I’m lucky. Once in a while a good friend of mine invites me over to the English Lake District. I get to stay at his place with other friends, drink beer, summit mountains and take photographs with cameras given to me for free.
Twice in my life I have opened a parcel to see the shy, clam shell face of an Olympus XA looking at me. The first time was unboxing a brand new one on the occasion of my 18th birthday, bought for me by my brother; such a thoughtful and generous man, he had seen how much interest I had taken in his OM cameras and just knew I would love a camera of my own.
I used that XA for about 2 years before trading it in (but not ‘up’ arguably) for a Minolta SLR. I probably didn’t get as much for it as I could have. I was a bit naive I would say, and I came to regret the sale.
Fast forward around 30 years. I had done some paid work for another friend on a website. The work was done and I had the cash. One Saturday morning, postie arrived with a parcel of brown paper for me. I was puzzled. I wasn’t expecting anything. I unwrapped it, and there, once again, was an Olympus XA, which had belonged to my friend. He had decided to give it to me. It was quite a moment. I splashed a few tears on the thing as I inspected it.
It was with this camera that I took these 5 photos, on Skiddaw, the third highest peak in the Lake District. These mountains are small in comparison to many ranges overseas, but they are to be respected, particularly in winter. The XA goes to ISO 800, so that’s what I exposed the T-MAX P3200 at. It was developed in Adox FX-39II for 9 minutes. I am delighted with the results. I dropped some of the negatives when retrieving them from the shower, but got away with it. Luck again.
Leaving the summit of Skiddaw
Summit of Little Man
Summit of Lesser Man
The weather starts to turn
Time to get warmer gear on.
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19 Comments
Barry Reid
April 12, 2019 at 10:26 amNice, love the way the snow in the 1st image forms a visual pathway, for the lone figure, into the mystery of the clouds.
Chris Pattison
April 12, 2019 at 12:01 pmThanks Barry.
eric
April 12, 2019 at 10:41 amGreat Photos. Love the atmosphere!
Tmax 3200 at 800 iso pretty nice.
Congratulations. One of best cameras for montain (Contax T, Rollei 35, …)
Chris Pattison
April 12, 2019 at 12:02 pmHi Eric. Thanks. Yes, the XA is so wonderfully small and portable for the mountain environment.
Michael Kay
April 12, 2019 at 11:20 amIsn’t P3200 really an 800-1000 ISO film?
Nice shots & story btw!
Chris Pattison
April 12, 2019 at 12:06 pmThanks Michael. Yes, you are correct. P3200 is nominally an 800 ISO film, but specifically designed to be pushed, which is why there’s a ‘P’ before the 3200 apparently. I intend to push my next roll and see what happens.
Alvaro
April 12, 2019 at 10:04 pmIf you shoot it on the XA, you’ll end up with a very overdeveloped roll!
Chris Pattison
April 20, 2019 at 10:08 amI won’t be using the XA.
Simon
April 12, 2019 at 1:44 pmJust goes to show that you don’t need good weather to get great images. Nice work!
Chris Pattison
April 12, 2019 at 3:49 pmThanks Simon.
jamesnorthcote
April 12, 2019 at 1:53 pmBeautiful shots and a lovely story
Chris Pattison
April 12, 2019 at 3:50 pmThanks James.
David Hill
April 12, 2019 at 2:23 pmLake District? Looks like Rock District to my eye. Gorgeous terrain, lovely work—you’ve caught the barren character so well.
Chris Pattison
April 12, 2019 at 3:51 pmThanks for that James. The bleak weather and terrain were made for monochrome.
Paul Latheron
April 12, 2019 at 2:49 pmYes I to own a xa and occasionally use it. It’s so different from my Olympus digital camera.
MarkB
April 12, 2019 at 6:53 pmThe mist and the film grain give real feeling and atmosphere to the images.
Chris Pattison
April 20, 2019 at 10:09 amThanks Mark.
Bryan D. Costin
April 13, 2019 at 11:02 pmWow, these are all fantastic. Very atmospheric.
Chris Pattison
April 20, 2019 at 10:09 amThanks Bryan.