Sammi shot on a Pentax 67ii and 105mm f2.4 and HP+5 400

Pentax 67ii and Pentax 105mm f2.4 shot on Ilford HP+5 400 film

Sammi at Youeni Cafe Castle Hill, shot on a Leica m6 with Zeiss Sonnar 50mm f1.5 on Portra 800 film

Sammi at the Royal Easter Show, dog judging enclosure. Leica m6 + Portra 800 and Zeiss Sonnar 50mm f1.5

Sammi at a local park in Quakers Hill, in Sydney’s north west region. Leica m6, Kodak Portra 800 and Zeiss Sonnar 50mm f1.5

Sammi playing with the bark in outer north west Sydney. Leica m6, Zeiss Sonnar 50mm f1.5, Kodak Portra 800

Fun in the sun at a park in Quakers Hill, Sydney. Leica m6, Kodak Portra 800, Zeiss Sonnar 50mm f1.5

Quite recently, I acquired a Leica m6 and Carl Zeiss Sonnar 50mm f1.5. The rangefinder experience, takes a whole lot of getting used to. Aligning the squares, and capturing the moment, does take some practice. Save for sports and animals, an active 3 year old, is about being thrown into the deep end when learning a manual focus range finder. I do love the non blacking of the mirror box. The Leica m6 is largely mechanical, the only electronics being the built in meter. There is something special about shooting with a Leica. Perhaps it’s the link to past masters such as Winogrand and Bresson who used very similar instruments, that defined photography in the 20th century.

These shots of Sammi, is her basically enjoying herself out and about. The aim was capture candid moments and the expressions without having her sit in a particular space and posing.

Cara shot on a Pentax 67ii medium format camera with a 105mm f2.4 lens on Kodak Portra film

Cara on a little walkway bridge shot on Contax 645 and 80mm f2

A headshot of Cara shot on a Pentax 67 with 105mm f2.4 on Kodak Portra 400 film

Cara, Contax 645 and 80mm f2 with Portra 400

Cara on a shoot at Cumberland Forest shot with Contax 645 with 80mm f2

After a quick passing rain shower, a shot at the end of the day Contax 645 and 80mm f2

The vines are so cool! Contax 645 and 80mm f2 with Portra 400

A couple shots with Cara swinging off the vines. Contax 645af and Kodak Portra 400

Another shot from the bridge, Contax 645af and 80mm f2

With the raindrops still on the leaves, we got off a couple shots on the Contax 645af and 80mm f2 with Kodak Portra 400

Last two of Cara from the little bridge at Cumberland Forest in North West Sydney.

The gum trees and Cara, shot on the Pentax 67ii and 105mm f2.4 with Kodak Portra 400

It’s been a while since I have blogged. Life has really got in the way!

Fear no more as I hope to pick up the intensity with regards to blogging and showing up more of my film work.

I shot with Cara in the middle of last year, in Cumberland Forest in the Hills District, north west Sydney. Cara was just about to leave Sydney and head over across the Pacific, so I was lucky to shoot with her before she left the sunburnt country of Australia.

The weather was iffy, with the occasional shower sweeping through, but added to the mood of shoot in amongst the tall Australian eucalypts and exotic conifers and vines.

I used two cameras on this shoot. The trusty Contax 645 with 80mm f2 Planar and the new to me Pentax 67ii with 105mm f2.4. Film used was Kodak Portra 400.

Adele brought along some threads she picked up at a Vinnie’s store and also brought along a bright cheery attitude to the shoot. We wandered the streets of Surry Hills taking advantage of the artwork, textures and colours of the area.  This is the first part of a 2 part post, check back soon to see Adele in her cute and cool denim outfit!

The colour shots were done using a Contax 645 medium format film camera with a combination of 80mm f2 and 140mm f2.8 lenses on Fuji 400h film. The black and white photos were shot on a Mamiya 645 with 80mm f2.8 and Ilford HP+5 Black and White film.

Just on a month ago, I arranged a vintage themed photography shoot with Melanie at Cumberland Forest in West Pennant Hills. While, Sydney is known for its great harbour and beaches, there are also some beautiful natural forests, reserves and fields to explore. We shot at just after midday in the forest, and the advantage of shooting amongst the tall trees, and thcick vegetation of Cumberland Forest, was that we were shielded from the intense and usually unflattering light. Melanie, a local model based in Sydney was a delight to work with and with us slashing through cob webs and with the threat of ants and other creepy crawlers that Sydney is famous for, we were able to get some great shots from deep within the forest.

Again I shot with the Contax 645 and this time opted primarily for Fujifilm 400h. As I do more shoots, I am seeing a distinct difference between Kodak Portra film stock and Fuji 400h film emulsions. There’s  a distinct magenta tinge to the Fuji 400h scans, while the Portra film has a yellow/green warmth feel.

Ally was a delight to work and it was a fun afternoon in the Canberra sun. These were shot on Kodak Portra film, predominantly Portra 160 and 400 stock. I used Contax 645af with 80mm f2 and 140mm f2.8 and a Mamiya 645af with 80mm f2.8.

So I plucked up the courage and decided to test out my film cameras with a portrait shoot. Luckily for me, I had an understanding model in Nela. We met up in Centennial Park in Sydney’s east on a beautiful November afternoon. We spent a couple hours walking around Centennial Park. I shot with my Contax 645af and 80mm f2 and complemented that with a Mamiya 645af with 80mm f2.8. The film used was all Kodak Portra films ranging from Portra 160 through to Portra 800. All film was then sent to the fine folks at Richard Photo Lab in Hollywood, Los Angeles for developing and scanning. The shots below are scanned on Fuji Frontier Scanner.

I introduced my wife Mavis, in my first post, it’s now time to introduce Samantha my daughter. My energetic young daughter does provide a great photography challenge, as she loves to run around in our travels around Sydney, so having a still for these shots were a minor victory. I recently acquired a Contax 645 and Planar 80mm f2 medium format film camera to complement the Mamiya 645af. These were shot with the new Kodak Porta 160 and 400 film emulsions. A couple of these shots were shot in our home in outer north western Sydney. The park on the last photo is Rouse Hill recreational area.

Shot earlier in the winter, I spent the afternoon at The Boathouse at Palm Beach. Palm Beach is located at the tip of Northern Beaches peninsular. The Boathouse, is by the water and hidden away from the traffic. Its weatherboard exterior coupled with remnants from fishing expeditions of days gone by is welcoming. Delicious food options along with good coffee allow you to lounge around all afternoon. The Boathouse is a little gem that takes a bit of a drive, but ultimately is rewarding.

As with many, I fell in love with photography as the digital SLR revolution was really taking off. I learned my craft on digital cameras, starting out in landscapes and have dabbled in portraiture, weddings, events and commercial photography.

Of course as I was growing up, I used a film camera, but back then I was a point and shooter.

Over the past 18 months, I have fallen in love with film photography. I still have my digital cameras and lenses, but there is something about film photography that is addictive. Coupled with the the romanticism of some of our favourite photographs of all time were shot on film, the lure was has been irresistible.

This site will be exclusively be dedicated to film and I hope to showcase portraits, landscapes and snapshots of what I consider interesting and novel. I live in Sydney, Australia, so you will see a lot of my city.

What better way to kick off my foray into film then launch into a quick series starring my wife Mavis! We took a drive to the Northern Beaches and stopped off McCarrs Creek Reserve. It was a cool, but beautiful winters day in Sydney. These were shot on a Mamiya 645af with 80mm f2.8 lens on the new Kodak Portra 400 film.