In a short stopover in London before travelling to the USA in June I had a short walkabout London with a roll of Kodak ProImage 100. I was treated to an unusually bright summer’s day and found some interesting scenes.
I’m a big believer in ‘just going for a walk’ when it comes to any kind of photography, especially when touring a city. It is nice to go out without a theme in mind and just take snaps of what you see in front of you. I had a few hours spare and did exactly that, taking with me one single roll of Kodak ProImage 100, which by the way is an excellent and very affordable film. If you have not tried it yet go buy some!
About the shots
With no theme in mind I decided to look for some iconic shots and some interesting lighting opportunities. I had my Leica M2 and Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 lens with me, a very light kit for a photo walk. Here are some impressions of a short photo walk around central London.
Waterloo Station. There is a great vantage point at the top where you can take a step back, pause, and watch all the people rushing to their trains. It makes for a great composition.
An unusually empty Southwest trains, I am a big fan of repetitive patterns in photos. I like the colours too!
A very London shot.
I really like the colours and patterns in this shot.
Doesn’t get more British than this - the licence plate even says LDN (for London?).
Hole in the Wall pub next to Waterloo station, a great place for a pre-train pint.
I’m a sucker for airport & airplane shots.
Don’t know much about this fellow, but I liked the scene and lighting.
A vertical shot of the same scene I took previously, also works well composition wise, so I decided to include both!
From the same vantage point another great shot!
Not sure what kind of car this was, but it was worth taking a photo of.
The iconic red telephone box.
Just off Carnaby Street shot around lunchtime and unusually quiet.
3 BA planes in one shot! (including the one I am in).
Look closely and you will see the photographer.
Lots of overlapping lines and a busy shot despite having no one in it.
Shooting portrait isn’t always easy but seems to work well with long trains. I also liked the shadows in this shot.
Despite being slightly out of focus I still like this shot - worth using a tripod next time!
One of my favourite shots of the day I really like the green-ish ceilings at the very top of the shot.
The simplicity of an empty ramp stair (I think that is the correct term) caught my eye.
Mirror shots are always great, especially when your’e a twin with a camera!
Overall observations
I am a big fan of the Kodak ProImage 100 film, only available in 35mm as far as I know. Not only is it very reasonably priced, but as far as I have experienced it always produces a really nice image. It reminds me a big of the old Kodak Gold 200 film and as such has a slightly older grain-ish look to it, which I really like.
However at ISO 100 you do need a really bright day for it, I struggled in areas of shade in London, which meant my shots were not that sharp. I also try to avoid shooting wide open at f1.4, so shooting at f8 requires some bright lighting for a decent shot.
These photos were shot back in June and I completely forgot what I had taken, it is nice to look back and remember.
More backlog of posts coming so keep tuned!
Cheers,
Neil
