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Analogue Scenes From a Road Trip

Those of you who are more photographically inclined may have noticed some film cameras in my original post. I've been shooting a lot of film this year and wanted to capture the trip on film as well as the previous digital images.

Some of these are older than others

I packed three film camera's, each for different reasons. Firstly, a Canon EOS 3 body that integrates seamlessly my digital EOS system. Secondly, my fully manual Lomo Cosmic Symbol. And finally, an Olympus XA2 was in my pocket as much possible.

The EOS 3 is an amazing camera, it has Canon's eye-controlled focus system that puts the focus spot wherever you look in the frame, and you can link the spot meter to the same focus point! Even my EOS 1DX doesn't do that!

That eye-controlled focus and the ability to use my existing EOS lenses make it very handy for a street photography where metering can be tricky at times.

Strangely though, I wasn't really feeling the street photography bug this trip and consequently, I shot with this camera the least over the course of our tour.

I actually shot most image with the most basic of the film cameras I took with me.

It's not a Canadian road trip without morning views and too many doughnuts

Every film I put through my Cosmic Symbol goes through twice, I shoot the while roll, rewind carefully (so as not to lose the film leader inside the cartridge) then reload. Shooting "blind" double exposures relies on more than a little serendipity (and luck) to get complementary subjects and compositions in the final images. So it's extra rewarding when is does all come together!

As you can see, I've like to have a camera that can go anywhere with me, whatever I'm doing. Recenty I've been using my parents's old Olypus XA2. The design of the body means that it fits in any pocket and the zone focus is, by definition, instantaneous, so it's good to go in pretty much any situation. This is the sort of camera that can have a film in it for an extended period, I use it in between shooting with other cameras to irregularly document what I'm up to. This has the added bonus that I may not remember what's on the film until I develop it. Each frame of the film then frame jogs a memory of a place and time and, ultimately, reminds me why I started taking photos in the first place.

Reminders from a trip. A few frames from early in our trip. See Scenes from a Road Trip : Part 1 for the digital details, and to compare similar digital shots.

Having started photography shooting film back in the day, I do think that film will always be different to the latest technology.

Maybe it's because it takes time to see the results on film, or maybe it's because each film type has it's own particular look... Whatever it is there, will always be something special about pulling a roll of processed film out of the final wash and thinking "Ha! I totally forgot about that time me and that neice were running around after too much sugar and caffeine!"

Or maybe it was that time we were wandering through the city at night and I spotted a monster....

Who knows... All I know is that I'll be shooting film for a while yet ;)