it\u2019s a slower developer and timing isn\u2019t so critical. I hired a Hasselblad scanner and managed to get about 200 images in a day, but found the difference between those results and those from the V500 was tiny, so I\u2019ve stuck with the Epson. The Hasselblad could render underexposed film better, but that was the only obvious difference.<\/p>\n The V500 doesn\u2019t do 35mm film justice so I use a copy set-up for that with a digital camera. Epson has its own colour and contrast signature that I really like, and it makes scanning quick and easy. I want great photos without any extra work involved \u2013 straight out of the tin.<\/p>\n\t\t Hasselblad 501CM, 50mm, Fujifilm Provia, July 2021<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n \u2018I don\u2019t have a darkroom, but I do have two medium format enlargers, all the trays, a print washer and loads of paper. I bought it all from one listing on eBay, but just haven\u2019t got room to set it up. I\u2019ve been looking at the darkroom tent that Ilford has just brought out and reckon I could have it set up, use it and take it down again before my wife gets home.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Perceptol with Tri-X is incredible \u2013 you can shoot at ISO 1600 and end up with no grain. Kodak Portra is able to capture so much shadow detail I can create really low-contrast images that just wouldn\u2019t be possible with a digital camera. Provia, on the other hand, creates a much more contrasty image with lots of impact and colour. I struggle with Fuji Velvia. Pan F is unbeatable in bright sunshine as it really holds on to the highlights. And I love the tones.<\/p>\n \u2018I leave the film rebate in the shot when I scan, and it makes me really happy when I\u2019ve made the square frame work. Sometimes I\u2019d prefer a bit of a crop to suit the subject, but tend not to make them. The Hasselblad feels natural to me now, and is a part of me. I don\u2019t have to think about it when I\u2019m using it, like a craftsman with his favourite hammer and chisel.<\/p>\n And I see in 80mm \u2013 I see with the same angle of view as a standard lens, so it feels natural to me. When I tried a 40mm for the Hasselblad it needed a whole new set of skills. Scenes that weren\u2019t of any use on the 80mm were great on 40mm.\u2019<\/p>\n\t\t Steve Jackson<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n \u2018Don\u2019t jump in at the deep end. I found the progression from smaller formats to larger formats worked well. You won\u2019t mind cocking up a roll of 35mm but you will if it\u2019s medium format or 5x4in film. It will still happen whatever format you use, but by practising with smaller formats you will do all your learning when it doesn\u2019t cost so much.<\/p>\n It can be disappointing to waste time, effort and money, so just try to avoid it. And learn on one lens. Learn your camera and master it. Going out to buy a new one won\u2019t improve your photography.\u2019<\/p>\n Further reading<\/strong><\/p>\n Simon Lipman on why he’s chosen film over digital <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>\n<\/a>\n<\/a>\t\t\t<\/a>\nOrigins<\/h3>\n
<\/a>\n<\/a>\t\t\t<\/a>\nI like the wait<\/h3>\n
\nI look harder at the viewfinder and ask myself \u201cDo I want this photo? Is this picture going to be cool?\u201d What\u2019s the point of recording something that isn\u2019t good? So that makes me a lot more selective.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\t\t\t
\ntrust my instincts, and now, strangely enough, I rarely think about what I\u2019m shooting. I\u2019ve taken so many pictures with the Hasselblad now that the finger on the shutter moves without me really thinking about it \u2013 I know when the shot is going to be good.<\/p>\n<\/a>\nDouble meanings<\/h3>\n
<\/a>\t\t\t<\/a>\t\t\tBack room process<\/h3>\n
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\nI use an Epson V500 for scanning \u2013 it must have scanned tens of thousands of slides and is still going strong.<\/p>\n<\/a>\t\t\tFilm and lenses<\/h3>\n
<\/a>\n<\/a>\t\t\tTips for new film photographers<\/h3>\n
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