Hasta la Vista, baby!

I got a pile of negatives and discs back yesterday, the fruits of my 5 week project in Spain beautifully processed and scanned at Peak Imaging. As soon as I got the scans up on my iMac screen I slipped further back in love with film and became even more disillusioned with digital photography. On each disc I had 36 completely different images, because when I’m shooting film I don’t feel the need to shoot 20 or 30 almost identical shots ‘just in case’, with analogue I just shoot one frame, or in the case of portraits, three or four. I’ve no idea why the beauty of celluloid is always a huge revelation to me? I’ve been shooting film and digital, side by side, for years.

All the images here were shot onto Agfa Vista 200 film, £1 a roll, and currently unavailable from anywhere that I know of, which is causing me major anxiety, because I love this film, not only for the fact that it’s a pound a roll, but because it looks amazing, it’s rendered the warmth and soft brightness of southern Spain perfectly.

…I hope my very good friend, Andrew Otten, has lost interest and stopped reading by this point, because I shot all of my project portraits on a Pentax LX and 50mm 1.2 lens that I borrowed from him…that camera is currently in Liverpool being repaired after being crushed between me and a Spanish pedestrian crossing. Sorry Otty…

9 responses to “Hasta la Vista, baby!”

Vicki

February 12, 2015 at 10:07 am

Love the soft light and DOF in that first image – it’s a stunner.
2nd last image is superb also.

LikeLike

Reply
Stephen G. Hipperson

February 12, 2015 at 10:18 am

You won’t be borrowing that lens again then!
Nice portraits – though I wonder if there isn’t a danger of tending towards a slightly distorted perspective on some of the really close up ones. The last one is a particularly nice portrait.
I do a bit of black and white but I’ve a film that’s still waiting to be developed from before Christmas.
For me, film is too expensive to use at a rate of any more than one frame per subject – I try to keep digital to a similar rate but it’s daft not to the additional advantage digital can give.

LikeLike

Reply
1. Helen Proctor
  
  February 12, 2015 at 1:53 pm
  
  I’d have to disagree, I love all the shots, but especially the close-ups, I don’t think they’re distorted in any way?
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
Helen Proctor

February 12, 2015 at 1:54 pm

Phil, I adore these shots!

LikeLike

Reply
jotsfromasmallapt

February 12, 2015 at 2:28 pm

Again, I’m with Helen.
I’m digging out my film camera….

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply
1. Phil Kneen Photography
  
  February 12, 2015 at 2:30 pm
  
  Do it!
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
Jonathan David MacDonald

February 12, 2015 at 10:41 pm

Great to see you back using film in a good SLR! Agfa Vista 200 is Fuji C200 film re-packaged. TudorColor XLX is the same, and I’m sure there are others.

LikeLike

Reply
1. Phil Kneen Photography
  
  February 12, 2015 at 10:52 pm
  
  Bloody Hell! I knew it was! I did a post a while back saying it was and was shot down in flames! Thank you!
  
  Any links to cheap film would be greatly appreciated 🙂
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
Jonathan David MacDonald

February 14, 2015 at 9:54 am

Glad to help, Phil. Cheapest I can find online is here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Agfa-Vista-exposure-Colour-Camera/dp/B00NQ7VN78/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1423907493&sr=8-8&keywords=agfa+vista+200

Double what you used to pay but still cheaper than anything else around, unless Poundland get it back in.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply