Day Out

Went for a walk with the F2 today. I texted my camera-geek chum Lewis about it and he nerded out big time which was satisfying to see, so after a quick lesson in the kitchen, putting all the somewhat abstract stuff I’d been reading about into context, Lauren, Lewis and I set off down the canal into town. This was different in a number of ways – firstly I’d never walked down that canal – I’ve cycled it loads but it’s a very different experience on foot. I’m going to have to train myself to cycle to a place and then walk around, or just start doing more walking. (The only downside was I had to get the bus home, but I did capture a nice cloud shot on the way).

More important was taking photos with someone else who’s also looking at things in that photography way – another first and very enlightening. By the time we reached the centre we were both looking at Birmingham with fresh eyes, or at least I was. Maybe Lewis is just one of those people who sees stuff, I dunno. But it was good and bodes well for this Flickr Birmingham outing I’m trying to rustle together – essentially getting a bunch of local photographers to meet at a certain point at a certain time to stroll around taking photos. Non-Flickerites are welcome of course.

But the really weird thing is I’ve taken 20-odd photos and I have no fecking idea how they’ve come out. I want to plug the F2 into the Mac but oddly enough there isn’t a USB port on the side. Apparently the film needs to be “developed” or something and that can’t happen until I’ve used up all the shots. It’s all very arcane.

It’s stating the bleeding obvious but taking photos with an SLR is very different to a compact automatic. It’s a bit like learning to drive in that there are a number of stages (focus, aperture, light metre, exposure…) which slow you right down until they become second nature. Eventually the camera will become an extension of my hand but right now it’s very slow, meaning I messed up a couple of shots that would have been perfect with the compact. That said I did notice that the slowing down meant I took more time over the composition, which is a good thing. Right now though I can see both cameras having advantages and whatever the outcome of this trial run I think I’ll still keep a pocket automatic to hand.

Since it was a camera kinda day we dawdled in Jessops for a while where we bumped into Matt and Marv who were buying a digicam. Some people might be weirded out by the coincidence, but I say when the coincidences stop, that’s when I start worrying.