Covent Garden

One of my first trips to London was in primary school when I was lucky enough to be taken to see Grease for a friends birthday. We had an explore of Covent Garden whilst we were there and I remember being completely taken with how delightful it was with all the people, the performers and the gorgeous architecture.

I love Covent Garden now as much as I ever have - the people watching especially is just delightful. The woman at the piano changed into heels for having her photo taken, the lady in the cardigan spotted me as I put the camera down and looked a little worried, the families and friends enjoying their food managed to look as if they were the only people there, happily ignoring the chaos around them.

Camera: Canon EOS 750
Film: Kodak Portra 160
Location: Covent Garden, London

Playing tourist

Whilst spending the day in London with Dawn we walked through Hyde Park to Buckingham Palace and then from there to Trafalgar Square and I was quite delighted as I haven’t had the chance to do this and take film photos. It was also so fun getting to see the photos Dawn took and how she took them too! Her photos are so creative and exciting - in fact, I demand you go see her Instagram now, her London photos are really something amazing!

I’m still enjoying the results with this film whilst trying to balance my frustration at not quite being able to get the scan to look like the actual slide image. I could probably have paid someone to scan these instead - but even though it drives me mad, scanning my films is now part of my film photography process and each film I scan is a learning experience.

Film: Kodak Ektachrome - sent to me by Kodak Alaris, developed by AG Photolab and scanned by myself.
Camera: Canon EOS 750
Location: London - all the tourist spots haha.

A full roll...

So something amazing has happened… after sooo many years of taking film photos - I have a full roll of film that I’m so happy with that I’m sharing them ALL here. This does. not. happen. And it might never happen again but today is that day. It feels quite amazing.

I often wonder how other people feel about their photos, I know that a lot of people get caught up on technical details and perfection - but for me, photography has always been about how it makes me feel. I recently listened to Kevin Clifton’s podcast and he said ‘When I dance, I want to express not impress’ and I thought YES!! This is why I’m here, this is why I’m forever taking photos or thinking about my photos, or wondering when I’ll take my next photo. I want to express myself. And sure if people are impressed as a result, thats great - but if you’re here looking for technically amazing photos… sorry to disappoint!

Any these are the last photos from a roll of Fuji Superia - which I’ve been reminded of how much I like - taken at York Gate Garden - I’m sure you’ve noticed that I like it there.

Of course, as an over thinker, I am wondering a number of things including -have I got better or just less picky about what I show here? Is this roll as good as I think it is? How much of a fluke is this?!

Do you have these thoughts too? I hoped I would perhaps feel more sure about my work after the years of experience but I think that if I wasn’t so worried about it, then perhaps I wouldn’t be as invested…

Camera: Canon EOS 750
Film: Fuji Superia 200
Location: York Gate Garden, Leeds