Bride and Groom Kissing outside the Chapel

An oldie from my days of film, and still one of my favourite wedding photos. I was shooting with a Nikon F801s camera and a Nikkor 50mm f1.8D lens, a real workhorse combination that served me well for many years!

I would still be happily shooting film but in South Africa it became harder and harder to find anybody who could still process film properly and without leaving smudgy fingerprints on my negatives. I think that as time went on and the old film guys who knew what they were doing in the darkroom retired they were replaced by anyone (young, cheap and inexperienced) who thought they could punch the right buttons on the mini lab machine, and the darkroom art died out.

This is the way of the world and unfortunately profits drive everything. Having recently moved to Sweden I have discovered that local processing labs simply don't exist, so film use seems to be off the cards unless I decide to process my own... C'est la vie, now I have been shooting digital for a number of years and the "old days" of film remain as a pleasant memory.

Shooters!

I'm sure I posted this a long time ago, but I am revisiting some of my old pics. This one is from a small town in South Africa called Potchefstroom, and once a year they have a big "cultural" festival that has degenerated into an excuse to drink too much alcohol and behave badly.

If I remember correctly, this was shot with a Nikon F65 and 50mm f1.8D combination. A real light weight setup at the time and great for "street" pics! Ilford XP2 Super 400 film, if memory serves...

Olympus Trip 35 Cult

I just discovered that a particularly addictive cult exists in the world today that seems to be grabbing thousands of unsuspecting and innocent people and turning them into retro photographers. It is the cult of the Olympus Trip 35.
I was quite innocently lured into this seedy cult this week when I unknowingly purchased an Olympus Trip 35 at a local antique store this week for the incredible price of R30 ($3.90) and I confess that I am hooked!

I am not really sure what it is, but it just feels right in the hand, a small solidly built piece of craftsmanship that simply oozes simplicity. It has a nifty 40mm f2.8 Zuiko lens that is reported to be quite sharp and, judging by the photos I Googled, is quite capable of outperforming some of the more modern pieces of kit out there. Excuse me as I wipe the beads of sweat from my palms...

Judging by the low serial number, mine was manufactured some time in the 60's. I will be able to get the exact date when I get the film out and can look under the pressure plate. I discovered this fact here. I was so eager to get film in and start shooting that I didn't find this out until today when I looked it up on line. Holy smokes, that means this camera is almost as old as I am!

When I finish my roll of film I will scan the results and post them for your viewing pleasure.

You can buy them reconditioned here: Trip Man
Ken Rockwell has a nice little review here: Ken Rockwell Trip 35
Camerapedia lists it here: Trip 35
A blog for it exists here: Olympus Trip 35
You can find a manual here: Trip 35 Manual

The manual is a very reasonable 12 pages instead of the volumes you need to read before you turn on your new dslr.

Please be advised that this cult is extremely addictive and will probably get you too if you don't exercise some restraint and take suitable precautions... or you can just jump right in and smile insanely, yet smugly, like the rest of us!

Am I an artist now?

I heard somewhere that you are not a true photographic artist until you have photographed a toilet. These are urinals, do they count? Am I an artist now or should I keep trying until I make it? ;-)