Search results for: 'colour'

An appreciation of Ilford FP4 The greatest pleasures can be taken from the simplest of things. An appreciation of something old that gets passed by while everyone tries to keep up with the crowd or the relentless progression of technology.  For me Ilford’s FP4 is one of those little pleasures. The RAF I was a photographer in the Royal Air Force from 1986 -1995.  At my RAF unit we had little choice of film stock.  It was FP4 and HP5 for black and white. Being stationed at a headquarters unit mean...

Taking the plunge I'd had this roll of Ilford HP4 for a good few months and was hesitant to put it through a camera. The fact that it was so pristine in it's condition made me feel that whatever I used it for had to be significant. I had to wait for the right opportunity. As the weeks passed,  I began putting unnecessary pressure on myself to plan a shoot around this one film. It was sitting on a shelf, judging me. At this point I decided to stop procrastinating and just shoot the roll, regardless of w...

Nolton Haven Technical info Film Used FP4+ Format 35mm Camera Nikon F2 Lens 20mm F3.5 AI. 25A red & 2stop ND filters. Exposure time 30seconds Other equipment Manfrotto tripod, Weston Lightmeter. Location Nolton Haven is a small narrow bay on the Pembrokeshire coast in West Wales.  It sits between the two much larger beaches of Druidstone and Newgale. Its characteristic feature are its two almost near symmetrical headlands.         Firstly, tell us the...

Going digital If we go back to 2002 a close photographic friend convinced me (against my better judgement) that film was a thing of the past, and that to hold my own in the professional photographic world I had to go digital. Eventually I succumbed to his argument and traded in my Leica film cameras (I had 4) and started on the dizzy road to digital photography. In those days some fifteen years ago I thought it would be just like changing film brands: OK it may take a bit of getting used to a different ...

It is my opinion that some photographers mistakenly regard ILFORD HP5 PLUS and its predecessors to be a somewhat cheaper, lower quality response to Kodak’s Tri-X. I hope to demonstrate in this review that this assumption simply isn’t the case. There’s much more to HP5 PLUS than meets the eye – something that regular shooters of this film will be more than aware of (you folks can leave now, nothing new here). For those of you who haven’t shot this film before, this review will give you my tak...

Thank you What a fantastic year! We've seen film usage increase again, with more people than ever either picking up a film camera for the first time, or re-discovering their love for shooting film. We're really excited to see what next year brings. A huge thank you to everyone who shares #ilfordfilm images with us on our social media streams. We love seeing what you are shooting with our films and chatting to you on Twitter / Facebook and Instagram. We have lots of exciting plans for 2018, including ...

Window Cleaners shot on ILFORD XP2S An unknown language When I started in photography I was always put off from film, by the balance (in my mind anyway), between the effort and time taken out of my workflow in developing, and the rolling cost. As well as my dependence and already intimate comprehension of digital systems. Film was an unknown language, and not one I was prepared to learn at the time. Expanding my understanding Recently however I have been looking for different ways to expand my und...

Images with feeling The most attractive element of analogue is its delicacy. The analogue process has remained so ingrained into my practice, I can't imagine working in any other way. Seeking images which stir a feeling within and seeing that image through each stage of the process to finally create a hand-made darkroom print. The print may not be perfect, I do not tirelessly work on test strips creating a technically perfect image, I never leave the confines of the darkroom to inspect the print once it...

An experiment in chemical possibilities When I took up a camera after a few years’ hiatus in 1990, I was surprised to discover that I could no longer get a black & white film developed through the nearest camera shop, never mind through the local pharmacy.  If memory serves, I was told it would cost $40 for a single film. Naturally, I returned to processing my own film just I had done when I first took up a camera in the early 1970s. The world had moved on, and colour film was the default medium f...

An Interest in Large Format Large format is an immensely rewarding and enjoyable way to make a photograph. It can also feel overwhelming when you’re just starting out, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. This article is for anyone with an interest in large format. I got into 4x5 because I wanted to challenge myself, and to try something new. Over the last two years it has become my favourite way to take a photograph. There’s something special about slowing down and being so deliberate with each...