Welcoming a new guest photographer, we explore London & Frankfurt during a sunny period with Kodak Color Plus 200 as our companion. Join us for some extreme colours and different street scenes.
I was thrilled when my friend told me she had picked up her old film camera after being inspired by this blog - that's all the feedback I need! Christine was actually my German teacher back when I was taking classes at the Goethe Institute in London. Thanks to her good teaching and patience (also a shout out to my other teacher Katja), I am able to get by with the local lingo here in Germany. Mind you, I still cannot get my head around all the grammar, but that's not really their fault!
So back to the photographs. I was even happier when Christine was up for doing a joint post looking at some new film. We ended up picking Kodak Color Plus 200 due to its easy availability, and we figured it would bring out some good results with the recent sunny weather in both places.
Loaded and ready to go. Actually the inside of the package has a good graphical overview of the sunny 16 rule, basically giving guidance on how to expose properly without a light meter. More on that here.
1. London by Christine
Once a year, for about a week, this otherwise dull and boring tree explodes into a sea of the fluffiest white flowers. (East Finchley, N2)
It is a shame the film can't capture the contrasts more, it is all blurry while the light wasn't as sharp and bright
Shadowplay. We live near a busy road and I wanted curtains which offer privacy but let enough light in. The flowers on the window sill are still visible.
"We shall meet again". Found on a gravestone at the old Church Lane grave yard. The stone must have been painted once because you can still see remnants of the white paint.
I took this pictures because of the various shades of green, but the final product doesn't reflect them properly at all. Again, colours blur and there is no contrast, as if someone had coloured them in by hand. It's one of the prettiest garden in East Finchley, only a few steps away from the busy High Road, and yet it feels miles away from noisy fume-filled traffic.
Good example how poorly the colours come out on this film - it is a completely different shade of red, much more luscious and vibrant. (High Road, East Finchley, N2).
This is my favourite photo of the lot. In spring the trees are cut back so drastically that it is hard to imagine how they will survive this aggressive "surgery". But they always bounce back and in a few weeks their crowns will be as full and green as ever. I love the knobbly, rough surfaces against the smooth, almost flawless sky, and how the bark reflects in the evening light. It's like spindly arms of a octogenarian stretching out to the warm sun of spring.
The Bridge of Aspiration, linking the Royal Opera House with the Royal Ballet School. I am not sure if I like the aged feel to this picture, it looks like it has been taken twenty years ago. (Covent Garden).
Covent Garden. Most "normal" shops have been replaced by luxury brands where only a selective few can afford to buy things, and the Piazza has been filled with benches and carts with flower boxes. On closer inspection the flowers are plastic, which could be an excuse for the fake colours in this picture - and sums up well what is happening with iconic places in London at the moment.
This shop front is definitely NOT as pale and pastel-coloured as this, but an in-yer-face bold turquoise with bright pink blinds. (Covent Garden, opposite Drury Lane Theatre).
It is odd how the reflection of the sky is so much brighter than the sky itself. I love the Flower Hall - it makes the Old Bailey, as a blurry reflection, look grand again, despite being a dusty, empty shell at the moment.
Overall observations
Overall, I am unsure of the film as such - even with its low price point, it is still from a very reputable brand. I was expecting a clearer picture quality, with better definition and starker contrasts, especially when it came to different patterns overlapping, as in the "Wild Court" photo, where the tree branches should be in starker contrast to the brickwork in the background. Bright colours were more muted and paler than expected (as seen in the "Sugar sin" picture), when I was hoping the film would pack a real punch.
Clear definition is something this film doesn't seem to offer - in the garden photo all shades of green run into each other, like a smudged, unfocused water colour, which I found disappointing. Especially shades of white were all blurred and fuzzy, pinks and reds are unnaturally bright, with contours lacking clarity. Saying that, I nevertheless liked the "retro feel" of some photos, e.g. in the "Bridge of Aspiration", where you can almost sense the layer of dust in the air, and the brown tones benefit from the haziness.
2. Neil's Saturday walkabout
I managed to go through the whole roll in about 3 hours during a slow walk around Frankfurt. I was looking for bright scenes and strong colours, as I figured this film would do something interesting with them. I wasn't wrong, although the results were certainly different to what I was expecting.
I managed to get this shot during a very brief break in the Saturday shopping traffic. The colours did not come out as I had expected though.
I was drawn to the brightness of the green, although this does not come across properly in the photo. Taken inside the Kleinmarkthalle, Frankfurt's famous food and drinks market. I call it the "Weinmarkthalle" because on Saturday's it gets absolutely packed inside and outside with white wine drinkers. Good overview and photo gallery about the Kleinmarkthalle here.
I have always liked this vantage point. If you look at this photo on a proper screen (i.e. not on a mobile) will see how grainy the sky is. Grain isn't actually bad, but I prefer it in black & white. Also this film does not seem to handle big differences in bright areas and dark areas. Also not helped by the fact that it took me precisely 1 second to take this shot, not worrying too much about exposure.
A typical Saturday at the entrance of the Kleinmarkthalle - now you can see why I call it Weinmarkthalle! Let me tell you, the wine growers around Frankfurt and the Taunus region are not going to go out of business anytime soon!
It was really too bright to take this photograph, so much so I manged to cut off the top of the Commerzbank building (because I couldn't see it!). What I found really interesting about this photograph when it came back was the pedestrian traffic, most are in pairs. Also some good shadows going on.
I managed to grab this shot on the way down on the escalator. I really like the shadows, but it looks like someone has highlighted the sky with some random blue.
As I always say, "look up" is a great piece of photography advice I was given a long time ago. I like the overall compostion here, but the sky is very grainy and the dark areas are too dark for my liking.
I was disappointed with how this turned out, as the tree flowers were bright pink - it seems all the effort has gone into highlighting the sky!
I had a similar experience with Christine with regards to photographing bright coloured trees, it seems the colours just merge into the sky and there is no clear contrast between them. Pity because these trees have some wonderful colours in them.
Rowers from the Germania rowing club boating right in the centre of the city. Their boathouse is across the street and they have to walk the boat over a traffic zebra crossing and down a ramp - that could take a while with a big 8! Clearly no one has told them that rowing is a (very early) morning sport, but I was happy to have a good subjet for this shot.
The shadows caught my eye and they came out quite well. Difficult enough shooting conditions though with such a bright sky.
Overall impressions
Given its low price point and being a consumer grade film, I wasn't expecting miracles. However, the colours just don't seem right, way too bright for some colours and not the right tone for others. Quite strange actually, and not what I have been used to when using other rolls of Kodak film. But, as I said, it is consumer grade film and very cheap...so fine to have if there really is no other alternative.
That being said, I really enjoyed this week's shooting, it is all about just getting out there and going for a walk. It is also fun to do it with someone else and see how it all turns out. A big thank you again to Christine for taking part and for her patience with her less than fast photo developing shop!
Now, I hope you find some inspiration, as Christine did, and get out there and take some photographs (and if with film, even better!).
Week 25 will be up in the next few days.
Happy Easter!
Cheers, Neil.
