10 shots on Instax… Woodhorn
For the first time my ‘10 shots on Instax’ series has not exceeded 10 shots. In my style with this blog however, it still won’t have 10 shots like its namesake, it will instead have 9.
Woodhorn is a museum in Northumberland, on what3words roughly at ///inert.photo.supported
As ever I’ve gone for a 3 word phrase roughly in the vicinity, and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have one which describes my photography, ‘inert photos’.
I did come here with my first version of the camera, with light leaks. The lighting conditions were better on that day, although it was too cold for the film so some photos had issues with the chemicals spreading (I think down to the cold anyway?) but still, with the better light there are shots from that day I like more than those below, so I’ll add them into a gallery at the bottom of the page.
Worst things first
Banners
This image is one I’ve probably taken a dozen times on my fujifilm, but on a lens that can go to f1.4… On the Mint camera the widest you can shoot is f5.6 and as a result the image is a bit of a blurry mess. I actually quite like the colours. I’d love to take the image on a tripod at a more suitable aperture, although I’m not sure Woodhorn would appreciate me blocking the hall for a spell… On the plus side, this is the only image I’ve placed in this category this week. Hopefully it’s a sign I’m learning, rather than just having a fluke. I also said before I pressed the shutter that I knew it was going to be a blurry mess, so at least that wasn’t a surprise!
OK Images
Mine Wheels
This trip marked the start of noting the settings on the chemical strip as the images developed. The ISO is a constant 800 and set by the Instax film itself. The aperture is manually set. The shutter can be manually set, or auto with +/- 1 stop of compensation. In the below you can see the f stop noted along with the shutter speed. Where there is a note on the right hand side in brackets this is what the camera thinks of the exposure.
The below pairing of the wheels outside in the grounds of the museum are so similar I’ve paired them together. The camera has tried to take the brightness of the sky into account, and as a result the buildings are underexposed, too dark, especially on the image on the right. I would in this scenario rather blown the sky and had better detail in the buildings. The manually exposed image was showing as 1 stop over and needing an ND2 for the image. If anything I wish it was an extra stop brighter. If I get a light meter (which I am debating doing in the coming months) I’d hopefully get one with reflective/spot metering to meter for the building and exclude the sky from the calculations.
Danger Explosives
I honestly don’t know how I took this at 1/4 shutter speed. I think when I meter and know it is going to be slow I must brace myself better than leaving it to auto. There was a spread issue with this image. I actually don’t think it distracts from the image too much. I like the red of the cart, and as with the banners it could make a really cool image on this camera if shot on a tripod. I did retake this image later in the day to get a version without the spreading issue.
Birds
Honestly, this is a blurry mess. I used auto and didn’t have the shutter speed for it. I do like the shadows of the paper birds though, and how they impact the warm tones of that light on the back wall. I have always acknowledged that this camera would in part require embracing imperfection, and I feel this image shows that vibes>perfection.
Favourites from the day
Danger Explosives Part 2
This is simply a retake of the same frame above. I’d circled back on my own to retake it as my little ones took advantage of the playground on the site. The legible writing on the previous images is replaced by child like scrawl as my wifes handwriting is replaced by my own. This writing features more prominently on the images from the next couple of trips…
Mine Buildings
I think this image could use a little more light on the buildings (or more harsh light for crisp shadows?). I still like the image though. I like how the handrail cuts across the foreground and then changes direction, leading you to the steps at the back, and then up the steelwork to the wheel above.
The Cutter
My favourite image on instax of ‘The Cutter’ architectural design of the museum’s roof is the one with the blue sky at the bottom of the page. I may have been swayed into placing these in my favourites section due to my love of it architecturally, rather than photographically here, but it’s an interesting designs and a centrepiece to the museums structure and silhouette.
If you would like to see more of my landscape work, moving forward most of the images will be here in blog format, but I will notify of new entries on my Instagram page for landscapes - @photog.righ
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