It must be 10 years since I loaded a film. And what a day to choose. Snow (lots), ice, sub-zero temperatures and a low shining sun casting monster shadows.
Lantern Wood in Lyme Park was idyllic. I'm not sure my (or any) photos can do justice to the magical atmosphere created by the weather conditions. It was a pleasure to be there in that moment.
I used Ilford HP5+ in the 40(ish) years old Nikon FM2n coupled with an old favourite prime lens - the Nikkor 24mm f2.8 AIS.
To remove all variables process wise (ie my cack-handed dev skills) I sent the film to Ag Photographic+Photolab for development. They use Ilford DD-X and the photos here are their basic jpeg scans with zero adjustments. I've added a touch of contrast. When I get the negs back I'll scan them properly to tiff and look more closely at the grain. Ilford HP5+ has previous in that respect.
I know that at least the camera has survived intact. My skills perhaps less so.
There was the double challenge of (film lol) exposure and returning to a purely manual camera, not to mention the freezing conditions and my own (human) exposure... So much to remember after a long time with digital cameras! Focus, compose, shutter speed and aperture and how many stops to over expose in the snow and the low slanting sun and shadows? I overexposed 2-3 stops which seems to have worked out to balance the snow.
And it was so cold. The camera became an icy a lump of metal which chilled my fingers even more. I could use the FM2n with gloves but I need to get more familiar with it again.
Baby steps...
I've got everything I need to start developing film again so I'll do the whole process on the next film. I'm quite excited to reinstate another bit of analogue into my digital life ;-)