In my last venture into the film archives, I talked about how there was a time that my daughter hadn’t yet seen me the way I see myself and how she actually still liked me, before turning into a teenager. This is the second part of that special day.
We had explored the Jardin des Plantes and discovered what they had to offer. This of course builds up an appetite in a young lady, and convinces her that she really needs to drink something Daddy. And why couldn’t we go to the Altercafé (now the D3) at the Hangar à Bananes.
So what else was I to do but drive us to the Hangar à Bananes. You will have seen the Hangar in this article, and you will now be completely up to date and know nearly everything there is to know.
Don’t forget that this is a girl who gets an idea into her head and then just goes through with it. That idea is so rooted that it is nigh on impossible to change that idea. I knew what was coming. I would order a chocolate brownie, and Kate would have an Orangina. I could have a beer. How gracious of her.
She had been my model for most of the day and even a top model needs a rest, and just has nothing left to give a photographer. You just know when enough is enough…
There was a time when my daughter wasn’t a teenager. There was a time when she quite liked her Dad, and she would accompany me everywhere. It was good being that child’s hero. It was a more innocent time. It was a time when she actively tried to spend time with me. It was a time when she didn’t see me the way I see myself…
One of her favourite places in Nantes was the Jardin des Plantes, a huge botanical garden in the middle of Nantes just across the road from the station. I could talk about the fact of it being a haven of peace in the bustling city. I could talk about it being an oasis of green in a sea of concrete. I could talk using clichés ‘til the cows come home…
These photographs are not clichés, but real attempts of capturing a specific moment in time allowing me to travel back through time. And looking at these images, I’m definitely back in time.
Let me introduce you to my daughter from 2016. She was a 7 year old that already knew what she wanted but was slightly more subtle about it. She would suggest that we go into town. That I could take my camera. That we could go to such and such a place. That we could do such and such a thing. And all this as if it were completely natural. And I was a very willing victim.
This time she suggested going to the Jardin des Plantes. She would take her camera (my old Sony bridge) and I would take my Olympus Trip 35. I used the Olympus Trip quite a lot at that time and its ease of use, the zone focussing, and general lack of buttons to press, made it quite the fool proof piece of kit.
As usual, I let her lead the way. This was here outing after all, and kept a respectful distance, so I could photograph her and record her for posterity. The Jardin des Plantes has not only plants, the clue is in the title, but also is the backdrop to the Voyage à Nantes, and certainly was that year.
I think the images speak for themselves and I’ll let you peruse them at your leisure. They were taken on Ilford HP5 Plus film shot at box speed.
Welcome back to the film archives. Today I’m going to share some photos of the first reel from my “new” Canon AE1. Well, not new, but certainly new to me. The Canon AE1s were produced between 1976 and 1984. It is one of those iconic cameras and at the time I must have paid about 50€. When I say iconic, I really mean iconic. It is a shutter speed priority camera using Canon’s FD lenses. I used it an awful lot that summer. I liked it so much that I even bought a second one that I ended up giving to a photographer friend.
Colour
To some people of my generation they represent their first cameras, and were so popular. Talking of popular, the photographs from this part of the archive are from the very popular and photogenic town, Clisson. Also you will have noticed that the photos are in colour. Which only goes to show that not all film photography is black and white photography.
Clisson, as you can see in the photos, is one of those beautiful French villages that oozes Gallic charm. It also exudes a certain Italian charm, and is known for its Italian style architecture.
Canon AE1
I have both a Canon AE1 and AEI Program. The AE1 is the big brother of the AE1 Program, and doesn’t have a program mode, but as you can see from the photos it still works a treat.
Feature
Canon AE-1
Canon AE-1 Program
Differences
Release Year
1976
1981
AE-1 Program released 5 years after AE-1
Exposure Modes
Shutter Priority AE
Shutter Priority AE, Program AE
Program AE added to AE-1 Program
Metering
Center-weighted Average
Center-weighted Average
No difference
Shutter Speeds
2s – 1/1000s
2s – 1/1000s
No difference
Viewfinder Display
LEDs
LEDs
No difference
Film Speed Setting
Manual
Manual
No difference
Self-timer
Yes
Yes
No difference
Depth of Field Preview
Yes
Yes
No difference
Motor Drive Compatibility
Yes
Yes
No difference
Other Notes
First Canon SLR with microprocessor; revolutionary for its time
Simplified controls for easier use; appealed to wider audience
AE-1 Program aimed at beginners and enthusiasts
As you can see there’s not a huge differece between the two. The major difference being the Program option, and the other allowing for easier changing of the ASA film sensitivity setting.
On the day in question I must have parked just next to the river and concentrated on this picturesque area. You can see the castle, the bridge, and the river, all making for a peaceful spring moment.
I think the film was Fuji Superia, and I just wanted to use colour. Thetones are slightly muted and warm, and the flowers, trees and plants were just screaming out to be photographed. I remember the excitement of loading the film into this “new” camera, and the novelty of simply using an iconic camera.
Here is what fuji tells us about the film:
FUJICOLOR SUPERIA X-TRA400
An all-round general purpose, high-performance, high speed color negative film delivering truly fine-grain. Superb for snapshots or action, in low light with flash, outdoors or indoors. Ideal for general use with compact zoom lens cameras.
Excellent skin tones For beautiful, clear people-shots.
Fine grain Great results even when enlarged.
High-speed Superb results, whatever the shooting conditions.
Sensitivity and Film Sizes ISO : 400 Film Sizes : 135 : 36 exp.
When using digital, it’s so difficult to get that particular film look, and using film and an older camera just changes your whole outlook. The fact of not having your image straight away leaves you with that anticipation that we all used to feel when we sent off our films to the lab.
Give film a try. There are still cheap film cameras out there, and your photography experience will be totally different. I certainly appreciate it.
Good evening Dear Reader. You may have noticed, and then again, you may not have noticed, that I have created a couple of new pages. Instead of adding article categories to my site in the menus, I have created pages with a carousel showing collections of articles in one specific category. This started with Photography Tutorials, which is a collection of, surprise surprise, photography tutorials. Another one for Travel Photography, one for Camera information, and a final one for articles featuring Film Photography. The idea behind this rather brash move on my part, was to help you find what you wanted to read or discover more easily.
This Meisterwerk of a blog is a work in constant evolution, as I think you may have gathered, especially for those of you that have been with me since the beginning. But what does this have to do with Film photography I hear you ask. Well, when creating the film photography page I realised that there are fewer articles than I first thought. This struck me as a little odd, because at one stage I had a little bit of a reputation as a film photographer, and at one stage was purely a film photographer. This was, of course, before the start of this blog lark in 2019. Between 2009 and 2019 I did a huge amount of film photography that I realised I have not shared with you. Even more so since 2016, when I started developing and scanning my negatives at home.
The beginning of the blog also tied in with the X100F and the Canon 6D Mark II coming into my photography, and since lockdown, I have done only small amounts of film photography. Time to reveal more of myself to you. At least if that’s alright… But this isn’t just about me dusting off old memories. By sharing these photos, I hope to spark a conversation, ignite a passion for film, and maybe even inspire you to dig out your old camera and give it a whirl. Who knows what treasures you might find in your own archives?
Taken on the Praktica MTL3 probably with the 50mm Pentacon F1.8 lens on HP5 Plus at box speed in the Quartier Bouffay in Nantes.
So bearing all this in mind, I have a proposal for you. Let’s open the vaults and let’s have a look at the “film archive”. This could be in the form of a series of articles complementing the weekly outpouring of anecdotes or advice, as an addition, or it could be the content for the upcoming weeks. I haven’t decided yet. Let me know in the comments which option you prefer, or if you have any other ideas for how you’d like to see the film archive content. There’ll be shots of Nantes, the UK, England, and Scotland and maybe even Spain, and Portugal. There will be colour and black and white photography too. I don’t know yet. I might not have yet taken into account the magnitude of the task ahead. Everything is open.
On the way to Otterburn in Northumberland with the Pentax ME Super using Portra 160. It was another good day out.
But whatever you decide, I hope you come along for the ride. It’ll be worth it!
IJM Photography 