Last of the Velvia

On my last outing for film

In the autumn of 2016 I spent a week with my parents in the Lakes. Staying in ‘Haystacks’ at the Bridge Hotel I shot almost all week with the Mamiya RZ67 – the last trip I shot film. The conditions were remarkable – wonderful colour and with no storms and low wind there was good colour right through into December in Borrowdale.

The alternative image was made on a day that I will long remember – I was with my mum and we walked up to the top of Shepherd’s Crag. The wall at the intersection of paths is a subject I have looked at many times with many different cameras.

The main image was shot in Buttermere valley itself – a walk from the hotel. The film and subject matter are an almost perfect combination – shot almost wide open with the 140mm lens. Both days were just perfect session photography – relaxed and enjoyable.

I was however beginning to butt up against the dynamic range of Velvia and get frustrated with its limitations. I tried to shoot negative film as well during the week but either I messed up the film rating or the lab messed up the processing and they were all unprocessable. In frustration I folded and I returned a couple of weeks later, on 20 November, with Dave Tolcher armed with a Pentax 645Z. It was an obvious transition from Mamiya to Pentax medium format. The era of digital had begun.