Using different cameras

Usually i photograph most things with a Canon EOS 40d with a 17-85mm lens but I thought I would try using a 35 mm film camera called the Nikon fm3a. I find this camera great and easy to use. The nikon Fm3a has a Hybrid shutter speed control system and a aperture priority auto and also fully manual. Also has 1/4,000 second shutter speed and 1/250 second top sync speed. I think using a camera like this is really enjoyable and you can have lots of fun with it. For this project I have found it hard to keep motivated and haven't had many ideas for the places brief. I started thinking about documenting Blackburn as it is new to me and gives me a chance to see the city. 


I really like the idea you cant see the photograph until you have developed the film so you never know what the photograph is going to look like and I like that idea. Personally I think you cant get the same effect using I film camera compered to a dslr camera. Next I am going to use a medium format camera and see how I find using it and also get to grips with how it functions as a camera. 


Here are some photographs i taken in Blackburn:


This photograph was taken on my way to Preston and at the time I was on a double decker bus. I love the tone of this picture and also the slight reflection from the glass. It was a lovely day for taking photographs because it was really sunny. Again this photograph was taken on my Nikon Fm3a and I used Ilford HP5 400 ISO and black and white film. Before I exposed this picture I had to make a contact sheet that shows me the good to the bad images. I did this by doing a contact sheet of my negatives. In the dark room you have to make solutions up in to three trays. The first solution is the development and your negative goes in the tub for 3 minutes and 30 seconds. From there you have to pore away the development and then pore 1000 ml of water in the bottle. The water has to be room temperature of 20c. To make sure the temperature is right you pore 900 ml of cold water and 100 ml of worm water and with your thermometer it will show up red where it gives you a reading. The tub with the water in stays in for a further 3 minutes. After that you pure away the water and put the fix in the tub for a further  time of 5 minutes.    

This photograph below is from the same negative shot on the same film camera and I really like this shot because of the texture of the grass and the contrast used. I also like the simpleness too. I think it is a good photograph that represents time in away no one thinks about. We all die eventually and we never think about it. In the processing room I used an enlarger that exposes light on to the negative which then shines down on to the photographic paper. From lots of test sheets and patients I eventually exposed the light for 15 seconds maximum and the test sheet I did was on a 5 second interval. I used Ilford photographic paper with a matt look and think with this image above worked really well. I don't think glossy paper would of looked as good because in this case i was after tones and contrast also i was thinking about the subject and just felt it would of suited the matt paper better. 

Here is another picture i took on the same day.