It is common today that women are photographed sexy and slightly undressed to attract attention to the subject, photographer or both. There is so much of this sort of photography that it has almost become kind of disposable art, with a viewing time of only 1-3 seconds. In the best-case scenario, the model gets a like, and is then replaced with a new photo on the screen with just one swipe.
As a kid, my family was transferred to Sao Paulo, Brazil, Dad was working on a project for Caterpillar Inc. During that stay, my father let me use the much-valued Pentax ME Super, taking Koda-and-Ektachromes, and a whole new world opened up. I didn’t really know what I was doing then; much less than half turned OK. I really had no idea – being 8 years old – of film formats, or all the camera tech. I just knew that – was taken to a camera store by a friend – the featured Pentax 645 seemed like this awesome super-monster robot of a camera. And recently, by random happenstance, when a good deal with 4 lenses came up—without hesitation, took a 250 mile road trip to obtain, rekindling my childhood fascination
I help as a guide in running members’ tours around the East Lancashire Railway, a large heritage railway based in Bury, near Manchester. These monthly tours are well attended. On the last tour this year I was able to take the Leica M6 and 7Artisans 35mm f2 lens along with me in an attempt to get some monochrome pictures, whilst also keeping an eye on the tour members, who have a tendency to wander ‘off piste’.
The lockdown has given people plenty of opportunity to buy stuff they can’t afford and don’t really need, I know, I’m one of them. I’d been thinking about replacing the 7Artisan 35mm f2. This lens is tremendous value for money, but in the long term I want a lens with better control over edge sharpness and flare.
If you shoot monochrome film, you don’t have to make do with shooting at box speed if it is a higher speed that you want, and if that is the case for you, you should not hesitate to push process. If you have not heard of push processing, it means altering the developing process so that you can under-expose your film and still get great results. If you would like to learn more about push processing, there is a good article here.
