Go Exploring With Me

I struggled a bit with what title to give this post. It touches on a lot of things all springing from one photo:

This post is about:

• Film photography, what I do and don’t know.
• The intersection of film and digital, or at least where I am with that.
• History and how we chose to display it.
• A lovely boat ride in the Lake District.

The photo in question is this one:

Taken with a Canonet 28

I’ll start with the Canonet 28 camera I am using. It was originally owned by my Great-Uncle who, according to my memory, owned all kinds of photography equipment and I suspect would have made the foray into digital as well had he lived to see that era. At his passing, this camera went to my Aunt, who a few years ago was kind enough to ship me a box of camera goodies that had belonged to my Great-Uncle. Of all the things in the box, it was this camera that caught my imagination the most.

But did it still work? That was a question that would require a new battery and some film. Jim Grey writes a blog that I follow that covers film photography and he has a post specifically about my camera. Jim’s blog also had some suggestions about film and batteries and generally was a good starting point for me to get the camera going. Also, I googled the camera and was able to track down the original owner’s manual that came with it. This paragraph should give you an idea of how much I do not know about film photography.

Something that I do know is that regardless of what camera, digital or film, that you are using if you are standing on a vibrating boat, a perfectly still image is going to be really hard. So I just embraced that reality, choosing to shoot the also moving flag and just make the image about motion.

The boat in question is actually a Victorian-era steam yacht gondola, that was rebuilt and restored. Operated seasonally by the National Trust, it makes for a lovely cruise in the Lake District. The little history geek that resides within me loves when a tangible piece of history is displayed in this way.

Having captured this image on film and had it developed, I then scanned it to my computer. I do not have a scanner built with photography in mind. Anyway, I edited my scan in Luminar 3. I did not crop the image. That’s part of my process learning to use the viewfinder and lens setup of the camera, figuring out what does and doesn’t work. There are also a few spots and imperfections visible that are a reflection of the imperfections of the camera. I was pleased with how few there were given the age of the camera.

Overall, this was a nice foray into exploring film photography. Since the camera works and I like the feel of it, I will be loading another roll of film in. Film will never take the place of digital for me, the two are vastly different experiences, but I will continue to tinker with film.

This post is a little bit different than most of my others. I’m happy for you to leave a question or comment below.

Cheers!

Added to Lens-Artist Photo Challenge, On Display.