My film fiasco – summer edition

South Wales in film - The cat, you and us

First of all I think the title needs a little disclaimer. I am happy with how the film pictures of our summer adventures turned out, instead I’m talking about the feeling I had when getting the results as they weren’t at all what we expected.

For Sintra I decided to keep shooting with the film that was already inside our camera. As I don’t shoot as much in film as we should, the most normal scenario is that I load one film and I reuse it during at least one whole year; during which I completely forget about the type of film I loaded in the first place. Usually my camera is loaded with a lomography color 100 ASA roll and that’s exactly what I had in my mind while shooting all the pictures in Sintra. Do you remember about colorful Sintra? I was envisioning how the colors would transfer in film. Well… I had a b&w roll in my camera, ha! the results had not any color in sight, not cutesy flowers (more like Morticia Adams garden) but they were instead rich, gorgeous and some more interesting!

Sintra in film - The cat, you and us Sintra in film - The cat, you and us Sintra in film - The cat, you and us Sintra in film - The cat, you and us Sintra in film - The cat, you and us Sintra in film - The cat, you and us Sintra in film - The cat, you and us Sintra in film - The cat, you and us

South Wales was a complete different story, in fact a much more troublesome. Thanks to the good recommendation of the sweet Fiona I bought a Kodak Ektar 100 roll, so very proud of my pro purchase I loaded my camera. Everything seemed fine, until I left semi-opened my camera bag and in a bad move my camera fell off to the ground (arrgg!). I hurried to catch it, but there was a click, it did not open but was clear that the film have moved inside. Still I kept on taking pictures until the film feeder stopped…at 25 (oh no!). The only results the laboratory was able to extract are the ones included in these post, the rest were completely ruined. In fact, the results are the most random, for instance the first one (which I love) is from Worm’s head on the second to last day therefore I can’t explain why it seems as it’s the first one from the roll (that burnt part on the right) but I like how adds to the extraterrestrial landscape.

Also, I’m worried about my camera because the rewind handwheel seems a little loose, but maybe (just maybe) that’s the only problem with it and I will be relieved. The LC-A+ camera is very special, it was the present Dani gifted me when I presented my master thesis and it somehow represents how working very hard brings you good things in your life (photography!).

South Wales in film - The cat, you and us South Wales in film - The cat, you and us South Wales in film - The cat, you and us

What are your experiences with film? Do you have any advice about my poor camera? My plans include shooting another roll and if everything goes smoothly, I will forget about the incident and will buy another Kodak Ektar 100 for my complete recovery. Would you please, please, cross fingers?

** A quick kindly note to remember that our cat felt house giveaway is still open! We will be thrilled to send a Christmas gift to your sweet kitty :) **

Share this adventure


18 Comments

  1. Sammy Scott ADDS...

    Stunning photos! They look so fun and cute :)
    xox

    21st November 2014
    • We reply...

      Thanks Sammy! I miss our summer adventures, everything was gorgeous at both places.

  2. Ice Pandora ADDS...

    I’m sorry to hear about your fiasco with your
    camera :c Since I’m all used to digital and
    SLR camera’s, I have 0 knowledge about
    analog camera’s :’) :c
    having this said, I do think the pictures here
    still turned out great! So please don’t feel to
    hard c: Xx

    21st November 2014
    • We reply...

      We also tend to favour our DSLR over the analogue but I would really miss my LCA, hope it is not damaged. I need to plan one photo session to test it out asap :) Thanks Mei!

  3. Lucila ADDS...

    A mi les fotos em semblen molt xules, també les de blanc i negre :-)
    Com t’imaginaràs no sé res de la LC-A+… espero que no sigui res important!

    Jo acostumo a provar amb els carrets, amb el criteri de què siguin barats, perquè tiro molt amb analògic! La Superia és la meva opció segura, amb colors i textura increïbles, però també he tingut magnífics resultats amb carrers caducats i suposadament dolents! L’únic carret que no m’ha agradat, de moment, és l’estàndard de color 100 ISO de Lomography.

    21st November 2014
    • We reply...

      Sí, merci! De fet per exemple la d’en Dani i en Samuel a l’aeroport en blanc i negre crec que ha guanyat moltíssim gràcies al b&w :) però va ser una sorpresa al rebobinar i trobar-me’l ;) lo altre ja és més complicadet..espero que no li hagi passat res, sino els de lomography em van dir que la podia portar allà per reparar, però que acostumen a ser molt dures, a veure si tinc sort! Superia de 200 ASA? Ilford en b&w els has provat?

  4. Kati ADDS...

    I think these turned out so nice – but the wait is always so nerve-wracking! :-)

    Have a fantastic day,
    -Kati

    22nd November 2014
    • We reply...

      Awww yes, agree! On my way to the laboratory I always have in my mind: how many will I love (hope there is at least one! ;P) ? :) thanks Kati!

  5. Sally ADDS...

    I desperately want to visit Sintra, it looks amazing! And these photos are magical, even though they’re in black & white! Just gorgeous :)

    23rd November 2014
    • We reply...

      Sintra was amazing! I definitely recommend trying to visit during a less touristy season for a less intense picture taking experience ;)

  6. Fiona ADDS...

    Ah Damaris! I feel your pain, although I haven’t mistaken the colour of film before, I have had complete rolls come back blank and I even kept taking photos once, despite the winder feeling really tight and making awful noises (the film wasn’t on the spool correctly) I probably should of known to stop but I’m silly. Maybe the saddest part of damaged film is the ‘whats ifs’ – your brain starts thinking about all the photos you took that didn’t make it :( On the flip side, the photos you did get are super cute, I’m and I’m really glad you gave ektar a go! I hope you are definitely not discouraged and try out another roll :) I make it a personal rule (because of past fails) that if I really love a photo idea I take it with digital and film just in case :P I also do this embarrassing thing with my holga (that doesn’t have a window to show what film is in) is that I stick a little sticker on top of the camera with the film type. Lame but it helps because I too sometimes leave film rolls in for a year and would have no idea what’s inside. My favourite photo is the one of Dani and your grandnephew – I feel that is especially magical because of the b&w – a happy accident :) Film can be the best and the worst!

    23rd November 2014
    • We reply...

      Happy to hear I’m not the only one alone with the wishful thought that no matter the sounds & tightness everything would turn right (it never does, I know….). I am definitely going to shoot another Ektar roll for the next photo session if the camera is fine, I have now loaded a cheaper lomography 100 color just in case it is completely ruined again but if this one goes out fine, I would go then for the Ektar. The Holga tip is great for forgetful minds like mine! My favorite pic is the first one with Samuel & Dani too! ♥

  7. Jane Y. ADDS...

    i love how they came out. i am still trying to figure out our konstruktor which gave me another set of really bad photos! but i still haven’t given up :) i hope to get a canon film camera and would love to start shooting with it. :)

    24th November 2014
  8. I only started getting into photography late last year (as in last academic year) because many of my friends are photographers (well, they probably don’t regard themselves as photographers, but their pictures are so amazing and I have so much respect for them), we had a lot of adventures around the city before leaving for college, captured many memories via photography, and so I got into it as well. I’m still learning how to use my digital camera (it’s not quite a DSLR, but not a point-and-shoot either–a hybrid of the two maybe?) and haven’t yet touched film, but I did play around with polaroids :) -Audrey | Brunch at Audrey’s

    27th November 2014
  9. Louise ADDS...

    Arrggh! That sounds so stressful!! But I have to say, the pictures that you put here are absolutely stunning. I don’t really shoot that much film because of several previous mishaps in the past where 90% of my pictures were ruined and I just didn’t like that since it would still cost me so much money. I keep telling myself to get back into film when I see absolutely gorgeous shots as these (I do prefer the quality of film photography) but I just don’t seem to get on with it. :/

    11th December 2014
    • We reply...

      Thanks Louise!! I agree, the price is something to really make you think twice when you are shooting; I guess that’s why I only think about it for our trips, although I am always happy to bring it with me the mishaps are definitely more painful :)

  10. Katie ADDS...

    So sorry about your camera falling! I hope it works alright with the next roll. Did you try using it again since then? I have to say though, the photos turned out really well! I have lots of old film cameras and you really can’t ever know for sure if there will be any photos at the end :-) There is a lot of chance involved! But that’s partially what I love about film.

    23rd January 2015
    • We reply...

      Oh, thanks! Still haven’t had the chance to test it, I’m planning a quick 1-day getaway and definitely would try to shoot the complete roll there so I know what’s going on soon-ish. It’s so fun (kind of a rush) because you are not completely sure what’s in the film, agree :)

Leave your comment

  • (will not be published)

(*) Comments are moderated, we will approve it soon!