Film & Friends // 8

 This week’s film & friends column features Rhianne (of photoswap fame) and these beautiful shots from near Kirkstall Abbey in England.

Those last two shots are my favourite. I will always love big skies.


Everytime someone asks me about why I shoot film, I often give a different answer... there are so many reasons why I love film - the film grain, the capturing of the light, the challenge of getting that one chance to get the perfect shot, the element of surprise. But the more film that I use, the more I realise that I love film so much because it shows a truer version of what I see than any other format I've tried, I don't have to worry about tweaking photos at any point because the results are more than often exactly what I wanted straight away, surprises and all. I also love the process of taking photos with film, the challenge of each shot, considering all the possibilities and options that you have before you press that shutter button and then letting all of it go and leaving the light and the film do its work, its the best feeling. 

—Rhianne




As always if you shoot film and would like to be featured give me a shout! meldonc at gmail dot com. 
I’d LOVE to see your photos and hear a bit about why you choose to use film. xo

Film & Friends // 7

This week’s column is a little different… these photos are by Amy Benson. Amy & I participated in a photoswap run by Rhianne. She shot a roll of film and I shot a roll of film and then we sent them to each other to develop. Loads of other people do it too and then you can all look at the photos in the group pool on flickr.

Aren’t they beautiful? I love the old signage in the one on the left. Be sure to have a look at the rest on Amy’s flickr. I will post my photos from the swap next week.


As Always if you shoot film and would like to be featured give me a shout! meldonc at gmail dot com. 
I’d LOVE to see your photos and hear a bit about why you choose to use film. xo

Film & Friends // 6

This week’s contributor is my very lovely friend Claire. This is the second roll of film Claire has shot on her new (old) camera. Aren’t they stunning? Claire has many skills, and we should all be jealous. Ha!

During the summer I purchased my first film camera (a Canon FTb from ebay), I'd wanted to shoot on film for a while but didn't know where to start. A couple of people I know use film all the time and I always thought the pictures were way more appealing than digital . So not having a clue what to do and being so impatient I shot a roll just about the house straight away. Then only about a third of the photos actually developed properly which was worrying. I put it away for a while but when we had a class trip to Northern Italy I actually read the manual, got the hang of things and was pleasantly surprised with the results. Its so enjoyable collecting prints which you don't entirely remember and getting that surprise, along with seeing the time which went into each shot. 

—Claire

Aaaand now I really want to go to Italy. Amazing, thanks Claire. 

As Always if you shoot film and would like to be featured give me a shout! meldonc at gmail dot com. 
I’d LOVE to see your photos and hear a bit about why you choose to use film. xo

Film & Friends // 5

 This week’s contributor is Margrethe Pederson…she commented here once or twice before and I saw that she also shot film so I asked would she like to contribute and she said yes (obviously!).
It’s fascinating to see photos shot from so far north, look at all that beautiful snow (and that signage up above is so cool).

I really wanted to get back into film photography for a long while, and by accident I stumbled across the Lomography website. I fell in love with the cutest pink Diana Mini and I just had to have it. 

I'm lucky any of the shots came out, really. It's was during winter and we barely had any daylight being so far north of the Arctic Circle (Narvik, in Norway). My first roll also experienced the quirks of the Diana Mini and is part of the reason I fell so deeply in love with film photography. Expect the unexpected.

Since then my camera collection has grown quite a bit, and I always take a camera with me everywhere I go.

—Margrethe


PS Don’t you LOVE her dog? Too cute.

If you shoot film and would like to be featured give me a shout! meldonc at gmail dot com. 
I’d LOVE to see your photos and hear a bit about why you choose to use film. xo

Film & Friends // 4

This week’s Film & Friends contributor is Mica Warren, a good friend of mine. He recently took up film photography and is already hooked.

The girl in those beautiful photos is Lesley, another friend from college.

One thing that I was not expecting with this series was how impressed I would be with the prose written by each contributor and how connected it would make me feel. I’m beginning to realise that this community of film-shooters is pretty amazing (as cheeeesy as that sounds!)



From the day I was born and long before then, Orla (my mum) has shot on film. There's a whole chest of drawers at home, dedicated to accommodating the reams of photo albums that she's accumulated over the years. They run from way back when my brother and I were babies, through my scaldy teenage years, right up to pretty much right now.

When i was younger I used to sit and flip through the pictures and appreciate the chance to see my family and I, at different times in our lives. All this was way before I bought my first computer, so originally, I learned to look at photos as physical objects, rather than as light on a screen.
I started to shoot on film after being on the same photography module as KB. I shoot on my mum's Nikon F60, whenever I can get a lend of it. I love focusing manually, taking the time to be decisive when I shoot and getting good results (hopefully).

I think this way of shooting helps me to be a more conscientious photographer.

—Mica

If you shoot film and would like to be featured give me a shout! meldonc at gmail dot com. 
I’d LOVE to see your photos and hear a bit about why you choose to use film. xo

Film & Friends // 3

This week’s Film & Friends is by Cian Brennan, a graphic design student from Dublin. His work is powerful and stunning. That photo of the girl stretching below is so striking, don’t you think?

The words Cian uses to describe why he chooses to shoot film really resonate with me.

I always shoot film when I'm shooting something that's important to me, slowing down the process, taking care, but also being careless, that's the joy of film. I take film cameras everywhere with me, Finland, Barcelona, Qatar, these are places I've gone without a digital camera, my thinking is that everything's been done on digital, these photos have been taken thousands of times already by strangers, so why not put my own stamp on it?

Find Cian on tumblr here.

If you shoot film and would like to be featured give me a shout! meldonc at gmail dot com. 
I’d LOVE to see your photos and hear a bit about why you choose to use film. xo

Film & Friends // 2

This week’s film & friends column is from the loveliest girl I am lucky to call my friend, Kirstyn and I go to college together and nerd out on a daily basis about typography, photography and other nonsense.

‘I was inspired to return to film photography after a month-long photography module with Rich Gilligan. He shoots mostly on film and his documentary-style of shooting has really influenced the photos I take now.
I resurrected  my Dad’s Fujica STX-1N and got a roll of black and white film. I was nervous initially and worried that the photos wouldn’t come out. I got my Dad to load the film and brief me on using the camera and then I had the camera’s manual on hand at all times! My friends made a big deal of the camera when I took it out at a casual get-together. The flash is quite a conspicuous attachment but I shot away and they learned to ignore it.
I was quite nervous going in to collect the photos from the developers because I was worried that the whole roll would be blank! The roll came out fine actually and I got such a thrill from holding the photos in my hand, knowing that they had been taken entirely manually! It was such a rewarding feeling and my friends loved the photos!’


Have a look at Kirstyn’s lovely blog here.


Thanks so much KB for contributing to my new column!

If you shoot film and would like to be featured give me a shout! meldonc at gmail dot com. 
I’d LOVE to see your photos and hear a bit about why you choose to use film. xo

New! Film & Friends

 Dave is 28 and has been a photographer for 3 years. These are some images from an early roll of his.

I first started because my girlfriend (now my wife) was into photography and i thought it would be nice to have trips out together taking photos and sharing a common interest. My first camera was a Lomography Diana F+; now I know that many hate lomo and all they stand for and some people embrace them wholeheartedly. I’m kind of in the middle—there are aspects about them that bug me but then again they are getting a whole new generation into shooting film so thats a good thing! Now im a major darkroom addict—I absolutely love printing and I love my Bronica SQ-A medium format slr kit.  I have every intention of continuing to shoot film down until the last roll is made and we all have to fight for it on Ebay.

These photos hold a special place for me - they are from one of the very first rolls I ever shot in my first film camera.  My wife and i decided to get dressed up and head over to a local wood to take some photos. I dont know what people thought when they saw us walking between the trees - me in a bowler hat and braces and my wife in a suede jacket and big hat. Who cares anyway—we had fun and the portrait of Jess remains one of my favourite photos that i have taken.

Have a look at Dave’s lovely blog here, see more photos on his flickr or follow him on twitter here.

Thanks so much Dave for contributing to my new column.
If you shoot film and would like to be featured give me a shout! meldonc at gmail dot com. 

I’d LOVE to see your photos and hear a bit about why you choose to use film. xo